That Was Fun !!!!!!!!!!!

As you know, I have talked about it all summer. I just haven't had the urge to ride my mountain bike since early May. More like I haven't had the urge to drive anywhere to ride my mountain bike. I have just gone out the end of the driveway and done the road bike thing for the last several months.

Well last night I came home from work and just felt like loading up! I got out the bike and loaded up the Blazer and headed to one of the better local trails. Sherman Branch was calling my name! I guess I just needed a break cause I swear I literally was laughing out loud!

It took me the better part of half a lap, about 5 miles of bouncing off of trees and running of the trail before I found my groove again! It was funny and sad all at once. BUT... Once I found my groove again and got my head in the game, I was focused and rolling! Mister momentum is the best riding buddy you could ever want.

All I needed was a few miles and a few smiles to make my evening. Four months of road riding and nothing to do with the mountain bike went right out the window. I found the enjoyment of being in the woods again. Now I want to ride all those local trails that I know ever hump bump and root or rock on. I think I have been away long enough now to miss all of them!

Don't worry the road bike is not gonna be parked, I have a ride planned for Sunday. But I also have plans to ride with a few friends Monday morning in the woods. I started lining that up on the way home last night. I came home with a smile on my face, maybe driving to ride isn't such a big deal after all. A break was just what I needed!!!

                                                        I swear I love bicycles...........

Or maybe I just love the freedom and places a bike will take you. Plus I rode the motorcycle back and forth to work all week. Overall I guess I had a good week. I had the wind in my face every where I went all week! The motorcycle may be "motorized" but it still only has 2 wheels.....

                                     Have a good holiday and see ya on Tuesday........

Lazy Night ,,,,,,,,,

Last night was a "Lazy Night". I came home from work and helped the wife fix dinner, from there it was the couch and a short nap. Dinner was served and then I made my way to the garage. I did a little cleaning and then I decided I needed to at least go to the country club for a walk.

I loaded up the dog and off we went. Then we stayed till it was way dark, the club house was empty and we were the only ones left. That was a nice evening. I came home and took a shower and hit the bed. Tonight I will ride.......

Ride and Hike ,,,,,,,,,,,

Sometimes I do things that about halfway through I think "why am I doing this". Last night I had one of those moments. I came home took a quick 10 minute nap and then out the door I went. As I said I planned to work on my mileage for this week, I wanted to get an early start this week. I have my mountain trip planned and now I might have something else planned for the first week of October that will require a nice high level of fitness.

                                                More on that later....

So last night I went for a ride, I was pedaling along enjoying the nice evening minding my own business. All of a sudden some dip shit decided to pass me with traffic coming. Scared the hell out of me! He was driving this nice little convertible and had the top down. Of course I yelled a few nice words in his direction. He shot me the bird and kept going. Made me really mad!

The funny part is after I yelled at him I stood up and started pedaling really hard. Like I had a chance to catch him! I can laugh about it now but then I guess I thought I was gonna catch him... LOL... He was going 50 miles an hour and I was gonna chase him down on my bicycle! Oh well, I guess I can count that as a wind sprint or something. No I never did catch him or see him again, but I am on the lookout now!

I did go by the high school and saw my buddy Kelly for awhile, he was there for a tennis meet. His daughter is playing this year. From there I started heading home and decided to checkout the bridge replacement on Hwy 200. The road has been closed for 2 months now and I figured they might be getting close to being done. Not! I rode to the bottom of that long ass hill only to find the bridge no where near done!

This is where I made the choice that I was soon second guessing. I could turn around and ride back up the hill and add about 3 miles to my ride or I could walk across this 10in wide steel beam. It was their make shift footbridge to get from side to side. It had a steel cable for a hand rail and that was about it. So I look at my options and said why not I can cross this bridge.

I picked up my bicycle and threw it on my shoulder and started walking, from one side looking at the other it didn't look that far or high. About halfway across it looked a lot different! I found myself about 15 feet in the air standing on a 10in wide steel I beam with a bicycle on my shoulder and a really fast and deep looking creek under me!

At that point turning around wasn't really an option! I still had probably about 30 feet to go! That steel cable handrail I mentioned wasn't very sturdy either! The further you got to the middle the looser it became. That's about the time I had my "why am I doing this" moment!

Yes I made it but I won't be doing it again anytime soon.... The older I get the more I realize I might be scared of heights, or maybe I am old enough to know what it feels like to hit the ground!!!!

