it sucks

Trail closures... I don't know what else to say other then they suck.

Poplar closes for good today*

I only got to ride there twice - and that is a damn shame.  Certainly wasn't enough time to really master the trails there.  Hell, on my last ride I totally blanked and for the ENTIRE ride I had convinced myself that somehow I missed the Gravity Cavity... yeah, I hadn't.  Dunno why, buy I was certain it was towards the front end of the loop.... yeah, it's not.

So of course I hadn't missed it, instead I enjoyed it in it's full glory for the first time.  The first time I hit the trail I opted to ride around (which was fun in itself) but being my last ride EVER I hit it up and wished I hadn't missed out on my first ride.

ripped from TheMutt

 
Got to see Minnie again.  I was unable to bring her treats - we didn't bring any of the dog food stuffs with us on the move since we don't have the dogs with us yet.  But she was happy to drink water from my bottle again.  Such a sweet dog - who will she hang out with everyday without the constant stream of riders visiting?

I was only able to get in one lap on my final visit as I had to get up to our storage unit to grab the last of our stuff so we could close out the account up there.  I just BARELY got everything in the pterodactyl.  Things were so crammed that I had to take apart a step stool to get it in.  Professor Second-Guess much preferred the ample seating of the U-Haul.  Now he has a new home in the Bike Haven overseeing the One9 build.

The One9 shows up on Tuesday (fingers crossed).  I am beyond excited.  I asked Annie last night what I should name it, or if I should even name it.  The HiFi is just the "HiFi"... but my Madone is "Georgia."  Do I stick with One9?  Annie suggested "Slimer," cause of the color of course.  I think that would be shooting myself in the foot with a name like that - it just sounds slow.  Over the course of the build I'm sure I'll be hit with some inspiration - or maybe I'll have to hold out for the first few test rides....  but I'll keep a list running.

*So I think yesterday was the last day to ride... but maybe you can ride today since it is the 1st?  I dunno...

little things

Little things like a broken spoke can go a long way to ruin ones day.

Friday I was heading out to ride a local trail I have yet to ride when I unload the HiFi at the trail head and hear a rattle...  I'm familiar with such a rattle so I pick up the bike and set it down again to zero in on the culprit - rear wheel, broken spoke, at the nipple.

I'm at the trailhead - do I get a ride in knowing the trail isn't technically demanding and THEN go see about fixing it... or do I do the responsible thing and go get it fixed now - maybe still get to ride today, but more importantly be ready for a bigger ride with Sean the following day.

I hate being responsible.

Utilizing the smarts that are left in my phone (aka I need a new phone) I ascertained the location of the closest bike shop.  I headed right over there to find a strip mall with an empty store in the location of the supposed bike shop.  BLOW ME.

Ok...  screw it.  I decide to head over to the shop that is closest to my new abode - thus a great way to introduce myself to the localist bike shop to my house.  The guys there were great, said he can get to it, but just give him like 30-45 minutes.  Sweet, no problem!!

30-45 minutes later.  "So yeah, I busted like 4 other spokes trying to get this things back up" - looks like they used inferior spokes when they put your wheel together... not the correct gage and all that fun stuff.  So options being: 1. "patch" it up with no guarantee that other spokes won't blow the way the first did.... 2. re-lace the wheel with his preferred spokes.

Ah, the responsible thing.... go ahead and re-lace it.

Another 45 minutes (+), but the result is a sturdy hand built wheel.  (Big question on the horizon - does that mean front wheel needs to be rebuilt as well - of course I know the answer would be yes....  arg)

Frustrating that the wheel had to be rebuilt - the correct way.  Dropped a bunch more money than I had obviously expected.  But worst of all, didn't get to ride.

That evening we had a "welcome to the neighborhood" party to attend.  Which was great - got to meet a bunch of the neighbors and whatnot - but also led to excessive drinking, staying up WAY too late.  End result - missing out on another day of riding on Saturday (Sean had already bailed on our ride).  Sunday I was GOING to ride..... until Annie get's a text on Saturday night from her former boss who happens to be in NC visiting family.

Sunday no chance to ride as we drove up to Greensboro to meet up for lunch.

