Celebrations and whatnot

My parents came down at the end of last week to visit, and celebrate my brother's Birthday - hence I wasn't here yesterday.  This weekend was filled with celebrations and soccer... no bikes.  If I'm lucky, I will finally get back on a bike tonight for our weekly social ride out at the Whitewater Center.  I'm going to head out there early to get in some extra riding in (again, if the rain holds off and the trails stay open) since it has been WAY too long since I've ridden.  Really.  Like, so long I don't actually want to think about it and quantify it, long.  I've got some big events all smashed into August/September so I need to get some legs back underneath me here...

Come back tomorrow to see if I really did remember how to ride a bike.

In other news:

Dwayne has done me the honor of producing a Team Glow Worm decal, check it out!

You too can represent the Glow Worm with a kick ass decal. You can put it:
on your bike - be my teammate why don't you??
your car - keep people off your rear in traffic
the fridge - preferably the one with the beer in it, you know the one I'm talking about.
in the bike room/space/temple/garage - the Glow Worm will keep all your rides nice and safe
any damn where!

Team Glow Worm from Dwayne Hunter Design Company on Square Market

So tired!

Oh boy. The guys kept me out way past my bedtime last night. But it was worth it.

Got in my first night ride (half of the social was in the dark) of the season, and first ever at the USNWC. 

I also really dug, at least in the dark, the new end to weigh station and the new bypass to toilet bowl. 

Afterwards we hit up the String Bean, which is always good. I got a little crazy and had desert. It was so good I was a little slow in the picture taking. 

It was fried Oreos with vanilla ice cream and caramel. YUM. TheMutt was trying to get the waitress to send me a second order - something about fattening me up/slowing me down - I guess he is nervous about our head to head 6 hour coming up at the Brunswick Brawl. 

After beers and food we had a good debate about our local mountain bike club. I guess I kinda have to make it to the meeting on Thursday now. I try to go, but never seem to make it. Now is the time to start making it a must instead of a want/should. 

I'll throw this out there for internerds to sit with... I accidentally/randomly/cleverly dubbed Good Guy Greg with a new nickname last night, Old Man Sweeper. 

Curious?  Come on out to our Tuesday night socials and see what it's all about. Hey, if you ride with us long enough, or just have yourself a good time with us, you'll likely come out with a nickname. Between TheMutt and myself I'm sure we can come up with something that will either fit, or just stick!

I gotta go ride!!

I so badly wanted to make my own version of bread and milk yesterday.

"I gotta go ride my bike, I gotta go ride my bike, they opened the trails! I gotta ride my bike..."

The Whitewater Center finally opened up the trails and I was giddier than a little school boy in those crazy school uniform shorts... you know, the ones where they are wearing a jacket and tie up top?

a gang of giddy chaps

I really should have done it... but I didn't want to look like a crazy man to all of my neighbors.  I was excited.

I noticed two things out on the trails.  First, it was hotter than dog balls under the trees.  Second, I totally see why they had the trails closed so long.  Complain all you want... I'll admit, I was starting to grumble as I missed riding there... but the fact that there were still some muddy spots just shows how messed up the trails must have been.  If they had opened them up any earlier the trails would have gotten trashed by bikes going through.  So, they did what they had to do - and kept the trails closed.

They even (in spots) threw some gravel down on the green trail to allow them to open up the trail now; rather than wait for it to completely dry out - so they've been doing what they can to help speed up the process and protect the trail.  So, for all the noise you've been hearing from angry bikers I want to say "thanks" to the Whitewater Center.

I rode the section of the Carolina Thread Trail that runs into USNWC for the first time yesterday, and it was a neat little out and back.  It had some deceptionally deep mud pits once you got out towards it's end.  I stopped when I came upon a log floating across the trail.

I looked at it for a second and ascertained that there was room to pull it further downhill - if it was lite enough for me to handle.  It was.  It was VERY lite.  It was an easy fix.

took all of 7 seconds

I really wish I had taken both photographs from the same spot... could have made a sweet vanishing gif with that... oh well.

My ride was riddled with stops.  Stops to clear the trail (look above), adjust my seatpost to stop the creaking, pee, answer the phone when my brother locked himself out of the house... you know, the typical things.  Add the heat along with that and I decided to skip Carpet, Goat, and Toilet Bowl.  It was just a quick in and out for me yesterday.  

