Why-Not............

                                                               Another post!




In the last couple months, while I wasn't blogging. I managed to break the frame again on my Cannondale, no surprise this makes the 3rd time. Yes every time the warranty kicks in and they send me a new frame. Then I have to pay a 100 bucks to the bike shop to rebuild it and it will last another year.




Not a bad deal, unless it's your 100 bucks and it's the 3rd time! And once again, I have a 6 year old Specialized that I am riding "again". Will I ever buy another Cannondale? Nope! Not gonna happen! I now regret buying the road bike from them. I wish I had purchased something else. No it hasn't given me any problems but the mountain bike has given me enough that I just feel that way.


The Specialized has been bullet proof. You think Cannondale could build a bike that would be just as reliable.


Yes I can do the frame rebuild myself, but to keep the warranty in tack I have to let a bike shop do it.                                                                Total BS!




So anyway I have spent so much time in the mountains riding this year that it's kinda killed the mood to ride around the house. The local trails are just not the same, I like the mountains. Sometimes I get to the trails here and I have to make myself get out of the car and go. The only reason I do it is to stay in shape to go back to the hills.


I have ridden the Olympic course in Conyers several times lately, I like it a lot too. Forks Area Trails in Augusta GA are ok. I have been there several times but besides having a lot of mileage they are kinda boring. Every trail there looks and rides the same. It's nice to have as an option but I seem to drive right by it a lot.


Now that it's November time will change soon and night riding will start! Looking forward to that..

Still Here,,

I know it's been awhile, yes we are still around. I doubt I will ever update the blog like I used too. I have kinda lost interest. I still stay as active as ever but the whole blog thing has lost it's "in" status. It's not just me, but across the board. Blogs have started to drop off. Is that an excuse for me to stop, not really but I just haven't had the motivation lately.


Over the last 6 years I have had upwards of 40,0000 hits! Not a lot in the blog world but to me and my little world that number seems huge! considering I haven't even put pictures on here in the last 4 years I am very humbled by the visits.


I don't lead the most exciting life on the plant but I try to stay active and do different things constantly. I know I have said it before but life is to short to stay inside and watch TV. Get outside and play, play early, play hard! Your never to old to start if your already a couch potato! If you ever got anything out of reading this I hope that's it.


Right now I am actually doing more camping just so I can go more! A campground is a whole lot cheaper than a motel or dragging my camper somewhere. I get 35 miles to the gallon in my car and I have a ther-ma-rest! Take the heater and we are snug and warm in the tent. If that's what I have to do then that's what I will do. It ain't the Hampton!


I can take a dirt nap with the best of them! If you sit around waiting till you have the money to book a motel before you plan you next trip, I will have at least 1 more trip than you in the same amount of time. My desire to be in cool places and do cool things and see new things has started to out weight my desire to be comfy in a motel.


For the price of 2 nights at the Hampton I can go two weeks in a row. At 35 miles to the gallon I can go far too! In the last 3 weeks I have slept in a tent in NC and TN. I will be in the mountains of NC this coming weekend and 2 weeks after I will be in West Virginia! The new river gorge has a lot of premier mountain bike trails that are calling my name.


We found a camp ground up there that we can ride from and hit the trails. My youngest son and I are going and I can't wait! Maybe I will update shortly after..


                                                              Thanks for checking in.....

I Made It !!!!!!!!!

For the last few years I have been riding a loop around the Saluda NC area. A road bike ride. It's got a crazy downhill around a valley and a crazy long climb back to Saluda. It's really pretty fun and I enjoy riding it. The only problem?


On the climb side of the valley there is one section that I had never been able to pedal up! Yep that's right, with a 34x32 road bike gear, my smallest! I couldn't make it! I had to stop and walk about 50 yards of it. No shit the paved road is that steep! I had tried and had failed. It's been a goal for a while now and Saturday, I made it!!!


I was about 18 miles into a 35 mile route and knew it was coming. I tried to think positive and give my self the pep-talk. I rounded a turn crossed the one lane bridge and dropped to my lowest gear. I still had a good 1/2 mile to the really steep section but I wanted to pace myself. I finally turned the corner and there it was!


The steepest section of paved road I have found yet. You see most of the time you have switchbacks in the mountains. on really steep roads you just go back and forth up the hill. When that is the case the really steep spots are really short and on half of them you are on the outside and that is the flattest way around anyway.


This section goes straight up! Not a single turn, it goes straight up the hill. No relief! So I got there and just looked down and stood up. All I concentrated on was turning over the next pedal stroke! Finally I looked up and I was close, so close I couldn't stop! I knew if I didn't make it over this time I was missing my chance.


I hurt and it was slow but when I came over the rise and the road was only about half as steep. I knew I had done it. From that point it's still a climb and you only up shift maybe a gear or two but I still turned around just to take a look. I finally made it. I almost stopped just to stare, it felt that good.


I might be getting stronger or maybe I just did it. Not sure, but I own that hill now. I know exactly what I need to do to make it up every time from this point. I just need to pace myself better, before I just did the usual same thing. Starting at the bottom I would just stand and crank and downshift till I ran out of gears. Then try to just hang on, this time I started slow and stayed slow.


Never changing my out put until the steepest part. I got this!

Some More Words.......

When you where a kid did you ever get up on a Saturday morning and say "I can't wait to go to the gym".




No. You bolted out the front door and did your cardio and strength training running through the neighborhood, climbing trees, hurdling fences, making rock dams in the local creek and doing a host of other things you probably didn’t tell your parents about. And that night, you slept 12 hours straight.
That’s what exercise should be like today, as a grown-up: maybe not climbing trees and hurdling fences, but doing things that don’t feel like exercise. Things that are fun!




I found that statement in an article somewhere. I Love bicycles! and Hiking! and Canoeing! and being outside.

"Words"

Not my words, but I like them. I copied this from another blog.http://drunkcyclist.com/
                                                      
















"One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast…a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.”










                                                                  




                                                                            By: Edward Abbey

Things Workout,,,,

So I went to the mountains Friday and spent the weekend. Two friends of mine where doing a 70 mile gravel ride that I drug my feet on entering. I had plans and then they fell apart, by the time I tried to enter it was sold out. I tried Saturday morning to get in but the permit was full. When they have a race in the national forest they can only have so many entries. You snooze you lose!


Since I couldn't race I loaded up and headed to DuPont State Forest. I get there and gather all my stuff up and head to the woods. I am starting to know my way around but with a 100 miles of trails I still have a long way to go. I take off and do my own navigation until I finally come to a point I need to consult the map.


Guess what! I forgot the map! So now I have no ideal where to go and I sure don't want to ride the same trails all day. So me being me I decide the heck with it and just start riding. At first I start taking all rights and then I start doing lefts. Of course I am lost and don't really care. I knew sooner or later I would find someone with a map.


Sure enough I did. I guy from right here in the Charlotte area. We seemed to hit it off pretty good and I spent the next 2 hours riding with him. He finally had enough and we parted ways. From there I had a small ideal where I was and where I was going. Before long I meet up with another couple who seemed to move along at the same pace I did and we rode for another 3 hours.


He is the president of the South Carolina S.O.R.B.A. chapter. Southern Off Road Bicycle Association. He and the wife both where really strong riders and we had great time. He even took me on a few trails that haven't even been added to the trail maps yet. They are brand new!


At the end of the day I had 7 hours of riding and 3 new friends. I got to see new trails and I had enough climbing to get me over Mt. Everest! I was beat! We finished the evening off with a low country boil for dinned and it was a good day.


Sunday came and after loading up I headed over to Bent Creek and spent 3 hours before I headed home. I got home at 4 and the weekend was done. They don't get much better than that..

I Am Still Around...........

I've just been lazy for the last few weeks. I meant to sit down and write something but just haven't done it. Yes we had a great week at the coast! It was hot but we enjoyed it. No rail so that was really nice. Plus the wife found a ton of full conk shells. You would be shocked at the size of the sea shells you can find out there.


Then I went to see the kid in Atlanta a few times. He has the Jeep fixed now and we got to use it. He's happy and drives it every where now. I prefer air-condition, but he's the one driving it. Also Chase is now driving! We got home him a Jeep Liberty. Somehow or another it just worked out where I got both my kids a Jeep product for their first car. Weird!


Obviously I am leaving out a lot of the "happenings" as of late but at least I am back. It's Labor Day weekend and we have an extra day to play so I look forward to that. Fall is right around the corner and the temps will be dropping before long. I look forward to the change.

Almost Here ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

We leave Sunday at 5am to catch the ferry over to the South Core Banks at 1 pm. We come off the island Friday at noon. Five full days of nothing but sun sand and peace and quite. I can't wait! I need to finish gathering up all our stuff so we are ready but that's about it.


It's been about 5 years since the last time we spent any time out there so it's gonna be cool. The kid isn't to excited to be gone and "unplugged" for so long. But it will do him good! He is looking forward to driving the truck on the beach, but that's the highlight for him. Although I know Chase and he will be fine.


