Laid-back Weekend

I got out on a couple very laid back rides this weekend;
Saturday I hit up the Ridge with Monte, Larry, and Levi. A morning shower made for a greasy ride, we took it slow and low returning for a watermelon feast post ride. I went home to do chores, I was out of gas for the lawnmower so I threw the gas can in the bike basket and rolled down to the gas station, started pumping gas and turned to see my boss at the pump next to me. If he didn’t think I was an oddball before he sure of it now. ~2:00 of Mtn biking + errands.
Sunday Jeff and I went for a road ride. We started just outside of Vonore and rode up the Tellico River to the TN/NC state line. It was a little over a 75 mile ride at a relaxed pace, very scenic, cool temps most of the way, and low traffic. ~5:00
Noah had a big weekend, he got a big fuzzy block on loan from the neighbors that is chest high on him and has lots of things on its sides to grab hold of. He can stand next to the block, hold on and stay upright with no outside assistance that’s a big step for him. We also took Noah to the pool again this weekend. He’s getting more comfortable with the water he can float and kick like a real swimmer. I’ll get some new Noah pictures up later this week.
I had to share this video of Theo Janson sculptures I saw on another blog:

French Country Ride

I commuted to work today and decided to take the long way home. Well maybe the really long way home. I’ve wanted to learn a little about the fire road system at the Forks of the River Wildlife management Area. It’s a pretty big park with lots of rocky fire roads connected to town via greenway, it has huge after-work cyclocross adventure potential. While riding through the sunflower fields on the banks of the French Broad River I felt like I needed to pull over with a baguette and a bottle of wine.

Two hours latter I rode right back past my office on my way to fight traffic toward home. A three and a half hour commute with a French detour.

I rode at the Ridge yesterday with Steve and Bo. A two hour ride hitting up some seriously old school routes at the Ridge. I’ve become pretty fond of Roller Coaster lately, I used to hate that trail and now its becoming one of my favorites.

Raccoon Rocks / Possible End of the Weenie Era

I’m not sure how long the Weenie ride has been going on now maybe 4 years? I remember we used to have a big group ride on Wednesday’s and several of us would bring a few post-ride beverages and hang out afterward. Then one time Matt Stegal brought a grill and some hot dogs and Wednesday night have been a throw-down ever since. This past week the inevitable happened that we all have dreaded, the law showed up. With twenty or more people sitting around with coolers full of beverages the law doesn’t think belongs on public land. The officer was there looking for fishing violations but couldn’t help but notice us. She only spoke to one of us, the only ex-police officer in the group. Nobody got in any trouble but we were warned and the weenie ride may never be the same.
Sunday I took a trip down to Raccoon Mountain in Chattanooga. Any southeastern riders that haven’t been should check that place out. It’s some of the most fun trail I have ever ridden. The trail has tons of unique and interesting futures along the way, not just burmed turns, jumps and technical bits but neat ways of following the landscape that are all about working momentum through the trees. The fantastic views off the mountain top were icing on the cake. This place is bound to become a Southeast Classic trail system.
Ride Log:
Wednesday the 20th – Weenie ride at the ridge, rode with a big group of all 29” Single Speeds that eventually whittled down to just Steve and I, 2:00
Thursday the 21st – Commute to work and greenway extravaganza combo ride, 4:00
Saturday the 23rd - Haw Ridge, half FS and half rigid Fixy with Levi 3:00
Sunday the 24th - Raccoon Mountain with Jeff, Bo, Maria, Steve and Rachel, 2:40

Cherohala Challenged

Yesterday, I road the Cherohalla Challenge. Those not familiar the CC is a ~115 mile road event that tackles some of the most fun and challenging roads East Tennessee and Western North Carolina have to offer. I had a moderate day. I got to feeling really bad from mile sixty to about mile seventy then recovered and felt strong again riding right past the sag stop that most quitters dropout at. Then right at the top of a nearly 30 mile climb I started feeling some twinging in my legs like the beginnings of cramps. I limped over the top coasted the major descent and felt super strong again hammering the crap out of the last ten miles of rollers to the finish. I’m pretty sure I had some nutritional problems mid ride that caused my weirdness, I downed a quarter bottle of perpetuam and threw down a pb&j and a banana at a sag stop just before I fell apart. I may have had too much or a bad combo of food all at once. I have my ride nutrition down when I’m self supported in the woods but pulling up to a table of goodies in the middle of a ride is too much for me.

Over the last couple of months I have been slowly building up a new commuter/utility/fun bike. I finally got the last bits together this week. It’s built from a combo of parts I had lying around, some ebay bargains, and a few new bits. It really turned out pretty swank.


Its super comfortable, rides smooth and fits my around town needs to a T. It still needs a rear rack and more appropriate pavement tires. One disadvantage of 29ers is their wheelbase is too long to fit on public transportation bike racks thus the CX bike, it fits fine.


Today was my first father’s day, I spent nearly the whole day with Noah playing and hanging. We went to the neighborhood pool and Noah got his first tast of swimming. He floated on his back, kicked his legs and giggled away. I’m not sure wich of us had more fun.



