Paceline MTB Ride

Not much to write about the ride, just the typical paceline ride at Tanglewood. We had Kevin, Brian, Jonathan, Curtis, Steve and myself all show up for the ride. As always some part of my bike was making ruckus, tonight it was the brakes howling up a storm. Curtis was trying out my race x lites that I am having warrantied because of a horrible clicking noise in the freehub body. We think the culprit might be one of the pawls, it's as if the spring is dead in it, and it doesn't want to pop back into place and catch. We made one loop of the singletrack, hit the horse trails and some gravel, then regrouped back at the lot. At this point, everyone ducked out but us Paceline guys. We made another round of the singletrack, regrouped again. At this point, I decided that I wanted to go do some more horse trails and gravel. All in all I got in about 24 or 25 miles in just over 2 hours with about 2,000 feet of climbing. Pretty decent ride.

Pic of the mansion that was the original Tanglewood


Obligatory leg shot, it was pretty dusty in some places.


An Appaloosa in the foreground, with some grazing deer in the distance


Steve trying to ambush Curtis into falling into the mud/poo pit on one of the horse trails

Pilot Mountain

Curtis and I had planned a trip today to Dark Mountain to ride some mountain bikes. I'd been itching to do this since it's been a couple weeks since I've been on the Superfly. I ran out to the garage this morning to do a once over of the bike, and noticed, ouch, no rear brake. I have a seemingly endless supply of problems with my Juicy Ultimates. The next bike WILL NOT have them!

So, in the interest of optimizing ride time, we opted for a road ride. Curtis came up to my place and we rolled out. We took about the shortest route out to Pilot possible to ensure we would have the legs to make the climb. The shortest/easiest route is nowhere near easy with two hills that have extended double digit grades. We made it to Pilot and lowered our heads and got on with it. Curtis was looking extremely strong and made it to the top in about 17 minutes. I was feeling less than perfect; heavy, weak, basically anything that you don't want to feel when riding a bike. I made it to the top in just under 21 minutes. We filled the bottles back up at the top, took some photos, and started the descent.



So much fun! Curtis was feeling a little sketchy on his new Carbon Tubulars so he took it a little easy on the way down. I was feeling pretty confident, so I just let go of the brakes and let it rip. Curtis made the comment that our roles were reversed for the day; he out-climbing me, and me out-descending him. Once we got to the bottom, we decided to opt for the long way home, taking some backcountry roads with some amazing views of Pilot, Sauratown, and Moore's Wall.


We made it back to my place, got some cold drinks, and chilled on the deck with the puppy! MUCH FUN!

The Stats:
Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:51:16
Distance (mi ) 43.71
Moving Speed (mph) 15.3 avg. 41.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +4,605


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New Pup!

Lisa and I had been talking about getting a new dog for a little while now. Our shepherd, Arwen, is about 5 and we wanted her to have another dog to play with before she got too old. We had all sorts of ideas of what kind of dog to get; Viszla, German Pointer, another Shepherd, or a Weimaraner just to name a few. Well, my parents had a neighbor that owned a Weimaraner that Arwen absolutely loved...hmm...

Decision made, search on! We found a breeder out near Greensboro that seemed to have their stuff together. Little puppies were expensive so we went the Marley and Me route and got a clearance puppy. They had had four litters, only two of which were planned, so they had some older puppies still available. Cool!

She's 8 months old, AKC registered...and yet to be named...post up a comment if you have any suggestions!

An Attempt at a Breakaway

The format for the ride was the same as every other week, there just happened to be these two lanky dudes throwing wrenches in the gears tonight. When Curtis and I were closing up shop and getting ready for the ride, we were noticing that there weren't all that many people showing up....strange. We got outside, and a few more people started rolling in....fast people. By the time we rolled, basically, all the fast people were there (minus a couple). E-Rich, Scott M., Jim M., Doc Rob, Mitchy Poo, Scotty Doo, Curtis, and (to a lesser extent) myself...and the big surprise; Cameron.

The first lap rolled by chill enough, everyone just kind of chatting it up. At the end of each lap there is a low sloping hill that rols us back to the start/finish. Scott and I pushed hard up it on the second lap just egging each other on. The third lap is our fast lap, so we got to the top of the hill and I said something to the effect of, "Do you wanna see how long we can hold them off?" Scott's response was less than enthusiastic, but we decided to go for it. We took off hard, knowing that we had a group of at least 4 or 5 that were going to lay chase. For a while the group was out of sight, we were killing it as best as two 160 pound climbers can kill it. We were alternating doing pulls, averaging about 24 or 25 mph. We were able to keep this pace for much longer than I thought we'd be able to. Each lap is about 6.5 miles, the sprint line comes in at about 5.5 to 6 miles. We kept looking over our shoulders, finally on one of my pulls I heard Scott say, "There they are, they're catching us." Now I knew that we were the rabbit in the distance to this group. I tried to ramp up the pace a little, but eventually the inevitable happened, I blew up. I apologized to Scott as he rode off a little ahead. The group rolled past us with about 300 or so meters to the sprint line...ouch....demoralizing. We held them off for almost 6 miles including the end of the second lap, better than I had hoped for. An epic battle!


Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:39:04 3:28 pace
Distance (mi ) 28.55
Moving Speed (mph) 17.3 avg. 36.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +2,058 / -2,104

Butner Mill

Put together a nice little ride out to Butner Mill via some gravel roads, back through my area, and home. Not much else to say...soo.......pictures:

Paceline Ride

The flavor of the day was Yadkinville and beyond....
Much fun had today, though the weather was extremely warm. By the end of the ride it felt like when you first get in the car on a hot day and kick on the fan and it blows hot air. That's the best way to describe some of the breezes. Anyways, not much to say except a photo, some stats, and I had fun!


I wasn't purposefully trying to capture Hugh's butt here, but alas. Also you will notice in the middle what looks like Curtis in the midst of some smack talk...yeah Curtis!


Moving Time (h:m:s) 3:06:47 3:30 pace
Distance (mi ) 53.33
Moving Speed (mph) 17.1 avg. 41.8 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +3,327 / -3,285




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Swimming Hole Hike!

I woke up this morning and knew that I wanted to get outside. It rained a ton the last few days, so that negates mountain biking. 90 degrees or more, and high humidity sounds like a miserable experience on the road bike. What to do? How about a hike with Arwen. Better yet, how about a hike to a swimming hole! Ah, yes, that sounds about right. Loaded the dog up, the pack and took off. Today's goal; Lower Falls. 2.5 mile hike out, chill in the plunge pool, 2.5 mile hike out...sounds great! If the rain continues this summer like it has this spring, there should be plenty of trout in the wild streams out at Stone Mountain. The water was as high as I have ever seen it in some of those creeks, and it was clear too.




On the way out to the falls, Arwen and I saw one lone doe near the Hutchinson Homestead. Arwen wasn't too terribly interested. We continued on, stopping to play around in each of the creeks we crossed. Once we got to lower falls, it was tricky trying to find a place that both of us could wade across stream to gain access to the pool. The trailside basically is a rocky cliff, with no easy way down, especially for a dog. The opposite side affords the only wade in spot. I took off the pack and boots, threw on the sandals, let Arwen off the leash and started bushwhacking. We finally made it to a wadeable section of the stream about a quarter mile below the falls and crossed over. The water was still surprisingly cold. We played a little fetch in the pool until Arwen decided to maul the stick, game over.


On the way back out, we saw another deer in nearly the same spot as the way in. This time, Arwen was all business, I think she was hungry by this point. She got low in the grass, with just her head poking above and was trying to get closer. This time, the deer realized what the heck was going on, and took off.

"THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED"

Back to the car after the excitement. Half a peanut butter and honey sandwich for me, half for Arwen (I forgot her cookies). Much fun!


Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:40:27 20:08 pace
Distance (mi ) 4.99
Moving Speed (mph) 3.0 avg. 9.2 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1,178 / -1,082

Holy Crap!.....on my leg!

Curtis and I were unsure as to whether or nor we were going to get to ride today because of the weather. I had an entrance exam (for grad school) in Boone this morning, and the weather up there was super crappy. We had planned on doing some OVT/Dark Mountain goodness, but on the way up and the way back, it was raining in Wilkesboooooooro...soooo...where to go? A couple of phone calls back and forth, and a check of the radar; Greensboro it is!

When we got to the parking lot there were only about four or five cars, good deal. Right off the bat, having ridden at most a quarter of a mile, we spooked a bird. Thoroughly spooked it. It crapped on me. Here's a picture...

I cleaned myself up with the help of a few maple leaves and we headed on out. Neither of us had been to Greensboro in a little while, so it was good to hit up Owl's Roost and Wild Turkey. Wild Turkey has been worn in now, and so it flows much better than the last time I had ridden it. We were both very impressed with the work that had been done to make this trail a ton of fun. All in all, a very fun ride, ending with a few hard efforts up the small hills in the military park.


I think my GPS stats are highly suspect, the beginning of the ride I was logged as only 590 feet above sea level, ending at the same spot, I was registered as about 750ft. Mileage stats are also off, Curtis' computer was registering 22 or 23 I think...Curtis, post up, I can't remember how far it was!!!

Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:09:20
Distance (mi ) 20.82
Moving Speed (mph) 9.7 avg. 24.1 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +2,118


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Short Video of Curtis

Owl's Roost from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

Saturday Paceline Ride

Fun loop out into Yadkin and Davie counties.


Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:59:59 3:28 pace
Distance (mi ) 51.80
Moving Speed (mph) 17.3 avg. 41.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +3,201 / -3,217




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Beating the Storms

Just barely beating the storms has been a theme over the last couple of rides. Last night, Curtis, Steve, and I went to Tanglewood for the weekly Paceline MTB ride. We headed out onto the trail with some rather ominous looking clouds off in the distance, but figured we could at least get in an hour of riding before it got nasty. Basically as soon as we got back to the cars, there was lightning seeminlgy everywhere. We threw the bikes back on the rack, commenting on the three people standing out in the middle of this huge field throwing the frisbee with lightning everywhere. Darwin awards contestants, apparently. On the ride back to the shop, the storm was pretty intense, knocked out power, had small limbs blowing everywhere.

Tonight was the weekly Wednesday Night Recovery "Race" that Paceline hosts. We did our two laps of casual pace and decided to head out for a third, faster loop. The pack split with some riders headed back to the shop, and some headed out for a third. The skies had been vaguely threatening the entire night, but basically, as we started our third lap, the skies started to open up and drop some rain. At that point, we made a key choice to turn around. From then on, it was on to get back to the shop before the storm. Making pulls of around 24-28mph we made it back to the shop in a serious hurry. The drive home was very sketchy. Crazy flash-flooding. One of the low points on Yadkinville I was thankful I no longer have the Crapalier, there's no way it would have made it across the water. When I got home, I was amazed to find that my backyard had become a stream...interesting...

Backyard Flooding from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

Rainy Philadelphia!

Well, I'm back from my whirlwind trip to Philadelphia. No, no cool pro road race to see, no mountain bike race to attend, a family wedding was the cause for the drive. After the mildly uneventful trek up from NC, we got to the hotel and absolutely crashed. In the morning Lis and I got up, met up with the rest of her family that was at the same hotel, and took a train ride downtown. Got rained on....extensively. Ate philly cheesesteak, instantly regretted it. Train ride home, yuppies getting off of work. Wedding. Bed.

Statue of the "Father of the U.S. Navy" John Barry, for whom I'm named after (not really)

Lisa and I at the wedding

THEN.....excitement for the history teacher in me; Gettysburg! I've always been amazed with the Civil War. The steadfastness with which the soldiers fought under a hail of gunfire. Lined up in rows, marching against tens of thousands. Of all the battles Fredericksburg and Gettysburg have always amazed me the most. Two of the biggest massacres in our history, but a perfect illustration of what mans' will can accomplish. I once read this book by James MacPherson called, For Cause and Comrades, the premise of which is to decide why these men fought. The viewpoint that the author takes is simply that they fought for each other, not so much a cause or any kind of common goal. Anyways, it is a great book, I highly suggest it if you are at all interested in history. The author uses tons of journal entries, letters, and other written primary sources for the basis. It's a great view into the lives of the common soldier during the war.

Looking over Devil's Den from Little Round Top

The North Carolina Memorial on Seminary Ridge

Looking down Cemetary Ridge onto the mile long open field where Pickett's Charge took place. Many thousands of men met their end across this farmland.

Tour De Sauratown

Curtis and I had planned an ambitious ride for the day, but it got cut short due to some mechanical issues. We had planned to leave my school, and head out on a loop that would take us to the top of Hanging Rock (and possibly Sauratown) and back. The mileage for that ride would have been in the 40-50 mile range, with probably about 5k-6k feet of climbing.

We took off from the school, and started our roundabout way to circumnavigate Suaratown to get to Hanging Rock. About 9 or 10 miles in there was some horrendous racket from Curtis' bike on one of the descents. It didn't take too long to figure out that it was the front brake. Thankfully no harm was done to the wheel or tire, but the pad had thoroughly loosened and slid down the bracket that holds it in place. Leave it to two shop employees to be out on a ride without a multitool! We were able to Macgyver a stick and a smashed aluminum can into a tool to tighten it a little bit. With some elbow grease Curtis was able to snug it further. After some conversation we decided that to err on the side of caution, we would not ascend either mountain, but continue on our loop. The prospect of descending in the neighborhood of 40-50 mph with a front brake that may or may not work when you need it is harrowing to say the least. Even so, Curtis and his new wheels were gapping me on every single descent. I would be tucked and pedaling, and Curtis would just glide by untucked, not pedaling. Aero wheels with ceramic bearings!

Somewhere along the line, my GPS malfunctioned (I think on all the stutter bumps on NC66) so the stats are off. Overall though we got in about 22-23 miles with nearly 3000 feet of climbing, and a 16.5 mph average. Beautiful views abound for the day. With Virginia and the Blue Ridge off in the distance, Sauratown and Moore's Wall in the foreground.

I promised a photo of Curtis' ride with the new wheels....looks intimidating