But it sure was nice to be back out there!
  

still none

Weather and moving have done me in again.

But now, I am happy to report, we are COMPLETELY out of the rental and totally 100% into our permanent house as I cleared out everything yesterday.  That now means we have the daunting task of unpacking and organizing everything in new spots here in our home... yay.

Clearly, I did not race yesterday... I just told you I spent the day moving the last of our stuff over here, please pay attention.  So a new plan is hatching in my dome skull over here.  There will be some testing to see if I can support such an idea, but here it is:  I may just race the Glow Worm for the remainder of the season in Cat 3.  I know, I know.  But riding the GlowWorm fits me.  It's simple.  Maybe that means I'm simple too?  But in any case, I like it!

So my test will be this - the Whitewater Center with the 18t cog.  If I can get myself handling everything over there with the 18t then I will be racing everything for the remainder of the series with the 18t... well mostly everything.  I don't want to "default" race on the 20t, but use the 20t if there is climbing demands, which I don't think there really is on many of the courses??  Anyway, riding the 18t at the Whitewater Center should get me up to par for much of what I might see on a course anyway.  I may or may not get to race 9 events in the series this season...

Supposedly this week it will get hotter and with a lesser chance of rain... so we will see if I will once again ride a bike.  And if I do get to ride my bike again, it will be the Glow Worm at the Whitewater Center obviously.  The other bike that will be seeing some love will be Georgia.  I need to get out on the road again.

I also need to construct a sign of sorts to help the multitude of people who ride through the neighborhood to understand the importance of wearing a helmet.  Seriously, it's great you threw a helmet on your child - but why you no where one?  Let me tell you, it's not because you have superior bike handling skills - I saw how you "handled" that intersection.  Oh, right, cause that 7 year old can raise themselves now.

Not a political statement, just the only picture I could find that fit.

clouds. real.

This weekend the social group took a road trip down to FATS.  It was an adventure, to say the least, but one that I won't get to until tomorrow.  I've got other things to get out of the way first.

Things area about to get chronologically screwy here, so try to stay with me.

Thursday I rode the HiFi out at the Whitewater Center since I figured I should show it some love as I planned on racing it this coming weekend up at Uwharrie.  As I entered the trails it felt like I was riding on a cloud!  It was as if the HiFi was just floating over the trail chatter.  Everything seemed to be smoothed out as I flowed through the trail.  It was a unique experience to feel such a dramatic difference between the full suspension HiFi and the fully rigid Glow Worm on such familiar trails.  While I enjoyed the smoothness of the HiFi, I had to quickly change gears in my head (PUN) and return to the "sit and spin" method of climbing over the "quick let's conquer this bad boy" attitude of the One 9.  On the other hand, descending the back side of Goat was a bit more fun with the squish!

Sunday I finally took the Glow Worm to a local trail that I had determined would be perfect for a singlespeed, even before riding singlespeed.  I hit Sherman Branch for the first time on the Glow Worm with the gorgeous 18t on the back and guess what... PRs all over your face!  I also recognized on this ride how much I do love the rigid fork on root drops.  It is predictable and stable on the short drops.  No sag and recovery like you might find with a suspension fork up front - it's quite nice.  With the 18 tooth cog in the rear the Glow Worm was eating up the trail like a boss.

I have come to the conclusion that the 18t cog is the "boss", and the 20t is the "intern."  Although, with the way I feel on the Glow Worm it might not be long before the "boss" get's a demotion.  I still have to get back to the Whitewater Center to try to tackle everything there with the "boss" in charge before I start making any rash decisions.

I admit it.  I'm a single speeder.  I get WAY too lazy with gears.  Riding with just the one gear keeps me on top of my ride.  It honestly lets me enjoy the trail in a way gears don't.  Throw in the lack of suspension and (I know it's super cliche but hold on to your helmet) I do feel a solid connection with the trail.

Saturday it was determined that I will NOT be racing at Uwharrie this coming weekend.  With the closing for the new house happening on Thursday (YAY!) the responsible thing would be for me to miss the race so I can move heavy things to our new place.  Makes sense.

