Twofish

Now that night riding season has finally descended on us, well for those of you who work regular work hours that is. I typically don't do much night riding since my schedule allows for riding during the daylight hours but I still enjoy a good night ride here and there. My last night ride was back in Sept. during our local club camping trip to Wilkesboro. We snuck in a late ride on Friday evening and I decided to try out one of my new CREE LED flashlights strapped to my helmet. I wanted to see if I could ride with it alone and nothing else. I had loaned out the rest of my riding lights anyway. The LED flashlights aren't quite as bright as say the Magicshines but at $9 a piece I couldn't resist picking up a couple just for kicks.

My test ride with them was on the famous Warrior Creek trails and with all the twists, turns and berms I knew it was best to be mounted to my helmet. The little flashlight worked great, not necessary the brightest but certainly bright enough. I wouldn't hesitate to race with it but my Magicshine would be my preferred light. The thing about my LED flashlight I like is it's small size and the internal battery. No cords to route or batteries to stash the only drawback was the lack of mounting hardware. I opted for the zip tie route which worked but I went a bit too low and found myself having to ride with my head at a bit of an awkward angle to see further down the trail, once in place I couldn't adjust.

Recently I was looking around for a suitable mount that might work for my flashlight and ran across this site, Twofish. At $6 a piece I ordered a lockblock and a bicycle block hoping one of the two might serve my purpose.

Small, lightweight, cheap and simple in design. They're small rubber blocks with a durable velcro that will allow me to attach them just about anywhere. The feet are somewhat flexible and they both seem to hold strong to a helmet and or handle bar.

The Lockblock

The Bikeblock

I've yet to try them out on the trail but plan to do so soon.

moustaches and mountain bikes

Early in the year I set a goal for myself, 1000 off-road miles on my mountain bike. I achieved that earlier than I had anticipated so I set another goal, 1500 miles, which I have yet to meet. I don't think I will either but I think it could have been done had I really set my mind to it and had I not been off the bike for a solid 3 weeks during the shut-down we had at work. Starting January 1st, I plan to set my goal for a minimum of 1500 miles and try to reach 2000, I think it can be done. What really surprises me is the amount of miles I put on my full suspension vs. my hardtail. I never thought I would have put almost 100 miles more on the big squishy bike, it's just that much fun to ride and has made my backyard trails seem like a whole new playground to me this year.

I'm not sure I'll make much of an attempt to fix my road bike, at least not yet anyway. I don't really miss it but I'm not ready to part it out yet either. I think I'll let it just set as is until I get an itch I need to scratch. My plate is overflowing with trail building opportunities right in my own backyard and as long as that continues to be the case I don't see myself getting bored with riding local singletrack anytime soon. As it stands right now I'm struggling to find the time to make it to half the workdays we have scheduled and we've got another project up our sleeve that needs some scouting so that our new trail project looks good on paper to "the man".

A good month before Movember I grew out the trucker stache and let it get real thick and bushy before shaving it off and starting all over just before the first day of Movember. I decided to try a different style and even went as far as Googling "cool mustaches" on line for ideas. I saw some pretty interesting styles some that required much more than just a month to sculpt. I never really got a good photo of the Movember stache but it really wasn't that exciting. I ended up shaving it off a couple of weeks ago and now I'm thinking seriously about growing another.

I can't decide what I want so I'll probably stay clean shaven for a while longer and see if something speaks to me, Melinda seems to like me better clean shaven.

Sully

I wanted to post this pic up of the AIR9 with it's new rubber but I had my phone tied up doing an update for what seemed like hours with iTunes when I wrote the last post. Better late than never I guess.

I've had a plan for some time now to get a Warriors gnome, the idea stolen from "Samford the Pisgah gnome"

I searched high and low for a gnome but had a hard time finding one since most places only stock them during the spring. I had given up until I ran across what I guess was leftovers from last year's stock at Hobby Lobby and grabbed one, now know as Sully the Warriors gnome, Samford's long lost cousin. But unlike Samford's golf club swinging, beer swilling ways, Sully likes to build trails, hence the shovel. Don't get me wrong Sully can drink his weight in beer, I've got a pile of empties to prove it at home.

Samford the Pisgah gnome has become quite popular, even partying with the likes of the Bike Magazine crew when they descended upon Pisgah for their annual "Bible" test review.

After seeing Sully's beer swilling ways, Moonshine told me this morning it was time for Sully to head to the trails to live. She said this house was only big enough for one of them. I think she really just wanted to get in a ride, can you blame her?

Everyone was really fired up to ride, dogs and gnomes alike.

Sully really likes riding in Camelbaks, he says it gives a cool perspective of the trails and keeps the wind and bugs out of his face.

He thought long and hard about this bird house.

After looking around inside he decided against it for fear of becoming a snack.

Moonshine & Jackson helped him look high and low for a place to hide.

Sully really digs rooty & rocky trails, he brought along a shovel to help maintain and build trails.

He finally decided on this spot to hide, he said it had one of the best views of the lake. I can't blame him it is a nice view. He also said from this spot he could watch me really lay it into the turns in the next section (hint hint).

If you're out at Warriors and find Sully, take him for a ride, document the experience with your camera and post it up here with clues as where he might be found. Sully really likes Warriors so keep him there.

some much needed downtime

With the annual Christmas party behind us, Melinda and I finally had some down time yesterday and we opted for a ride. Actually the thought of down time and being lazy yesterday almost got the best of us. I was goofing around the house doing a whole lot of nothing trying to decide if I had made the right choice of skipping out on the big ride up on Iron Mountain when I realized we had almost waited too late to ride all together. We were about to miss our window of opportunity to hit Bays Mtn with the winter time schedule closing at 5:00 (one of the reasons I hate winter). I've been staring at my new GEAX tires for over a week wondering how well they were going to run and if they would bring back that smooth feeling I used to have on my hardtail that was lost with the introduction of racier tires. We did make it up to Bays in time to ride but just by a frog hair, we rolled out the gate at 5:00 on the money.

The conclusion? The tire felt great, so much smoother in fact I began to wonder if I was dreaming, then I started noticing a funny sound coming from what seemed to be the rear wheel. I stopped and had a look and I had lost a considerable amount of air from the rear tire, not good. I pulled out my mini pump and re inflated it only to have to do this again later down the trail. Upon further inspection this morning, the stem was leaking so I made sure to give the wheel a good shake and give the Stan's juice a chance to do it's thing. It's crap like this that makes me consider selling those Crossmax rims. For the 20 minutes or so that I had good air pressure the tires ran great, a much better improvement over the race tires so I guess I'm done with trying those for a while. With added traction and cush comes with added weight, I'm not sure how much but it is but probably around a half pound or more but I'm not too worried about that. I plan to upgrade the drivetrain with the XO parts off Melinda's BMC which will be much nicer than my aging mix of X7 and X9. Who knows I'll probably drop a few grams there to make up for the added rubber.

