worst week ever........

Last week went down as the worst week ever, in my book anyway. Monday as stated in my last post started out the week with a nasty cold. I've managed to kick it's butt and send it running but not before giving it to Melinda.
It rained all week not letting up at all for any kind of pleasant outdoor activity. Not that I was in any shape to do anything fun so not a total loss. Hurrah for mother nature and the green it is bringing us.
Our plans this weekend included taking the Pancake Shack to the local RV center to see about a trade in on a new one. Friday my weatherman said there would be a break in the rain so I planned to clean up the shack and remove all of our personal belongings. Friday rolled around and as soon as I awoke from my slumber I got to it, washing and waxing the exterior, I even shined up the tires. I cranked up the top and began the process of removing all our stuff from the inside scattering it all over the driveway. I guess mother nature decided she hadn't had enough of soaking us so she opened up the clouds and proceeded to dump rain on my exposed pop-up. I hadn't bothered to cover the beds since I wasn't setting it up fully. To make a long story short the beds, canvas and other cloth parts got wet and I had to put it up that way while I waited for it to stop raining. I checked the radar only to find out that their was no relief in sight until early the next morning.
Saturday morning Melinda and I got up at 6am to dry out the shack. Our plans were to be at the dealership with it at 9am and there was more rain on the way. We cleaned and dried until 8:30 showered, hooked it up and set out for Johnson City. More on the status of the Pancake Shack and it's replacement later this week, I don't want to jinx anything by celebrating too early.
Later that afternoon as I was getting out of my truck I was on the phone with my Dad and there was some serious wind blowing. A strong gust came through and pushed my door knocking my phone out of my hand. It didn't completely break the phone but the main screen is shot. Luckily it was still under warranty and I got a new one.
Sunday we were exhausted from a hard week so we decided to hit Panera Bread for breakfast. I got online to do a little money transfer on our account and I noticed a significant change in our balance. A bad, very bad change in the form of around $1000.00. After a little researched we learned that someone somehow got ahold of my check card # and bought several hundred dollars worth of cell phones and a few diet pills. Nothing can ruin your day worse than bank fraud, I about had a nervous breakdown knowing that money was part of our plan in the great camper swap. I managed to pull it together call our bank and cancelled my card and got the investigation underway. Things are still pending with our account and I'm sure we'll see our money soon but it's driving me crazy waiting for an outcome.
Damn I've never been so glad to see Monday come. Keeping my head low and staying out of trouble this week.
The only exercise I saw this week was some work around the house and mowing the yard in the cold wind yesterday. I hope to sneak in a run or two this week but nothing is really going to prepare me for what's in store this weekend. All I look to do is have fun and try my best to ride the entire 6 hours. At least I'll be fresh as a daisy, well..... physically not necessarily mentally. A good long hard ride in the woods followed by a few cold beers around the campfire should straighten me out.

All out brawl!

Ducking, bobbing, throwing punches, counter punches. I've never been in a real fight but I think I'm kicking this cold's ass slowly but surely. It feels like an eternity and now it's got it's hold on Melinda & Flat Stanley. Moonshine and Jackson are the only one's who haven't come down with it but they told me today they are sick of sick people and the wet weather. I've hit it with everything I have, cold meds, zinc spray, echinacia, the nasal genie, cough drops & vitamins. I've made 3 trips to the store for medicine and I'm going back again today. While I have turned the corner and am feeling better Melinda has the worst of it right now. I think she's mad at me because I gave it to her.
I've seen and heard alot of complaints about rain the past few days from my fellow cyclists which hasn't bothered me one bit. I'm actually glad it has been raining all week. Even if I wasn't sick I wouldn't be able to go riding so it's not like I'm missing out on anything. It still kills me being so sedentary. I'm not one who can sleep in or lay around the house watching TV all day. If it's light outside and the weather is half way decent I'm doing something active. I've always been that way and I sometimes drive Melinda crazy when it's a lazy Saturday morning and I'm wide awake @ 7:30 ready to get up and make breakfast.
The Pancake Shack made it's return yesterday. It's back in full working order. We have no plans on using it though, I plan to clean it up and get looking as best I can and trade it in on a new one this weekend, IF all goes well. If I don't have any luck trading it I'll sell it but we do plan on replacing it with a travel trailer. Wish me luck.