Now I have to find a replacement race - and it comes down to Virginia or Clemson.  Both are 2.5 +/- hours away - blowfest.  The positive, my start time for these two events wouldn't be until 11:30 - so not a super early morning with the drive time.  Not sure which I will enter at this point.  Google investigations didn't provide enough information to make an informed decision up to this point.  It might just come down to which fits the calendar better.  

Cat One or Bust

I wake up this morning to find this in my blogger feed:

Sorry joe aguero.... I don't need to "Lose Weight Today."  Why the hell has this taken over my blog feed??  I did a little investigating, cause I'm all crafty like that, and it appears TJ has neglected his blog for far to long and Mr. joe aguero snaked his address.  Hence, the flood of weight lose tips of uncertain validity.

Whelp, looks like catoneorbust.blogspot.com is coming out of the rotation.  Ahhhhh, all better.

Ok, race report time (finally)!!!

The Riverfront Classic is on my home turf I suppose, with it being at the Whitewater Center and all.  I figured if I'm gonna race it, this would be the race to break out the Glow Worm.  I had ridden the Glow Worm out at the Whitewater Center once before making the decision, and felt that I was able to clean everything on it.  But, to decide if I was going to race it I felt I should get back out there to really test if the 20 in the back would be too spiny on the vertically challenged sections.  On it's maiden voyage out there I had skipped Carpet, so when it came to Goat Hill I was fine and dandy - even enjoying it.  On my "pre-ride," pushing the pace, I hit everything that would  be included in the race... and the Carpet - Goat Hill combo produced less than stellar results - namely dry heaving 3/4 the way up.  You can read about that ride here.

Strava told me I PR'd a whole bunch of stuff on that ride, so I figured I'd be able to stay competitive (fingers crossed) on the Glow Worm.  A few days before the race someone on the local forums posted that the course was being adjusted and Figure 8 would be out and the powerline climb on the back side of Goat would be added.  I didn't know how to take this as this wasn't coming from the race promoter and I was figuring/guessing/HOPING this was just someone busting balls on the forums.  You see, I NEEDED Figure 8 to help thin the pack and allow me to pass/build a gap on the extended climb out.  That was my master plan really!!  Get up that thing fast, put in some time and then just go.  Hoping it would give me enough cushion to make it to each subsequent climb to gain more time...

I arrive at the Whitewater Center feeling tired and TomTom (who was course marshaling for the day - even though he could have killed it out there, so I guess thanks for not racing against me!!) confirmed that Figure 8 was indeed out.

CRAP.  Not even with an exclamation point.

I was deflated and my brain was scrambling.  Great, now how are things going to shake out?  I registered and headed out to see what the beginning would look like sans Figure 8.  We lost about a mile on the overall course.  We totally by-pass that extended climb I so badly wanted/needed (there was still a glimmer of hope we'd somehow still maintain that) and instead take a short climb to the fire road on top of the ridge line before descending.  The climb wasn't bad, and pretty short, so I was sure it could keep me competitive - especially with the fire road and downhill to follow.  I also checked my top speed - max at about 15/16 spinning my brains out... not going to hold anyone off in the flats, that's for sure.

I took off as fast as I could at the start and got into the first section of singletrack probably about 8th or so.  Things are slow going as people are bunching.  We break out into the open by the whitewater and spin city commences.  I'm surprised no one flies by me here so I hold as close as I can to the guys in front of me as we pop into the new section bypassing Figure 8.  I hit the climb and instantly pass the two riders in front of me.  I put in as much as I can to gain some space as I'm thinking they will retake me on the ridge.  They don't.  I hit the downhill and blast any incline I see.  I can see riders in front so I keep on keepin on.

I pass another rider and I see in front of me a familiar rider, John Dooley.  He's a regular podium contender so that is a shot of energy right there.  I'm guessing that puts me in about 4th then so I try to reel him in.  I gain ground on climbs, but quickly loose ground on anything going anywhere but up.  The last rider I passed has stuck with me - and this is where I start cursing not having that initial climb out of Figure 8 to give me space.  He asks to pass at the beginning of Carpet, and I let him... but am then stuck on his ass as we start climbing.

He wipes out as we approach the sharp switchback at the bottom of the actual carpet climb and I am able to squeeze by on the off camber trail.  I clear the carpet, passing two riders of unknown category on the climb and keep moving.  I still think I can see John up there so I push.  Dread starts to set in as I know I've been pushing too hard this early just trying to maintain my place on the flats with Goat Hill up next.  I'm not so worried about Goat itself - it's the straight lined climb up the backside on the powerlines I'm not looking forward to.