Back On Track,,,,

I guess that's what you could call it. I got in my 40 last Thursday and then I did a 35 Saturday am followed by a 30 miler on Sunday. 105 miles total for the week, followed by a trail run Sunday night. I was beat, no problem sleeping that night. Trail running ain't no joke!

My legs aren't the problem it's my core, my mid section is sore! But damn I had fun! The dog and I ran through the woods and she had a blast. It's funny I haven't tried to train her or anything but she will stay right on the trail and just go. She seems to know how to follow the most used trail. We can come to an intersection and she will always follow the path that seems to get the most use.

Every once in awhile she will miss it but not often. Point is it took me a week to get back in the grove but I am there. Now tonight I will start working on this weeks mileage. As I said I want to hit the mountains ready to ride!

Sunday I did meet a new friend, a guy that lives around the corner from me found me on Strava and he had sent me an email. He called Saturday and we meet first thing Sunday. I usually don't get up that early but to be honest I am going to try to do it more often. Especially on Sunday morning, we got in 30 miles and where back at home by 9am.

I liked that, after a day around the house I was ready to go for a run. I usually only do one thing a day but when you get in a ride that early it's easy to slip back out in the evening. Plus the traffic was next to nothing and it was still nice and cool out. Next week will see more of that.

You Better Use Your Head First ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So yesterday I had one of the worst days at work I have had in a long time! I went home in a really, really, REALLY, bad mood! I get home and plan to mow the yard, so I go out to the garage to get a beer before I start and I take a few minutes to look around.

The damn garage is a disaster! There is crap everywhere and none of it is in the right spot! The majority of the mess belongs to my kid! Yep, the same "great" kid I was bragging on the first of the week. The more I looked around the more I became furious!

I have asked him and told him 10 times to clean up his mess and get the garage straight. He hasn't done it yet! Then to top it off he was at the creek, he could have been home doing what I ask him to do. The more I looked the madder I got, I was just waiting for him to come home.

I even tried to call him, no answer! After another beer I went ahead and got the mower and got started. As I was rolling around the yard I was steady thinking about work and why my job has to be so aggravating. As I have said before I sell building supplies and the remodeling end of my sales would be the cause of 99 percent of my problems.


Mainly the fact that the majority of the people who do remodel work don't really know what they are doing. I really feel sorry for a lot of homeowners because of this, and yesterday that was the headache I had to deal with. Long story short I was furious when I came home!

About that time it dawned on me that if I didn't get my head right I was about to lay into my son for no more reason than I had a bad day! Yes he needs to clean the garage and pick up tools instead of leaving them laying. Yes we needed to talk about that. But yesterday was not the time! As I have said before and yes I mean it every time, I have good kids!! They don't get in trouble and I trust them.

They talk to me and we are friends as well as father and son. There is a difference! If I want to keep the relationship I have with my kids I need to think before I blow my top! Especially when it's not there fault when I have a bad day. The funny thing is about the time I realized how close I came to being a total ass to my son for no reason I calmed down and started to enjoy the moment!

The sun was shining and the grass is green! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the bills are paid! I have a trip planned in a few weeks to ride my bike and the following week I am going back to the beach. Life is good!! Real good! Chase starts high school next week and Cody is in college now! I have a job and I brought it home with me!!

                                                       Big mistake!!!!!!

When the kid got home we had a nice chat about his first week in school. He was in a great mood and was talking and telling me all about it. We talked about his Jeep and when we are going to order his new wheels and a few other things. In the course of the conversation I did mention he needed to pick up the garage and then moved on to something else. I didn't harp on it.

The wife cooked dinner and we ate. The evening turned out to be really good! Yet it came so close to being the total opposite. Funny thing is, while we where in the house getting dinner ready Cody stayed out in the garage and picked things up. He did it without me being a jackass about it............

I am glad I woke up and didn't let my emotions ruin a great evening with my kids. It came so close to being a disaster and it would have all been my fault! As a parent "You Better Use Your Head First"..... You only get one go at raising your kids, you better make the best of it.....

Not As Bad As I Thought !!!!!!!!!!

It didn't hurt "As Bad As I Thought", it would. With the mountain bike trip planned and finalized yesterday I know I need to get back on the bike quick! So I went home yesterday and instead of hitting the couch for my afternoon nap I changed and went straight out the door.

40 miles later I was home and happy! Now I feel like I am back on track, I will get my hundred this week and then again the following week. The crowd I am going with I will be fine, last night just made me feel better about it. Nobody likes to be the weak link. It won't be me!

Today is gonna be short, we are busy and it's already lunch so that's the short sweet version today.......