pure nastiness

This week sucks, yep it does. It's not really that anything going on around me sucks but I've somehow managed to come down with a nasty cold. In the past couple of years I've come up with a pretty good defense against fighting the common cold that tries it's best to attack me once sometimes twice a year. At the first sign of any symptoms that remotely resembles a cold I normally start pounding echinacia and Zinc in the form of Zicam in large doses. Basically echinacia is a natural herb that helps boost the immune system but if not taken early enough is pretty much worthless. At work I don't have my own office or phone or computer, everything is shared by multitudes of people and of course someone is almost always sick this time of year. They do provide us with antiseptic wipes that I try to use regularly to disinfect the control panel when I'm working inside. Last week I noticed my throat started to feel a little scratchy while I was at work and normally I keep a stash of echinacea in my backpack for instances like this but I was out and before I knew it a cold hit me like a freight train. Had I been more properly prepared I would probably be outside riding my bike in this beautiful weather but instead I'm moping around the house scattering a trail of tissue every where I go. I am fighting this cold with a full frontal assault leaving no man behind and I'm almost certain I'll whip it's ass in the next day or so.



One of the more interesting weapons in my defense, The Nasal Genie! It's really called a Nettie Pot but I think Nasal Genie is much more fitting. Basically it's a small kettle that you pour a warm saline solution into and then the spout goes into your nostril. Tilt your head to the side with the genie and it washes out your nose. The trick is to get the saline solution to come out the other side and not down your throat.

I attempted to go for a trail ride yesterday thinking that getting out and riding some rocky singletrack might clear my head but it just didn't seem to work. I loaded up the dogs and my Karate Monkey and started out on the first trail right out of the parking lot, "Darwin's Revenge" I felt pretty bad and my reaction time was a little off so I kept the pace at a minimum so I wouldn't come in contact with the ground or a tree furthering my miserable state. My plan was to finish one trail and see how I felt to determine if I should continue. The weather was amazing and the trails were in perfect condition so when I reached the end of the first trail I decided to continue onto "Boneyard" with the same plan to see how I felt at the end but taking it easy the whole ride. Half way through Boneyard my cell phone rang and it was Melinda calling to check up on me. She asked how I felt which of course was bad but then sounded puzzled at why I was out of breath. I told her were I was and she scolded me for thinking that was a good idea. I agreed, finished the trail and headed for the parking lot. With just a little over 6 miles in I felt as if I was being a wuss but knew it was the best course of action. The dogs got some exercise so it wasn't a total loss.
I was hoping to get as many miles in this week as possible because I have the 6 Hrs of Warriors Creek coming up in less than 2 weeks and next week will be a total loss due to work constraints. I guess I'll just have to do the best with what time I have and do some indoor spinning after work next week.

I googled myself................

This morning I googled myself which was not the first time and I'm sure almost everyone has at one time or another but what I found out about myself today was kinda interesting. I'm a millionaire entrepreneur, a black football player, a christian musician, and a homeless man who was semi famous in CA.

1. Probably the more interesting version of myself is the millionaire who put up $40 million of his own money to save an African National Park.

Evidently there is a foundation which is dedicated to saving the Gorongosa National Park in South Africa. A Wilkapedia page bears my name as well.

2. Another version of myself plays football at Florida State.

check out some of my 2008 stats

· Led the team in receiving yards, yards per game and was tied for the team lead in TD catches.
· Second on the team in receptions.
· Had the longest reception on the team this season (54 yard TD versus Western Carolina).
· Led the Seminoles in yards per game for the second straight year.
· Joined Peter Warrick as the only other Seminole in FSU's career top five for catches, yards and touchdowns.
· Tied for the second-most TDs by a receiver in school history.
· Ranks fifth in career receiving yards and career receptions at FSU.
· Seventh all-time at Florida State with eight 100-yard receiving games.
· Joins Warrick and E.G. Green as the only Seminoles to record a 100-yard receiving game in four consecutive seasons.
· Tied with Green for fourth place in the ACC record book for career TD catches.
· Has 14 catches of 40 yards or more in his career.
· Caught a TD in 21 of his 50 career games and FSU is 15-6 in those games.
· Almost 20% of his career 148 receptions have been for TDs.
· Deadly inside the 30 with 24 of his 29 career touchdowns coming from the 30 or closer.
· Finished his career by tying his single game record with eight catches in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Not that any of that really matters to me, I'm not much of a fan of football.

