taking the week off

I'm taking the week off this week, actually I'm just taking Tues through Friday off. I got out and rode Bays Mountain on Monday and later that afternoon when Melinda came home we hit Warrior's. She's really been on a roll lately wanting to ride Warrior's, something she wasn't really feeling last year so of course I went out and did a second ride just to see her get out and run a lap. I can tell she's already getting stronger and it's still early in the year. It should be impressive to see how far she takes it once she's off for the summer. Maybe I'll talk her into racing once this summer.

Anyway after Monday's 20+ miles on the dirt I was feeling a little toasty so I decided to take a couple days off and save my legs for this weekend. Saturday after we gorge ourselves at the ETSU Pancake breakfast we're heading over to the ETSU trails for a ride. If you've got nothing going on Saturday morning head over to Texas Roadhouse in Johnson City and from 8 - 10 you can eat all the pancakes you can stuff down your pie hole for a measly $5. The proceeds go to helping out the ETSU cycling team.

Sunday I'm taking Melinda riding for her birthday, probably back to Bent Creek in Asheville, it's one of her favorite places. I think she really wanting to hit the Tupelo Honey Cafe afterwards for some grub.

I've still yet to solve my tool carrying dilemma for this year. With all the races and trips coming up I need to do something soon. I think I'm done with trying seatbags. I've torn up countless bags and had all of them fail me in one form or another. I don't know why none of them have worked for me, I guess I'm just too hard on them.

I've been looking really hard at the Awesome Straps by Backcountry Research. I'm all about carrying as little as possible which is why I think this might work for me. I really hate carrying a bunch of stuff in my jersey pockets and unless it's a really long all day ride I'm not gonna carry a Camelbak. One thing I like about the Awesome Strap is that it will work anywhere on your frame not just the seatpost. That could come in handy with light batteries and maybe GoPro cameras and who knows what else.

The really cool thing about these straps is all the colors and designs they come in.

Who doesn't like cool colors and designs?

I might wait until these baby's come out before I order anything. I kinda like this idea of mounting everything under my seat. The only thing that worries me about the strap idea is how well do they work without a tube in there? I don't normally carry a tube anymore, maybe I should but like I said I hate to carry much. Normally on a short ride under 10 miles I'll only take water, no tools, maybe a small pump but that's it.

If your not busy on Friday afternoon tune into WCYB's noon news show. Fat Tony and I will be on promoting the IMBA Trail Care Crew workshop that NTMBA is putting on at Bay's Mountain March the 5th. Get all the details and register here. You don't have to be a mountain biker to benefit from this workshop. We all use trails at one point in our life so why not give a little back. There are never enough trails whether your a hiker, biker or trail runner. Trails rock and they don't build themselves.