I will do a little swimming and a lot of fishing! Other than that it will be picture taking and relaxation!

New Habit ,,,,,,,,,,,

Lately it seems I might have a new "habit", I get up and get moving on Sat. moving! Usually I won't even commit to an early AM start for a ride. But it seems this summer I have turned over a new leaf. I am getting up and getting going.

This morning I set the alarm and Glen was here at 6:45 we where in Pageland at 7:30 and riding in the fog. We made the trip to Kershaw and I got my favorite chicken tenders! Back in 95' I used to drive a truck and hauled soy beans down to Kershaw. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I might be pedaling a bike down there just to get chicken!

At this point in life that whole truck driving period seems like it was another life time ago. Back then I thought I was gonna do that for the rest of my life! I miss driving a truck but I only want to buy one to drive back and forth to work. No other eason!

Back to my chicken! On the street behind the soybean plant there is a gas station, They use peanut oil to fry all there food. It's good! Then throw in a honey biscuit and your good to go. That's what I did, then we pedaled back to Pageland and I had 50 miles and a little less climbing than I planned. It was about 3000ft instead of 4000 but I am happy.

                                                                 And ready to go back.

                                                                         Early AM.

Told Ya ,,,,,,,,,,,,

I even had the wife along! As I said in the last post, "if it rains I get wet". We got wet! I came home yesterday and talked the wife into going to the golf course with me. First thing she said was "it's gonna rain". I said so, we get wet! That's what happened.


She didn't melt we didn't get caught in a flood, it worked out. She even found herself having fun. Like I told her, when we were kids we played in the rain. As long as it wasn't a thunderstorm we stayed outside. At what point did we "get to old" to play in the rain. It's fun!


Now we have rain predicted for Saturday and Sunday and I will be outside. I plan to do a good road ride tomorrow. I haven't been down to the Pageland area in awhile and I need to do some climbing. Hard to believe I go to Pageland for climbing but there are some really big hills down there.


Park at Pageland and ride to Kershaw, then back. 40 miles and about 4000 ft of climbing! Not a bad training ride!

Got It !!!!!!!!!

OK, first off, we went to Atlanta, the kid and I. We spent the weekend with Cody and got to see another Braves game. I am still amazed they are tearing down that stadium at the end of the season. To me the place looks new! I understand the location part but it's just crazy that the place is about to be gone. It really looks great.


Yes we had some good food and hung out. Then got home about 5 yesterday. To early for the couch and to late to load up and head out riding. Really I could have went riding but just wasn't felling it. Instead the dog and I hit the golf course. It was so hot nobody was there. As soon as we got there I saw a golf ball and then it was on.


With nobody there I could hit all the "good" spots looking. We ended up running around in the woods and all over the back 9 with a total of 21 golf balls! That's a lot! All we had to do was go in the woods between any hole and there they were. I had so many, it was all I could do to hold my shorts up. My pockets where that full.


Then we came home and I washed cars till it got dark. Day done! I can't stand to sit down and do nothing when the sun is shinning. Sooner or later we will have plenty of rain I will still be outside. The only difference is I will be getting wet. Just like I talked about last week, you only have a few perfect days a year, you can always find an excuse to stay inside.


                                                        You got to want to play outside everyday!

Keep Moving..........

That's all ya can do! Yesterday I went riding, I waited till 7 hoping the heat would drop at least enough to feel like it dropped. Guess what! It was still hot! The difference between 100 and 97 ain't much!


But when you stop, the sweat rolls off! Like a fire hydrant, for the next 20 minutes you probably sweat as much as the whole ride. When the air stops it's like the heater comes on. I know that's probably an exaggeration but it does feel like it gets hotter.


I did enjoy the ride, I know I have ridden Sherman a thousand times and there are times I don't want to ride there. But then there times I like knowing where the fast line is. Knowing what's coming and what to expect. You get in that state of mind, I know where I can shave a second off and I know when I just lost a second.


Plus it's fun to see people ahead through the woods and know how far you are to catching them. Or seeing them behind you and knowing you better pick it up! Point is I had a good time riding last night. I like it when that happens, when you ride and have nothing else on your mind except what you are doing. Full concentration!


Tonight I think I might go to the golf course. The dog needs to travel too.

Have Ya' Noticed,,,,,,,,,,

It's hot! That's about all anyone wants to talk about, the heat! They act like this is the first time it's ever been hot. To me this makes me laugh, every year we go through this. Every summer it's hot and every winter it's cold. Nothing new here!


Guess what! You can either stay in the house and watch TV hiding from the world, and exercise. Or you can deal with it! If it's hot you sweat, if it's cold you add layers. Believe me I enjoy spring and fall too, but I deal with the rest. Of course I had to hear how crazy I was for riding after work last week.


This week will be the same. It's hot and life carries on, you can't stop and hide in the AC all summer. Well maybe some people can but I can't. You have to get outside and play. I feel sorry for those "people", that's what I call them. While they stay inside and look out windows I stay outside and look at windows as I ride by.


Saturday I meet my buddy Glen at Lake Norman State Park and we rode for a little over 2 hours, he-I and all the other outside people who had the parking lot packed! I swear I sweated the most I have yet this summer. Almost to the point that I need to start carrying more water on long rides like that. I ran out and could have really used a drink the last few miles. I was hurting!


Then yesterday I went to Sherman for a nice easy spin and then came home and got back to work. I know I have mentioned before that I hate to do yard work on a weekend, but sometimes ya got to do what ya got to do.


My brother and his family are flying in today and are here for the week. Of course I want my yard to look good! So yesterday after I got home I spent some time putting the final touches on it. Did the weed eater and mowed the driveway. The driveway Doesn't get mowed every time so it needed it.


Now we visit with them and then Friday I head back to Atlanta. Chase and I are going down to see Cody and a Braves game Saturday night. Looking forward to that. Karen has a wedding shower to go too and she will be busy with that. It's a boys weekend..........

NO Wonder !!!!!!!!

So I looked at my truck the other day and thought it looked pretty rough. It sits in the drive way for months on end and hardly gets any love. Yet every time I want to pull the camper I jump in and go! With that thought I washed it.


Then I started the wax process! A process that lasted the better part of 2 nights! It was a hell of a job, a job I don't want to repeat anytime soon. I will stay on top of it from now on. For the simple reason it was such a job.


If I had kept it waxed to start with it wouldn't have been such a hard job. But I let it go so long I had to hand polish it before I could even wax it. By the time I did the wash, wax and detail I had 5 hours in it.


Now tonight I ride my bicycle. No more wash and wax. I am beat...

Perfect Day..........

Yesterday was a "Perfect Day" for a bike ride. As I said I hadn't ridden all week so it was time. The weather was hot but it was overcast so I headed out. I drove down to Rock Rest school and headed south. 37 miles later I was happy.


I love riding down in that area, no traffic quite roads, you can't beat it. The legs felt good for a week off and I enjoyed it. Then Sunday I headed out and thought I would do about the same. The only problem was my legs. They felt like crap!


I did a whoping 12 miles and turned around and went back home. Done! Hit the pool and that was it!

It's Easy !!!!!!!!!

Easy to get behind! Pedaling anyway! So last week I had a total of close to a hundred miles for the week. Pretty good, I felt like that would be an easy number to start maintaining. Fast forward to this week and it's now Wednesday and I haven't even turned over a pedal yet.


Monday was the rain all evening, Tuesday was yard work and last night was a baseball game. The triple A allstars game is in Charlotte and we went.


Now here it is Thursday and I haven't touched a bike. Then add in the fact it's 99 degrees here today and I am might rethink tonight's ride. The swimming pool is really calling my name! When you are this far into a week and nothing has been done why start. I know I need to, but there's always next week.


Although I do get my 10000 steps everyday. I keep up with that. Not really sure why I do but I do have a decent watch. A watch with a bunch of info, I guess it keeps me motivated. Although tech stuff kinda goes over my head. Some how or another I am supposed to link it to my phone so I can see who calls or texts me.


                                                           Will ever use that? No ideal.....

Clicking Along,,,,,,,,,

I guess it's the new normal, Charlotte for a few weeks and then a trip to Atlanta. I have been riding a lot and I even hit up Augusta on the way home Sunday. It was hot and I had the place to myself, there were a few cars in the lot but overall I was by myself.


Forks Area Trail System is the bomb! I know I said that last time I stopped and I will probably say it again but it's true. I got 14 miles and I still haven't ridden but half the place. I was a little pushed for time and I knew how long the one section would take so I stuck with it. Next time I plan to ride the rest of the trails.


I have been riding the road bike more and trying to get a few more miles in. So far it's working, even with the heat. Yes it's been hot, really hot too! I don't really mind it too much but of course I would rather it was fall. Although the older I get the more I am trying to enjoy the moment or season. Not trying to rush through to the next.