3. Here's an interesting one.

A Christian music artist. Do I look tough in this photo? This guy and I are actually from the same area, Dallas TX. I didn't actually grow up in Dallas but pretty close. Did you know I've put out a few albums? Go ahead and pick one up if your into that kind of music.

4. This one was sad, a homeless guy that was recently found dead.

He sounded like a was a pretty cool guy. The article I found stated that he was an activists for other homeless people, the author of the article had a deep affection for him.

5. The last version I found was an artist in Wyoming. His website and artwork are pretty cool.

I don't know what to think about his photo here but I guess there are more than a couple of Greg Carr's who like beards.

This version is probably one of my other favorites, he had some pretty cool work. I was impressed.

There were some interesting folks out there who share the same name as me and it wasn't until page 3 using google that I ran across a link to my favorite version, the author of a sweet blog titled "riding with dogs".

Sorry the blog has been a bit boring as of late I just haven't had that much entertaining to say.

Pancake Shack update: It's finally fixed and ready to go, we got an entirely new lift system for free after trying to repair the old one several times. Now all that is left to resolve is the labor costs which we're asking the manufacturer to cover since their first three attempts at fixing the lift didn't work.

Dupont trip

Last Wed Alan, Andy, Flat Stanley and myself all loaded up in my truck with our bikes and headed to NC for a little riding in Dupont State Forest.

Andy w/Flat Stanley

photo cred. courtesy of Flat Stanley Productions

We had a map, a route, plenty of water, snacks and eagerness to hit the trail. I have been wanted to get in a long ride in Dupont for some time, it's such a large place with so many good trails it's hard to get them all in one day. After looking at an IMBA epic route Flat Stanley did a little improvising that hit all the high lights and skipped some of the lows.

photo cred. courtesy of Flat Stanley Productions

We couldn't have asked for better weather, although it was a little bit chilly at first the sun was out and the temps rose to the upper 60's with ease. I broke out my old camebak for this ride not wanting to run out of water. I didn't think 2 water bottles would get me through the day and plus I was going to be carrying a few extra snacks and some various camera equipment to document the trip. My camelbak sees very little action these days, the bladder has been shot for some time. It developed an algae problem after I refused to clean it properly and I managed to destroy it by trying to clean it improperly. Most of the action it sees is a way to carry my very heavy battery for my lights during night rides. Wed. it served it's purpose pretty well, I shoved a full water bottle down in it along with Flat Stanley, a PB&H, some trail mix, gels, a PayDay, extra batteries for the Hero cam and a pair of dirty socks. Why the dirty socks you ask? Well as we were gearing up for the ride Andy asked us if we remembered extra socks for the stream crossings. Alan and I both looked puzzled by his comment. The streams beds at Dupont are mostly a solid slab of rock that's very slick from moss and the current is strong enough to take you down even at calf high. Normally I just cross with my shoes and socks on except for the time I tried to ride across which didn't work out but made for a very funny video.
Andy explained that you get alot more traction with socks on vs. barefoot. I really didn't believe him at first but I realized I had a pair of dirty socks left in my bag from who knows when so I stuffed them in my camelbak just in case.

We started of the ride just out of the parking lot on the "Kid's Loop" which was oddly named for a cool little skills area. I had no idea it existed because of the funny name and the fact that it can't be seen because of the evergreen trees.

photo cred. courtesy of Flat Stanley Productions

After Alan slid off one of the elevated platforms and bent his rear derailleur we decided we had better hit the trails before we did anymore damage to bikes leaving someone sitting in the parking lot all day.