If you're asking to see Christmas Party pics I'm sorry, I was asked by all parties involved no Internet leaks. Oh yeah no pictures were taken as cameras were not allowed entry. After the party I started thinking how the vibe at the party was a bit more reserved that usual, I have a few thoughts on why this is but I'm not 100% sure which it was. Melinda and I went all out on decor, party favors and what not maybe our guests just didn't "bring it", maybe we're all just getting too old for really throwing down. Another thing that could've been the problem was a few key peeps weren't in attendance, some of the more colorful people you might say. Some might say they were saving themselves for the big Iron Mountain ride the next day but I'm not sure, that wouldn't be a legit excuse after the smack talk that went down via email, words I remember being used that rhymed with wussy. Not really a big deal I think we'll skip the Christmas shindig next year.

mud, tires, pizza and beer

I hate that I've been slacking on the blogger front lately but things have been so busy that finding time to blog has taken a backseat. Finding time to ride has even become difficult, well that and rain. The bike room has even gotten a bit out of control, I've been meaning to put a bunch of stuff on eBay and I finally got around to posting it up today. Alot of changes have taken place, we're purging the bike room of the kids wheels slowly but surely. Now if I can just find time to get the new drivetrain on the JET, I'll been doing good.

After having a ton of fun down at the Fall Festival, riding the "Dirty South", we've been looking for a good excuse to venture back down that way and ride it again. Last Sunday, Melinda and I took a crew of folks who missed it the last time and showed them around, unfortunately it was a bit muddier than before but we still had a blast.

The day before we had been out at Warriors adding some berms to a new section of Boneyard where we had to re-route a monster downed tree. Not only did we add more trail but we upped the fun factor a couple of notches.

The trails were in perfect condition, not muddy at all. I was really surprised at the condition of the D.S. trails after being at Warriors, especially since we got the same amount of rain.

After the ride we ventured over to the Tomato Head, this place is quickly become a staple for our road trips, the pizza rocks and there is always something new to try in the way of beer.

I sampled a fine brew by Marble City Brewing, the amber, "Dad's Dime", an excellent brew.

The semi muddy conditions weren't kind to my drivetrain, I've still yet to put the new parts on and I'd ran out of my preferred lube, Pro Link, which I've come to realize is hard to find in my local bike shops. I did manage to snag a bottle along with the biggest bottle of Stan's juice available, but I forgot to lube my chain before heading out and so by the end of the ride my drivetrain was making all kinds of awful racket.

With the number of tubeless tires we have in the bike room not to mention they ARE ALL now 29 inches we go through the Stan's like crazy. I add at least 2 scoops per tire on the big hoops and with all the tire swapping I've been doing I should probably by stock in the company.

Speaking of tires, earlier this summer I obtained a non-tubeless version of the GEAX Saguaro by chance. I threw it on the rear wheel of the JET9 ghetto tubeless style and it's been an awesome tire. I've been a bit disappointed in the the last 2 sets of tires I've tried on the AIR9. Giving the skinnier, lower profile, light as a feather racey tire a chance has not been the best idea for me. They ride rough and can't handle the trail when it turns rough. The Bontragers left me walking when I sliced the rear on a fireroad and the Conti's were a pain in my ass since day one. I've never been much of a racer type, I don't waste money on a trainer and I only enter races that the fun factor is really high so I'm really not surprised at my disappointment with the tires. Having enjoyed the Saguaro, I threw down my dough on a set for the AIR9. This set was a bit different though, I didn't realize GEAX made a tubeless version but that's what I got and man are they heavy. I think I added a pound, maybe a pound and a half to the AIR9. As sturdy as they are they should be able to handle anything I throw at them. I plan to find out this weekend.

Have a good one, I plan to!

would you like a bag for that?

These days almost everyone has a smart phone, they are hugely popular and very handy. I have one that I carry with me at all times. I can remember when I was first contemplating buying one, I was trying to figure out how to justify spending the extra cash. For over a year I couldn't see the necessity so I kept on just getting by with a regular old phone, one that makes calls and well, makes calls. I think it did have a camera but I couldn't upload pics to the internet. After a while I couldn't stand it anymore and I bought both Melinda and myself one. I had figured out a plan by cutting our minutes in half that we could justify the purchase. Now that I've had one for over 2 years I can't imagine not having one. They are so convenient and having the internet at your fingertips comes in very handy all the time. Not to mention the most important, posting everything we do from eating a sandwhich to riding a new trail on Facebook.

So as you can image, the accessories for these phone are everywhere, there are gadgets for your gadget and covers to protect your gadget and so on. Well the bike industry has finally tapped into this. There are all kinds of bike related apps you can download but what I'm talking about are the protectors for you phone. I always carry my phone while riding because not only would it be good in case of an emergency but who knows when I might catch a glimpse of Bigfoot and capture a pics for Facebook. Can you imagine the hits and comments your FB account would get if you posted up a Sasquatch photo?

Anyway, when I bought my first "smartphone" I realized just shoving it in my jersey pocket was not going to work. This was a delicate and expensive piece of equipment. I thought long and hard about how to protect my investment from sweat, rain, mud, impacts and Sasquatch incounters. Stashing it in my camelbak is the best protection but I only carry a pack on long hot rides so I needed something small that fit in my jersey pocket.

I've noticed several new wallets or bags made just for this.





Probably one of my favorites by Lezyne but very pricey @ $40. It holds alot more than just your phone but I think by the time I get my phone out of this contraption I would have missed my chance to snap a photo of Bigfoot.







This one is a little cheaper @ $30 but carries alot less. I really don't have a need for credit cards and cash in the woods but it would be handy on the road. Not to mention the canvas would get pretty stinky soaking up all the sweat.

This one it pretty plain and simple for only $20.

I've looked at many different versions but I've yet to spring for any because of this one.

The good ole zip lock bag, a box of 50-100 for $2-$3. It's a no brainer, they also work well for maps, cameras and well just about anything no bigger than a ham sandwich.