It's only heat, drink lots of water and deal with it. If you wait for the perfect temps you would waste half the year sitting inside. That's not cool!

Summer Has Arrived !!!!!

                        You know why? I had my first tomato sandwich today! It's summer time!

Damn,,,,,

So this morning I went out for a ride and planned to do about 30-40. Everything was going great and I was enjoying the ride, I was about 25-30 into it when I had to cross back over Hwy 74. No problem right, wait for the light to change and get back to it.

Well that's exactly the way it happened and I took off again. As I was pedaling along I thought "damn my legs are tired for such a short ride". Then I thought "well I did do a run 2 days ago". Then kept pedaling. As I got o the final 7-8 miles I was even cursing my legs thinking this is pathetic! I have nothing left in the tank and I am on a 30 freaking mile ride!

Well I get home and and lean the bike against the wall and head in the house. Still thinking I suck! Why do I even ride if I can't even ride 30 miles any more. I was really kinda mad! Then I get out of the pool awhile ago and decide to put the bike up and the first thing I notice is how hard it is to push!

A road bike rolls like so easy it takes no effort to pedal much less push! I look and damn if the rear brake isn't pushing against one side of the wheel. I get to thinking and remember how when I was at the light to cross 74 the bike shifted between my legs and almost fell over. I must have managed to hit the back brake with my leg. Pinning the brake against the wheel!

      Now I know why the last 10-15 miles where so hard! Maybe I don't suck as bad I thought!

Gonna Take Awhile,,,,,,,,,,

Yes we got home her Thursday and yes she is worn out! She needs about 3 more weeks before she will be back to any sort of normal, and it will be that long before she goes back to work. On top of that you ought to see the amount of medical equipment we have in the living room! She still has to do her breathing treatments and I think we cleaned out the local Walgreen's Pharmacy!

She has so many pills to take a day that it's crazy! All that aside, it's great to have her home. Believe me when I say nobody is happier than she is. Cody even came up from Atlanta to spend the weekend with us and to see her. He worries about his mom. We all do.

Speaking of Cody he and I spent the day today checking out motorcycle shops. He wants a motorcycle and I wouldn't mind having a new one myself. I used to have a sport bike and I still miss it. That was the bike I took to Sturgis with dad in 2004. I didn't care about all the Harley's I wanted to ride my sport bike.

Anyway, we went to Matthews Fun Machines first and then hit the Harley shop before we headed to the other side of Charlotte and went to Charlotte Honda Yamaha Kawasaki Suzuki. Of course the Harley shop was just for the heck of it and the fact we were riding right by it. I will say through it wouldn't hurt for the sales staff to brush up on their customer service skills!

If your gonna charge way to much for your over priced slow ass bikes it wouldn't hurt to say hi and offer to help someone. We where there for a total of 30 minutes and not one single person even acknowledged out presence. The other two shops said hi and offered help as soon as we walked in the door. Both shops were very helpful and the sales reps we dealt with were very friendly and knew what they were talking about.

Also the Harley dealership wasn't even busy. The other two shops were really busy! I do like a few of the Harley's and would have liked to known what the prices where on those bikes but nobody cared enough to even say hi. Of all the Harley dealers I have been too Charlotte is the worst one. The most friendly ones we have ever been in where all in Pennsylvania with North Myrtle Beach being right there with them.

Also we learned that between the two Kawasaki dealers there was a 3000 dollar difference between the 2 on the same bike. Next we will check out a few different shops in Atlanta.We like motorcycles!

Walking Papers !!!!!!!!

She finally got them! As I type this I am about to go pick up the wife! It's been over a week she has been in the hospital. Now she can finally come home.


Of course she is worn out and so are we. It's stressful when things like this happen. For everybody involved..

Waiting Game ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Yep, we are still waiting. The wife is still hanging out in the hospital! we were hoping she was gonna get home the other day but it wasn't meant to happen. She is about to go nuts and we are missing her. Me the kid even the dog wonders what's going on.


She is getting better and we sure don't want her to come home and end up right back there. So we wait........

Reset ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So it's been awhile, it's like I forgot all about the blog. But I didn't! I kinda left things a little heavy with my last post but it was on my mind. June is kind of a busy month for me, I always think about my dad and then I have fathers day followed by my birthday. Add in a vacation and the month is gone just like that.


We did all of that plus the wife came home from vacation with pneumonia. She's been in the hospital for a week now and should get to come home tomorrow! Believe me when I say she is ready! Still worn out but ready for the house! She has really bad asthma and any time she gets a respiratory infection she runs a very high risk of pneumonia.


This is the third time in the last two years she has been hospitalized from it. It sucks! But she is coming home tomorrow. That makes everybody happy.


So now that we have hit the reset button I will try to stay on top of it a little better. I have been playing rather hard, plenty of riding and a little bit of hiking, (walking in the woods). But it's all the same. If the wife wants to "hike", we will hike! Funny thing is if I ask her to go walking she will pass. If I ask her to go hiking, she's all in! Go figure.....

On My Mind,,,,,,

Ten years ago today I lost my dad.. I miss him.

Neglect,,,,,,,,,

That about sums up my blogging here as of late. I need to get back on the ball! Riding has happened, a lot of riding! I have made a few trips to the mountains the last few weeks and done a few rides around the house. No running even though my legs feel better than they ever have, just no motivation for it.

After going to the mountains on a regular basis riding around here has kinda been boring. I find I really have to make myself go! I know I need to if i want to be strong enough to enjoy the hills. Speaking of the hills I love Bent Creek and DuPont. Between the 2 I have enough trails to keep me happy all summer long!

We have a week vacation coming up and the mountains are where we plan to go. The house in Saluda will be home base. Riding will happen! I plan to take both the road and mountain bike. Although the road bike still sits in the garage with flat tires from lake of use. It hasn't even been of the hook yet this year. For some reason the mtn. bike has been getting all the seat time.

I will be back down in Georgia next week and will do Conyers again. If the weather is right I will stop in Augusta again. I still need to check out the rest of Forks Area Trails.

Plus the motorcycle has been getting a few miles put on it. There are only so many hours in a week and I use everyone to its peak. You might see my yard and say different but to each his own! I do yard work when I have too, no sooner! If that's what you like to do for pleasure then have at it! I will be in the hills playing.

Got My Answer ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The answer I was looking for about the 55k race this weekend. The weather has made my mind up! It's supposed to rain all weekend in the mountains. Last time I did this it was rainy and cold, I got cold! I don't like to get cold, plus I haven't paid my entry fee yet so it's a no brainer. I won't be doing the Pisgah 555k this year.


What I will be doing I have no ideal but it's only Wednesday. Plus if we get all the rain they are calling for the only place to ride will be Uhwarrie or Cheraw. Both are all weather trails and the only choices we have when the weather turns crappy. Although I could always run.


Last night I went to the golf course and walked 3 miles, it beat sitting on the couch. I rode Monday with the weather coming and now I wait to see what it will be doing when the time to ride comes again. Right now my whole weekend is in rainy limbo. Not counting this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon and the following day.


                                                      I hate being stuck with no plans.........

My Own Enemy !!!!!!!!!

You know the saying, "My Own Worst Enemy". Well right now I am on the verge of making that my motto. As I mentioned in the last post I am actually getting a little up on my usual fitness level. With that thought in my head I sat down to the computer the other night and came damn close to entering the Pisgah 55.5k mountain bike race.


Yep the same race that I did 2 years ago and took almost 8 hours for me to complete. The one I came home from beat into the ground and worn slam out. The one I really couldn't believe I had just done. The that I will never forget, the one I had a volunteer at a rest stop tell me I had about an hour and a half climb in front of me when I asked how much further. He wasn't lying either!


On the back side of that climb was another hour and a half to finish. Well the race is about 2 weeks away and for some reason I feel it might be "fun". Why I don't know?

Let's Play Catch Up ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Yes I went running the other day and it was great, I did 3 miles and not one single issue with my shin's. I haven't had a chance to go again the trails opened up, at least Rocky River Trail did. I have been on a phase lately of riding there so I was glad it was open. With the mountain trip last weekend I feel like I am getting somewhere with my fitness so I want to keep it that way.

Actually I had two trips in a row to the hills so my legs are kinda feeling good right now. Plus we are in Atlanta right now and the kid and I had planned to ride when I got here so I wanted to stay in top shape. Yes we did the Olympic race course yesterday, It's pretty freakin' cool too. Also on Friday on my way down here they had the Forks Area Trails open.

I have stopped there twice and brought my bike three times with intentions of riding there only to find out it was closed so that was neat. I rode about 15 miles of it Friday and look forward to riding the rest off it. The place is really awesome, the flow is fantastic and it has like 30 miles of trail.

It's been a good week, I have ridden my mountain bike on three different trails in three different states! First time that has happened. Pretty neat when you think about it. Add in the mountains twice and it's been a good stretch for the mountain bike. Next trip to the hills I plan to do some road biking. I want to do a few loops around the Saluda area.