I thought I had seen all the waterfalls Dupont has to offer but evidently not, we ran across Wintergreen Falls within the first 15 mins of our ride which were all new trails for me. After several miles of doubletrack riding we hit the Reasonover trail which is a great fast downhill run that takes you right down to one of the many lakes Dupont has to offer. After checking out the lake and a couple of abandoned cabins we hit the airstrip and the Airstrip trail which is another great downhill run which gave me a ton of good fast footage for your viewing pleasure.

Fast forward a couple of hours later and we are standing on the edge of the water of our biggest stream crossing. The water was up higher than normal and running pretty swift, not to mention it's mid March so it's very cold, not a good time to go swimming or ride the rest of the day with wet socks or clothes.

Alan goes first, barefoot cause he didn't have an extra pair of dirty socks. He made it but there were a few close calls and he had to move very slowly. Andy went second, picked up his bike in his sock feet and walked across like he was on dry land. I decided I was going to try it barefoot rather than dump out the entire contents of my camelbak to put on dirty socks. I took a few steps out and realized how very slick and cold it was. I turned around and headed back to the shore to dig out my dirty but very useful socks. As I stepped back in the water I was surprised at how much of a difference it made and was able to walk across with ease.

After we changed socks and put our shoes back on we hit Burnt Mtn. Climbing Burnt Mtn is one of the more fun climbs at Dupont next to Cedar Rock. It's really not that bad of a climb because there is a bit of a downhill section with some rolling jumps thrown in to. I was leading the pack with Flat Stanley hanging out in back watching Andy and Alan hitting the jumps behind me when all of the sudden I don't hear them anymore, after a bit of climbing I realized something might have gone wrong for them to drop off so suddenly. I asked Flat Stanley if he'd seen anything and he said Andy had forgotten to zip his pack back up and started a yard sale flinging snacks and tools down the trail everytime he scored some air off the rollers. We took a little break while Alan and Andy cleaned up the mess and caught back up.

photo cred. courtesy of Flat Stanley Productions

Our last stop was scheduled to be Cedar Rock but due to time constraints we had to bypass it and make the best of what trail was left before loading up to head home. Cedar Rock is one of my favorite places to ride but I didn't cry too much when we had to skip it. I've ridden it many times before and I'm sure I'll be up there again before the summer is over. This trip I was able to get a ton more footage than normal with so many good trails to ride so this video is a little longer than normal but still good. I did screw up the editing a bit toward the end so when you watch it you'll see the video speed up significantly then drop off again. It's not me speeding up the footage it was just a different section of trail that was faster than the pieces before and after and I didn't transition them very well. I'm still learning.

Dupont State Forest from Greg Carr on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

Dupont Skills area

Woke up late this morning so I didn't have time to download all my pics from this weeks trip to Dupont but I did manage to put a couple of videos together yesterday.




http://vimeo.com/3766291 from Greg Carr on Vimeo.


I'll get the pics together tonight and have the story posted up tomorrow as well as another video. Stay tuned and enjoy the skills area for now.

graduation

About 2 weeks ago I completed my apprenticeship at my job, actually I completed all the testing, training and class work back in December but there is a 3 year term that has to pass before I receive my certificate. Usually on graduation day there is a small party with snack food a lousy cake and cheap ice cream. I asked that there be no cake and ice cream at my party because I'm trying to stay away from sweets much to the disappointment of my fellow co-workers. Graduation day is nothing special, they almost had to postpone mine due to a compressor shutting down an hour before the ceremony but luckily we were able to get it back up and running and online in time for cheap buffalo wings and veggies. A few years ago someone decided that all of the graduates needed to wear a cap and since we didn't have any on hand one was fashioned out of cardboard, an old hard hat and some black spray paint. Luckily for me black looks pretty good on me and they we're able to find the hat for me to wear as all of the dept heads looked on. A few pictures were snapped mostly for future jokes and ridicule but I made the most of it and herded everyone to the break room for snacks. Below is a pic of a few of the folks I work with.



from left to right: Tim aka "Hog", Dale aka "Killer" or "Mongo", me aka "Bon Jovi", "Newt", or "Rooster", John aka "John Boy", Tina aka "Sis", Josh aka "Buckethead" or "Juan".

