Hill Repeats

A hill workout was in order today. Not much to say aside from I feel as though I left a little of myself out on Carson Watts and Edmunds Farm roads. I'm hungry.


Post ride shadow capture.


Good ol' Pilot Mountain


My nemesis for the day.

Dr. Flint Medicine Man

The time came to push the envelope a little bit for Chris. His goal: break the 30 mile barrier? Do it under two hours with breaks? Done, and Done. Giddyup! We left from my place and decided to head in the general direction of East Bend, by way of one of my favorite local roads; Flint Hill.

For those readers that aren't local, Flint Hill Road is a beautiful, smooth road lined by farms and even a vineyard. Aside from the Dodge Rams and SUVs that pass, one might think they landed somewhere in the French countryside. We passed quite a few cyclists on the way out, and when we turned around, the goal was to catch them. We were moving along pretty good on the way back, but weren't able to catch the other crew.

Once we got back into Forsyth County, there was a decision to be made. Take the roads that are relatively flat back to my place, or take the roads that loop back towards the Yadkin, and thus have some pretty big hills. As far as I was concerned, the decision was made, and Chris agreed...hilly-ness was to be had!

I got this shot of Chris muscling over a little riser on Beroth Road, with Pilot way off in the distance (probably about 12 miles or so as the crow flies). We made it back to my place without too much suffering. Another good day on the bike!


Chris' CAAD9 post ride:


My bike donning the Eastons post ride:

Intervals

Intervals were the name of the game today. The new wheels feel reeediculously nice and stiff. The ceramic bearings accelerate to speed so quickly!

Lisa and I also got Y memberships last night, and I went in for my first weights routine of the year today. I know it's going to feel good and sore tomorrow, so I have a date with the Y again for some swimming and hot tub action. I'm totally going to be rocking these at the pool!



or these




Leave a comment to vote for #1 Graffitti or #2 Floral. I'm totally serious. Not joking even in the slightest bit...seriously.

CLM Party, Eastons, and a Sad Parting...

The other night, the CLM met at Noma downtown to have a little going away get together for Curtis. Pretty much everyone was there, including Cam! It was great to see everyone together in this type of atmosphere. It was a fun evening even though the undertone was for one of the CLM leaving.


The theme of the night was making fun of each others clothes for some reason. Everyone thought Cam's hat looked like a flowerpot


Scott couldn't get enough of Rob's scarf and coat combo...

And I was harrassed for wearing Lacoste...

Anyways, Curtis came over last night to help glue up my tubulars and to hang out for a bit. The tires, even after being stretched overnight, were still incredibly tight, and it felt a bit like we were wrestling an alligator to get them mounted on the rims properly. Once fitted though, we got them on the bike, and I'm impressed with the way they look!


I'm definitely sad to see Curtis go, but I know that I'll get to see him quite often with how frequently I make it to Asheville. It's still sad to know that a constant riding companion, and one of my best friends is moving away. But, this sadness is tempered by the fact that I know we'll be doing some long rides together again in the near future. Things have changed alot (as far as cycling goes for me) in the past year. The shop closed, I started road riding way more, and now Curtis is moving, but this makes me anxious to see what is coming down the line next.

Final Piece

Final Piece of the puzzle arrived today, incredibly light! Can't wait to get the tires glued up and get a ride in on Friday or Saturday...saweeeet!

-13

-13 windchill sounded like a good day to go skiing. Yes, definitely good. Very few people were out and about this morning as we made our way to Boone. The skiing was great, conditions were spectacular! Not much else to say, but that Lisa and I, and our friends, had tons of fun bundled up today!

A Year in Review

I tried to put together a series of pictures, one from each month, that showed some of my best rides. This is the product that I came up with. When looking through the photos from the past year, mountain and road, I realize that I have a great group of friends. Some will be moving in the near future, and some have already left, but contact will be kept, and rides will continue into the new year. I've been all over the place, riding, in the past year. Hopefully that trend will continue as well. I've been fortunate enough to have rides that were fun, but the rides that I really remember are the ones that pushed me, either technically on the mountain bike, or physically on the road bike. Each is unique, each is exhilirating. Hooray for new prospects this year!


January

Overmountain Victory Trail Wilkesboro, NC



February

Dark Mountain Wilkesboro, NC



March

Overmountain Victory Trail, Wilkesboro, NC



April

Pisgah National Forest, near Old Fort, NC



May

Pisgah National Forest, near Boone, NC (Rider Alex Ryan)



June

On the greenway to Owl's Roost, Greensboro, NC (leg:my leg, covered in bird pooooh!)



July

Creekside Trail, near Winter Park, Colorado



August

Rock Wall Trail, West Branch State Park Ravenna, Ohio



September

Cedar Rock Trail, Dupont State Forest, NC



October

Brown County Breakdown, near Nashville, Indiana



November

The only road riding shot I've put in this display. On the road to the mountains, Erich egging me on.



December

Heartbreak Ridge, Pisgah National Forest, near Old Fort, NC