Bicycling magazine, in there latest issue listed all these great rides you need to do if you ever get a chance. One of them goes through Saluda I plan to do it! lots of climbing but that is part of it.


Now to end this with a laugh! Last night we decided to go to the Braves game. First time since the kid has been here in Atlanta. We got our tickets on line and headed out about 6. As we got off the interstate and headed down through the streets we see this guy on the side looking all official with his yellow "parking jacket" on.

There was several of these guys, like five or six of them. We stop and he sells me a parking pass for the green lot for twenty bucks. He gives us directions to the lot and says it's only a hundred yards from the front gate.

Well guess what! We get to the green lot and it is pretty close, or at least it was when the lot started taking in cars. We are way in the back at this point, a lot farther than a hundred yards. Maybe a quarter mile! But here's the kicker! It was free parking night!! Yep I got scammed for twenty bucks!

The official parking pass I bought didn't mean squat! The lady at the gate got a good laugh out of that. She said I could keep it as a souvenir! Live and learn...........

I am Ready To Run Again,,,,,,,,,,

I have taken the better part of a month off to let my shin completely heal. I haven't ran one time! The last few times I tried to start back running it only took one or two runs before my shin would start hurting. This time I decided to wait till my leg was not even a thought, as in no pain what so ever.


Yesterday as it was raining about 4 inches and killing all the trails I took a look at my road bike and decided I would rather run. No kidding right then and there I realized my shim had not hurt in several days. Next thought was I am going running! Not that I don't like the road bike, I just don't like road biking.


                                                      Big difference!

Options, I Like ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

First of all I need to say thanks to our friend Paula! Because of her I have "options" when I am in the mountains. Yes I do the yard work for her and no it doesn't really take anytime. A house in the mountains you don't have to pay for is like your neighbor having a pool! That's the best kind, of pool or house!


Because of this Saturday afternoon when the rain was coming it was easy to pull the plug and head down to Saluda. I got down there and as I said it was raining. I hoped that for some reason it went right around the campground and the people who where there for the night stayed dry. They didn't!


I got to Saluda took my toothbrush in and my pillow. Went down to the bar-be-que joint ate and had a few beers. By 9 I was sound asleep! I woke up early Sunday morning feeling good, I hit the road and was home about 8:30. Dry! Thankful I didn't have to unpack and dry out all my stuff!

Plans Change........

With that you have to roll with the flow! So all week last week the weather looked like it was gonna be great, great in Asheville. Well on the way up I find out they are calling for heavy rain Saturday night in Asheville. Not the plan I had.

I love to camp but camping in the rain sucks! I mean really sucks! I don't like to deal with wet tents and wet period. So I went ahead and stopped in Saluda long enough to eat and then headed on up to Bent Creek.I hung out with the guys Friday night and road all day yesterday.

About 4pm I packed all my stuff and headed home. I didn't even get to the interstate before the rain was coming down! At times I was rolling down I-26 at 40 miles an hour it was raining so hard! Thankful I wasn't dealing with that and a tent! While I was packing other people where getting prepared for the coming rain. I felt sorry for them as I drove. It's one thing to deal with rain and another to deal with downpours!

As far as the riding goes, knowing I was only going to get one day I hit the trails with the guys at 9 am and they headed for the campground for lunch about 11. I continued on and finally made it back to camp at 1. I had enough time to eat and get some more water. Then we all headed back out for another 2 hours. I ended up with 5 plus hours on the bike. I rode about every trail Bent Creek can offer and some of them twice.

I slept good last night, no doubt about it! Now for next weekend. It's looking like I will be heading to Atlanta next week. The kid wants to ride the Olympic course in Conyers GA again. I'm game for that!

I Like Normal.....

And Bar-be-Que!! It seems my new normal the last few weeks and the next few weeks to come will be the mountains! No complaints here, I am enjoying the heck out of it. Yep we went last weekend and I got in a great ride at Bent Creek.


Right now my car is loaded and I am spending the night in Saluda, and eating bar-be-que! Green River Bar-be-Que is my new vice. Plus I can walk to it from the house and then right down the street to a really nice bar. Right back up to the hill to the house.


It won't be a late night I am riding today as soon as I get there and then I am getting up early to ride all day tomorrow. With a quick couple of hours on the bike before I come home Sunday. Saturday night I am staying at the Bent Creek campground with a group, the same group I am riding with tomorrow.


That will be basecamp, although DuPont will be the trail of choice Sunday on the way out of town!

The Motion's ,,,,,,,,,,,,

Yep, we did the beach and had a great time. No golf cart worked out just fine. Actually it was really nice, we ended up riding out of the travel park and exploring the surrounding neighborhoods. That was really fun. Plus we did a bar crawl on the bikes. That worked out great.


It could have been a little warmer but we knew the water would be to cold to swim anyway so no big deal. We will be going back there again. But this week I am heading to the mountains. I need to do the yard work and I might as well spend the night and ride the mountain bike!


Plus I am gonna take the kid and we will see some live music Saturday night. I am looking forward to that! Right now we are in a groove it seems like, we come home on Sunday and throw the suitcases in the corner. Thursday we pack and Friday we hit the road. Next week we are heading to Atlanta again, one of these days I am gonna spend the weekend at the house.

Time To Cull ,,,,,,,,,,,,

The garage! So we are heading to the beach for the weekend and of course we are dragging the camper. Usually we rent a golf cart while we are there. That is the big thing at the campgrounds, everybody has a golf cart to ride around. Of course we always join along. It's a vacation, a trip to relax! Why would you want to walk?


We also try a different campground about every time we go. One of these days we might find the ultimate campground! Until then we search. This time we are staying at the Myrtle Beach Travel Park. First time we have tried it. When I made the reservations I inquired about a golf cart rental, and then I found out they don't allow golf carts!


That's was a shock! But after giving it some thought we decided it would probably be kinda nice not to have to look both ways before we walked anywhere. So what do we do! Well we, as in me, cleaned and got 4 bikes ready. As I was doing that I wondered if everybody had that many extra bikes laying around. These are extra too, I am not taking any of my good mountain or road bikes.


Just bikes we have bought over the last few years. One nice one the wife rides and my commuter beer fetching bike, along with a couple of others for the kids. As I was doing that I looked around and that still left a few extra ones that never get ridden.


Those are the ones that need to be "Culled". I believe it's time to head back up to the bicycle thrift store Trip For Kids. Last time we went I donated about 5 bikes and I now have 3 more that need to go. All this pondering led me to think about how I continue to accumulate so many bikes. Yes we buy a few here and there but then I am always "inheriting" a few also.


It's amazing how many people have a bike laying around that they don't use and are more than willing to get out of the garage. I always here the same story, how they figure I can use it, or might know someone who can. Of course they are usually so old they are of no value to anyone who really rides bikes. But I never have the heart to tell them that. So I end up with extra bikes that need a little TLC and are usually good to go.


                                                      Go straight to the Trips for Kids program!

I Need It ,,,,,,,,

I need a damn break! And this week I will get it. Thursday we are taking a short break at the beach. I am looking forward to it. So far I have only taken 1 day off this year, not that I am saving my days for anything. I just haven't had the need to use them.


Last year we had Cody in Pennsylvania and I was going back and forth every few weeks. I went through my days and a few extra last year. This year the kid is in Georgia and he is coming home every few weeks, instead of me going to Georgia. that works out better.


Besides I liked Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh area was really cool. Atlanta, it sucks! Just ask Cody, he even liked Pennsylvania better. He could ski and had all kinds of outdoor activities right outside of town. It won't be long he will be back in the Carolina's. Not a moment to soon either!


As I talked about Friday I was kinda bummed I didn't make the trip to Illinois but having the kid home for the weekend made up for it. Now follow it up with a beach trip and I should be back in action!

The Bright Side !!!!!

So even though I am not headed to Illinois right now I am still in a good mood. Last week totally sucked! I let work interfere way to much with my personal life. I let one person drive me nuts and then every night I had a hard time sleeping. It just wore me out.


Yes he and I have talked this week and no we are not going to work together anymore. He asked if I would reconsider and he did apologize - I also apologized. But I am a little to far over this to back up now. I might feel a little different in a few months when I see it on my sales report, but that's no big deal. It will all balance out in a few cycles.


With that I have said enough. Time to move on and get back to what's really important in my life. Work does not really even make the list. The family comes first. Speaking of that, Cody is coming home this weekend. If I was gone I would miss him, as I said a few posts ago. I was kinda dreading that. Funny how things work out!


Plus I had a good week on the bike and the weekend looks nice. Yes it will be cold but no big deal. Besides now I have a short week coming up with a few days at the coast to finish it out. I am ready for a break!

Dissapointment ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I hate that word! You only use it when it occurs. Right now after watching the weather for the last few days it looks like my trip to Illinois is gonna be cancelled. I was planning on leaving Friday am and going up it all looks good. EXCEPT, Friday they are gonna get snow showers! Followed by Saturday am with a low of 20 and a high of 40.