Just about everyone I work with has a goofy nickname most are bestowed by Hog who has given me all three of mine. Bon Jovi came from a very late night air guitar incident, Newt came from the rather large Cane Creek lizard sticker I slapped on my hard hat, and Rooster is a new one because of the faux hawk haircut I've been wearing for the last couple of months. The nicknames don't really bother me, there are alot worse names in the dept.

rain, rain and more rain

Looks as if it's going to be an unproductive weekend. It's been raining pretty steadily since Thurs. I had road rides planned for both Thurs and Fri but ended up having to cancel both. I did get out for a run downtown Kingsport during a break in the rain. I didn't have much of a route I just wandered around hitting streets that I had never been down before. I was kinda searching out a good route for a CRAWL, Kingsport style. I found what seemed like a good route, one that saw little traffic and a few good stops for re-hydrating. It is getting close to that time of year and we're looking to expand the CRAWL to Bristol and Kingsport for a little of variety.
I try not to run 2 days in a row since I really only have 1 good pair of running shoes. They say you need a day or two to allow the soles to return to their full squishyness before running on them again so Friday I did some yoga with the intent of hitting the elliptical trainer at work. As I crested the hill on my way to work and my plant came into view I knew that wasn't going to happen. The "big blue flame" was roaring and we ended up being outside all night working in the rain. Tonight seems as if it will be a little quieter so I may be able to sneak in a workout.
Last Friday I did manage to get in a road ride with a group of guys I recently met. They've got a pretty good route that takes me into some un-charted territory I've been wanting to explore for a while. While the group does tend to get a little broken up due to the rather large range of riding ability they are all very friendly and fun to ride with. It's not unusual to see the pack get scattered and broken up and I hate to take off and leave anyone so I usually find my self moving from the front to the rear all throughout the ride making sure no one has gotten lost. Sometimes I find myself alone with the riders in front and behind me just specks on the road. Last Friday as we were heading back to the starting point I heard a loud "PING" saw something fly out from my drivetrain and felt everything lock up. I immediately stopped pedaling and pulled over for fear of doing more damage that was already done. My chain was broken but still intact via one side of a link. My front derailleur was twisted, bent and not looking good. After several minutes of assessing the situation and fighting a SRAM quick link which supposedly will work with a Shimano chain I gave up put the chain back together minus one link and rode home with only 4 gears left. I had plans to take my road bike to the shop for a new drivetrain and cables as mine were still the original from the factory three years ago. I know your supposed to change things out more frequently than that but everything was running good and road bike parts can be very expensive.
After getting some new shiny bits, a front derailleur adjustment, and $175 later she running as good as new. I really need to learn to maintain my road ride a little better so I can spend my money on new parts vs. labor cost. The weather forecast is in my favor this week, rain while I'm working and sunny skies when I'm off so you shouldn't hear too many complaints from me.

Warrior's Creek revisted

Had another good ride yesterday, Alan and myself headed out to Warrior's Creek for another round of the new singletrack. This time we took a newbie (Aaron) along for the ride, we all had a good time and the weather was great. Spring like temps and dry trail made for some interesting video.




Warrior's Creek from Greg Carr on Vimeo.



Flat Stanley joined us as well after he straightened up his act. He really seemed to enjoy himself even though he didn't get to ride his own bike.

Most of Flat's time was spent in my jersey pocket.


