Wisdom

Morning weigh-in: 163.5#, 9.5% BF

 

Rode the towpath and Sals last night with my friend Joe (formerly of Warren Glen, and before that Easton, but now living in the Poconos), not sure of the mileage but probably about 28, just over 3 hours of riding. That's a pretty serious ride, but I was still a little surprised at the drop in weight: I've been skimping proteins and leaning on the carbs rather heavily over the past few days, which usually puts the weight on, and I thought I'd done pretty well with the rehydration thing. I like lower numbers, but I have to take this one as an ominous sign... Legs were toast last night, so I came in this morning and ate the equivalent of 4 eggs (scoops of scrambled egg w/ cheese, plus an omelet), and spent the morning feeling like I'd swallowed a bowling ball.

 

Meantime: A little morning yoga to make up for the missed class last night, and tonight is the gym.

5:30 Comes Around Pretty Early

Morning weigh-in: 165#, 9% BF

 

Rode last night, 38 miles in just over 2 hours; not counting some backing and filling time we probably had an 18-19 mph average. Me, Joe C, Greg M, Jorge, Scott S and Eric B. Great fun, very competitive ride.

 

More Dispatches From The Stealth Apocalypse: Your house is burning faster.

 

Dinner was at the Christian's Spring Hotel, and unlike the last few times I was basically the only one there. I didn't stick around either, since Joe and I had sampled a post-ride libation (Foundation Brewing's "Devil Dancer" triple IPA, 13% ABV) that nearly put me on the floor -- beyond hoppy, but you could also quite literally taste the alcohol it was so strong; it was like drinking vodka and grapefruit juice.

 

I'm working my way through the menu there (XSpringH), making sure I've tried everything and know my favorites before I revert to just getting the same thing every time... Last night was the beef burrito. Yeah it was good.

 

A-And While We Were Out Fiddling: I really think it's the fungus that will inherit the earth.

 

Anyway, early night. Did a few minutes of computer stuff when I got home, and then it was bedtime -- I've been coming in to work at 7:00 AM, getting up at 5:30 to make it happen, and that gets rough if the evening lasts too long. I'm riding tonight instead of going to yoga, so I did a quick workout while I was waiting for the coffee to be ready, couple of sun salutations and a pose or two, just enough to get the juices flowing. (I think that's a pretty decent morning routine, actually.)

Parson's Tale

Morning weigh-in: 165#, 8.5% BF

 

There are a lot of religious guys here at work, though (as someone on the Internet once put it) it's more a community than a theology thing. My old group seemed to lean rather heavily Baptist, at least on the Project Management side, but this new group I'm in skews more Catholic than anything else. There's one guy who now sits near me, one of the ones I'm talking about, who reminds me of Parsons from Orwell's 1984. Big rotund guy, loud, everything he does is a chuckleheaded commotion -- and I swear the guy has sleep apnea even when he's awake. Uh, hang tough Donny Satyagraha, this ain't even in the same league as sitting near Snot Boy.

 

Yoga last night, and tonight is the "hard road ride." I was planning to hit yoga tomorrow as well, but I may finally get around to that towpath/Sals thing. That's supposed to be my secret weapon this training season, and I haven't even started yet.

Rainy Days And Mondays

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 9% BF

 

Happy belated day, all you mothers!

 

Been a while since I had to do one of these, but here's a weekend update:

 

Friday night was supposed to be a towpath ride, but it was rainy and cold so I blew it off and went to Porters for dinner. I saw Larry, my usual Friday night ride partner, there, and he said "Please don't make me look like a wuss by saying you rode tonight!" Uh, no problem dude...

 

Good band, good company, but I made it an early night, even though I am very close to getting my next mug: I was tired, the beers I did have went straight to my head, and I wanted to get up early anyway.

 

Saturday was a brick workout day: in between errands & chores I managed to hit the morning yoga class, then the gym, and finally that Friday towpath ride, one day late -- I hooked up with Larry and we rode to the Action Wheels Spring Fling in Bethlehem. (I saw Joe G's brother Jon there, doing some stunt riding, not sure if he saw me. Didn't see anyone else there that I knew, it was mainly that BMX/downhill crowd.) I was thinking of riding Sals too while we were down there, but I still had some more errands, and Larry was on a rigid bike with semi-slick tires (ie more towpath- than singletrack-friendly), so we headed home.