Not that bad right? But the problem comes in on Sunday for the return trip, again low 20 and high 40. BUT, rain showers moving east all day. East would be the direction I would be traveling. The cold is not that big of deal but the rain and that type of cold would really suck! Being 700 miles from the house and having no option but to ride in the rain for 12 hours, not fun!


This trip is something I have looked forward to for quit awhile and to now have to opt out just blows. I got my new suit and have had my motel reservations for months. Now I am staying home. Life sucks but it is what it is. Now I just need to find something else to plan!

Glad That's Over ,,,,,,,,,

Glad the week is behind me and we are on to another one. We had inventory Friday and Saturday, I have to work two weekends a year and I just did one. Six months from now we will do it again and then the year is a wrap.


Last week was rather eventful so I am hoping my drama level will drop considerably now. So for now back to riding!


Saturday I spent half the day here at work and the other half in the woods at Sherman Branch. The wife went with a few friends to a dog show so I was clear. It was a little bit muddy but not to bad. I still got in a decent lap under an hour and then went for a short second lap. For second lap these days I like to go to the entrance of the roller coaster section and then head down the hill to the lake loop and then back to the parking lot. It works out great.


Yesterday I decided to head south and I went down to Cheraw State Park. I hadn't been there in a few months and I figured it would be nice and hard packed from all the rain. As in fast! Wrong! with all the wind we had Saturday afternoon the sand was as soft as it could have been. That my friends makes for a very tough ride.


I let the air down as low as I felt I could get away with and hit the trail. When it's that soft you fight for every pedal stroke! Two 7 mile loops and I was beat. It's slow go when you can't carry any speed. Even on the downhills, you had to hit the turns so slow at the bottom you got no benefit from the downhill. Although it was fun, and I got to ride trails I usually don't ride I was tired.


Home and the weekend was done! Now we have the motorcycle trip coming up the end of this week!

Long Week ,,,,,,,,,

99 percent of the time I walk out the door here at work and never give it one thought till the following morning. That's always been one the plus's of my job. No stress! Customers may take it more seriously than I do but I haven't had one die waiting on his stupid lumber.


Well this week has been a bitch! One customer in particular, he and I had to part ways this week. I decided he needs a new lumber salesman. We are in the middle of a job and it hasn't went as well as it could have. The old proverbial saying, when it starts going down hill it just picks up steam. The snowball effect!


I knew when we about came to blows over a mistake from one of suppliers it was time. I lost sleep over this job this week and listened to way to much mouth over this. I usually don't have problems like this but when it happens, it happens. This guy has gotten a little to comfortable chewing people out.


As I said we about came to blows Wednesday. I warned him Monday he needed to watch his mouth, He wasn't going to talk to me the way he was. I think I caught him off guard with that, but he changed his attitude at that moment. Well then it must have bothered him because by the time Wednesday rolled around he really started jacking his jaws and that was it.


I lost it! Like I really lost it! I haven't went off on someone like that in years. I can't even remember the last time I was so mad. He thought he was gonna go over my head and get things done, along with get me fired. Well my boss stood behind me, much to his surprise. So now he has a new lumber yard along with a new salesman.


I hope he's happy! Really happy! Because I know I am. I learned a few things through out this little ordeal. At some point some customers just reach a point that it's no longer worth the effort. When you spend 60 percent of your time on one customer and you have 20 plus! It's time to cut'em loose!


                                                                        Have a good weekend....

Now We Have A Dilemma .................

You see I have always put my kids in front of everything. If they had something to do I have always been there. Never missed a thing! Period they come first! My "Dilemma" is not really a dilemma in the sense that I am gonna miss a game or something like that but I still will be gone.


You see they are both getting older and of course they are starting to have their own interest. It's part of watching them grow. Cody may only be 20 but he has lived on his own now for over a year. He was in Pennsylvania for 10 months and then went straight to Georgia. Of course he comes home a lot and I go see him a lot.


He was home the last 2 weekends and now he will be down south for the next 2 weeks and then he comes back up to go to a wedding. The wedding is the same weekend I am going to Illinois! Not really that big of deal but he won't be back up here for another 2 weeks. Believe it or not that would be the longest period I have ever been apart from one of my kids!


Last year I went to Pennsylvania at least once a month and he came home several times. Of Course Chase still is in high school so I see him everyday. But with Cody I only see him every few weeks. I know sooner or later this gonna happen and of course I am probably letting it bother me more than it should but as I said, my kids come first.


I will still go to Illinois but it's gonna be weird! The wife will be here and of course he will be fine but it just seems weird. The simple solution would be to go to Georgia the following week, but we will be at the beach so that's not gonna happen. I hope he can come down there,,


                                                                  Being a parent is tough..

Best Ride In A While,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So the kid came up from Atlanta, it being Easter and all of course we did the family thing today with the grandma's. But yesterday we rode! Cody brought his bike with him and we went to Sherman yesterday. Now we have ridden twice in the lat month.

Once down south and now here. Plus he has ridden a few more times in Atlanta. I think he might be getting the fever again. I can only hope! I have missed my riding partner the last few years, it would be great if he starts riding again. Now if I can get Chase back on a bike I would be in heaven. I haven't had both ride with me in years.

                                                                           One can only hope!

2 Weeks And Counting ,,,,,,,,,,,,

So my "hamburger trip" is now less than 2 weeks away. I hadn't ridden the Gold Wing in awhile so I drug it out of the garage and rode it a few times this week. I got my nice new yuppie riding suit and new waterproof riding gloves. If the weather goes to shit I will be ready. Again no reason for this ride other than the fact I love to ride and my dad gave me the world's greatest motorcycle capable of making trips like this.

He rode when I was a kid and then did without a bike for years. When he finally got back on a bike his age and health kinda limited him to the rides he could do. I know if he was still here he would be right beside me heading to Illinois. It might have taken a little longer but that would have been fine.                                                    It's gonna be a good hamburger!

I even went and got the bike inspected and the new tag! I never do that early I always wait till the last minute. This time I figured I would get it done and out of the way. Now I don't have to worry about it for another year. About the only thing I have left to do now is clean everything and have it nice and detailed.

Yes I know that is not really a necessity but I like to look good when I head out. Besides when I have the bike all clean and the trailer hooked up you would be surprised how many people will comment on it when you stop. It's a great conversation starter.

I can't wait to get back up into the mid-west. The wide open spaces just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! The farms the people the pace of life the whole thing. Charlotte may not be New York but the pace of life in this area has definitely changed over the last 20 years. Growth is a good thing, it means your economy is strong and it also means I sell more building materials!

But with that comes a cost! A cost that is sometimes hard to see on a daily basis. But when you look back over a 10 year period you can see it no problem. The spread out country area we moved to 25 years ago is now not much different than Charlotte it's self. The congestion is now at our door steps.

                                      Every once in a while I need the wide open spaces!

Glad It's Here ,,,,,,,,,,

I didn't get the day off but I am always glad when I have the weekend. I have said it before and I'll say it again. I am in the building business and thank god we are not open on Saturday. Days like today remind me of that. All the walk-ins we have had today, I would go nuts if I had to deal with that on a regular basis's.


No big plans, just the usual riding. We have everybody coming over Sunday for lunch so I know I will stay close to the house for that ride but tomorrow is open. Don't know where I want to go yet but something will happen. Cody is coming home again so hopefully he will want to ride.


                                                        Have a great weekend.

I Always Wanted One !!!!!

You see, I love my bicycles. I got my first really young. I also got my first motorcycle when I was real young! I like motorcycle riding and racing. I just can't afford to race the dirt bike. Although the way entry fee's for bicycle races keep going up I might as well go back to the dirt bike.


OK, let's get back to the point of my rambling's today. "I Always Wanted" a really neat power ranger suit I just didn't want to spend the money on one. You know what I am talking about, the power ranger suit? You see the motorcycle riders, usually the ones riding the big BMW GS bikes, you see them with the fully matching outfits.


Those are weather proof riding suits. Usually they are made out of corduroy or some other material that is really strong. The pants unzip all the way to the belt and they are really easy to get in and out of. I used to thing they were for the yuppies only! But I must have been envious cause now I have a set!


                                                              "I Always Wanted One"

Time Fly's ,,,,,,,,

And ya' ain't always having fun! We have been really busy lately at work and I just haven't really had time to blog. I have been really active riding and walking, yes I said walking! My shine splints are still bothering me. It really makes me mad too. I want to run and I am ready to run. I plan to let them fully heal Before I try it again.

Plus I have my trip to Illinois coming up fast. I had two friends who were planning on going but now they have both backed out. Do I care, not really. I drove around in a big truck for 5 years by myself and believe it or not I am really looking forward to the solo time. I have the motel booked and I pretty much know which way I plan to go.