They took us into Goat up the fire road instead of the more straight and rocky singletrack approach so I had to make a hard right turn up and over a steep root to get into the climb, my back wheel spins out and I dab.  I pull to the side for the rider that has been following me and hop back on to pursue him.  He dismounts at the next switchback, forcing me off my bike.  As we get back on our bikes and start climbing I yell to him that I'm going to need to pass when he can, we are approaching another switchback so I figured he'd wait until after.   He doesn't, he suddenly pulls to the side to stop.  I was close to him trying to maintain my momentum and my front wheel rubs his as he swerves off to the side - sapping my energy.  I somehow maintain my balance and regain some semblance of momentum and power over the roots on the switchback.  By this time two riders had caught up to us and one jumps the inside line forcing me to pause to let him go.  I had to hold a tree to stay up and I let his team mate follow behind him.  I jump on their wheel and again need to pass as they aren't pushing as hard as I need to - but I'm stuck.

I follow them down the backside of Goat and we exit to the powerline climb where my heart drops.  "Spin as far up as you can and stand and power the rest."  I don't make it nearly as far as I know I need to sitting and that cracks my willpower.  I stand and power but decide to save my legs as I still have Toilet Bowl coming.  I hope off and hike it, jumping back on for the last quarter of the climb so I can carry something (speed... dignity) back into the trails.  I've lost the riders who passed me on the switchback, and I'm uncertain how many spots I lost on the powerline climb (wasn't sure what classes those passing were in).

The "deceptive" climb getting into the fire road before Way Station was brutal, but I forced my way through and tucked and spun to Way Station.  Did what I could to keep speed up but I didn't feel like I was catching anyone.  I hit Toilet Bowl with all I had and caught and passed two riders there (I think one was the rider who had gone down before carpet and had been yo-yoing with me) pushing through the exiting climbs.

At this point we are pretty much done.  Some descending, sharp armored climb then a short singletrack climb out to the finish.  I'm behind a rider,  who I don't believe is in my class, going into the sharp armored climb so I back off to give him space so that he can hopefully clean it so I don't run into it as I power up.  We both cleaned it and I take him instantly as we hit the open fire road.  I'm not sure if he knows how close we are to the end or not, but I put it all down.  Into the singletrack I hit the drop carrying as much speed as I can and I don't stop.  I just keep pushing to the point that I don't even feel the climb out - the Glow Worm is just eating trail up!!  I have to hit the brakes exiting as the trail winds between some close trees and there it is... the finish.  I push the cranks until I could spin no longer and I coast through the finish.  I find a place to ditch the bike and try to do a quick headcount to guess where I finished.  I see about 5 guys I know were in my class and had finished ahead of me so I'm thinking 6th in best case scenario.

I was close with my guess.  Came in 7th.  Would I have finished differently on the HiFi?  Maybe.  Maybe better, maybe worse?  Bottom line, I'm happy that I raced the Glow Worm.  In the end I was still able to push myself and have some fun out there.

Next race is Uwharrie.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to race this one (we close on our new house on the 30th of this month - holy shhh!!) but I just got the go ahead from Annie so I'm in.  Although I'd love to do the climbing with the Glow Worm - I think the HiFi will give a better advantage when it comes to opening up on the downhill sections there.

Locked in?

Media Fridays

We'll post videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

I think my race decision has been finalized.

This is after a "test" run of sorts.  I hit up USNWC yesterday mimicking what my best guess of the course will be.  The trails were busy, so some sections were a little slower than I wanted - but that's ok, that happens in races too.

I had to pee almost the entire ride.  It was hard to not stop, and I even thought about trying the roadie approach at one point.

I had never before hit carpet on the Glow Worm.  I lived.

But Goat right after was killer.  I dry heaved three times as I was about 3/4 of the way up.  Maybe this isn't the right choice?

I was able to recover a little on the downhill and keep pushing through.  The ever deceiving grind back up towards Way Station was an absolute killer - had to stand the whole thing practically.

At the top I started feeling good and maxed out my spin cycle over to Way Station and was feeling good.... then I remembered I still had Toilet Bowl left to go.

Got through Toilet Bowl fine and finished up.