Ride log:

Tuesday the 12th – brief fixy ride :30
Wednesday the 13th – Weenie Ride, road with Steve, we kept a mellow pace but I cleaned some climbs that usually give me trouble. 2:00
Thursday the 14th – final construction of the new commuter bike, did a neighborhood test ride and final adjustment/tuning about midnight. :30
Friday the 15th – First commute to work on the new bike. 1:30
Saturday the 16th – Cherohalla Challenge 116.16 miles, 6:58 ride time, 7:23 total time, 16.8mph average, 48.8mph peak, ~15,000ft vert.(Check Steve’s much faster results here )
Sunday the 17th – Easy greenway leg stretcher ride 1:30

Vanilla, Buttered Muffins

As many folks know I have a lot of interest in handmade bicycles. I have a great appreciation for those that take the craft of bicycle construction to new levels. One of the top players in that game these days is Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles. I couldn’t imbed it, but if you follow this LINK it will take you to a short documentary on Sacha and his pursuit.
If Tara wouldn’t kill me I'd send Sacha a deposit tomorrow.

Heinous Loop

Yesterday was an attack on the Heinous Loop. The heinous is a local loop of about 60% paved roads and 40% fire roads criss-crossing in, out, and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park. It’s about 64 miles and in the neighborhood of 11,000 feet of climbing. We had a very strong group of; John Magnusson, Shawn McCann, Thomas Gains, Steve Apking, Larry Creech, and Greg Casteel. I went to this ride thinking it was going to be a lax “fun ride” with a few ladies along. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot and saw the players I knew I hadn’t brought the game I needed for the day ahead. I had a company shrimp boil the night before and consumed 5 lbs. of shrimp corn and sausage not to mention all the beer, that’s not a good prep for a 90 degree hammer fest. The ride went off well, we stayed together fairly well, as usual I made it to the bottom of most the hills within the first couple of riders but with this strong a crew I was making it to the top of the climbs consistently in the rear of the pack. We finished the ride in five and a half hours which is a good time on this ride especially with a large crew.
Noah and Tara are doing great. We have Tara’s parents in town for a couple of days this week.
Next Saturday is the Cherohala Challenge, it’s one of my favorite events every year and usually kicks me in the rear pretty good.
Rid log:
Wednesday the 30th – Haw Ridge “Weenie Ride” I road pretty much solo – 2:20
Friday June 1st – commute to work – 1:30
Saturday June 2nd – Haw ridge with Levi – 2:00
Sunday June 3rd – Haw Ridge for an hour then a big thunderstorm chassed me out of the woods. I went home and it was totally dry at my house so I checked the radar all looked clear, I tried to salvage the day with a road ride of about 45 miles – 3:30 total for the day
Tuesday the 5th – Group road ride – 2:00
Wednesday the 6th - Haw Ridge “Weenie Ride” I road with Steve most the time but we floated in and out of other groups along the way – 2:20
Saturday the 9th – Haw Ridge with Levi (Levi has to get at least one ride a week in) – 2:00
Sunday the 10th – heinous loop – 5:30

Memorial Day Camping Trip

Noah got to go on his first camping trip this weekend. It’s a big step for us as a family because pre-Noah, Tara and I have been able to travel all over the southeast; biking, hiking, boating and generally fooling around. This usually involves camping along the way,to know that we can still do that is reassuring. We spent three days camping at the Thunder Rock campground along the side the Ocoee River and the Tanasi trail system. We did allot of tag-team parenting so that we both got to spend some time enjoying the trails and enjoying our son in the great outdoors. Noah had a great time and was enthralled with all the activity.

We got this huge new family tent that fits all four of us (don’t forget Levi);


Noah most enjoyed the hanging out part of camping;


The rhodendrum where in full bloom, Noah was really interested in the tiny white flowers;


Noah is growing and developing so fast, He can lift his head and spell his name already;


Ride Log:
Wednesday the 23rd was a weak effort at the Ridge, I just didn’t feel like riding that day and a crash in the first fifteen minutes didn’t help. An hour ride was all I squeaked out.
Thursday the 24th, Jeff and I did a fixy greenway ride, we did a little exploring and climbed some monster hills got some great views. Two hours and all the fixed gear climbing I needed.
Friday the 25th, First day at Tanasi, I hit Bear Paw, Riverview, Chestnut and Thunder Rock Express. A nearly two hour ride at a snails pace but it was relaxing and fun.
Saturday the 26th, I ran in to Steve and Rachel Apking as well as Chuck Grant in the parking lot at Tannasi as I was starting my ride. We did the same route as Friday, road allot faster when I was riding (chasing Steve), but did a lot of regrouping and standing around so it took a little over two hours.
Sunday the 27th, got an early start at Tannasi before the day heated up, road everything on the “River Left” network doing the cool part of Chestnut and Thunder Rock twice. I was feeling good and really put out some effort. It was a little over a two hour ride but significantly more mileage than the two previous days.
Monday the 29th, Road ride from home a hair over fifty miles, I ran into friends on back roads in the middle of nowhere, isn’t cycling great. I hit up all the hardest climbs I could think to link in a 50 mile loop from the house. It was a three hour ride.
Tuesday the 29th, Group greenway ride/ race, big fun followed by Mellow Mushroom. Two hour ride.

