Business Trip

Last week, I won an all expense paid trip to Chattanooga, TN.  Actually it was for work, but whatever.  One of our other engineers needed some assistance on a project for the week and I volunteered.  The interesting part was when I responded to the email from my boss asking for help.  His response wasn't "Thank you," rather it was a link to the local mountain bike trails in the area.  That was rad.

I hit the road early in the morning and headed west across the North Carolina mountains.  Rolling through Knoxville, I headed southwest towards Chattanooga.  When I arrived I had to stop by the customer site first before I checked into my hotel.  The first thing I noticed was that they were pretty bike-friendly out there.

Protected bike lanes.  They haz them.

I did a little prep work and headed to my hotel.  It was too late to get in a mountain bike ride so I got on The Internets and looked for local breweries.  I found several, including one within walking distance from my temporary residence.  I changed my clothes and hit the pavement.

Chattanooga is surrounded by mountains so it made the walk quite pleasant.  Before I knew it, I saw a good sign.

Around the corner from that lovely site was the Chattanooga Brewing Company.  I walked in and was greeted by nice people and a wide array of beer.  I opted for their IPA of course.

I actually had several.  They had a kitchen on site, so I enjoyed some good food too.  Two (or three or four or five) beers later, I wandered back to the hotel just before the sun went down.  I got my shit together and went to bed, ready for a long day at work.

During the very few breaks I had during the day, I started planning my first post-work ride.  I found a map on The Internets from their local mountain bike club and it looked confusing.  I took a picture of it just in case I needed it later.

I finished work at a reasonable hour and I headed out to the trail.  My first ride out there would be Raccoon Mountain, and on the drive out there I wondered if I had enough daylight to get in a good ride.  You know, unfamiliar trails and all that. 

The journey to the trailhead made me wonder if I would ever get there.

I was intrigued.  And worried.  What was I getting myself into?  Who gives a shit.  I'm always down for an adventure.

I'll get to it tomorrow.

Dat Business

I've been out of town the last few days for work.  I don't mind traveling, especially since I don't normally go very far or stay too long.  This time though it was two nights in Georgetown on the South Carolina coast, and of course I brought a bike.  I'd hoped to meet up with some of my friends down that way for a ride one of the evenings I was there but it didn't happen.

I ended up working too late for a "proper" ride, so I grabbed a beer and decided to go fishing for a good spot to pedal.

Warning, I will attempt more puns.  You haz been warned.

I was across the street from a marina and decided to check it out.  Typical stuff.  Water, boats, and old people wondering why a grown man was riding a bicycle.  But the best part of all?

It was easy to relax.

 This was a small town, which meant that my marina tour took less than five minutes.  Without a map or any idea what was out there, I headed in the general direction of "downtown."  It was unknown territory, and quite scary.

Once I got off the main drag I headed down some neighborhood streets.  They looked like your typical coastal town (or most of Florida) with older houses and tree-lined streets.

And then I found it.  "Historic Downtown."  It was old.  and small.  But, I was on a bike so I didn't give a shit about any of that.

I found another marina.  This time though, the sun was going down so I took a photo.

And then I decided to find more shit to lean my bike up against.

BOOM!

Hey Bubba, wanna buy a shrimp boat?

An unexpected part of my ride let me to find a young man on the street playing his guitar.  I stopped to listen for a bit and I really enjoyed it.

We talked a while after that, and he was pretty inspiring.  He was definitely talented, but the most amazing part was that he was missing his left index finger and still able to play better than people with all of their fingers (like myself.)  He was a very positive dude, and it made my night to talk to him.  

It was getting dark though and I had to find my way back to the hotel.  I'd pretty much given up on finding any kind of trail to ride and tried to make my ride fun on pavement.  There was a lot of historical stuff there, and I stopped to see it all.  I wasn't a mountain biker, I was a tourist.

Single speed is dead.

It was a fun time for sure.  I'm pretty fortunate to be able to bring a bike with me everywhere I go.  And even moar fortunate that I can easily find the best places to drink beer afterward.

It was a pretty successful business trip.  I worked hard, and played harder.  

All work and no play is for suckers.

Here’s Your Sign

I brought my bike to work with me yesterday, and the plan was to ride when they cut me loose.  When I walked outside to the parking lot though, I saw this:

I thought that I heard it might rain, but I wasn’t sure.  With no drops falling from the sky, I hopped in my truck and made the short drive down to Backyard Trail and prepared to ride anyway.  The sky never did open up, so I rolled out and prepared for some of Charlotte’s most technical of trails.  As soon as I crossed the street and hit the dirt, something felt “off.”

Kinda like I hadn’t been on a bike in a long time.

I’ve been riding every day, but this was the first time I’ve been to BYT in a while.  It doesn’t start out technical at first, but I was having trouble maintain my balance even on little uphill switchbacks.  I woud find out later that this was a sign of things to come.

Rather than quit, I pushed on thinking that I would snap outta my funk and everyting would be okay.  Besides, I was looking forward to one my favorite sections out there:  the Poo Tracks.

Come on, say it with me now. 

Poo Tracks.  

