I Found It ,,,,,,,,,,

"I Found It", the downside to riding 2 different bikes. It's all in the bottom bracket. Last week I was on a kick riding my full suspension bike. It's a 26 in Specialized Epic, the one with the brain shock. It's a really aggressive riding position and it has a high bottom bracket. On it you can pedal through a lot of turns and never hit the ground with your pedal.


Guess what! On my Cannondale 29in hard tail the bottom bracket is a lot lower! Last night I took it to the trails and promptly crashed my brains out 3 times in one ride. Every time I managed to stick a pedal in the ground and then depending on my present speed crash rather hard. By the 3rd time it was starting to hurt.


This morning I am pretty sore! Sore enough I don't plan to ride the woods tonight. It's gonna be the road bike today. I like riding the full suspension as I have already said, but I don't like changing between the 2. This just gives me even more reason to buy a new bike. A 29er full suspension, I need one..........

Back Again ,,,,,,,,,,

We stayed for the parade and had a good lunch, then it was time to roll. Got home at 8 and back in the groove. That pretty much summarizes our weekend. I slipped in as much riding as possible last week and then we went north. About every 4-5 weeks now we are heading that way.


The kid needs us! Or we need to see him one or the other. We went up Saturday early am and where there at 1 so it was like we had all day Saturday too. Followed by a nice slow Sunday and then the parade Monday. It was a good trip and I always look forward to going again.


Like I have said before I am going to miss Blairsville more than he is. Although I like to visit I haven't had to live there. He has... Believe me he tells me that all the time. The kid is ready to come home and stay. He comes down for a week in June and then he graduates in September. Then he is home.


I have never really wanted summer to fly by but this year is a little different. I can't wait for fall to be here! Next year I will look forward to a long summer but this year lets just get this one over!

Let's Do It Again............

26in full suspension! My chariot of choice for tonight. Also I have pretty much made my mind up that my next bike will be 29in with a shock in the back. Hell I'll be 47 years old in about 4 more weeks. I have pretty much decided I am done racing and I just want to have fun so why not enjoy a little squish on the ride.


But you never know, at least I never know what tomorrow will bring. As I typed the statement above it made me think, "am I really done racing"? It's not like I was ever the world's fastest mountain bike racer but I do have a wall full of medals. Most of which I won just a few years ago. So am I done...


                                   Who knows, but right now I am having fun!!!!!!!!

Did I Tell Ya """""

I might have mentioned it. We are headed back to PA to see the kid again! I am looking forward to it and so is Karen. I was just up there a few weeks ago and she hasn't been up in a while. She misses the boy and I don't blame her.

Believe it or not but 3 weeks ago when I was there, we had snow flurries and accumulation on top of the mountain. Now even he is getting temps in the high 80's. Last time I was there we had leaves and they didn't. Now they do!

I am taking him a set of golf clubs for him to start playing a little. Now I need to get my set back up and running and I can start playing again. It's only been about 6 years since the last time i played.  Plus I can always use another hobby!

Besides that not mush else going on. I plan to ride again tonight and hopefully at least one more time before leaving. That's yet to be seen......

You Just Think You Are !!!!!!!!!!

Wonder what I am talking about? I am talking about being in shape. I tend to think I am in good shape, yes I could loose a few pounds but overall I think I am doing pretty good. I rode Friday, Saturday and Sunday.


I even got home from riding Sunday and took a nap layed around and then decided it was to early to call it a day. I rounded up the dog and went to the golf course to walk. I ended up with an 18 mile mountain bike ride and walked 4 miles. Not a bad Sunday!


Last year for some reason I decided I wanted to run so I ran 3 5k's and then went to Charleston and ran Copper River Bridge. No problem, I broke the hour barrier by 8 minutes and finished in the top 10,000. Not bad for two months training.


With all that you would think I am in shape! BUT!! Here I sit as sore as I can remember! I went home yesterday and since I wasn't riding I decided to finally get the pool up and running for the summer. I have been avoiding this job for awhile now because I knew I needed to change the sand in the filter.


Our pump is up under the deck so it's not as easy as it could be. I am 5-10 and the space to work in is about 3-6. You end up crawling around and hunched over until your done. My legs feel like I rode a hundred miles yesterday. I am sore from head to toe!