This rain is about to ruin the really nice temperatures we've been having, I totally planned to ride tomorrow but with a 70% chance of rain it's not looking good and with Thanksgiving and work this weekend I may be off the bike until next week. Melinda and I were just discussing that we should start a Thanksgiving ride tradition. I'm hoping we can start the tradition this year.

Man's Best Friend - Watch MoreFunny Videos


I thought this was a pretty cool video, that dogs is crazy fast!

Fall Festival cont.

After the ride we headed back to our vehicles and opted for warmer clothing and began the search for some refueling and adult beverages. It wasn't hard to acquire a beverage, did I mention that it was free? Thanks to New Belgium & local brewery, Underground Brewing for providing some great brew. After a couple of beers we all began to wonder if we should head out in search of dinner because all that they had was popcorn, Little Debbie's & granola bars. Not really wanting to leave I ate my weight in Rice Krispy Treats only to find out a gourmet dinner spread was on it's way, and gourmet it was. It was one of the best meals I've eaten in a long time, and did I mention it was free?

I ran across a few pics on the Facebox of a couple of the new bridges.

This was the one that took out the first rider of the day. Melinda made a point to tell me she rode it twice.

After the sun went down the lights came on, prizes were handed out and a few bands played well into the night.

Stolen Sheep, John Baker, aka (Mr. Hill of Truth) on drums.

Big Bad Oven

The Wild Gifts

Stuff was burned

This one was new on me but impressive, old water heaters used as fire pits. Very cool

After few adult beverages, Rick decided it was time to ride again and he grabbed someone else's bike. A monster bike built from 2 Wal-Mart specials. One frame was a full squish, put on backwards and used as the fork. Needless to say it was tough to get moving and steer, but that could have been the Fat Tire talking.

I hate to say it but we missed most of the late night shenanigans, we called it an early night. We had about a 20 minute drive to the hotel and I didn't want to get into trouble on the way. Unfortunately the only hotel or should I say motel in Knoxville that doesn't discriminate against larger dogs, wasn't the nicest of places. Since when do bigger dogs cause more problems than small dogs? Just because we don't carry our dogs in Melinda's purse doesn't mean we can't stay in a nicer place.

I think we were the minority but most were pretty friendly. The clerk at the front desk advised against leaving any valuables in the car, I took that as our bikes and rolled them into the room, mud and all. Melinda made the comment that we should have camped. How many women do you know that say stuff like that? Next year we probably will.

the Fall Festival and the Dirty South

The Fall Festival has come and gone and I'm really glad we made the trip. The guys in the AMBC really know how to do it up big and right. Being situated in a much bigger city definitely has it's advantages. Sponsors, bikes shops that really get involved, members with deep pockets, members with good connections, and of course a ton of volunteer help. We rolled into town early to try and score a good parking spot near the action. We had both dogs with us and we didn't want to leave them in the truck the whole time at a different location. We got lucky and scored a good spot in a field so Moonshine and Jackson could run around a bit. In true, "I'm the queen bee badass" fashion, Moonshine picked 2 fights with other dogs right off the bat. I don't understand why she does it but she's feisty and unfortunately cannot run loose when other dogs are around.

As soon as we got kitted up we headed over to where the mischief was and I could tell by the spread that they meant business. The first thing that caught my eye was the beer trailer with 4 taps. Some of the bike shops showed up with a fleet of demo bikes and I'm pretty sure one of our own got hooked on the 29" wagon wheels when he left his kids bike at the car and scored a Kona 29er with full squish.





We had a huge crew roll in with us, probably close to 15 or more so even if we didn't know anyone we were sure to have a good time. Josh the "Discerning Hobo" had heard how cool it was going to be and traveled all the way down from the northern regions to join us on the ride. Check out his take on the day here. There were 4 different guided rides throughout the "Dirty South" trail system. Me and about half of our crew opted for the big ride, 30 miles. I had a feeling 30 miles might be rough with my lack of saddle time but I went for it thinking I could get myself back if I had to bail.

Just as they called for the 30 miler to started I realized I'd forgotten to put any food in my pack. I raced back to the truck, grabbed a bar and rode as fast as I could to catch up with the HUGE group that was taking off for the 30 miler. I swear there were at least 25 or 30 people in our group, waaaay too many for such a long ride. I knew it would only be a matter of time before things went south. I had a map in my pocket, much much better than the map we had last time so I felt ok about getting split up.

The ride was pretty slow going at first, we would get moving and start rolling fast and then all of the sudden stop at a slightly technical spot. I guess some were in a bit over their head when they picked this ride. I was in the middle of my friends riding so I didn't care, we were having fun. We came upon a newly built section of wooden bridges. This is where things turned ugly, as we approached one of the slightly more difficult bridges, the people who had just crossed it stopped causing the guy who was in the middle of the bridge to stall which was bad, very bad. In what seemed like slow motion he flew off the bridge head first still clipped in. People went running when he didn't get up and luckily for him there was a doctor in the house. We sat there for a good 15 minutes while the doc checked him out and helped him out of the ditch. He came up bloody but conscience and walking on his own. Unfortunately for him his bike was trashed and unrideable. As we got back moving we realized that our group leader didn't realized we stopped and kept going leaving us unguided. I'm not really sure what happened to the people who were behind us but we were officially lost, again. After riding around in circles and taking a few wrong turns we found the sweep guy who we nominated to be our new ride guide. He agreed and we were off like a bat out of hell riding race pace. I should have known better to follow a shop guy on a singlespeed. Luckily for us he didn't leave us to get lost again.

The longer we rode the more of our group we ran across and picked up. Some people we found were just out in the woods drinking beer, not sure if they were originally part of our ride but they were happy to ride with us just the same. Even though the pace was ridiculously fast we did stop alot and for long periods of time. The faster you were the longer you got to rest as we waited on the group to re-group. I'm not sure how it happened but we got hooked up with the guys from the TVB bike shop who could ride, ride fast! One guy in the group was rocking a CX bike and riding all the techy stuff.

At every stop, beers were pulled out of packs and consumed. I had a feeling this might happen and I planned ahead not wanting to be the out of towners mooching free beer. I pulled a pint of the kickin' chicken out of my pack and instantly made a whole slew of new friends. Even some of the kids I ride with who normally pass turned up the bottle. Not wanting to blow chunks knowing the race pace would continue I took it easy.




Beer stop #2, only 4 miles into the ride..... nice.

