One day.... Two rides

I managed to get in two rides today, both of which were on the road. This afternoon I rode down to the shop to drop off something of Steve's that I had been holding captive for a while. Then this evening I ventured out on the shop recovery ride. Who knew that a recovery ride would have so many sprints??? Not much to say about the rides. No crashes, no dogs, no angry drivers...amazing! All in all somwhere between 48-52 miles were logged today with maybe 3000-3500ft of gain. I got home from the shop ride and had forgotten to turn off the Garmin while in transit....needless to say the average speed went way up.

Flyfishing!

It had been a while since I had been out fishing, and with the weather being so crappy as of late, I decided today would be a good day to break that streak. With rain, and a mid week day off, I knew there would be only a few people out on the stream, and I was rewarded with many fish! I caught probably about 20-25 today in the span of about six hours. I started off really slow, and

miserable in the rain, but once I got the right set of flies on, I was golden. My biggest reward of the day was this nice 15-16 inch brown.

On the way into the park, deer are normally everywhere, and today was no exception. I had Arwen with me in the back of the truck, and normally the ruckus that ensues when dog meets deer is deafening. Today though, was different. This deer was only about eight feet from the truck, and Arwen was just sniffing away wagging her tail. Sometimes, I am absolutely baffled by her personality!

Signing Up!

Well, in order to provide some more motivation for longer and harder rides, I've signed up for a few events in the coming weeks. Two road rides, one mountain. I read about a FREE ride in Boone called the Gap Grind (April 25th), and couldn't help but sign up for this one. 65 miles in the mountains sounds like a good day. Also signed up for the RAW in Wilkesboro (May 2nd). 65 mile variety again, climbing in the brushies. So, no, no worries, I'm not turning into euro trash roadie, but I have realized the merit of having/riding/training on a road bike.

The other event that I've signed up for is an event that I've been dragging my feet on. I've been hemming and hawing as to whether or not I would do it this year, but I've got to. So I slapped down the money, in the form of cold hard plastic and bit the bullet. I signed up for Solo at BURN 24 Hour. I was disappointed with my performace last year, had issues with hydration and nutrition. I am vowing to get those problems figured out before the race this year so that I can turn more than 11 lame laps like I did last year. If you're out there, look for the lanky dude on the Superfly, and say, "Hi!"

As a side note, I'm looking to get a ride together for saturday. 6,7, or 8 hours at Dark Mountain, or maybe another big loop around Heartbreak...anyone? Anyone? .....Bueller?

Westwood

I was able to sneak away from the house for a little bit tonight to get in a short ride at Westwood in Mt. Airy. The trails were in perfect condition, with little to no mud. The set of trails does not easily really make a loop, its more of a spiderweb of trails that you just meander around. There are some very cool sections with some steep rooty chutes, and there are some sections that lack any flow and the design of which is pretty lame. Overall though, from a technical standpoint it is the most technical trails within about an hour from my house, so it's worth the drive periodically.

Usually, when riding these trails, I'm fortunate enough to see some pretty cool wildlife. In the past, I've seen deer, turkeys, and even an extremely territorial groundhog that would not yield the trail. Today though, I was able to witness another animal, one that I've seen so seldom on these trails. I knew there was something else out there, I had heard some clinking noises and some huffing. I even caught a pleasant wiff of it. The scent I thought was...mmm...maybe Wisteria, or some other type of blooming tree/shrub. But alas, all the mystery was ended when around the bend came a female mountain biker wearing perfume...odd! Wearing a full Kenda race kit nonetheless...odder still!

All in all the ride went pretty smoothly, though, I did have one altercation, with a tree...stupid trees!

Serious Heartbreaker!

Moving Time (h:m:s) 5:41:33

Distance (mi ) 43.57
Moving Speed (mph) 7.7 avg. 39.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +7,336 / -7,260



View Larger Map

I met up with Johnny and Peter to show them a large Heartbreak Ridge loop. It ended up being longer than any of us had anticipated. More pictures and writing this afternoon....

Plans...

The Heartbreaker ride for this weekend is panning out nicely. Looks like there will be about 5 or 6 of us meeting up to make the trek. MTBR is good for getting a bunch of random people together for a ride, I'm digging it!

Anyways, I just got in from a ride around Salem Lake and some of the Winston greenways. Curtis and I were really wishy washy on whether or not we wanted to ride in the rain, but the decision was made, and it was worth it! The fly is going to need some serious TLC after all the sandy-grimyness has built up all over the shifty parts. I'll spend some time at the shop tomorrow prepping it for saturdays ride.

no GPS stats for todays ride, and no pictures either due to the rain.
Stats from Curtis' computer
about 16 miles in a little over an hour...not too shabby for pedaling in what amounted to wet cement for a majority of the ride!

Looking forward to these views, just with a little less foliage

Heartbreaker!

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday! No money this month for 6 hours of Warrior Creek, so Saturday will be free for me. I've got a 30 or so mile loop around Old Fort planned. Hopefully heading out rather early so that I can allow time to explore some of the trout water in the area in the late afternoon. Weather looks perfect, about 71 degrees and sunny. Should be a good trip, post up a comment if you'd like to join me, all are welcome!