Right Outta The Driveway.....................

Now, let's get to my neighbor! Saturday AM we awoke to the news, my neighbors had been robbed! Yea neighbor's 2 of them. Apparently the crooks started at one guys house and stole a few things out of his shed. Then they walked next door to my other neighbors and found his truck. He is avid hunter and had all his hunting stiff in his truck. You know how they could tell what had happened? They must have came at a very late AM time because you could see the foot prints in the frost!

We live in the country and have never really had any problems with stealing around there. Because of that we tend to be a little lazy in locking things up, untill now! Since Saturday I have been locking all the cars and everything up at night. We all have, feels kinda strange to be honest!

The kicker to all this is whoever stole it took the time to clean out all the stuff in his truck and then left the truck. Yep, the Highway Patrol found the truck less than 3 hours after it was reported missing! They left it in a gas station parking lot over in Albemarle. From our houses that is about 45 miles.

You know what, it wasn't even my truck and I feel violated!! As I said we are in the middle of the country and never have a problem like this. So when it hits that close to home it kinda makes you feel like it happened to you! What the hell.......................... 

Ouch....I Am Sore..............

I started the weekend with a chain saw in my hand! If you don't use one of them puppy's very often they will kick ya right in the ass! I went to mom's and pruned a few trees for her and hauled off a bunch of wood. Nope we have no pictures, when I have a piece of machinery in my hand that can cut my leg off I try to focus all my attention on that item. Not counting the limbs that you have falling around you.

So after that and before the soreness set in I went straight home and got the bike and headed to the woods! The evaluation continued! To make a long story short I had a flat and came home and was ready to put the new bike on Craigslist for sale. We, as in me and the Cannondale just weren't seeing eye to eye! So as I sat around and tried to drink away my disappointment with my latest purchase I started working on it.

The ideal came to me that maybe I should try to set it up more like my other bike! So then I fixed the tire moved the seat forward a little and raised the air pressure, front and back. After all that and a few beers I was ready to call it a night. I went to bed with dreams of a perfect ride in head.

Sunday am came around and off to the trails I went! About 200 yards into the woods I was already thinking hum, maybe I should have done a little tinkering sooner.. After a few miles I was starting to think I might be able to make this work after all! I was enjoying the ride and thinking of what else needs adjustment. Now that I have moved the weight toward the front end it feels like it might be a little soft. I might learn to love this bike after all.

Never fear Cannondale will persevere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yea, my neighbor's truck was stolen right out of his driveway Friday night!!! We can cover that tomorrow...............

Ok, I Took The Day Off.................

No excuses, just plain didn't feel like blogging yesterday. Most of the time I write this in the morning here at work, yesterday we were wide open for the first half of the day. By the time things slowed down I just didn't feel like doing it. I suck! Yea I know, but at least I am back today. Might have something to do with it being Friday, I am always in a good mood on Friday.

Plans you ask? Well first off I am kissing the wife's ass tonight and taking her to the Kaleidoscope Ice Skating Production! She likes those shows so for tonight I like those shows! Simple as that, world peace will be preserved within our house.

Yes we will get back to the test of the 29er! Not sure when and where I will continue this but it will happen both Saturday and Sunday. I hope to get back over to Uhwarrie and I know I will hit Sherman again. The road bike has taken a back seat here lately but it will see the light again soon. I had planned on a night ride last night but with temperature dropping so fast yesterday I just didn't have the toughness in my bones.

Sometime over the weekend will be a trip to the grocery store! Got turkey day coming at us fast! We will have a house full of people and a belly full food. Since it's at my house the remote will be mine! Football, football,football..............

 Today we are going in a different direction. I didn't do any riding last night, I cleaned the wife's van for her and basically did nothing the rest of the night. I wanted to see my boys play basketball (Kentucky Wildcats) but damn the game didn't start till 9pm! I must be getting old because I knew if I started watching the game I wouldn't get to bed till midnight. They won though, beat Kansas 75-65. That makes me happy. I love college basketball, can't wait to go see them this winter in South Carolina.

Next, the kid and I got this trail cam the other week and put it down on Richardson Creek behind my mother-in-laws house. So far we have a few deer pictures and one raccoon. Nothing big yet but hope to have a good picture before long. We ain't no hunting family but what the hell I like the trail cam. It makes the kid happy!!

organized

Next I like this picture, I stole it off a site somewhere. If I had any drive I would clean my garage up to look like this! My garage is the total opposite, a wreck. After seeing this it makes we want to at least straighten mine up! Anything would be an improvement over the current status.