Time To Roll !!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, since I "started" my vacation, meaning packing and getting the camper and yard and every thing else ready the week before. My riding has taken a back seat! Meaning I rode like 2 short rides the week before we left and unless we are going to the mountains I don't take my bikes on vacation. I like to look at my vacations as rest periods for my legs.

We came home Saturday and Sunday I finally got the mountain bike out and went down to Cane Creek. That was the first mountain bike ride I had done since early May. My summer has been road bike only so it was kinda nice to be back on it. I plan to make that more of a habit this coming fall. It was nice to be back in the woods.

Point of this post is the fact that I basically took 2 full weeks of the bike! Now I am paying for it! Before I went on vacation I was pretty much riding around a hundred miles a week. Week in week out, consistently that was my average. Guess what?

Two weeks will pretty much ruin any and all of the benefits I might have gained from all that effort. My ride Sunday was painful. My legs where burning like they haven't done in a long time. I can't remember the last time they hurt that bad. Pain sucks!!

So now I have my fall mountain bike trip planned in 3 weeks and about zero fitness at this point. Now I better pick it up, if I don't I will be hurting bad about the time I start climbing day in and day out. I like the fall trip so guess what!

                                                       It's "Time To Roll".

What Would You do ,,,,,,,,,,

For my kids! Once again the reaction I have received from some of my co-works just amazes me! When they found out what I did while I was on vacation for my youngest kid they just shake their head and say "no way". How they could say that just makes me shake my head! Everyone of them have kids too..

                   One day their kids will be gone and they are gonna regret not doing more. Not me!!

OK, for what I did. At the very beginning of the summer my youngest son Chase asked to go to the Linkin Park concert. I told him yea, will go. He was as happy as I had scene him in a long time. School had been out for a week and he had plans for his first concert. His buddies where going and life was good.

Well as the summer rolled along and we made plans for our beach trip nobody bothered to check when exactly the concert was. About a week before the trip Chase came down stairs and pointed out the fact that we had planned to be gone the week of the concert! All his buddies where asking him where we were gonna sit. That's when he realized what was up!

Of course Karen and I had already made our plans through work and couldn't change them. At first I told him "sorry, we would go to the next concert he wanted to go to", he didn't fuss but you could tell he was upset. I told him it was our mistake and how as adults we had to work around other peoples vacations and it wasn't as simple as just move the dates.

                                           He shook his head and understood.

                                         I didn't sleep worth a damn that night!

If I haven't mentioned lately I have 2 of the best damn kids anyone could ever have. Cody being the oldest, sometimes it seems he gets more attention than his younger brother. Chase never asks for anything and when he does I try to make it happen. You do that for good kids, I should have made more of an effort to make sure we made the concert.

          He didn't complain he didn't cry, he shook his head and said OK. That's what good kids do!

So instead of being a dumb ass dad and just going about my business and not giving it any thought I decided we would drive back to Charlotte last Tuesday and go to the show. Wednesday we could be back at the beach by noon..

The next morning I told the wife what the plan was and she didn't even hesitate. We ordered the tickets and that night told Chase the plan. That was one happy kid! He was on the phone and his X-Box telling his buddies he was going.

Well last Tuesday came and we came home and went to the show, we had a blast! Wednesday came and we where back at the beach by noon......

                                                    I'd do it again tomorrow..........

                                     That's what you do when you have good kids........

We made a memory my kid he will never forget! Neither will I.....

Back In Action,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I know I have probably used that title before but every time I get "Back" it just fits. We had our week at the beach and enjoyed the whole thing! Every last bit of it! Now the next day off will be Labor Day, none to soon.

We spent the week in south Myrtle Beach, at Ocean Lakes Campground. The camper did fine, it always does. I could live in the thing year round if I had too. It just works. As far as the campground goes it was OK, obviously it works just fine for most people but for us it was a little on the "huge" side. Way to many people and not near enough beach. We didn't realize how much more narrow the beach is on the south end than the north end. We hadn't been to south Myrtle in years and it will probably be years before we go back.

The combination of such a narrow beach and a massive campground means you end up with the most crowded beach I have ever been to! If you weren't out on the beach by 9am it was hard to find a spot. Then even if you were there and had a spot you ended up with people damn near in your lap. Not my cup of tea!

If you notice the little picture to the right at the top of the page you can see what kind of beach we prefer! The kind with no one around for miles. Granted that picture was taken on the South Core banks so it's not what you will find anywhere in the Myrtle Beach area but still North Myrtle is a lot better!

So I guess you could say "we came we saw we went", and now we know. Nuff' said.............

You know what they say,,,, any day away from the office is still better than being in the office. I love vacations...

