Get Outta Town

It seems like the only cure for my “situation” at work is to get away often and surround myself with bike people.  We all have one cool thing in common (bikes, duh) so it’s nice to unplug for a little bit to forget about any troubles I might have.  This weekend’s activities started off with a trip to the hills, and to a place I haven’t visited in a few years.

Cane Creek Cycling Components was the site of the Blue Ridge Battle Pump Track Challenge this past Saturday.  As a former sponsored douchebag (I mean, rider) for Cane Creek, it was nice to get back out there.  However, instead of picking up some sweet headsets this time, I watched some folks tear up their pump track.

And taking a break from emcee duties for a bit, local Charlotte rider Will Washam did his part to get rad out there too.

Look at that concentration.  So rad.

I remember way back on one of my visits to Cane Creek when they built that pump track.  It was cool to see the employees take a break, do a couple of laps on the track, and get back to work feeling refreshed.  That always seemed like a nice job perk to me.  Now it's nice to see it being used for an event that traveled around the state.  Definitely worth the trip.

And while I was there (and one of the main reasons I went), I got a chance to hang out with Mandy from DeFeet.

She was selling the "Best Socks in the World" at the event, and since I forgot to mention it I'll tell you that the first picture up there is one of her sons.  He's pretty rad.

And speaking of DeFeet, I finally got a chance to see the new Batty Cat sock out in the wild.

It's becoming quite popular.

It was an awesome Fall day up in the hills.  I met a lot of cool people and made some new friends.  Really interesting ones too.

Dogs like me.  People, not so much.

I just needed to get away.  Even though I just watched some people ride, it was still a good time.  Don’t worry though; I was actually smart enough to bring a bike and I took it out on the trail too.

More on that tomorrow.