As we rolled on we hit alot of stuff Anthony, Shane and I missed the first time and some stuff that had just been built. Some really cool bermed stuff, rollers and and an awesome section built almost completely with bridges and elevated structures. It was so much cooler than before and I walked away totally impressed the first time.

We even rode some trails that were not trails yet, just ideas for trails. The corridor had not even been cleared, the only thing we had to follow were the orange pin flags. It was an interesting ride indeed. Some rode it, some tried and crashed and some just walked.

If you missed my last post about the Dirty South ride, let me give you a short run down. The trail system is actually 4 trail systems connected by neighborhood streets and greenways. The first time we rode in and out of trails at respectable trailheads, this time we cut through people driveways and backyards to get there. I'm not sure why we did this but the locals didn't seem to think anything about it and no-one came out of the houses chasing us with shotguns so either it was ok or they weren't home.

I apologize for the lack of good trail photos but the time spent on the trails were spent riding as fast as I could and I didn't have time to get my camera out.

I guess due to the amount of time we spent getting lost, drinking beer and doing whatever, we ran out of daylight before we hit the 30 mile mark. Honestly I wasn't sure if there was really 30 miles to hit without doing some backtracking but we managed to squeeze in somewhere around the 20 mile mark and I was plenty happy with that.

I held onto my new updated "Dirty South" trail map for future rides which I'm totally ready to go back now. Hopefully we'll get down sooner than later and I'll remember my way around and not have to rely on the map so much.

More to come, stay tuned..................

trying to turn it around

It felt good to be off for a couple of days last weekend for a change but I still felt really run down from a combination of too much work, a head cold and sleep deprivation. After my 3 weeks of hell I had one day off then I transitioned right into nightshifts through Thursday evening. When I woke up Friday around noon I knew my body was telling me I've pushed it too far. The thing is, usually when this happens, it's a result of too much riding and not enough rest but I had only ridden once in 3 weeks so you can imagine how bad I was jonesing for a ride. I struggled a bit getting moving but with enough coffee and some fuel in the form of pb&j I made it out the door with my bike, headed in the direction of Bays Mountain.

On the drive over I knew from the way I was feeling that this wasn't going to be one of my better rides and physically I just wasn't up for a big climb so I opted to just stick near the bottom and enjoy the newer singletrack. I was correct on my assumption that it wasn't going to be good, I felt like crap and my riding performance was terrible. So bad if fact that I left the mountain feeling depressed at my state of fitness. I knew deep down inside that I wasn't as bad as I felt but it was still something that bothered me.

Slowly but surely I'm feeling better, I skipped riding on Saturday in favor of trailbuilding. Melinda is still in the healing process so I knew taking the day off was the best decision. On the bright side we made some HUGE progress on the Chestnut trail at Bays Mountain. A new entrance was added as well as a bunch of new trail on the upper section. The new entrance is currently open but does still need some work. I've not ridden it yet but I hope to get out this weekend and see how it rolls.

This coming Saturday is when the real shenanigans will take place, a crew of the local kids are heading down south to Knoxville to join the AMBC for their Fall Festival and hit the Dirty South Ride again. This time we should have a good map plus a tour guide so we can focus more on getting rad rather than getting lost. All kinds of fun is going to be had, I've heard talk of short trackin', beer, live bands, more beer, scavenger hunts on bikes, beer again and even some stuff that can't be mentioned. I guess if you want to know what that is then you'll have to show up and find out for yourself. There have been some improvements made to the trails since we rode them earlier this summer that include wooden structures, I've seen a few pics on the Facebox. Should be a good time so if you're not already too busy washing your hair come on out.

ride, stop, put chain back on, repeat

A few months ago I had the opportunity to buy a complete, slightly used 10 speed drivetrain at a pretty good price. Technically I didn't need it but it sure has made riding the JET more enjoyable. I've been a 1x9 or singlespeed rider for many years and having a front derailuer on my bike has never been something I've entertained. I like the simplicity of the 1x9 system and once set up properly with a good chain deflector works pretty damn good.

Enter the new JET9 last year, complete with big squishy parts on both the front and back, also something I've not ridden in a long time. The 1x9 system, no so much fun with all this new extra travel that I'm not used to, especially on the big climbs. Once I threw the 2x10 system on the JET it made riding it much more enjoyable. At first I was afraid it was going to make me soft especially with all the extra squish but riding it has become so much fun I can't bring myself to change anything on it. This might have something to do with my craving for another singlespeed, maybe to even me out and feel tougher.

For the past couple of months I've noticed my front derailuer on the JET has been acting a bit screwy. Screwy as in throwing the chain both to the inside and outside of the crank during shifting. No biggie I thought, just needs a bit of a limit screw adjustment. I let it slide for longer than most partly because it really didn't happen that often and partly because whenever I try to do derailuer adjustments they usually get worse resulting in a bad ride for Greg. Over the past couple of weeks it seems to have gotten a little worse and even throwing the chain off the chainrings when riding through rock gardens without any shifting involved.

I finally took the JET to the experts at my local bike shop to address the issues thinking maybe not only am I having shifting issues but maybe the shifty bits were getting worn. The first thing the guys at the shop noticed was my front deraileur and shifter were not the 2x10 system I thought they were. I felt dumb, they were 3x, set up to run just 2 chainrings. Not 100% sure this was the cause of my problems, they went ahead and made some much need adjustments and put some new chainrings and a chain on order.

Now as I said before I'm used to SS and 1x9 systems so the only chainrings I've bought in a long time were Surly singlespeed steel chainrings @ $25 - $30 a piece, they work perfectly for both systems. I never gave much thought to how much the chain rings for a 2x10 system would cost me. Today I heard that price and was blown away! Ouch, don't get me wrong I wasn't being cheated by my LBS, those guys are my friends and would never pull the wool over my eyes. I knew 2x10 stuff was more expensive but I guess I just wasn't expecting it. Once I replace these parts I hope my problems go away and I don't need to invest in a new front derailleur and shifter.

I can't believe I just wrote 5 paragraphs on drive train issues, I'm sorry for that.

I've noticed quite a few local peeps on the Facebox expressing they're grief in missing out on getting into the 6 Hours of Warriors Creek next April. You would have though more folks would have been on the ball, there were Tweets, blog posts, emails and smoke signals announcing when registration opened and with how fast it sold out the last 2 years if I were racing I would have been online the minute it opened.