For the most part of the year I have been uneffected by our sour economy, cheap gas prices have allowed me to travel a bit more than usual to trailheads I've never been to. This month that might change. Although I did just get a pay raise and a bonus this month my company has decided to cut everyone's base pay by 5%. I'm not complaining, it's better than getting laid off but it couldn't come at a worse time. For a while now Melinda and I have been eyeing a new camper to replace the "Pancake Shack". While we've enjoyed the Shack I think it's time in our driveway is drawing to a close. We've had a few issues with it that I think are finally being resolved once and for all and our plan was to trade it in on a new travel trailer. The work we've recently had to do to the Shack has so far been covered by the manufacturer but the cost of the labor and who's footing that bill is still undecided. If that falls on us we may be pushing that purchase back a bit.
Our Great Wall project has set us back in the $$ dept. as well. We are still trying to finish it and looking at building a fence so with all the projects, paycheck cut backs and possible bills hanging over our heads who knows what we'll be camping in this spring. It's a good thing we still have our trusty closet full of tents!

the return of Flat Stanley

Where the heck has Flat Stanley been? Actually he's been sitting at the house. He's yet to be on an adventure with me, but not because of my forgetfulness. Flat has been a bit lazy, all the work going on at the casa lately and he's yet to lift a finger. His room has been a mess, he's been rude to all the guests we've had lately. When Melinda's Mom was in town, she threw a small B-day celebration for Melinda at her aunt's house and invited Flat but he pulled a no show. All he does is drink beer, eat pizza and surf the internet. Melinda quickly grew tired of picking up his beer bottles and pizza boxes so we laid down the law and banned him from any trips until he got his act together and started helping out around the house. After reading my post yesterday about all our travels to NC he realized all that he was missing out on. Flat got up early yesterday made his bed, cleaned up the mess and decided he was going to help me finish the "Great Wall" yesterday.

I gave him a shovel but we quickly realized it wasn't going to work out. So off to Lowe's we went in search for a smaller shovel. Unfortunately Lowe's doesn't carry Flat Stanley sized shovels but on the way home I had an idea.

Perfect! The little guy didn't move much dirt but he gave it his best effort and worked hard all day with no complaints. I told Flat that evening he could go with me and Alan on a ride Wed. He was so excited he jumped on his refrigerator bike and has been doing laps around the photos even since.

With Flat's help Melinda and I were able to finish the "Great Wall" yesterday, well actually it's not complete but we were able to finish stacking all the block. As we were standing back admiring our work I made the comment, "Wow that thing is huge". Bad thing to say, Melinda started thinking about the actual size of the wall and now she thinks she might not like it. We talked about a couple of different options this morning but nothing for sure just yet. I don't see any huge changes coming but we may may a couple of adjustments. It won't be the first time we've built something, tore it down and rebuilt it again.

The top section ended up being one layer taller the the bottom due to the slope of the yard. Yes that is the tri-cities faster wheel barrow. I've moved alot of dirt in the last 6 years with that thing.

I've been a little slow at keeping up with all my pics lately and I ran across this photo on my camera this morning from last weekend. In an earlier post I was talking about finishing the dishwasher project and talking about the three ring circus that had come to town. Talk about being to close to the TV, every time something kid related came on all three of the kids were right up on the screen. I can remember my Mom telling me as a kid, "back up your too close to the TV". I didn't hear that one time last weekend.

day tripping NC style

This weekend Melinda and I put some miles in, on the road and off. We did a tour of NC landscape both Sat and Sun. Our original plan dictated that we were heading to Wilkesboro Sat. to check out the newly built trails @ Warriors Creek, home of the 6 Hours of Warriors Creek race. Our plans kinda got sidetracked and we pushed our ride back to Sun to spend some family time with Melinda's family over in Asheville, hiking and enjoying some of the areas finest micro brews.
Our first stop was lunch with the hippie crowd @ a little cafe called Sunny Point. Good food and people watching, lots of interesting people with some interesting tattoos (staff & customers).

some Foothills goodness

After lunch we hit a small bike shop, spent to much $$ and headed over to Bent Creek for some hiking with the family and dogs. It was a beautiful day and the local authorities took advantage of it and set-up a check point right at the trailhead writing parking tickets galore and traffic violations. I think they ruined several peoples' weekend, it's a good thing I only had 1 beer with lunch. It was my first time to Bent creek without my bike and it really felt kinda weird. I had a hard time watching people fly past me on their bikes and the look on Melinda's face was saying the same.

I saw this interesting little bike hauler @ the trailhead and I bet these guys have no trouble getting to any trail no matter how far off the beaten path.