I don't plan to take a single map either! I know what exit my motel is at in Illinois off I-70 and that's about all I need to know. I plan to go up through Virginia and West Virginia into Ohio and then across Indiana through Indianapolis. From there it's into Illinois and to the motel. I will spend Saturday at the charity event and then probably go ahead and head out.

I have no ideal where I'll stay Saturday night but who cares. I plan to head straight south down through Kentucky and Tennessee. I want to get down into Mississippi before I start heading east. That will bring me across Alabama and Georgia, through South Carolina and then home.

No GPS, no map, no problem! It's pretty simple really. Ride the motorcycle and enjoy the trip. You can over think trips like this if you let yourself. I take trips like this to keep from thinking.....

Atlanta Again ,,,,,,,,,,,,

First of all I didn't realize it had been a week since the last post but it has. I usually post on the weekend but I was in Atlanta so that didn't happen. Yes I went south and spent the weekend with the kid. It's been a while since my last trip down there, the kid has been coming up more than we have been going down to see him. I can give him gas money and let him do the driving.


I know I used to be a truck driver but now I'm not. Simple as that, I don't enjoy it like I used too. But I did enjoy this trip. The kid is doing well and as I said, it has been a while. We worked on the jeep and it's actually starting to take shape. We put the axle under the front and all we lack are a few bolts and it will be under for good.


It's a lot of work but it will be worth it when we are done. The kid is ready to be done and driving it again. Besides doing that we did a lot of good eating and then finished it off with a mountain bike ride Sunday. We finally made our way over to the former Olympic Mountain Bike course.


We only got to ride half of it, they had one of those "Spartan Races" going on. Of course they were using the trails. We still had a good time. I look forward to going the next time I am down there, I want to see the rest of the trail. I rode ate good and still made it home by 7:30 last night. A good weekend it was....

Awesome !!!!!

Yesterday afternoon I set out for an adventure! With the world's greatest ever, we had to have this no matter what, Monroe by-pass going in a mile behind me. I have had it on my radar. On my I want to ride it and check it out radar. Yesterday was the day.


No they don't have it cut all the way through yet, they are still buying up and moving houses on the west end. but they do have it cut in from the other side of Wingate to a few miles past my house. I had Karen drive me and the mountain bike over to that point and from there I rode. I crossed creeks I had to hike down really steep hills and hike right back up the other sides.


I even got to one creek that was totally impassable and was turning around to find a way around when I ran into a few kids who where on four wheelers. No they weren't supposed to be there but to me I could care less. I was glad they where because they knew the way around! Worked out perfect for me. If they hadn't been there I am not sure I would have found my way around.


Plus with the detour they showed me I got to ride some four wheeler trails I never would have seen. I had to carry the bike up some really steep hills and then I had to make my way down some of the same. I had to use the make shift bridges they have installed for the heavy equipment and had to push a few really rough sections.


Sometimes I would be back in the middle of nowhere and then others I would be right next to neighborhoods. I even came across a few old abandoned houses that no longer have access. One was really creepy. I went of the trail and rode up to it the whole time it felt like someone was watching me. I was even scared to walk up on the porch. It was creepy! I walked around the house and left.


It won't be on my list for return visit. Call me a wuss, I don't care. It just had that vibe about it. In a way it looked like it was just moved out of but in a way it looked like it had been empty for years. Then On the front porch where 2 boxes from Direct TV, They looked like they had just been dropped off. The hadn't been rained on yet and would have been if they had been there 3 days before.


But how the delivery truck got down there I don't have a clue. Why they where there is still kinda weird. The address was correct as far as the road. But again this house looked old, really old. I threw them up under the overhang so they wouldn't get wet then left.


Anyway I made my way all the way to Wingate and then rode in the ditch down the side of 74 for a few hundred yards and took a side ride back to Wingate. Ate lunch at Mcdonalds and then found my way back to the by-pass. Took it back to 200 and rode the road back to the house. I was gone a little over 3 hours and had a good ride.


I will give it a few months and then do it again. Sooner or later I will be able to ride the whole thing. It's kinda neat to see the progress.

One Hurts, One Don't .........

Go figure! So I ran Thursday and did my four miles and felt great. Then the next day my shins were killing me. Actually they still are! Last night we went skiing and that didn't even bother my legs. I figured I would wake up this morning and would be in pain. Nope! None at all!

Yes my shins are still sore but my legs feel great. We had a great time last night and it was fun. The weather has been a little off this year, kinda warm and a lot of rain in the mountains. Where last year we skied several times this year that was the first.

Last year my youngest Chase was just learning to snowboard and he kinda had a tough time. This year the kid was doing it like an old pro! I was so proud of him last night! He went up the mountain the first time and came down with only one fall. Every trip was like that. It was like he had been practicing all summer or something.

I just knew he was gonna have a hard time but I was way wrong! I was wrong enough I think I am gonna take a day off work this week and take him back up for the day. That way we won't have to deal with all the people. We can go to the top and won't have all the traffic to deal with. Last night there was a lot of folks.

A lot of them who seemed to have no ideal how to ski. You tend to have that on a weekend with all the groups who come up. During the week it's not like that. Chase was even talking about the need for us to go out west and ski. He wants the three of us to go. Somehow or another we are gonna have to make that happen. Cody would love it and of course I would.

What a difference a year makes. Plus last night of all places we ran into a friend of Chases from church camp. The kid now goes to Appalachian State and works at Sugar Mountain part time. Now Chase has decided he wants to go to App..

                                                 Funny how things work.....

Got My Shoes !!!!!

It's been a few days sense I went running. My shins where really bothering me so I decided to give them a break for a week. As much as I enjoy running I don't enjoy running in pain! It's taken a week but my shins are feeling  great.


So today is a trail run. Not sure how far I plan to go but I have a nice 4 mile route that I really want to do. So I plan to run today and then ski Saturday night. My legs are gonna be killing me! But what the hell, Ya got'a play when ya have the chance...

Worth The Trip ,,,,,

That was the thought going through my head about the time I made it in the woods. I went up the first climb and got my blood flowing. Made a few turns and I was happy. Lake Norman State Park is the best trail system we have in the whole Charlotte area. It's fast fun rolls great and pretty much can be ridden by any level of rider.


They have harder trails and they have easy trails. Even the easy trails are fun, you can go as fast as you want. Like I said it's a little to far for me to make during the week but when I have the time on the weekend it's at the top of the list. I always tend to get in a rut and ride the same places all the time. I like change.


So far 2016 has been a great year for me. We are only 8 weeks into it and it's going great. Work my sales are up, we have already been to the mountain 3 times and are planning to go again. the kids are happy. The wife is happy! Sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses.


I actually did that, valentines day we had the flowers in the house. I smelled them! Yep, they did smell good! I like the candy better though. It goes great with a beer! Chocolate, beer and bicycles, I am hooked up.


                                                  Simple things make me happy.

Short Long Trip,,,,,,

I don't make the trip very often because it's on the verge of being to far away. I decided to do Lake Norman yesterday instead of the mountains. I usually only do it a couple of times a year. From my house it's 65 miles to get there. It used to be 85 but now that 485 is open it's a little closer.

When it was 85 miles it was just to far. I can be in Asheville in a 150 miles so if I am gonna ride that far I might as well do the other 60 and be in the hills. But now it's a little closer , still a little far but now it's all freeway.

Anyway I went and rode everything, 30 miles later and I was headed home. Guess what it's now 8am Sunday and I am about to head right back up. I had so much fun and enjoy the place so much I am going back. It will never make the list for a ride during the week but it's moving up the weekend list!

Somewhere Somehow ..........

I will ride a bike this weekend. I had planned to head to DuPont for the day, but now that the day is here I don't know if I want to spend that much time in the car.


Speaking of the car, I went out and started it this morning to warm up. Came back out 10 minutes later and it had ran out of gas! I guess when the computer says I have 24 miles of gas left it really means I am out! So I drove the truck..


Once I have it running again I can go do something. Last night I went to Sherman, one of our local trails and rode. I took off and found that I just wasn't really enjoying the ride. My head wasn't into it. About the time I came out of the "Roller Coaster Loop" I almost went to the car but decided it was only about 8 more miles I might as well ride. It would be over in less than an hour so why not.


I was glad I did, not long after that I found I was enjoying myself. The trail was in really good shape considering the rain we had a few nights before. I was sticking the turns and rolling pretty quick even though I wasn't pushing it. Sure enough I was done before I knew it and was ready for more. I came out the end and made a right and went right back in.


No water be damned! Yea, once again I had no water. I can manage to load everything but a damn water bottle for some reason. Anyhow I went straight to the back and redid the "Lake Loop" and the finish one more time. Then called it a night.


A few good beers and a good Kentucky game and now it's Friday. Now where to ride!

Motor or other wise ..........

I touched on this yesterday, my motorcycle trip. I don't really ride as much as I would like (the motorcycle) with the bicycle and running and everyday life there is just not enough time. So when I get the chance to do a big ride like this one coming up I jump at it. It's always neat to see other parts of the country.