This year I'm taking a break from the 6WC to head out west to Moab. I've done the 6WC race the past 3 years in a row and it's one of the best races on one of the best courses I've ever done hands down. The fine folks at the BMCC do a heck of a job at putting on one helluva race. I do however hope to visit their hood next Halloween for the 2nd Annual Escape From Dark Mountain. A point to point race consisting of all 3 trailheads, Dark Mtn, The OVT and Warriors Creek. How awesome of a race would that be? This year was the first year they ran it and I hate I missed it. I got an email from the promoter a few weeks prior asking that I help spread the word through our local club with I obviously obliged.

Enough rambling for one night, maybe I'll have something in the way of viewing pleasure after this weekends festivities.

The dirt is calling my name.

back at it

Oh man does it feel good to get things back to half way normal. The past 3 weeks have sucked like none other. Once every fours years at work we have a big shutdown and do a ton of cleaning/maintenance/repair/improvements. You see I work at a plant that runs 24/7, 365 days a year and this is the only time we have to do alot of the big projects so we really pack a lot into a small amount of time. Every workday was a 12 hour shift spent outside. Week one was a 77 hour week, 2 & 3 were 84 hour weeks. I had 1 day off in that time period. The only plus that comes from this is I get paid by the hour so overtime was good for my paycheck. It would've been cool to have a GoPro strapped to my hardhat, I spent alot of time climbing up and down 200+ foot columns and all over pipe racks. There were some really high crane basket rides as well that had me traversing over onto the columns, talk about exciting.

Yesterday was really my 1st official day off after the madness and I had plans to go for a ride but I developed a nasty head cold a week or so ago and couple that with a bit of exhaustion I just couldn't pull it together. I felt that bad pretty much all day. Today was a better day and even though I'm back at work tonight I made it out to the trails for a ride today and man did it feel good.

I hit Warriors Path with the JET9 and other than a little bit of fitness loss I felt really good. I cleaned everything and felt only a little off in my rhythm. The trails were in perfect shape, almost too good. The local trail gnomes have been hard at it already this fall fixing problem areas and re-routing some sections with huge downed trees. Thank you guys, your efforts are very much appreciated. As I rolled into the parking lot I noticed I was the only one there, it would have made for an excellent day for riding in the buff, not that I did.

I was really expecting the leaves to be really thick on the trail making navigating tough but I was surprised to find they been packed down very nicely throughout the entire trail system and not just the more popular trails. The trails at WPSP have become very popular in the past couple of years and we're seeing a huge boost in mountain biking in our area.

This weekend I hope to get a couple more rides in with Melinda as long as her hip is up to it. She is one tough lady, she's been riding with a torn tendon in her hip for months now without really knowing what's been causing her pain.

Saturday I'll be putting in my hours doing some trailwork out at Bays. We've officially begun the process of building the upper section of Chestnut and there has already been one workday. I hear that the trail gnomes will be at it tomorrow, I wish I could join them. That's enough for now, my head hurts.

off the grid

I thought about starting off this post talking about my lack of blogging but that's kinda boring and I think I talked about that in my last post a couple of weeks ago so I'll try and think of something a bit more entertaining..................................

Ummm................... I can't really think of much.

I've tried to ramp up my riding as much as possible in the last couple of weeks in order to get the most out of my fall season. Starting Sunday I'll be off the bike for a little over 2 weeks. I won't be laying around on the couch that's for sure. I'll be working 12 hour days, outside standing on concrete and climbing stuff. By the time I get off work and get home I should be pretty much worthless and won't feel like doing much of anything that doesn't involve sitting on the couch or sleeping. If I seem distant and don't return phone calls and emails it's not because I'm mad at you I promise. I should be back on the grid by the first of November.

All the pre-hell at work riding took it's toll on me. I might have pushed it a bit far and wore myself down but it was fun. Most of the rides I did last week, I started out sore. My legs are starting to come back around but my lower back is still a bit tight.

Hopefully once November rolls around the weather will be cooperative and I can't get out on the trails and achieve my goal of 1500 dirt miles for the year. Next year my minimum goal will be 1500 with 2000 on my mind.

I tried to get the rest of my video footage edited but it just didn't happen, time constraints got in the way so I'll hold onto it and hopefully get it finished once the weather turns colder.

Unfortunately it doesn't look good for me and CX this year, as always I talk a big game with plans to attend a few races but never make it out. I just checked the schedule and realized there will be only one race left after my hell at work shift is over. I guess it's a good thing I never bought the Surly.

Earlier this year a couple of us decided to sign up for a cruise, yep big fancy boat and all. I've never been a fan of cruises, they just didn't seem exciting enough to me. Until I saw an ad in Bike Magazine where they would be hosting a Caribbean cruise with guided mountain biking on 3 different islands. Now that sounded like my kind of cruise! We signed up, paid our deposit and started planning. A couple months later we got a call that our cruise which was supposed to be in January got bumped back to March by the cruise line. No explanation as to why but they did refund us our entire deposit. We waited a while unsure what to do but after a couple of weeks we decided to sign back up. Well that never actually happened, we started thinking about other better mountain biking destinations. Now a plan to head out west this spring is in the works. I still would like to go on the cruise but I have a feeling going out west will produce a better singletrack experience without having to put on a coat & tie just to go to dinner.


This will probably be my last post for the month of October, hopefully by November I'll have a renewed sense for blogging.

a Saturday at work

LOTEK/GARRETT REEVES from Lotek on Vimeo.

Hmmm... If I could learn to ride like this I might not have to work a real job.

finally a new video

Finally! I got around to editing some of the GoPro footage that I've had stored in my hard drive. I actually just shot this footage last week at my back yard trails, Warriors Path State Park.

I've been playing around with a few new mounting points and I acquired a new mount that allows me to attach the camera to the downtube of my bike. I set out with the intention of riding the entire trail system setting up different shots using 2 separate cameras and multiple different mounting positions on the bike and me. After I got through the first 2 trails I had spent pretty much all the time I had to ride. I was also sick of setting up shots so I called it a day. I'm glad I quit when I did because I had more than enough footage for a good video. Alot of the footage found it's way to the editing room floor and will never be seen so no loss.

As much time as I spent filming this and the amount of stuff I had to carry with me on the bike I doubt if I'll ever shoot with that many angles again. Anyway I hope you enjoy the video as I really worked hard on it. If I had a crew of people things would go much faster and smoothly but I'm the camera man, star, make-up artist and lighting guy all in one.

Enjoy!

sick day

Wow what a week, a good week it was. A week full of riding and every destination was different. While most of them were in my hillbilly neighborhood, half of them were new to me rides and that's what matters.

