nothing special

Quick post today, I got a bunch to do but I felt like blogging and since that type of stuff has been scarce around here I figured I'd better get on the stick.

Anyway, 6 straight nightshifts, 12 hours each and I feel like a zombie. It had to be done, I gots some hella vet bills to pay. I did pick up Jackson's remains yesterday and since Moonshine is still sulking around the house I held the box down to her and told her I brought Jackson back. She took a long sniff of the box and looked at me as if she understood a little.

Oops sorry didn't mean to get sad on you, I woke up this morning with thoughts of riding the FROG out at Warriors this afternoon for our weekly group ride but when I opened the shades I saw that it had rained. Crap! I checked the weather and the future looks bright so I moved the ride to Bays Mountain where things tend to dry up much quicker than Warriors. Warriors is a rocky, rooty maze that can really kill your momentum and ride when those rocks and roots are wet. With this high humidity I figured they'll still be wet this afternoon.

Speaking of the FROG, I did a bit more research and found a couple more easier to understand explanations as to how to fine tune my Reba and I tried it out last Sunday. I don't know if it was the rebuild or my fine tuning attempt but my fork seemed alot smoother. I gave Melinda's the same treatment but she didn't seem to like it as much. I think I may know why, prior to my research, my attempt to make things smoother was to drop the psi to a lower setting to achieve a smoother ride. On my fork I upped it to where it should be but I don't think I did on hers. I guess I'd better remedy that.

For a while now I've been wanting to shave my head but I've put it off partially due to Melinda's affection for me with hair, but since I continue to loose the battle of going bald I finally convinced her it was for the best. My plan was to shave it off this morning but I think I may have talked myself out of it yet again. I'm really not to the point where what hair I do have looks bad but it is getting thinner on top maybe I just need to flip a coin.

Last weekend while in Brevard we were cruising downtown sticking our heads in whatever shop looked appealing and while we were headed back to the truck I noticed the newest Brewery in town. Not Osker Blues, but the Brevard Brewery. http://www.brevard-brewing.com/ I drug Melinda across the street and inside to check out the wares. Being that we both had full bellies from lunch and Mexican beer, we opted to go with 2 of the samplers and try them all. I have to say I was impressed, probably my 2 favorites were the Munich Dunkel, a dark German lager. This was definitely a first for me but I liked it! The other was a good ole American IPA, it was good and punchy and the 6% snuck up on me just a bit. The guy running the place was pretty cool and said if we ever come back we were welcome to bring in a pizza or whatever and dogs were allowed to, as long as they were friendly.

That's all for now, not the greatest post but definitely a start to getting back in the groove.

mixing it up

So I promised more blog posts and less talk about sad stuff that might make you cry so here I am ready to deliver..................

Um.........................

I think I forgot how to blog and write something halfway entertaining.

My last ride out on the FROG left me feeling kinda bummed, ever since I bought a Fox fork I've grown to dislike my Reba more and more. My last ride on it was out at Warrior Creek and although they have a fairly smooth trail system, there is a new section called the Head Waters Loop a trail that will leave you feeling like a rookie for sure. It has some of the nastiest rock gardens I've encountered in a while. And they throw it at you near the end of the loop so you're already feeling a bit tired, at least I was. Anyway, the Reba on the FROG felt like a freaking pogo stick. Some of that is my lack of attention span to read up on what all the multi colored dials do and how to properly adjust them to make the ride better. So what did I do? I took it to my local shop and had them rebuild it. That's right I threw money at the problem, it is a 2010 fork that's never been serviced so I figured it probably needed it.

While it was in the shop I took a few minutes to do a bit of research online to see how to better tune my fork. I'd heard about a thread on mtbr from Anthony that was supposed to be really good but I can't make heads or tales of what the guy is talking about. I think I need to take an engineering class or two and then go back and re-read it. Anyway I got the fork back a week ago and let it sit while Melinda and I ventured off to DuPont for a few days of camping and riding. A much needed break from the depressing house that's missing a giant, friendly, nervous, half chicken, half dog we called Jackson.