I’ve never had an issue there before, not even the very first time I rode it.  Last night though, I was all over the place.  I nearly fell of into the poo-laden dirt several times, and I swear a couple of trees even jumped out at me.  It was one of those rides where I didn’t feel quite right, but at least I was out on my bike.  That was enough to keep me going.

I was climbing just fine, and I had plenty of power in my legs.  My balance though, was suspect.  When I hit jumps, roots, and rocks, I was unstable.  Reckless, if you will.  Something was off and I couldn’t figure out what it was.  When I got to the road crossing, I stopped for a minute to asses the situation.

With a quick check of the bike I determined that my rear tire pressure was way too low.  I run pretty high pressure back there due to my weight, so I figured that was the problem (the tire pressure, not my weight.)  I grabbed my Co2 from the Awesome Strap mounted to my bike and added a shitload of air.   I was ready to roll again.

I immediately felt like I had more control, but as I hit a small rock drop I heard something make a loud noise.  I stopped real quick to see what it was when I noticed this:

Shit.  That was entirely operator error, because I forgot to secure my strap before I rode off.  As a matter of fact, you can see it in the photo up above (where I stopped at the sign.)  Since I rolled a pretty good distance after it came loose, I had to play “find all my shit on the trail.”

The tube was easily spotted.

I had to do a little digging to find the Co2 though, but eventually I did.

I never did find my tire levers, but that’s not a big deal.  I have a couple of sets of Maxxis levers I can use.  Don't worry though, because the Awesome Strap will not disappoint as long as you make sure it is installed correctly.  I didn't, and I paid for it.  Dumbass.

Back in the saddle again, I kept thinking that something else would go wrong.  It didn’t, and the ride turned out to be pretty rad.  Sure, it started out shitty, but in the end things just end up working out somehow.

Besides, a bad ride is better than no ride at all.

See y’all Monday.

Night Time Is The Right Time

After weeks of being sick, I finally felt good enough to pedal my bike around in the woods.  I’m still not one hundred percent, but I’m good enough to spin the ol’ legs a bit.  I’ve been organizing night rides every Tuesday, but I skipped last week because of my illness.  I didn’t want to disappoint the regular crew we have out there, so I made sure I didn’t miss another one.

I almost screwed the whole thing up though.

I’m working far away from that particular trail this month, so I loaded up my truck with everything I needed for a nighttime mountain bike adventure.  Bike, helmet, shoes, gloves, cycling-specific clothing, etc.  As I rolled out from work with plenty of time to get to the trail though, I realized that I forgot one important thing…

Lights.

Since lights are pretty much required when riding trails at night, I decided to head back home to get them and hopefully get to the trail on time.  In my weakened condition, I didn’t feel like I could ride the trail Jedi style.  On the way home, the thought crossed my mind to just stay there and abandon the ride.  That would mean disappointing the folks I ride with, plus it would be yet another day without riding.  Damn that.  I needed to be on my bike.

I made it home, grabbed my bag o’ lights, and made the mad dash through traffic to get to the trail.  It pretty much sucked to get there, but I made it on time.  In fact, I was the first one there.  The rest of the crew showed up one by one, and we headed out into the darkness.

I felt pretty good for not using my legs in a while.  My lungs actually felt great, and I led us around at a pace that was good for all of us.  Thinking I would only get one lap in, we huddled up at the end of the trail to discuss our next move.  At that moment I realized that I was down for another lap.

I didn’t lead this one, because I wanted to take it easy.  The pace was much faster this time, and I didn’t really have any problem keeping up.  My legs felt a little squishy, but they had ample power to get me through the darkness at a quick pace.  We did two laps and I felt pretty damn good, even though I’m still a little sick.

It was so freaking awesome to get out and ride.  Maybe I should do it again sometime.

The Best Thing…

Is going for a bike ride in the woods.  Yesterday, I headed out to the U.S. National Whitewater Center for an after work ride on my single speed.  There were no special plans, other than the fact that I wanted to check out a new trail out there.  The new trail was bitchin’, but I’ll save that for another time.

A co-worker of mine has been talking about riding mountain bikes with me for a while now, and he really seemed interested in riding at the Whitewater Center since he lives pretty close to there.  While he does have a bike, I never really thought he would ride with me.

He thinks I’m some kind of expert (since I race and junk), so I guess that’s a little intimidating to someone getting started in this sport.  He mentioned that he might go home and grab his bike, and meet me out on the trail.  When I finished the new trail out there, I was pleasantly surprised when I got a call from him.

Co-Worker:  “I’m here.”

Me:  “No shit?’

CW:  “Yeah, let’s ride.”

I met up with him and took him on a short tour of some of the easier trails out there.  We took a few breaks here and there, but he did a pretty good job for someone that hasn’t ridden a bike in years.  I kept asking if he wanted to stop, and he kept telling me that he wanted to ride until he couldn’t go anymore.

So, like any good teacher, I took him on one of the more advanced sections.  The log skinnys, giant roots, rocks, and drops were fun for him, and he actually had a great time on the climbs.  Now he’s even talking about getting a new bike so he can enjoy it a lot more.

I really love getting people hooked on this sport that I love so much.  The joy I feel out on the trail is something I want to share with everyone.  You don’t need a fancy bike, a pro cycling kit, or even supreme fitness to enjoy mountain biking.  You just need a little dirt in the woods.

It’s really that simple.