I'll skip all the stuff that's local and get right to the good stuff. Probably not new to most who read this blog but the land of Pisgah singletrack is something I've not really ever ventured into. I've ridden Pisgah in some form or another a few times over the years but not the cool back country stuff I've been reading about.

I'd gotten an email from a buddy of mine who conned a couple of other to burn a sick day in favor of riding but no destination had been determined. I suggested hitting Pisgah and over the next couple of days a plan came together.

We all piled into a friend of mines Honda Element stacked way too much gear and bikes in along with us and tried to hang on while he practiced at driving like a NASCAR driver who has nothing to lose.

Of course we got lost, rode trails we weren't supposed to to find our way back, crashed a couple of times, got wet and looked at the map waaay too many times. It had rained the day before and as we we climbing some slick rooty singletrack I began to wonder if we had made the right decision in riding here. That thought didn't last too long as the sun fianlly peaked out and everything dried up nicely. The climbing yesterday was awful mostly because my legs felt like they had bricks strapped to them and I suffered all day but the downhills were well worth it. I had so much fun I'm already trying to figure out when I can go back again. There is so much to explore it's going to drive me crazy.

The only thing that sucked about the whole day is that I forgot my wallet. I hate being a bum but I had no other choice. My breakfast, lunch and beer were all paid for thanks to my friends. Wait a minute, that didn't suck.

I did take along the GoPro and shot some video but after viewing some of it today I found that a portion of it was ruined thanks to a Camelbak strap flapping in front of the lens on one of the nastiest descents we did yesterday. Don't worry there is still plenty of footage to make a short video but it's still disappointing none the less. That makes three rides worth of footage I have saved on my hard drive waiting to be edited into a video, I'm really slacking.

Since I did alot of taking this week and really all summer I decided to take the day off today and give a little back. The dogs were in serious need of some exercise so I killed two birds with one stone and took them along with me for a little bench cutting on the Chestnut trail at Bays Mountain. It felt good to get out and do some trail work, I wanted to stay all day and start working on the new section but I had some chores to do at home. It was an excellent day to be out in the woods working on the trail, not too hot and there were no bugs buzzing my face.

dusting off the blogwebs

With nothing really substantial to say I decided to log into my blog and dust off the cobwebs. I've been lacking lately and as usual it's been more of a lack of time than anything. Even when I don't have a great story to tell, (great in my own mind) I can usually make something out of nothing just by starting to type.

Work is about to get really nasty in a couple of weeks for me, actually it's been nasty but starting Oct. 10th I will do very little in the way of bike riding or blogging. I plan to make every free day count in the way of riding so if you have a sick day or two to burn hollar, I'll be riding. For those of you who are in the mileage contest with me this is a good time to play catch up. I need a good challenge so get off the couch. Speaking of mileage I'm well over 1000 miles on my mountain bike for the year with a new goal of hitting 1500 before Dec 31st. There is no sense in discussing road miles since I've only done one road ride for the entire year after which I realized my frame was cracked. I've still yet to get any urge to buy a new frame, for a while I seriously considered buying a Surly Cross Check not really for CX racing but more of just cruising on but that has been put on the back burner for more important purchases.

I thought I might do a bit more CX racing this year since the introduction of the fat tire class, but with no points or prizes I guess riding for free in the woods was a bit more appealing for some crazy reason than riding for $10 in the grass with people shouting obscenities in your face and ringing cowbells in your ear. Doesn't sound like fun? Trust me it is, every time I do venture onto the race course and get past that feeling of, "I might vomit at any moment" I think to myself I should do this more often. I totally plan to get out there but since I'm not racing for points skipping the first two or four surely won't hurt me in the standings.

Melinda and I did manage to get in some good quality rides this weekend, the first being the newish Pinnacle fire tower trail on Buffalo Mtn. I've ridden a portion of the trail a couple of times hooking in to the end of the trail from the other side of the mountain for the final push to the top. Saturday we rode from the Unicoi side and did the entire trail from top to bottom for the first time. It was better than I had expected or had heard, yes there are a couple of steep but short sections that were not wisely built but it's better than nothing. Maybe one day they'll extend the trail making it a loop rather than an out and back, now that would be cool.

Yesterday we ventured over to Bays for the usual Sunday ride. Unfortunately I couldn't con anyone to ride with me so I went out for a solo ride with a new route in mind. My pace was a bit faster than I usually do but I was racing against the clock as Melinda was riding with the girls and I wanted to be done when they were. My plan was to hit all the singletrack on the front side as well as some on the back. After passing the fire tower I rolled to over the top via Indian Pipes and all the way down to the bottom bypassing Bear Run. I skipped Kinear Hollow and made it back to the car in record time catching up with the ladies on Chinquapin. For a change of pace I rode the JET9 and had an absolute blast, the more I ride that bike the more I love it. I haven't looked but I'm pretty sure I've put more miles on it than my hardtail this year, something I thought I would never do. It has officially become my new favorite bike.

to me the Fall season has nothing to do with football

I sent out a couple of emails this weekend to see where we, (GRT) stood on racing this fall and all I really got was uhhh, I think we're gonna do Halloween stuff this year. If I remember correctly I got this same answer from every single one of them. Kinda weird, makes me wonder if there is a big Halloween bash going on somewhere and I didn't get invited. Maybe I did get invited but my invite got lost in the mail. Nah, nobody sends out invitations via the mail anymore.

For the past 5 years in a row GRT has raced the 12 Hours of the Hill of Truth in Knoxville on Halloween weekend. This year it looked as if I was going to have to bow out due to a big shut down at work that's basically going to consume the entire month of October. The official schedule came out a week ago and technically it will be over before Halloween weekend possibly allowing me to race. I'm not going to lie, I'm really not that disappointed in the fact that no one seems interested in going. I want to race but I agree that we need a break.

I was also looking forward to the 3rd and final race of the TN Cup Series, the Ocho Reverse, but it seems as if no one has any interest in doing that one either. I am kinda bummed out about missing this one, especially since we missed the 2nd race due to a last minute date change.

I guess the racing season for me has officially ended, kinda sucks but I'm ok with it. I love to race but it doesn't consume me to the point that I actually put together a training plan. Sure I make a point to get out and ride as much as possible in order to perform well but I hate using the word training. If I ever start riding just to train I'm afraid I'll get sick of it.

