All is good...

Memorial Day weekend Annie flew down to Austin to visit a friend.  This left me with a couple options.  1. Take the dogs and bike down to Connecticut for a family cookout and explore trails down there.
2. Do the unthinkable and go ride Kingdom Trails with the masses that were sure to arrive for the weekend.
3.  Stay in Southie, get some rides in, find some activities for the dogs, and surprise my lovely wife by fixing up the back "yard" after the mess of a state it was in post-winter.

I went with lucky number 3.  I wasn't the only one to stay in Southie for the weekend.  Lot's of fun had by all.

I got one ride in... and it was a haul of a ride.  I went down to Oxford MA - almost 3/4 the way to my parents house in CT - to ride Hodges Dam (the site of an upcoming race).  I searched the internets to find any clue as to a race course, but alas I came up empty handed.  I figured a long weekend was a good excuse to take an hour drive to ride and explore the area, at least I'd get a feel for the terrain.

It was a fun ride, a hot ride.  A lot of motorcycle activity, but the trails were good.  Nothing technical, although it was littered with rocks and roots.  In about an hour I rode most of the trails.  I found myself back at the car so I called Annie to check in on how her trip was going before I hit the trails again to catch an option I hadn't hit the first time through.  I didn't want to end with just an hour on the trails when the ride out was an hour.  I created a new rule.  Ride time must be greater than half of the commute time.  I thought about equalling commute time, but I did have to get back to do parts B and C of my weekend.

Ran to Home Depot and got a bunch of mulch and top soil.  

Maggie checking our the new ground cover while Scout...
who knows what Scout is ever doing?

I had built some planter boxes at the end of last summer but never got around to actually utilizing them... so I got them ready for planting with some fresh top soil (I'd let Annie decide what she wanted in them).  While working I noticed our dwarf pear tree, which I planted when I first did major work on the "yard" two years ago, is finally showing signs of pear production.

mmm fresh Southie produce

After I got the "yard" in order I ran to the package store to pick up some beers... needed a refreshment after a good ride and some solid labor.  Then off for a walk with the dogs.  They were super excited, but did well on the walk.  We made our way down to a local dog park to find that the gate had been chained up and now adorned "no trespassing" signs... oh well.  The dogs were panting from the heat so we continued on to make a big loop back home.  They rested well that night.

Update:  The pterodactyl is back and road worthy, and it was covered by my extended warranty so I get to keep my $1100 - hells yes!!!  But of course you never escape unscathed.  My rear shocks are leaking (quoted as almost $700 for parts and labor) but they didn't have the parts, and my front brakes are down to 25%.... so sooner than later I'll be back in there.  Blarg.

Annie picked me up as it looked like I'd be sitting there for a while and we grabbed some lunch in the area.  Close by was a bike shop... one that I normally like to keep away from (just not the best experiences there in the past) but decided to check out what tires they had there.  Grabbed this guy for the rear.

you can see the sealant doing it's thing.

 As you see, got the HiFi all set up tubeless and ready to go.  I'm not going to lie, I'm still not 100% confident with the whole deal.  I'm worried there isn't enough sealant in either tire, only time will tell (I used all I have thus far... I'll likely add more at some point just to be certain).  I did take a quick spin around the neighborhood, hopped some potholes and took it over some curbs and so far so good.

The guys at the shop had good things to say about the Ignitor, and it looks a tab more aggressive than the JonesXR I had, so I went with their recommendation.  If things go well, may find some new rubber on the front wheel before the end of the season - only time will tell.  

After I got my bike all set up I threw on some new fun on Annie's Wahoo.  You won't get any details from me here, (I've learned my lesson!) but look for Annie to give you the low down sometime soon.

North Carolina on my mind.

As Michael shared last week, we headed to Charlotte, NC with our bikes to do a little reconnaissance. Charlotte is on our extremely short short list of possible places to relocate. When choosing a new place to live, we have certain non-negotiable requirements. Charlotte already fit the bill (according to our endless sessions of googlestorming) for many of our specifications therefore a visit was of the utmost importance in order to make a well-rounded decision.

Here's what we found out:

• Requirement 1 - Mountain Biking Culture: The first day we got to Charlotte we attended a race, which took place about 10 miles south of downtown. We expected there would be about 20 bikers participating in this Wednesday evening race. Truthfully, we figured we were probably wasting our time. We were wrong! After we took the turn to enter the park, we saw around 50 cars parked along the street with many more in the parking lot. There ended up being over 250 riders registered for the race! We found out that this series goes on every Wednesday for 16 weeks and rotates between three different trails around Charlotte. Michael found a place to camp out so he could take some pics, and the people passing by us were extremely friendly and welcoming. Requirement full-filled, check!!
• Requirement 2 - Neighborhoods: Naturally, even though we are about a year out from actually moving from Boston, we are curious when it comes to the types of neighborhoods around the city. Prior to our trip - and thanks again to our googlestorming skillz - I had a list of addresses ready to punch into the GPS for our house hunting adventure. Michael and I are hoping for a nice bungalow or craftsman with about a quarter acre or more of yard that's close to downtown. After five years in Southie, we've had our fill of street parking and concrete so really urban neighborhoods need not apply. We were delighted to find so many places with exactly the feel we wanted! Basically, every neighborhood on this list was awesome. Looks like the "not hipster but still highly interested in biking and craft beer" couple will have many options!
• Requirement 3 - An actual city: So we may be ready to get a house with a picket fence, doggy door and a yard providing a justifiable reason to purchase a lawnmower -- but we ain't quite suburbanites yet. Unfortunately, the southeast isn't really full of metropolitan areas. You pretty much have Atlanta and...well Atlanta to choose from. So we decided a small city could possibly work as long as it had the amenities we loved (A major airport hub, professional sports teams, a major university, concert venues, multiple cuisines with many restaurant options, great hospitals and a strong arts district) without the ones we're completely over (subways, traffic, Chinatown I work right here, water issues, non-stop concrete and rodents). Charlotte, albeit small, has a beautiful downtown area with all the things we need. Looks like we're on a roll!
  

Our next step is to visit again in the summer to see how well we stand up to the intense humidity we keep hearing about. I'm thinking that adventure will be sans Treks, since taking our bikes will require us driving again. Not enough time has passed since our 14 hour ride home last Saturday for me to get excited over another possible road trip.


-A