Once we got back and settled in I made my way into the bike room and got the FROG back up and running. I've yet to ride it or try to apply any of the things I think I might have learned online but I plan to give it a go next week. I could have rode it today but it was HOT outside for some reason and I had this weird urge to ride my road bike. I've only had it out 3 times since I got the new frame so I took it for a spin instead to mix things up a bit. Road riding and running are two things I'm trying to incorporate into my routine, I need to mix it up, shed a few pounds and get myself in gear.

As I was finishing up my ride today I pulled into the parking lot where I had parked and had my first official road crash. A total rookie mistake and I felt really dumb but thank goodness no one was there to witness it. I've developed this habit of dismounting as I roll up to my truck when riding my mountain bike and it's not big deal in mountain bike shoes, even on asphalt. So as I approached my truck today not even thinking I unclipped my right foot, swung my leg around and tried to walk it out as I grabbed the brakes, think of it as a slower version of a cyclocross dismount just before a barrier section. Well needless to say, carbon soled shoes and smooth asphalt are a bad mix. As my foot touched the ground it was like stepping on ice and before I knew it I was laying flat on my back. Most of the impact was to my butt, thankfully no injuries just a bit of soreness and a wee bit of parking lot rash.

I guess I need to get a few more road rides under my belt before heading out on any group rides or I'm sure to be the laughing stock of the group.

jackson's post

I know I've been slacking pretty bad this summer here on the blog front and I do believe I said that in my last post. I apologize and I'll apologize again for this post as it's not a good one.

Last Thursday we lost Jackson, our kid, (dog) of 9 years. He was getting old and for his breed mix he lasted at the long end of his normal life span. He was a great dog and companion even when he drove me crazy with his nervousness that seemed to get worse as he aged.

We came home to find him laying on his bed not wanting to get up Wednesday afternoon. I coaxed him up and out the door and watched him stumble like a drunk out the door. I knew it wasn't good and he seemed to be incoherent. Within a couple of minutes of going outside he began vomiting and fell on his face. We immediately rushed him to the after hours clinic and admitted him. They took some x-rays, and did some blood work and decided it was probably Pancreatitus, an infection of the Pancreas. We left him over night for treatment thinking he would be fine according to the vet.

The next morning before work I called to check on him. The vet said he was doing better so I decided to go on to work. Melinda went to pick up Jackson to take him to our regular vet but upon arrival she felt like he looked the same. When she arrived with him at our vet he had to be carried in on stretcher. After reviewing his bloodwork and x-rays they didn't think he had Pancreatitus but weren't sure what was wrong. As the vet came in and began discussing our options with Melinda, Jackson began having seizures and died shortly after. Three vets working together tried to bring him back with no luck.

It was a sad day and even a tougher weekend as it took a couple of days for things to sink in for me. I took his loss alot harder than I thought I would. Jackson had always been a Momma's boy but I loved him just the same.

I apologize for such a sad post but I felt the need to share since he was such a big part of our lives. I will leave you with this video, one of my favorites from a few years back of the dogs running the trails with me.

Enjoy!

riding with dogs from Greg Carr on Vimeo.

I promise I will get back into blogging soon and bring more positive vibes soon. Thanks for reading.

Long time no post, sorry bout that, it's been a busy summer. I did have a few minutes to put another video together from our trip out west. More footage from the Moab Utah area. This trail, Bull Run was part of the Magnificent 7 system. It was easily one of my favorites, 2 from our group had done this ride the previous day and volunteered to drive two of the cars to the bottom so we could do a shuttle run back to the top and skip the long slog up, via a sandy fireroad. The decent was awesome, rocks, rocks & more rocks galore! It offered up some beautiful views as well as large sections of slickrock.

If I ever get a chance to go back, this trail will definitely be one I will ride again.



Enjoy!