I had no idea what kind of finish I had, or if I would be able to be competitive in the race.  I did, at least, see that I got a whole bunch of PRs yesterday.

This morning I poured through past ride data.  Compared average speeds.  Compared bike performances.  Took into accounts stops on previous rides.

I looked at finishing times for previous years of the Riverfront Classic.  Which only confused me because either last year was full of insanely fast guys or they had a shorter course.  If I went off times from last year, I'd be 10th.  If I went off times from the year before, I'd be 2nd.

A lot of data to look at, a lot of inconclusiveness.  But, I'm locked in.  This will be the only race that I can confidently say I can ride this bike at, so I'm racing the Glow Worm on Sunday.    

Here's a view of last years race from the 40+ Sport (Cat2) field.

It's time

Well, I guess it's time.

I've been going back and forth on which bike to race this weekend and I think I've come to a conclusion.

Maybe it wasn't the best time to make the final decision, but as team "My neighbor has big testicles" was playing trivia last night it was unanimous that I race the Glow Worm this weekend at the Catawba Riverfront Classic.

Ok, now that you've gotten through link city, this is the plan.  This season I've seemed to go out for a solid ride on Thursdays, and usually at USNWC just because of ease of access.  This week it is also the location of the race, so today I get to do a sort of pre-ride while giving the Glow Worm the final shake down to see if I can actually compete with it the way it is.  I figure this is the best course to give it a shot at since I know the trails and have ridden it out there... so why the hell not.  Today I will figure out if the climbing to flat ratio is good enough to merit the 32x20 I've got going on because it will be a "run what you brung" type of scenario... the 20 is all I have at the moment.  Honestly, I don't think an 18 would be my friend on goat hill or the carpet climb so it's 20 or nothing.

Will I be fast enough to race... or slow like, well, you know...

If I feel like I can hit everything and come out with a respectable time then I'm down for Sunday.  Stay tuned.

things fall apart

I've had so much to say - but haven't been able to say it.  And that's no fault of yours, so I apologize for leaving you all alone the past two days.  Can you ever forgive me?

I wasn't able to be here Monday and Tuesday because of training.  No, not race training, work training. I'd MUCH rather be stuck in the garage on the trainer than at work trainings.  Although, I will say this one thing... at least the trainers were entertaining.  While the work training threw off my schedule and I was unable to find the time to get my posts done a lot of things will be left out or otherwise truncated.

Last week a number of things took the opportunity of riding away from me in a big way - so I made up for it Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I almost made it out Sunday but my brother had a friend visiting for the weekend and I attended the farewell "brunch" instead of riding solo.

Recap of the rides.

Thursday - Fisher Farm.
I already talked about this a little.  But here goes another recap.  I wore a suit (more on that later).  The rear wheel fell off between laps.  Got to keep checking and tightening my shit up.

Friday - USNWC
(some) Trails were underwater.

The water had receded, but you can see the water line was up over the trail.

PR on Goat Hill, of course riding the Glow Worm.  Maybe I should race the Glow Worm out there on Sunday?  Although, the flats will kill me, but I'll make up for it on the climbs - serious inner arguments (still) going on as to which I'll race: Glow Worm v HiFi.

Swollen river in the background

Saturday - Booty(ish) Loop
Needed a quicker ride as my brother's friend was coming into town.  So after cleaning the house I hit the streets.  I didn't take the time to map out a route, because that can be a time suck for me, so I started on my "normal" "nice side of town" ride and stumbled into the Booty Loop.  I'd always been riding it "backwards" so I jumped on in the right direction and cranked away the miles.  There was a sweet water fountain out there on the route.

This is the second time I've seen citizens put up a water fountain in front of their homes (there is also a sweet water fountain in front of a home on our new street).  People down here rock.

Last night was the social ride.  I got out there early for once and hit up two "fast laps" before the group assembled.  But that wasn't before I found this.

Yup, the front chainring was loose as can be while still remaining on the crank and I was missing a bolt.  Perhaps that was the "gears popping" sound I had heard while out at the whitewater center.  I guess I need to tighten shit up on the regular.  I tightened the remaining bolts and was good to go.  I checked my seat as well since I KNEW that had been creaking and tightened it up.  The Glow Worm was silent and fast for the group ride, just the way I like it.