After a good hike we headed downtown and sampled a couple more of the areas finest before calling it a day. I think Melinda got a little bored on the way home.

Sunday we got up early adjusted our clocks and realized it wasn't early anymore, ate breakfast and headed to Wilkesboro NC for some singletrack action via the Warriors Creek trails. The whole time we were riding I was trying to think of how to describe the trail system for my soon to be jealous friends back in the Tri, "pumptrack" kept coming to mind over and over and after some blog cruising I can see I wasn't the only one who thought so. The BMCC trail club have built some damn fine trails chock full of sweeping turns, berms, roller coaster dips and a few climbs just to remind you that your riding your mtn bike and not @ a theme park. The trail crew even took the time to decorate the trail with some art work to keep you intrigued when stopping for water.

After mile 5 on the same trail it became apparent that we did not bring enough water along for the trip and the unusually warm temps we taking there toll on our winter acclimated bodies. The trails were smooth fast and a full body workout, always twisting and turning, climbing and descending. After 8+ miles I was actually glad to see a flat straight path but it only lasted a few hundred feet.

more trail side art, one man's trash is another man's treasure

I've been thinking about my goal for the amount of laps I can crank out in 6 hrs at the race. I said I was going to try to get in 4 but I have a feeling that may be tough. The trails at Warriors Creek are similar to the rest of the trails in Wilkesboro but there aren't many places to rest and spin so I'll be happy with achieving a goal of three. I've got a month to get out and get some riding in but a solo effort this early in the season is going to be interesting especially for a first timer like me.

Of course I did take the Hero cam along Sun and shot some footage but there may be another trip in the works this week so I might hold out for more video before I put together another award winning trail movie. Stay tuned for some more action.

get outside!

Nothing really significant or interesting to say here except I'm ready for the weekend. Actually it's starts today for me. I've been off the bike for a few days and I plan to get some serious riding in today starting with a road ride out in the beautiful country side here in East TN. The weather is supposed to be warm and sunny and absolutely perfect for riding this weekend. Melinda and I have a little road trip planned for some mtn biking either Sat or Sun, not sure which day is going to work out best just yet but we're going regardless. Heck we might just ride both.
I wonder what the couch potatoes are planning to do this weekend? Looks like it's going to be perfect couch surfing weather, hand me the remote and a sandwich!

hear it hum

It is finished! After several months of just sitting there looking pretty our dishwasher is finally functional. What does this have to do with riding bikes? Absolutely nothing at all, doing this job kept me inside all day Sat and off the bike. We bought the dishwasher and garbage disposal last summer when we decided to refinish the kitchen cabinets but I never got around to actually hooking them up, I have no plumbing or electrical skills. Thankfully my folks came in town this weekend and after 9 hours of installation while a three ring circus (3 toddlers & Elmo the screeching red fuzzball) was going on in my living room we finished the job. It was actually pretty nice sitting there last night listening to the soft hum of the dishwasher running. I have to thank my Dad, without his skill and knowledge I would have never been able to complete this project.
I did manage to sneak in a run on Fri, just a little over 3 miles and I felt all right but I can tell my lack of running here lately has taken it's toll. The unusually warm temps we've experienced off and on the last month has kept my running shoes in the closet and gotten me out on my bike alot more. I did try out some new running socks, Melinda saw my post a few days back about how much I love my DeFeet Cloud 9 running socks and she went out on the great world wide web and ordered me 3 pair and her a pair. I might start doing gear reviews more often. As I was searching for a link for this post I noticed they've come out with the Cloud 9's in black!
Yesterday with the family all gone home and the house finally clean from all the construction and the three ring circus, things actually got kinda boring. The weather was just too nasty to get outside and there wasn't much going on so I decided to break out the dreaded trainer. Yikes! My first time on the trainer this year and second time this winter. It actually wasn't too bad I was able to break my all time record and ride for 45 mins. Melinda was on the exercise bike next to me and we had the race to watch so it wasn't all that bad. I can't believe I just said that. Usually I get out and brave the cold and go running but I just wasn't feeling the outside for some reason this weekend. I guess it was a good weekend to stay inside and finish the dishwasher project.