Ladybugs have a nasty habit of getting stuck in your jersey and helmet. Ick.

I met with Greg Cook at Sleepy Hollow State Park the day after the squirrel attacks (October 21). We did a nice road ride on some of the surrounding country roads. I am really glad that Greg had his cross tires on his bike, because he was pushing me hard. Apparently, I was also pushing him. Now, if we would’ve talked about how we were feeling, perhaps we would’ve slowed down, but I highly doubt it. That just does happen when you ride with other people.

The following is a photo essay of Sleepy Hollow State Park.

Shepardsville Road.

How fitting it is that I visit a state park by the name of Sleepy Hollow as Halloween quickly approaches. It is a nice little place in the countryside on the eastern edge of Clinton County, just northeast of Lansing.

Yesterday, I made the half-hour journey with my mother and brother from my parents’ house to the state park. We rode around the park and marveled at the scenery. The water was still and the colorful trees reflected in the water.

It was a fairly easy ride for me . . . to start with. I rode with my brother, Tom, for about an hour. He was riding a mountain bike, so I was holding back quite a bit as Jake, all pimped out with slick road tires, wanted to be unleashed on the pavement. When Tom and I made our way to the park entrance, I took off for a quick out-and-back ride on the nearby roads. Details: 1 hour 35 minutes, God only knows how many miles. I’ll have to break out an e-map to estimate my mileage.

Many of you are way too familiar with the following:

There is a VERY good reason why I reposted this video, even though you may be quite sick of it by now. Actually, there are three reasons. Many of you are quite aware of my history with attack squirrels. Never have I dealt with such evil creatures as I did yesterday.

Squirrel incidence #1. As Tom and I were riding down a road within the park, a squirrel ran in front of me without any regard to the presence of me and Jake.

Squirrel incidence #2. As Tom and I were approaching the park entrance from within the park, a little squirrel ran out in front of me and barely missed my front tire. His reaction to me and Jake was to throw his nut and run back to the side of the road from which he came. As it happened, my reaction was something like, “Oh, HELL NO, you little sh!t! Get the hell out of here!” Tom was a little ways behind me. As he approached the site of the offense, the little squirrel returned to retrieve its nut.

Squirrel incidence #3. Shortly after I turned onto Shepardsville Road, near the beginning of my solo ride, just as I was achieving a fairly respectable speed, a squirrel launched from a nearby tree from about 15 to 20 feet above me and landed just to the side of my bike and ran in front of me. Little #!*&!!! Seriously! I saw Mr. Squirrel’s trajectory as he aimed to pounce on me!

You guys think I’m joking when I write about squirrels, but I am serious when I say that there is a foundation for the Moronacity campaign against squirrels (M.C.A.S).