Lesson Of The Week - Check Your Shit.

Big Biking Lesson - Beer isn't an option when bike building, it's a requirement.  Proper torque can not be achieved without proper beer muscles.
 

bottles and cogs

Last Thursday I had a plan.

That plan included boogying out of work on the early side and hitting up everything USNWC had to offer.  To brighten up my day, I threw in a lunch stop at my new favorite place, The String Bean.  My day was looking pretty awesome.  The trails were great, I was flying around and feeling strong.  The worms weren't horrible - except on waystation... That, my friends, is their breeding grounds apparently.  The army of worms attacked mercilessly on BOTH laps.

Michael, why would you terrorize yourself by riding through curtains of worms twice?

They were F'n everywhere.  This guy held on after a thorough swiping of my entire body.

Very valid question, reputable internet reader.  Let me try to answer that for you with this:

Ok, that didn't work - you can't see the full name of my ride.  So, I named my ride "Courtesy flush, 2-ply, and STILL a floater."  Funny right?  No, it's not.  Let me break it down for you.

I lost a bottle.  A worn out, grimy looking bottle.  But it was my bottle.  And I'm cheap, and oddly sentimental (it was the bottle I got when I got the HiFi).  I noticed it was missing halfway through the toilet bowl when I stopped to take a beautiful picture.

It was like riding through a fairy tale

 Ok, so I threw on my Sherlock Holmes hat and went to de-deucing where my bottle could have jumped - see what I did there??  I was on the toilet bowl trail and I switched the correct deducing for de-deucing... like dropping a deuce... oh potty humor.  I figured it may have left me earlier on toilet bowl when things get rough and steep.  So back around I re-rode toilet bowl looking for my bottle: hence, Courtesy flush.

I didn't find it.  I thought I had seen it at some point in my ride... so let's backtrack a little.  Way station was a bit of a shit show, what with the worms attacking, so maybe in my haste I was picking dirty lines and with the extra bumps maybe it got waylaid there??  So, there is your answer as to why I would subject myself to those rotten little bastards twice.  Unfortunately that didn't pay off either.  

I headed back to the lot to get water - since I had none left in my jersey bottle and we all know what happened to my other bottle...  In the lot I saw Tom Tom who was headed out for a ride and promised to keep his eyes peeled for my crusty old bottle.  After rehydrating and replacing bottles I decided to continue my recon for my fallen soldier... and re-rode EVERYTHING I rode.  At first I was just heading back to goat hill to check the descents, but with nothing going there I decided to just ride everything over again.  Now you are catching on... that's where the 2-ply comes in!!

So, what about the floater??  Yes?  You in the back with your hand raised nicely... Correct, the "floater" represents my still missing bottle.  Excellent.  I'm glad you were all able to follow along.

So, if you read this and happen to ride USNWC and you see a shitty looking clear bottle with it's blue/black graphics smeared all to hell with a black top - that's MINE!!  GIVE IT HERE!!

Ok, the bell is about to ring, but I want to end class with this note.  I rode the One9 yesterday for the social (if by social you mean a quick pace with a select few stops) ride over at North Meck and I love love love love love it!!  The 20 on the back had me spinning around a lot, but I felt fantastic over roots and when the trail went in the upward trajectory.  I'm already itching to get an 18 on there, but I will hold off and explore other local trails first before I make any hasty changes.  After the first lap we chatted and then broke off into a "fast" group and a REAL "social" paced group.  

I decided to see what I could do and took off in the fast group.  With the spinniness I couldn't hold on, so I was stuck alone in the middle just enjoy the heck out of my ride.  When we finished I mentioned to Good Guy Greg that I was excited to check out my data as I had a feeling I would earn a PR just by riding SS out there.  

I did.

Ok, I've held you long enough.  I think I have a name for the One9... but I'm just about out of time for today.  I thank you for your patience, but we'll have to get into the naming of the bike tomorrow.  Have a great day and get out on the trails!!

riding or socializing

I've said it before, and I will say it again:

A good ride can wipe away a day of work.

A social ride, although not possessing the wiping power of a good ride, can offset a day of work nicely.

An excellent gathering after a social ride can more than make up for anything else in the day.  And that, my friends, was the case last evening.  After hitting the trails at the USNWC some of us headed over to The String Bean in Belmont NC.  This place is AWESOME!