I guess I should stop complaining, the good thing about no job at the moment is I'm free to ride whenever I want during the week.  So as long as mother nature doesn't decide to throw yet another monkey wrench at me I'll be getting down and dirty on the trails this week.

Poplar is on it's last leg - tear it up out there!!

3-fer

So in my list of things to catch up on the other day I get to knock out 3 at once here.

- I "crashed" riding on Thursday, and it felt GOOD!!
- I have newness on the HiFi which has exponentially increased my speed* - addressed
- I rode my new favorite (albeit temporary) trail
- I have a space dedicated for all my bike stuff - pending... - addressed
- And this sweetheart (picture posted below original list)

On Thursday I got out a rode a local trail that will soon be no longer.  

I have one question, and one question only.

How is this not the best, most talked about, most popular trail in the Charlotte area??

I am completely heartbroken that this trail; a rooty, rocky, feature ridden, flowy, keep your heart rate rising trail is soon to be lost.  It was just a down right fun trail.  

My first lap I somehow missed the A and B trails, which in my humble opinion were some of the more fun trail options out there.  I don't even know if I hit all the options in the medusa head of a trail system out there... but I do know one thing.  I had one heck of a fun time ridding what I saw out there.  

The strange thing is, that even though I missed the A and B trails Strava seems to think that I hit the "entire trail" on both of my runs... when in reality both of my runs were different - knowing that I missed A and B on the first run.  No matter.

This ride was also the second ride on the Arch EXs and again, no disappointments.  The trail had me working the corners, throwing the bike around and over the trail... just getting into it!!  Got me back to riding again.  Back to pushing my bike all over the trail, pushing myself to not just coast (as much).  Getting back to that edge - of pushing to your limit, seeing just what you can get out of the trail, the bike, and yourself.  Staying as mentally sharp as you are physically.  It felt great.

Before my ride, and actually during it, I was thinking about the fact that I hadn't crashed in a long time.  Sure, I'd caught a handlebar here or there, but that didn't cause an catastrophic debiking... so no crashes.  And the question popped into my head: is that a good thing?  Are my skills improving to such a degree that the lack of crashes is indicative of such?  OR am I riding too safe?  Am I not pushing myself enough to ride at the edge of total speed, skill and thrill - pushing to the limit of almost out of control?  

I would have to say (sadly) that it was the later.  That I haven't been pushing myself as of late.  That the tight and twistyness of these southern trails have been enough to create an excuse to slow it down and not really push the limits of tire on dirt in these switchbacks.  

Well, the streak ended and I crashed.  The first was a handlebar caught cutting through a tight squeeze.  It was on my second lap, and I can't be quite certain of what the largest contributing factor was: speed, fatigue, or mental lapse - but in the moment I read it as me pushing it.  The second crash came towards the end of the lap as I was climbing up a rutted climb and the front wheel went a bit squirrely as I powered my way up.  So much so that as the front wheel rose to the right of the rut I couldn't keep balance and I tumbled down.

Again, not a horrible crash - and this one more likely fatigue induced.  But again, fatigue at a slower speed would have likely caused a stall and not a crash.  Sounds weird maybe, but I came up off the ground not only with some blood, but with a smile.  What was my old saying??  "It's not riding if there isn't blood."

evidence of the crash and the tragedy of the trail closure

Some randomness of the trail:

This is sort of spooky... I couldn't see any evidence of an old house in the vicinity....

Any local legends for this one?

And between laps, and after I was done, I was met by the friendliest trail mascot I've met.  Her name was Minnie and I believe she lived across the street from the trailhead - she seemed to come out of nowhere when I stopped to switch water bottles.  She knew how to sit and was more than happy to drink from my water bottle when I was heading out.

Minnie

I'm going to try to remember to bring some treats and a bowl next time I ride here.  I'm not sure exactly when that will be, but I hope to AT LEAST ride one more time out there before the trail closes for good on October 1st.

If you are local, I hope you've been getting your fill out at Poplar Tent.  If you are close-ish, you better make plans to get your ass on the trails.  If you are in New England... well show your local trails some love, and never take our trail access for granted.