I wish I could do long trips on my bicycle but obviously that requires a longer time period. To do 1400 miles on a bicycle I would need at least 21 days. That would be an average of around 70 a day not counting any rest days. One day when I retire I will do a big tour but not now.


With the motorcycle it's like I can cheat a little bit and still see more than most people. Plus most people think I am crazy to take off and ride so many miles in a 3 day period but the same people would really look at you like you were crazy if you where gonna ride a bicycle that far. No matter how long you planned on taking.


I just happen to be fortunate enough to have a motorcycle capable of such trips. Honda Gold Wing! The worlds greatest touring motorcycle/sport bike. Yes I said sport bike, you would have to ride one to understand what I mean by that. Most people can't ride a true sport bike as well as a seasoned Gold Wing rider can make a Wing go. Believe me I have ridden with crowds or came up on sport bike riders who thought they where gonna leave me to know this.


It's always fun to hurt there feelings! Plus I am usually pulling a trailer when this happens. Makes it even funnier! Point is I love to do long rides and can't wait for this one. It's not a nationally advertised ride. It's kinda of low key! Usually they only have about 400 people show up. This year there is one guy registered coming from Oregon! Yep, I am riding 700 one way he has 2600 to go!!

Mid Week Blues ,,,,,,,,

Also known as a hangover! Yep I went with the wife last night to Chili's and the Blue Moon beer was flowing. Then not having good sense I drank 2 more when I got home. (:note to self) Do not drink during the week.


On to other things. I have a big weekend coming up before long. One I've been planning for a while now. The second weekend of April I am riding my motorcycle to Illinois to get a hamburger. Yep, 700 miles to eat lunch. They say the burgers are that good!


Actually it's a charity event, people come from all over the country to eat on Saturday at lunch. Then they have a banquet Saturday night. Sunday everybody heads home. Simple as that, I will end up with about 1400 miles in 3 days and get to see a whole lot of country.


I haven't been in Illinois in about 15 years. I plan to head up through Ohio and cut across Indiana to get there. Coming home I will go south across Kentucky and cut across Tennessee. Right now I have one friend who is going and another who might go. Either way I am going.


I usually like to do trips like this by myself. So traveling with someone will be kinda different for me. I like traveling with the wife but other people tend to get on my nerves. After 5 years driving a truck and doing it like I wanted it's tough to travel with people.


Hopefully the weather will be good, at that time of year it's always questionable....

Of Course !!!!!

Yep, I ran! I went to my favorite hideout, Monroe Country Club. Right now with the cold they are closed. All the greens are covered and they are just waiting on the weather to come through. Yep once again we are getting some type of winter weather. They have been putting down brine on the roads for two days now.

It's supposed to start around midnight but not get to bad till sometime tomorrow afternoon. Remember, all it takes for Charlotte to shut down is one inch! I have my fingers crossed. Plus today is Valentines Day and today will be the day everybody is out and about. Believe it or not there will be people who will stay home from work tomorrow just because they are calling for it. Welcome to the south!

Back to the running. I love going there when the place is closed It's like my own private playground. Yesterday I ran the cart path on the back nine and that gives me 2-1/2 miles. Not my longest run but it sure felt good to be out in the cold. It's not often I have to wear gloves the whole time I run. Yesterday I did!

Today will be another run! As I have said before I enjoy running the same trails I have been riding all these years. Going backwards against the bikes make the trails totally different. Run Forest run..

Humm,,,,,,,,,,,,,

OK, so no the Panthers didn't win the Superbowl. Not really sure they even realized they where supposed to start playing when the coin dropped! You probably watched it, they sucked! Now we move on.

Before the game though I went for a trail run. My longest yet! I went to our local park Francis Beatty with the intent of just doing a short 3 mile run. One hour and 15 minutes later I had ran the whole mountain bike race loop including the new double black diamond section. 7 miles total! The funniest thing is I enjoyed it. It was awesome, I just found a rhythm and kept going. Never was I hurting or ready to quit.

Then I decided I miss my mountain bike and took it to work twice this week. Not sure if the running is making it harder to ride or what effect it has on my riding but I swear I think I am a little slower than I want. I am not worried about a long ride, I can ride all day. But trying to knock out a quick hard lap seems to kill my legs right now. My times are just a little off but it just seems to hurt more than usual.

Not that I am gonna change anything. I enjoy running to much. Although I don't think it's changing anything when I step on the scales. I can tell it's helping my core muscle group but that's about it. I am just in it for the fun. It's just another reason to spend time in the woods. 

So that's about it for my week. Now I sit here waiting for the weather to warm up just a little bit to do something outside. We don't get cold like this very often. It sucks.... 

Thank Goodness ,,,,,,,,,

So if you live in the Charlotte area you might be aware they are finally putting in the Monroe By-pass. You know the road that will take traffic off of Hwy7 74 and around Monroe and the 20 plus stoplights that slow progress for all the beach traffic.

Yes Monroe needs a by-pass but not the one they are building. The one the state is building does'nt even start from 485 and only goes to Wingate. Really lame! Any and all the locals know we have Hwy 218, the real by-pass. If you can't tell I do not support the by-pass.

It was voted on and the land east of Monroe sold to the state more than 20 years ago. By some very wealthy people in Union county. They made a lot of money off this and have been pushing this through for years. they never took into consideration the projected growth of the area and still refuse to account for the growth.

Enough of my ranting, I can't change it and it's coming. About two months ago they finally started construction and they are moving at a really fast rate. All this affects me because it goes within a mile of my house. We are on the outside of it and that's a good thing.

My only problem with the construction has been the fact that right after it was started we received a letter stating that they had decided to close the road behind me. A road that was originally planned to go over the by-pass. I wrote e-mails and made phone calls to the numbers and e-mails provided, and found out that I and everybody else was doing the same.

After about 3 weeks and no response beyond the one person I talked to. I just assumed that it was going to be that way. Then Friday we got another letter stating that after re-consideration they where gonna go ahead and build the bridge! For once it actually feels like we won something. I even talked to my buddy who owns the store at the other end of the closed road and he said it's been killing his business. He was calling like every other day.

Why did this matter to me so much? Because for me that was and is my main route to get to Monroe on my bike. Without that road I am forced to ride my very busy and hilly road to get to hwy 601 and then ride it for several miles. When I used to be able to head out the back road with hardly any traffic and then only be on 601 for less than a mile.

So "Thank Goodness" plans changed! It just feels like we won something. For once the people were listened too. The only thing that sucks, they are behind on building the bridge now. Where they have already started building all the other bridges all over the county they still haven't even brought in any equipment to start this one. They had decided long before that they had no plans to build it so they never even had it on the schedule. Now they are behind and it's gonna be at least a year before it's done. But at least it's gonna get done.....  

Super Time !!!!!!!!!!!!

We had plans, Plans change! Sometimes ya' got'a do what ya' got'a do. We where headed to the mountains again but a friend of ours mother passed away. She was 96 and pretty much healthy her whole life. I can only hope my story plays out the same. So we are now going to Charleston for a funeral tomorrow.




I like Charleston, I just wish we where going for a different reason. But we are not going for us, we are going for our friend. Enough said...




This week has been run and walk. I have stayed active every night this week but no bike. The weather has made sure that wasn't gonna happen. Every time the trails start to dry out we get more rain. Like I said the other day, I don't like to clean bikes any longer. I thought about going to Atlanta and seeing the kid and stay for the superbowl. I have Monday off, but that's a long way from Charleston.


I do want to ride but it will be the road bike this week. South Carolina has been calling my name! I like the wide and empty roads. Plus I have a friend who wants to try out the area. Southbound skinny wheels down.....


By the way the Panthers are gonna win the Superbowl.........

Doing Loops.........

We came home and I took the dog straight to the golf course for a good walk. My legs where tired from the mountains but I still wanted to be outside. A man can only take so much family, just kidding,,,


Yesterday we had way above normal temps and I wanted to take advantage of it. It was like 70 degrees. I came home and changed into my running clothes and headed back to the golf course. Did my stretches and took off.


The hardest part for me is the first half mile! Once I get beyond that I am good. Last night it was a little tough! As I already said, it was 70 degrees. No that's not hot at all. But when you have that right behind a whole string of 50 or less days. It can seem really hot! Makes me give thought to the 90 plus days we will have before long.


Once I excepted the fact that heat will suck I kept putting one foot in front of the other and did my 2 laps, 5k. Every time I do this I smile from ear to ear when I get done. It just feels good to know I just ran 3.1 miles. Time is now down to 27 minutes!


Sometime over the last few weeks I have managed to knock a minute a mile out of my time. Now if I can just get rid of 15 more pounds I could probably drop a few more minutes. No particular goals just having fun! Now if the weather will get right I can get the bike out.




By the way going to the mountains over the weekend I was a little worried about my lack of riding and all my running. Lately there has been more running than riding. Turns out it must be a help. I did a lot of climbing and felt great!