If you're a local and haven't been there, you need to get over there.  It's like the Common Market, except with more food, and bit more family oriented (read: less hipsters).  Don't get me wrong, I love me some CM as I can walk over and enjoy their fine beer selection.  I've enjoyed a sandwich from their deli as well and it's top notch, they have a creative menu for sure.  But, with The String Bean you get a full menu with sandwiches, burger, flat bread pizzas and a very large beer selection.  I can't say who has more/better beer selection as I've never seen CM's offerings listed like I did SB.  But the beer menu at SB was a bit overwhelming.

Like CM, you can grab your favorite bottles to go - or enjoy them on the patio.  I didn't take any pictures - so I've google hacked some for you to enjoy.

Shamrocks and Shenanigans

Media Fridays

We'll post videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

This will be a random one, so hold on to your helmets.

I rode the Whitewater Center again yesterday with much better results.  Hit Goat Hill and enjoyed every second of it.  There was one option I did not enjoy.  As you climb Goat Hill you eventually get up towards the top and you can go left to continue climbing before heading down, or you can go right to just head down.  I hit left cause I wanted to go all the way, and it was fun until you hit the bottom and it spit you out on a clear dirt path that went straight back up.  After climbing Goat Hill the last thing you want to do is climb STRAIGHT UP.  Whatever, I did it... and for all the whining, I probably will continue to do that and then hit the fun decent.

I hit up everything USNWC had to offer (I think) and then stopped back at the parking lot to see if I wanted to go back out for more.  After drinking more water and waiting and thinking, I decided to just head home.  I was suddenly feeling like it was a Rhode Island kind of day.

Unfortunately my local beer acquisition station was out of Gansett... what can I say, sometimes we buy them out... so I grabbed a local faithful (or two) - Olde Meck Copper 

CM don't care, they'll sell what they want however they want.

While I was searching the Gansett, to no avail, the mood struck me and I went a little House of Pain on things.

Check out that sweet apron in the background that my brother got me for my birthday

The Dennis Leary intro is worth a watch if you aren't in the mood for the entire video, very old school MTV.

Ok, so now the REAL video of the day, let's try to bring things back to biking in some sense.  I need to get a cycling cap since I don't want this to happen again.

  So who better to get a cap from than good old Walz Caps.

Walz Caps with Great Rock from Whitenosugar Productions on Vimeo.

I'm thinking this

or this

Not today

Yesterday I had planned on finally hitting up Goat Hill.  Of the many times I've ridden at the Whitewater Center I'd never found Goat Hill.  Apparently, I'd ridden right by it many, many times.

During last week's group ride the entrance and exit to the trail were pointed out to me.  Since we were on a social ride we weren't about to torture ourselves with the climb... the kind of climb one could expect from a name like Goat Hill.

Armed with the knowledge of it's whereabouts I planned on tackling that bad boy to see what all the fuss was a bout.

Plans change.

I clearly didn't drink nearly enough water throughout the day yesterday.  How do I know this?  A bike ride in the heat - quick indication as to your current hydration level (or lack thereof).  I finished a bottle just halfway through the ride... an 8ish mile ride...  I took a picture to commemorate the devouring of my water (I actually finished the water in the bottle as I was taking the picture).

I did, however, get to ride another section of trail that was pointed out to me on the last group ride.  There is a sign... just not for it.

The arrow pointing straight indicates that the main trail continues straight - you don't say?  But, there seems to be an arrow missing pointing to the right... which is easy to miss as you fly down the main trail.  I have previously noticed the trail out of the corner of my eye, but never knew what it was or where it went.  Yesterday I was sure to explore.

Yup, it's a legit trail.  Signed just off the main trail.  It was a fun little loop.  At first it was fast and smooth, then you get into some roots and rocks, and before you know it you're back onto the main trail just before Toilet Bowl.

I had planned on skipping Toilet Bowl because it can be a beast sometimes, but after pausing to take pictures I just went for it.  It was fun.  But when the phone started ringing a dilemma appeared before me.  Typically when the phone rings while I'm riding I can pretty much bet it's Annie.  Typically, she's checking in because I've been out for "too long" and she wants to make sure I'm still alive.

Usually I'll let the phone ring and wait until I get to a natural stopping point and not just stop on the trail.