Cleaning up for a beat down

Saturday I finally cleaned up the Ventana from PMBAR. The bike was destroyed, it needed new brake pads, cables, and bottom bracket. I had to rebuild the shock and the fork. I disassembled and lubed anything I could. The bright side is I finally tuned the fork to the performance level I had hoped for. I basically revalved the fork for a super clydesdale but I ran a lighter weight oil in the dampener. This gave me all the compression dampening I had wanted virtually eliminating brake dive while still having reasonable rebound and a plush initial stroke. The I9’s came back with new spokes. The look like they have the right spoke length now, I’ll give them a shot but I’m apprehensive these wheels will ever hold up.

Sunday was a trip to the Pinhoti trail system outside of Dalton Georgia. For those that mountainbikers that don’t know the Pinhoti yet you need to check it out. It is currently my favorite ride. It’s a shuttled 34 mile one way ride that is always a beat down. Over all, it’s more technical than most anything in Pisgah so much so it’s as much an upper body work out as a leg burner. Of the 34 miles only 3-4 are fireroad the rest is all singletrack. The climbs are tough and the descents are on a scale of fun all their own. We had a good group, Jeff, Thomas, Eric, Shawn, and myself. It was Eric’s first trip to the trail and Thomas and Shawn had only ridden the full trail at the race held in the winter, which rides the trail in the least desirable direction. Thomas had some drivetrain issues that had lingered since PMBAR so he had no granny ring and took quite a beating because of it. We all had a great time though.

Jeff waiting out shuttle georgia style:

Jeff crussing one of the tamest sections of the entire trail:

5 people and six flats that day:


Noah had a doctor’s visit this week and got his first immunizations. Tara has done a ton of research on immunizations and they sound almost as bad as the diseases they are supposed to protect us from. He weighed in just shy of 13 pounds at nine weeks. He started standing up this week, well maybe I should call it holding his weight up with his legs since he hast to be held to keep from falling over. He gets more expressive every day. Ill get some new Noah pictures up this weekend.

Wednesday Fixy ride with Jeff 1:30
Thursday 5/17 missed the bus :20
Friday 5/18 commute to work, 1:30
Saturday 5/19 ElCaptain restoration shake down ride, 1:30
Sunday 5/20 aforementioned Pinhoti ride, 6:00
Tuesday 5/22 was group road ride night we started out on a section of greenway and it just got weirder from there. 2:00

20 weeks into the year and I’m averaging 9 hours a week on the bike.

Woops

I had a little mishap on this evenings ride.


I’ve been riding this bar for about 4 years, I’m a fairly large and somewhat aggressive rider. The bar snapped landing about a four foot’ish drop. I’d say the landing was just the final straw and the failure was inevitable within the near future.

I’m just glad I escaped with a skinned knee and a short hike.

Tara got through her first Mother’s day, I think this will be her favorite holiday of the year for a while. Here are a couple of Noah pictures:

Look at that kid in the Mirror.


Banjo lullabies:


Surprised on the blanket:


Noah has been quite the restraint patron latly he’s not sure if his favorite place is Tomato Head or WokHay:


I got a few rides in since the last update,
Saturday I did the Fort Loudon to bald river Falls and Back road ride with jeff, Drew, and Forest. About 65 miles with a 20mph average. 3+ hours
Sunday I did a greenway Fixy assault attacking the nastiest hill I can push on the 42/16 for about two hours.
Monday was a good solo effort at the Ridge up until my handle bar problem. I still road most of the way out of the woods with half a bar at an hour and half'ish ride time.

Here’s a pic I snapped a couple of weeks ago.

Imagine one day

I’ve been super slack on the updates lately, lots had been going on, between getting ready for and recovering from PMBAR and keeping up with Noah and his Mom's needs I have barly had a chance to sit down lately.

Noah is doing great, he keeps on growing, his development isn’t as drastic each day but the steps he takes seem more significant. We are seeing definite smiles from him now. Last night he was sitting on the couch about a foot and a half from me wile I was picking some banjo, he somehow wiggled his way over to me, grabbed my arm and snuggled in for a nap. It was preaty funny. I’ll get some Noah pictures up this weekend.

PMBAR didn’t go exactly as planned, but it was still fun. It rained before and throughout the race creating unbelievably tough conditions. I road with my friend Steve Apking, it was his first long distance mtb event even though he has the skills and fitness it was a little new to him. We were doing great and on track to finish in the top third or so when a series of mechanical issues took us out all together.

Ride log update:
April 29th, Foothills Parkway/129 (the Dragon) to the state line and back ride. This is my favorite local road ride. ~5:00
May 1st, Greenway racing on the fixy 2:00
May 5th PMBAR 9:00
May 6th road to the store for Ice-cream, :15 but a hard :15 after the mud fest the day before.
May 8th group road Ride, Anchor Park rides are back on !!! 2:30.
May 9th Haw Ridge with Steve and Levi 2:00
Mat 10th Bike commute to work 1:30

You don’t have to live in California, and it doesn’t have to be April 29th just take one day...



A stolen Fixy vid...