Here’s a picture from the gardens of Kilkenny Castle, where we were today. This is the butler house of the castle:

After confirming for the fourth consecutive night that Irish pubs do indeed stop serving the food from their menu at around 6:00 PM, Laura and I strolled around until we found a Chinese restaurant. Yep, Chinese in Kilkenny, Ireland. Here’s a picture from tonight; it was beautiful out and the temperature was great:

Once again my sister Amy teamed up with me for a mountain bike ride, this time to Chicopee Woods in Hall County, Georgia. It was a beautiful day for a ride, and we managed to cover about 9 miles, although the last 2 miles involved a Amy mostly walking after a couple of accidents. One was running into a tree, but the other was when a root stopped her and I ran up on the back of her. I have found that coaching someone from behind is a challenge.

I have been truly impressed out how quickly she has gotten the hang of serious mountain biking. What’s even funnier is that she is doing so well on bike with no suspension whatsoever.

So it turns out that my sister Amy was available to go mountain biking with me on Saturday. We went to Dawson Forest north of Atlanta not far from where we grew up. It is a nice area, even though you have to share it with horseback riders. My sister made it through a fairly tough 10-mile ride with me. It was only the second time she has been on a mountain bike, so I was pretty impressed.

She actually fell down a stone waterfall at one point but managed to keep going. Here’s the proof:

My fears were confirmed when I took my bike in for the guys at Outback Bikes to see it. The rear derailleur is toast. Apparently, the brand new Shimano chain snapped at the assembly link in such a way that the link end came through the chain drive path like a grappling hook and ripped by rear derailleur to shreds. They say they are going after Shimano for the warranty. I will need a new Deore XT rear derailleur and, obviously, a new chain, which will be a Sachs chain. Avoid Shimano chains. The service manager at the shop has actually seen this same thing before, and refuses to ride with Shimano chains. I think his own personal episode of being stranded by a Shimano chain may play into that.