Today I decided to take the call, and take the break!  Annie was going to ask me to pick up dog food on the way home - already done!  Back to riding.  Plan was to finish up Toilet Bowl and head back to the parking lot - and follow that plan I did!

It was great to be out, but I was disappointed at the brevity of the ride.  Nothing I could do about it really, the heat and lack of hydration demolished me and by the end of the ride my head was pounding. The good news is that today should be a short day for me so I'll be pounding waters and heading back out for round 2 and 3 today.  Goat Hill will be MINE!

When I got home from the ride I had a package, complete with cursive handwriting.

I like the variation of all caps in the return address and thoughtful cursive for mine.

What was in the box you ask?  I'll tell you, but only if you ask nicely.

Excellent.

This little piece of glory was in the box... and is now on the shelf, awaiting the big build day.

ride extravaganza

Yes, I will talk about Saturday now.

The plan had been to meet up at the Whitewater Center for a 2 lap (40 mile) ride.  After work on Friday I stopped at the WWC and got in a ride, I needed it.  It also gave me a first hand look at how torn up some of the trail had been by the recent Spartan Race held there in some poor weather.  Although most of the middle of the trail was "fixed" the sides of the trails were torn up, covered with foot holes (deeper then foot prints).

Saturday I get up and ready only to see that it rained overnight... great, that means the trails will be closed.  I check the forum, I check my phone.  Nothing saying the ride is called off, so I head on over.  On the way I actually check the USNWC website to check the trail status, and it's still open!  SWEET!!  I get to the trail a bit early, so I take my time and get ready.  TheMutt pulls in and asks how long I'd been there.  He then proceeds to tell me that while he was waiting to get through the gate they changed the trail status sign to closed.  WHAT!?  I look up and sure enough, they are throwing the flag up at the trailhead.... ok... now what?

We stood around for a bit waiting for the other riders to show and we watched as the trail was being used for another foot race.  I still couldn't believe they closed the trails as a race was going on and the weather was beautiful, maybe they will open back up??

We heard word that north of us got no rain at all.  A 3 point plan came together, we all jumped in our vehicles and we headed out in a bike totting caravan.  Considering TheMutt and I rode together and are talking about the same events I'll send you over there for some info.  Just think of us as ESPN and ESPN2.  

We first hit up Signal Hill, a place I'd never ridden.  In the parking lot TheMutt described it as the Backyard Trail's little brother, and that was pretty accurate.  It was a fun little trail for sure with a bit of everything.  Irish Luke was loving it, hitting any jump or man made feature he could find.

Irish Luke playing in the pump track.

If you didn't go and check out TheMutt's post about our ride, then you missed the video of Signal Hill.  So, here's a link directly to the video so you can see some of the features they have out there.

After our ride the plan was to visit a local gem.  (Here comes a picture tour!!)

We took the VIP entrance... er, the back door (we had beer)

We took a quick glance and decided that we should eat some food, so we got recommendations on the local fare and headed out to find this little hole in the wall.

Almost felt like we were in a ghost town.

After lunch we returned to First Flight to explore the glory of the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology.  It was fun, check out some of the awesomeness we found.

A shoulder strap, you know, for carrying your bike.

Beer Bottle holder built into the frame.

sweet little choppers

This one is mine!

love the lines - reminded me of Trek's Sawyer

"Fuck'n Fat Chance"

Looks like the perfect short track helmet.

The "All American"

Bike plates... so they cops won't catch you riding dirty

pre-Strava days when you had to track your speed and mileage yourself.

Original "bash" guard... looked like a 2 pound lead plate!

cause... you know...

Want to hang out and read about all the cool stuff you've seen, they've got you covered.  Volumes of bike magazines and bike manuals.  If you are ever in the area stop on by, bring some beer, and spend some time.  I didn't get a picture of it, but they built a porch inside the shop for those that are visiting, so don't be shy!


I'm running short on time, but we DID hit up Lake Norman after leaving the shop.  Good Guy Greg did all of the new stuff off of Laurel and let me tell you it is AWESOME going the "new" direction.  Very nice indeed.  Lot's of fun out there.

Great day overall.  A bit annoyed WWC closed on us, but it was kinda worth it.  I got to ride a new trail, see some really awesome stuff at First Flight/MOMBAT, and had some fun out at LKNSP.

And now... now it's raining.