Break Time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So we were busy yesterday and I never found the time to get on here. Today has been about the same but not as bad, I am trying to get all my stuff done before I get out of here today. Reason being!!!!

                                        IT"S VACATION TIME AGAIN.....................

By tomorrow noon I will be at the beach with a week of down time! Rest and relaxation, that's about all I we have planned. The kids are happy and I am ready to roll. We have the camper packed and the dog is heading to the kennel. We haven't been to the beach in awhile so it's gonna be nice.

The last few trips have been to the mountains so we are due. We still have a trip for Labor day in Saluda so I will still get my mountain fix. I love the hills! The wife goes because of me but she's more of a beach girl. Anyway ya got to give and take.

So for the next week you'll have to live without my infinite words of wisdom, you actually may be a little smarter for the loss............

Like new ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I mentioned the other day about the trip across Charlotte when I took my truck to the shop. Yesterday I went back and picked it up. Point is it's been in the shop for 2 weeks and bringing it home seems like it's a new truck! Next time I get the urge to buy a new vehicle I am just going to park one at my mom's house for a few weeks and then go back and get it.

                                                   That will save me big money!!!!

Maybe ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So yesterday I went home grabbed the kid, my youngest one Chase and we headed to the park. He didn't want to go to the golf course so the park it was. Yes the dog was along for the ride! I didn't really want to drive all the way back to Weddington but what the hell, if that's what it takes to make the kid happy and make him want to go again so be it.

Anyhow Chase likes to run so we ended up running about half of it and walking really fast on the other half. Not because of him because of me. He is 14 he could run the whole trail, 6 miles. I am the one who still needs to get my legs right!

But just "Maybe" I could get into this running, trail running! I know I have mentioned this before but I do seem to enjoy it. It just seems more interesting, it's not just running in the regular way. You have to pay attention so you don't bust your ass! Running down the road is pretty boring, you just keep moving and don't really have to pay attention.

In the woods you better watch where you are putting your feet! For one I don't really want to step on a snake and the roots can do some damage to an ankle. Plus the terrain is so undulating that you always have a short steep hill or something to navigate. It wears you out!

I am always looking for something new and I might have found it. I'll keep you informed.....

Sometimes I Wonder ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I wonder if I am anti-social! There are only a handful of people I will go outta my way to make time for and even fewer I will make plans to ride with. I think it might have something to do with my job but that's probably just an excuse. I am in sales and I talk to probably a 100 plus people a day. By the time I come home I just don't really care to continue talking to people that aren't in my household.

I like people and I enjoy it when I see some of my riding friends and at the races but most of the time I hit the road by myself. Since the kid lost interest it's been me and just me for the most part. Although the dog likes to hang out with me, she doesn't mind the fact I don't talk.

Looking back I guess I have always been this way. I always had a ton of friends and spent many, many, many days playing with them. But even as a kid I enjoyed my alone time. I think that's why I enjoyed the paper route so much. I got to spend every afternoon out riding my bike and delivering the papers by myself! I could stop and hangout at the bike shop, which I did almost daily, and then continue on my way.

On the weekends I would be up and out the door before most people even woke up. I would deliver my papers and then head out exploring. Those are some of my fondest memories! I got to see the city wake up every weekend. I liked growing up in the city.

So if your wondering where I am going with this, yesterday I ended up in Pageland SC sitting on the sidewalk in front of a store waiting for a ride. As I sat there I thought about all this. I had ridden Saturday before the rain hit and then Sunday I got up and headed out early. It being Sunday traffic was really light and it was nice and peaceful. I took the long way to get down that way and I was sitting on the 40 mile mark and I had about 30 to get home.

Instead of heading that way I ordered a couple of hot dogs and called Cody to come get me. He was at home and not doing much so I figured it would be a good Sunday morning for us to chat. About 30 minutes later he showed up and we headed home. We chatted and he drove, we got home and he went on his way and I went to the park with the dog.

I spent the next few hours walking and enjoying the woods, by myself......


                                                "Not all who wander are lost." ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I like where I am in life..........

It's Raining !!!!!!!!!!!

And it's gonna rain all weekend! If you read this and aren't in the Charlotte area you might not be aware of this. But right now we are getting a bunch of rain! The end result of this would be the fact that I will be riding in the rain tomorrow. I could skip the weekend all together but that ain't gonna happen!

I will ride, I would rather ride than sit in the house all day. Besides it's summer time! It's to cold to ride in the rain in the winter so you have to take advantage of the chances you get. Go outside and play!!!!!

                                                    Have a good weekend...........