                But I did finish the job and about a week from now we should be swimming...

Stayin' The Course !!!!!!!!

The course of fun! As I said last week, I am in it for the fun this year. I continued it all weekend! Friday evening I rode Sherman Branch, Saturday I rode Cheraw State Park. Yesterday I walked out in the garage and as I was about to leave I laid eyes on my 26in Specialized Epic full-suspension!


I honestly couldn't remember the last time I rode it so I loaded it up and headed straight to Anne Springs park in Ft. Mill SC. It took me about 3-4 miles to remember how to ride it but once I did I was good to go. I had a blast! Everybody, including me ride nothing but the 29in bikes anymore. You tend to forget how fun the 26 is.


I rode till I was tired and I ended up with 18 miles total. Plus I plan to ride the 26 more often. I had that much fun. Now A few rides this week and then we head back to PA. I might even take a bike with me this time. Cody has access to about 50 miles of rail trails right from his dorm. The weather has finally changed enough I think I can make it happen.


Plus he has asked me to bring up his golf clubs, he wants to play a little this summer. I am gonna miss Blairsville more than he does when he finally comes home! I like going up there....

Short But Sweet ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Last night I rode my bike to BI-LO and back. Twelve miles total, I rode the cross bike with the wider cross tires. AND a bike rack! That's right a bike rack. I even carried a cable lock and locked my bike to a pole outside the store! 


In my head I was a New Yorker going about my business. In reality I was a redneck on a cross bike with a bike rack! Either way it made for a cool 12 mile ride. In New York nobody would have noticed me. In Monroe NC people take a second look if they see someone with a bag on their bike.


Especially kids, they turn around in there car seats and wave at you. It's kinda neat and funny at the same time. You have the parents in the front, they look at you like "what the hell", "is your car broke". The kids are looking at you with pure envy in there eyes! They are like "wow" "when I grow up I can still ride a bike".


                                                                 It's pretty cool.


I only have to get on one busy road to do that trip and that's for less than half a mile. I can carry about 40 dollars worth of groceries each trip and I get something out of it. I had a good evening last night and yes it was a fun ride. I even wore shorts, not spandex...........

A Good Evening ,,,,,,,

So I haven't really ridden much in the last week, we had the prom and then Mothers Day. That pretty much killed the weekend. Tehn the wind was blowing for a few evenings and once you ever get out of your groove it's hard to get back into it.


Last night I decided I was gonna ride and I went, The wind was really light and the temps where perfect. I took off and about 45 miles later I was back at the house. Two beers and a shower it was bedtime.


It was one of the best rides I have done in quit awhile. The reason for that is lately I have ditched all the electronics. I am riding by the seat of my pants! If it's a hill I take my time and climb it, if it's a downhill I have even coasted down a few of them lately. Usually I am trying to kill a downhill just so I can bring up my average speed.


Unplugging is fun! Of course I got the ideal from Bicycling Magazine, they have mentioned more than one time lately. At first it kinda felt weird and I found myself looking down at an empty handlebar more than once. Now I hardly ever look down and I try to talk to the cows! I yell and moo like an idiot when I ride by. It's funny!


I have no races planned and no intentions of planning any races this year. Fun is the reason I started riding 40 years ago and fun is the plan for this summer!!

Still Here !!!!!!

Believe it or not, but I am still here. Just been really busy lately here at work. Been riding the road bike a few days a week but that's been about it. I'll get on tomorrow....

Time's Rollin'''''

I have been wide open here at work lately and the blog is suffering! I checked over here this morning and I am just now finding time to get back on here. I though I had at least posted something the other day and I realized that "other" day was last Thursday. A week ago..


So here I am, catching up! I am still on a mountain bike kick so nothing has changed there. I stayed home over the weekend never did make it to the mountains. Although I did go over to Uhwarrie and ride Sunday. Saturday was a motorcycle day! I have gotten back in the habit of riding the big 2 wheeler again and I usually kill a day when I do that.


I can cover hundreds of miles on it in a short period of time. That's fun! I am trying to talk the wife into a beach trip next weekend on it. The trip to PA just kinda made me want to ride more. I enjoy my seat time on the Gold Wing. My fever even has me looking at a few sport bikes. I would love to buy one of the new smaller sporty bikes. Yamaha has a new 300 that would be awesome!