Last but not least, I don't know why I like this picture but I want a classic pump! Every bike shop needs a classic pump! My garage might not be a classic bike shop in the true sense of the word "classic" but it damn sure qualifies as a mess. Why not put a classic pump on the wall. It will probably work better than a new one!!!!! Have a nice day...

i like the wooden handles

Evaluation Part 2...........................

Ok the big ride of the weekend is over and Sunday came and went. Yes I rode the new bike all weekend, Uhwarrie Saturday and Sherman Branch Sunday. Last week when I first got it I rode at Beatty park for 2 nights. That makes 3 different places and types of terrain I have tried so far.

Beatty is the roughest place and kinda tight with not many climbs. Uhwarrie is now more like a groomed mtn trail with plenty of climbing and a lot of fast sections, exposed off chamber rock faces and fast fire roads included. Sherman is a rolling easy trail with a few quick climbs and a lot of what I call "just rolling along sections". It has some mileage to it, but that is about it.

Now my take on the 29er. If I had to race tomorrow I damn sure wouldn't take the 29er! It has it's pluses and it is easier to ride for sure. Hence the reason so many beginners seem to like them. To me it is less responsive and sluggish out of the turns. Just no snap! It is more stable on the downhills and it shines like it's on a stage when you are on a fast fire road, but what you pay for that just doesn't seem to me like a fair trade.

Yes it carries more momentum on an easy trail but I feel like the trade off isn't worth it. I can hold on a little tighter on a fast fire road and still get to the bottom just as fast. I tend to have a lower back problem and when I have to stand for a long time my back hurts. On the 29er you need to stand a little more, I don't know if I can make that happen on a regular basis. I can get away with staying in the seat longer on my 26.

So right now I tend to think it might be more me than the bike! I like the bike, don't get me wrong but my riding style seems to fit the 26 more than the 29. The damn thing will hook up like a freight train in the turns and the more aggressive I ride it the better it seems to perform. I tend to be the type of rider who spins more than trying to use big gears. The fork on the thing is fantastic! I like the way the lockout works, that's my favorite part.

Stay tuned for part 3......It just might be the sorry ass who is pushing the pedals......LOL.... 

Uhwarrie: The Bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the bomb! What a difference a little love can do! I went over Saturday to the grand opening and had a great time. I was rather impressed with the production they made out of it. They had food catered in and had a raffle of several products. I didn't win anything but it was still fun to watch the give away.

The turnout was huge! I was really surprised at how many people showed up. Uhwarrie is in a central location for a lot of folks from a lot of different directions. The word was out for sure! People came from everywhere. I have never seen that many people over there, even at a race.

Now for the trails! What a difference, they are fantastic. I was kinda skeptical of what they were gonna do, I consider Uhwarrie one of my personal favorites. But I am totally happy with the changes! I always liked the rugged untouched feel to the place. It was not very beginner friendly that's for sure. But that's what made it cool! They still have a lot of work planned for the place , but now they need more money. Time to apply for more grant money!

From what I have read and understand they plan on doing a downhill course next. They feel that would have the biggest impact as far as bringing more people to the park. Here's where I have mixed feelings about all this. If you read this blog very often you know we like to take the pop up camper over there and camp at the trail head. It has always had a remote backwoods feel to the place.

Hence the dilemma, if you build it up more people will come. Next there will be more rules and regulations, and next thing you know; my favorite backwoods camping area will be gone! I know I am probably being paranoid but-----. But they have done one hell of a good job on phase 1. If you have a chance go check it out! You will go back I promise...

Grand Opening................

Tomorrow Nov-12th, the grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony is tomorrow for the latest phase of the Uwharrie Ride center. Yep, I will be there! I love to ride over there and have talked about the place a few times here in this blog. It is a lot rougher and more unkept than most trails in this area. When I say unkept it is just more natural than a lot of the groomed trails.

They have had a professional trail building company over there for the last few weeks. The work is complete and they are going to have all the big wigs from the local chamber of commerce there to celebrate the completion. From the looks of the pictures they posted it looks like they did a good job.

I got all these pictures from the web. Looks like fun to me! I will get some pictures tomorrow and put them up next week! Have a good weekend.