disappointments and achievements

this is how i watched the game (yes, i'm wearing gloves in the house). it was 7C inside the house when i arrived (10C when i left). the excitment of the game mostly kept me warm though (along with multiple layers and 4 large cups of hot tea).
unfortunately the oilers lost 8( 3-1 but it was a really good game to watch. the looks on the players faces (well then ones that didn't have their head so low that you could just see the top of their helmets) was almost enought to even make a a hurricanes fan cry. they looked so disappointed. i guess for a lot (or all) of them it will probably be one of their biggest disappointments in life. they were so close, played some good games (and some not so good ones) and then lost in the final game. they're still 2nd overall but i guess when you've just lost the most prized cup in hockey after a season of very hard work it would be pretty disappointing.
i achieved something on my ride home though: i made it all the way from macleod back home along the darebin trail with out getting hopelessly lost and/or having a flat tire for the first time. it only took 3 goes at it and a lot of map study before, during and after the rides but i've done it now. the only time i even slightly got lost wasn't a big deal and it wasn't my fault. there was a perfect intersection of 2 paths and horrible (no) signage. i assumed my trail continued straight. a couple hundred metres later it just stopped, right in the middle of a small park (there was a side trail going up to the road but that's not what i wanted). i saw the real trail down below next to the river but instead of going back to the trail intersection i followed a narrow bike tire trail through some grass and down a steep slope back onto the trail with no problems. that's one thing that really needs improving on in victoria is trail signage (both bike and walking trails). a lot of times there's paths branching off and no signs where they go or if there is a sign its very poorly done and you can't tell which direction of the trail the sign is actually referring to. i think bicycle victoria is working on getting concils to improve bike trail signs 8).