Plans Change,,,,,,

So we came up Friday night and I went to bed with all kinds of riding plans dancing through my head. Although I noticed a lot of snow still on the ground I just assumed the trails would be immune to the snow. As I slept my mind decided to give me a few things to think about.

I woke up yesterday morning and the first thing I did was go to the state park website for Dupont and sure enough the trails were closed! So me trying to be better about respecting the trails, and the hard work that people have put into the trails. I decided to head to Bent Creek, those trails drain so well you can usually ride them right after a rain storm and they are still good.

The only problem is they didn't get rain last week they got snow! A lot of snow to be exact! So then I was reduced to riding the gravel roads through the park. At least the roads that where clear enough to ride. I ended up riding a little bit of single track but the majority of it was in terrible shape. One side of the mountain would be clear already and the other still had a foot of snow on it.

Several times I ended up riding a road for a few miles only to turn the corner and meet another snow bank that was unrideable. Although the woods where full of people the gravel roads where the only option. I ended up riding for 3 hours and ended up with a road ride back to the car.

It turned out to be a great day and the temps were perfect. I guess everybody had cabin fever, like I said the woods where full. I had never seen that many people at Bent Creek before. It sure beat doing nothing, that's for sure!

One thing that was kinda funny. Yesterday as I came out of the woods from one of the only ride able trails I pulled out and turned the corner and coming up the gravel road all by himself in the middle of nowhere, was a kid about 10 years old. A talkative little fellow too! He came up and wanted to know if I had found any ride able trails. From there we talked about the trails and it was really clear he definitely knew his way around. We chatted and I finally asked if he was riding by himself?

He was with his mom who was running the single track trail, She went through the woods and he had came around the mountain on the gravel road. She was about to come out of the trail right where we were at. He was a really smart little dude and I enjoyed the conversation. He had a Trek 24in mountain bike and it fit him perfect. You could tell it had been ridden too!

He said he came over to Bent Creek with his mom all the time and road everything while she ran. They tried to come at least 3 times a week and sometimes they would do Dupont. He was proud off his bike and loved to ride. I ended up talking to him for about 10 minutes before his mom finally came out of the woods. we said goodbye he was off up the road again. Mom running beside him.

Yes the runners definitely had a better go of it yesterday. They could run on top of the packed snow where I was cutting through it. Made me wish I brought my running shoes! Next time I will that's for sure.

I'll Figure It out ,,,,,,,,,,

Back to Dupont tomorrow, I know one route and think I have another. I figure after I make about 3-4 trips up there I will have a pretty good Ideal of how to get around. I don't know exactly how I plan to do it but I do know about a few different roads that run from side to side through the whole park.


With that little bit of knowledge I plan to hit certain things on both sides of the place tomorrow. Then end with the world's greatest downhill, "Ridgeline" at least right now it seems to be the best downhill. Plus it's the only downhill I know right now. Next week I might have a new favorite trail.


The wife and her friends are doing the Biltmore House and a wine tour tomorrow, so I have all day to play. No time limit just time. My plan is to stay in the low ring and just pedal. No race pace just a fun exploratory type pace. I even have my backpack ready and the temps are gonna be perfect.

Running !!!!!!!

So I have been kinda running now for a few weeks. Actually I started the run thing back before Thanksgiving. For a reminder that was November, back when we were getting extra rain. Now we are just getting regular rain. Plus the snow!


Anyway it's been a slow, really slow progress! To be honest I have thought about just stopping the whole process several times. Just chalking it up too the fact I am getting older. BUT,,, every time I want to throw in the towel I realize that "If" I give up now the next time I want to do something different it will be hard too.


If I quit now the next project will be even easier to quit. I don't want to be a quitter! That make any sense to you? To me it's clear as clear can be! I might be getting older but I can handle it. A few years ago Chase did a few foot races and I managed to make it through them but I got shin splints really bad. Then school started and the running fell off.


I did manage to run the Cooper River Bridge Run and I did really well. But after that I quit! 5 years ago! Fast forward to this year in the Charlotte area, and all the rain! Plus I am finally old enough that I really don't like to clean bicycles after a mud ride that I could've just skipped. I needed something else to do.


Usher in the "Running"! I have had shine splints several times and I finally figured out how to deal with them. Maybe later, after I get several more miles in my legs I won't have to worry about it. But right now I am staying off pavement! As long as I run the unpaved nature trails and the mountain bike trails when they are dry I am fine.


Ten minute miles are where I am and I don't really want to go any harder than that right now. I like being able to get a rhythm going and just kinda being in the moment! I like it when I am just shuffling along and thinking about everything going on. I don't want to be running and have to think about my breathing or my heart rate. I just want to run! Being able to trail run is an even bigger plus!


The hardest part for me to deal with has been learning to suffer through the hard part. Believe me, 20 years ago I didn't have any problem running or running hard. My personal best for a 5k was 18:10, that's moving! I even got a medal for that. Wrong age group, but that's another story.


Point is, it's been hard!! I started and a mile was tough. Then I started doing 2 miles out and then walk back the same 2 miles. Now I have done a 4 mile trail run, that was an accident by the way, and am doing at least 3 miles every time I run now. I still love my bike and plan on riding Dupont State Forest this weekend. But I look forward to the dry trails this year.


                    It really gives you a new perspective of the local trails, running them...

Heading Out ...........

Yep today will be a mountain bike ride. 40 miles south of me we have my favorite hardly ever ridden trails in Cheraw State Park. Sweet sandy single track! The more rain the better, the colder the better. It's a 7 mile loop and it really is an all weather trail.

The location kills it as far as traffic goes, But for the lucky people of the area who choose to use it, they are hooked up! If it was any closer to the Charlotte area it would probably get way more traffic but that's the way it goes. I am just thankful I am as close to it as I am. When the rest of Charlotte is sitting at home crying about the wet trails I head south.

Like I have said before, it's in the middle of nowhere, awesome! The locals probably wish I would quit talking about it, you know. Keep the secret! Last week when I went down I counted the entries in the logbook. Since November there had been 34 sign-ins. That's it! Two and a half months and 34 people had used the trails.

The craziest part is the condition of the trail. The 34 who use it must be really dedicated because it's in top shape right now. The whole loop is clear and raked. Yep raked, it's the sand hill region and it's sand. The pine trees are the problem down that way. The needles cover the trail and pine cones.

They are not a problem to ride on, but they make the trail hard to follow sometimes. I have been there enough times I know how to go but a new user would have a problem in some sections. I know that sounds weird but you really need to see the trail and the area to understand. The forest are totally different than the Charlotte area. I like change and always look forward to going south every time I go.

Have a good day.... Go out and play..  

It's Official !!!!!!!!!!

The southern regions of NC are officially shut down! It started sometime after midnight and we now have about an inch on the ground with more coming. It's awesome, freezing rain and sleet! All to continue through out the day.

                                                                Life is good!

The best part of these southern storms, they come and go as fast as a rain storm. We will have snow and sleet today and tonight followed by the same tomorrow. Sunday the sun will be back and the temps right back above freezing with everything gone by Monday. Monday it will be right back to normal. Like nothing ever happened.

The only bad part will be for the people who end up loosing power for a few days. That always sucks, hopefully we don't make that list. But if we did I did my part and went out last night and filled the kerosene tank. If we lost power we still have heat. Plus I have the camper and it has heat so we would be hooked up!

Have a good day and stay safe, wherever you are...

Sliding ,,,,,,,,,,

Right along! Yep just "Sliding" right along. With the weather forecast we might really be "Sliding" tomorrow evening. Charlotte-Monroe area is projected to get 1-3 inches of snow. For all my loyal readers from the northern regions, if I have any such readers. That amount will completely shut down the entire region. Not just slow down, shut down.


Every thing will close the grocery stores will be swamped tonight and milk will be scarce! As I am typing this the guy in the desk beside me is talking about his wife already freaking out about going to the store after work today! No I am not making this up! It's Thursday morning and I am in the building supply business, we are slow so I am doing my blog.


We are slow because people are already slowing down. Being from Kentucky and remembering the 3rd grade. When we had a wall of windows in my class. We used to go to school when it snowed and then we would have to watch out the windows all day as it would snow! It was torcher!! I still get a kick out of the way the south handles snow.


If we get any amount of snow I will be out and about! Hell I am looking forward to it! The truck has plenty of gas and four wheel drive. Plus both cars are front wheel drive. Bring it! Yesterday I even got the rare treat of riding in the snow and sleet. I brought my bike and hit the local trail on the way home. It was a little more muddy than I would have preferred but with the freeze thaw deal, all trails are like that right now.


It was neat, I had snow one minute hitting me in the face and the nest sleet. Doesn't happen often in this area. If we do get any accumulation I will be headed back to Cheraw. Looking forward to it, plus if it started tonight I know I would have to take tomorrow off. I might have the truck and cars capable of getting out. But getting to work is another story.....