In all reality I do have the chance to do a few races this fall with the local cyclocross scene. It's fun for about an hour but that's it. The races are short, in grassy fields and there's no camping but it satisfies the competitive side of me somewhat so I'll take it. I've been thinking hard about buying a Surly Cross Check to replace my broken road frame but I really have no interest in racing an actual CX bike. While slower than a true CX bike, I enjoy racing my mtn bike at the CX races much more. Now with the all new fat tire class I can do so and be a tad bit more competitive.

I have no fear that this fall will be anything close to boring with all the trail building opportunities on the horizon so I guess no more racing for the year is a good thing. Really I'm more excited about building singletrack than anything. It's funny how taking a big ownership in a single trail project has really gotten me fired up about trailbuilding. I've always enjoyed it but this year something has changed. I got really involved in building a new trail this spring, organizing workdays, working on my own during the middle of the week, something I've never down before. I think I might have only missed 2 maybe 3 scheduled work days with the Chestnut project and I've been thinking of going ahead earlier than projected and getting back to work before Fall actually kicks in.

Some people look forward to the Fall season because it means cooler weather and football. I look toward Fall because it means trail building season is upon us!

a little exploration

Knowing I would be stuck at work all Labor Day weekend I snuck in as many rides as I could find the time for last week. I got in two at Warrior's Tues. and Wed. and one at Bays Mountain on Thursday. I've been want to explore Bays Ridge for some time now but just really didn't want to go it alone. Something about exploring back country trails alone that are not well marked has always kinda freaked me out somewhat.

I conned Richard into heading out with me, packing plenty of water, snacks and a trail map we set off to see what was what and what was not in the further reaches of the park.

We started out on double track that climbed, climbed and then climbed some more before switching over to singletrack and more climbing. The singletrack was super tight and littered with down trees really killing any momentum we ever built up. It had the potential for being a fun trail if it was clear but park maintenance while short staffed doesn't seem to interested in clearing if it can't be reached via ATV.

Bays Ridge was a very fitting name for the trail as we rode across the ridge for a long time. At one point we were directly over a shooting rage than was in full use. We couldn't see the range below and knowing they couldn't see us I was a bit leary of a stray bullet or two making it's way up the mountain. I was prepared to take cover if I heard anything buzzing by my head or even remotely close.

After checking the map a few times we realized we were pretty close to the end of the park's borders and I knew the trail was supposed to end at the bottom of the valley, several hundred feet below us. The further we rode without descending I had a sneaking suspicion that the decent was going to be short and power sliding steep. We came upon a right hand turn looked down and realized my guess was correct. I rode as far as I could under control but a couple more downed trees forced us to dismount and the the pitch got too steep for riding much less for hiking. I really wonder what was going through the minds of the trail builders back when this trail was constructed. Probably something along the lines of "Let's just hurry up and get this over with, I'm sick of building trails."

We did manage to get back on our bikes and finish the decent the rest of the way to the bottom. Once at the end we began the search for the connector trail that was supposed to take us up and over the next ridge so we could ride singletrack our rather than old jeep roads. We looked and looked and looked but never found the trail. I'm sure it existed at one time but no doubt was grown up with weeds and or covered with downed trees.

Needless to say we never found it and wound up riding the jeep road back into the main area of the park. The ride out was quite an adventure in it's self. Not having rain in nearly two weeks you would think everything would be dry but this was not the case. Being deep in a valley with not much in the way of sunshine coming through the thick foliage the huge pits created by illegal access from off road vehicles were still a wet muddy mess. By the time we reached the end of the road we were covered in mud and had picked up and extra 5 or 6 lbs. on our tires.

Having ventured to the end of the Bays Ridge trail I have pretty much covered most of the park's trails and land with the exception of that one connector trail that was hidden or non-existent. I don't regret exploring the Bays Ridge trail, it was fun and a learning experience but it will probably will be a while before I venture back there again.

getting dirty a bit further down south cont.

Feeling a bit refreshed from snack time and and after checking my water supply I was feeling a little bit better about not running out too early. We hit the pavement once again just after checking the map ride side up and headed down the road in search of a school, not sure the name of the school but we were fairly positive it was an elementary school. It didn't take us long to find it and thinking back to the directions we were given before we left I recalled our guide telling us to skirt right, around the school and the trail started just behind it. We immediately found a road that skirted right around the school so we followed it assuming we would see the trailhead with ease. Well that wasn't the case but we did see some very interesting yard art. Several cars, some old, some European, some homemade and an old Hamburgular statue from a MacDonald's playground, you remember, from the good ole days. Anyway we didn't see a trail head so we turned around and headed back to the school thinking we might have missed it with all the interesting yard art to gawk at. Once we reached the school it was evident there was no trailhead but there was an abandoned house directly behind the school. Since it was apparent there was no one living there I decided to ride through the yard and circle around behind the house in search of the hidden trailhead. As I cruised through the backyard not really expecting to see anything I found a hole in the shrubs and low and behold there was a trail running behind the property. I wasn't exactly sure we were in the right place but it definitely looked like singletrack so we decided to ride it and see where it went. Worse case scenario we would be riding the wrong singletrack but it was still singletrack so what the hay.

We cruised along wondering aloud whether we were on the right trail or not, but judging from the trail conditions we were, it was in too good of shape and flowed too well not have been built by mountain bikers for mountain bikes.

We stumbled across a downed tree of rather large proportions and knowing it was too large to clear I opted to walk it. Shane decided it was rideable and well.... just watch the video.

I will have to give Shane credit, he did attempt it again and cleared it as did Anthony.

Another mile or so we started noticing some really cool trail markers with a cool chain ring logo of sorts printed on them. We knew then that we were on the right trail just not to sure if we started in the right spot. I just can't imagine a trailhead being located in someone's back yard or at least what used to be someone's backyard. A little further we found a couple of maps attached to trees along the trail which helped us navigate the system a little better.

The 3rd trail system from what I can tell is all on private land owned by the head honcho of the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club, evidently he has access to some mechanized equipment, that paired with a nice piece of land has created his own little mountain bike haven that he shares with the public. The wooden structure pictured above was located just a couple hundred yards from his house which thoroughly impressed me. Note to Melinda, I don't care what our next house looks like as long as we have a couple of acres to build our own trails on. Once we had ridden our fair share of the 3rd trail system we decided it might be a good idea to head back before we were out of water and with the amount of wrong turns we had made there was a good chance of a couple more.

We rolled down a gravel road which dumped us onto a paved road all of which were not marked and then Shane announced we were to turn left back onto another graveled road. After a few minutes of this I began to question him since nothing was marked and how was he so sure about this specific turn. Shane rambled on in a way that only Shane can and he did make a very convincing point but before he could finish the road ended. I laughed nervously as Shane added another beer to the first one he promised to buy me for leading us astray. As we back tracked he found another turn and decided to follow it. Anthony and I decided to wait as it didn't look like much but surprisingly he found singletrack. Still no markings but it was singletrack so we rode it, how Shane found it and figured out which way to go I'll never know. It was either shear luck or maybe my guardian angle was whispering in his ear.

This singletrack was obviously not built by mountain bikers as it went straight up and down the steepest sections of the hills but we found the river we that was pictured on our map so knew we were headed in the right direction and we finally ran into another rider who confirmed we were on the right path. About another mile of billygoat style singletrack and we dumped out onto a paved greenbelt and simultaneously my Camelbak ran dry. I was never so glad to see a paved path while riding my mountain bike. Out of water and legs made of toast I was ready to find the car and refuel.

Shane announced that he felt he had redeemed himself and took back one of the beers he promised me, I agreed and looked for a tow rope to attach to his handlebars. Anthony and I were ready to get back to some water but Shane felt the need to keep stopping for stretching, gels and bird watching.

Once we finally reached the car I grabbed my extra water bottle I had left in the car, hot water never tasted so good. We made our way home but not without stopped for beer and pizza, I highly recommend the Tomato Head and it has nothing to do with the fact that there is a Marble Slab Creamery right next door.

getting dirty a bit further south

As promised, I finally had a little time to squeeze together this short video of the slip n slide. It was a blast!



Earlier this week Anthony, Shane and myself hit Knoxville early one morning to attend a grant workshop. Writing grants is something we know little about but something we plan to take advantage of, especially if we want to get into the wonderful world of mechanized trail building.


We weren't about to drive all the way to Knoxville just to attend a boring meeting, Anthony put in a call to the local mountain bike club and asked if we could get a fully guided tour of Knoxville's "Dirty South Ride".


The Dirty South Ride is a group of 3 trail systems all connected by residential roads, green ways and older trail networks built with the hiker state of mind, straight up and straight down. After the grant workshop we hooked up with our guide only to find out he had to bail on us. Luckily another fellow from the club volunteered to escort us to the trailhead, loan us a map and point us in the right direction.


Our map was somewhat sketchy and falling apart but we weren't about to let that deter us from riding. We were riding within the city limits so how lost could we really get?








The first trail system started right out of the parking lot we were parked at and it lead us right past an old rock quarry which was interesting enough for us to stop and snap a few pictures. The trails were tight, twisting and fast. Feeling fresh and rested we probably rode them a bit too hard not realizing we needed to conserve energy for the extra and unnecessary miles we were about to ride. Once we covered all of the trails we popped out into a neighborhood. Shane was manning the map and pointing us in the direction of our next destination. After about 2.5 miles of pavement we realized we had missed our turn somewhere and ended up back tracking all the way to where we started. Shane realized he was looking at the map upside down and we went left where we should have gone right. He acknowledged his mistake and stated he owed us a beer at lunch.


Once back on track we found our next trail system quickly. This trail system was better than the first with a bit more rocks to keep things interesting. The heat and extra mileage was starting to take it's toll on us, it was then that I began kicking myself for not filling my Camebak completely full. The semi weight weenie inside of me hates lugging a full Camelbak around and the JET only has one water bottle cage which I stupidly decided not to use. What was I thinking?








I really enjoyed the 2nd system but not to it's full potential. Once we finished we opted to take a break, measure our water levels and have a snack. So far both trail systems had detailed maps at the trailhead, something our pocket map lacked. Once we felt rested and somewhat rehydrated we saddled up and hit the pavement in search of the 3rd trail system.



too be continued..........

NTMBA goes camping

So I guess I've been slacking again, I've been very busy even though I've been off all week. Meetings the past 3 days in a row, but luckily for me and you they have all been mountain bike trail related. More trails are coming to our area and we are working hard to see this done. Unfortunately it takes paperwork and meeting before tools or machines can hit the dirt but we'll do what it takes.

On the home front I've been dealing with a couple of jack asses who think they can get away with taking my money and not doing the work they were paid for. Evidently there are several of these people in our area and I'm taking steps to see the fools who thought they could pull the wool over my eyes won't do it again to me or anyone.

Even though all of this has been going on and taking up a great deal of my time I have managed to get in some great rides. A little over a week ago our local club hit Wilkesboro NC for a weekend of camping and singletrack action. The weather last year was a washout but this year we had near perfect weather.

Friday night started off with a bang, a group night ride on the Warrior Creek trails. Those trails are a blast during the day but riding them at night put a whole new perspective on things. I opted to go with one of my new LED flashlights zip tied to my helmet as my only light for the ride. It worked pretty well even though I mounted it a bit too low. It was plenty bright but not quite as bright as my Magicshine.

Saturday we hit Dark Mountain for a change of pace and ran into a couple of the BMCC guys who were kind enough to show us some of their favorite loops. I pretty much rode the JET9 the entire weekend, that thing is so much fun to ride I'm afraid all the squish is making me soft. Near the end of the ride we hit the downhill section and I was able to stay off the brakes a bit more than normal but I doubt I'll ever see big air. It was so much fun some of us pedaled back to the top for another run. Did I mention the JET pedals uphill almost as well as down?

After Dark Mtn we broke for lunch, refueled and then broke out the Big Mtn Slip N Slide to cool off a bit before heading back into the woods. With almost 80 foot of plastic and 5 bottles of baby shampoo to make things good and slick, all paired with a really long hill, we had a ridiculously fast slip n slide. It was so fast there was no stopping you once you ran out of plastic. Everyone who wasn't chicken and dared to give it a run hit the grass at high speed at the end leaving you with a grassy assy. Some walked away grassy, some muddy and even a little bloody but everyone had a smile on their face. Video footage to come soon.

Even Jackson enjoyed himself, he really wanted to hit it but I was afraid his claws would rip the plastic.

After everyone had there fill of the slip n slide we headed back out into the woods for another round of the Warrior Creek trails. The weatherman was calling for rain on Sunday so we didn't want to waste a chance to ride.

Saturday night we had a cookout of record proportions, I've not seen or eaten that much food in a long time.

The weekend seemed a bit too short with all the fun we had, I almost cried when it was time to go home but a stop at the new Mellow Mushroom in Boone made everything a little better.