 

Got home, got a call: Lara & Fred were having tacos in the back yard, come on over. Me, Fred & Lara, Art, Margarita, Michele, and Joe M a little later;  basically it was like a virtual pub mini get-together. The last part of the day turned out very nice, maybe a bit chilly (I was in shorts, duh), and Fred shot off a bunch of fireworks after dark, when some more friends of his showed up.

 

I should have stayed there, but I wanted to catch that Tommy Ramone / Uncle Monk thing  at Christian's Spring Hotel. Took off from NJ for Nazareth, I arrived just before 11:00, and once again, the show was already over... Hung out anyway, saw Frank P from the Bethlehem bike advocacy scene, as well as a Eskandalo Alison and her BF Nick -- I think that's their official hangout -- and basically the other half of the virtual Pub contingent. All agreed, I just missed a great show... Doug stopped by for a few minutes, on the way back from that trail summit at State College; he looked a bit tired, like he'd seized the day or something.

 

Sunday was morning chores, then I hopped on the bike again, fully intending to ride Sals. Pulled out into the back alley to get going, and that's where I ran into Which Brew regulars Mike and Carole walking their dogs. Watching their weight & their budget, haven't seen them in the usual haunts, so we got to talking -- lots to catch up on.

 

After that I rode downtown, thought I'd get something to eat...

 

I spent so much time dawdling (home, talking, and over brunch), that I decided I'd better cut my ride short: I just rode the towpath again. Good thing too, because I felt kind of tired towards the end. Saw my hairdresser one more time this weekend, out near Freemansburg -- she said she rode, now I have seen the proof if not the helmet, giving me something to harp on at my next haircut. (Also saw my friend the aggressive goose, who came out after me again, but flinched mightily & backed off when I raised my foot.)

 

Mother's Day dinner was with Mom & Dad in Jackson, dessert was at my brother's house.

More North Carolina Photos

Laurel Mountain: Eric
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

I posted another 30 photos or so, shots from our second ride aka "the rainy day." Go check them out.

Speaking of rain: Skipped the ride tonight, it was just to wet and cold. Going down to Porters for dinner in a few minutes, probably see Larry there.

Friday

Morning Weigh-in: 166#, 8% BF

 

Gym last night, standard endurance workout with Dawn, plus a 2 mile warmup run beforehand. Yoga didn't seem too hard while I was doing it on Wednesday, but last night I felt tired and sore, and my running speed was down a few notches. It's probably just that I'm still tired from the weekend, though that seems so far away now...

 

His XSH for dinner last night, had a chicken sandwich with a couple of Double Whites. Saw Judy, Ann and Lee, as well as Sarah (I think) and her husband whose name I don't know, but they were all finishing up as I got there. I decided to keep it pretty early -- I've been getting up at 5:30 AM -- and since they stuck around with me for a bit after dinner, I left not long after they did. Bed by 11:00.

 

Tonight is the towpath, rain or shine, then I may head downtown -- it's OK, I'll be sleeping in tomorrow, all the way until 7:00.

Deep Red Bells

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 9%

 

"It looks a lot like engine oil

And tastes like being poor and small

And Popsicles, in summer." -- Neko Case, "Deep Red Bells"

 

Worked late last night, then went to yoga. Came in early this morning, and I'm leaving at the regular time to go directly to the gym; dinner tonight will be at Christian's Spring Hotel again -- I got the call last night, some Which Brew regulars were planning a get-together there. I'll still probably go there on Saturday as well, but I also got a text from a friend, inviting me to check out a band at her bar that night as well -- I have a feeling there may be some competition for the Which Brew crowd, now at loose ends...

 

"Does your soul cast about, like an old paper bag,

Past empty lots and early graves?" -- Neko Case

 

"But Technology, alas, braidcrowned and gold-thighed maiden, always comes up for grabs like this."

-- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

 

Not Listening: I haven't listened to her in a while, but the other day I remembered a conversation where I used Neko Case as an example of how rock may not be dying, but it sure is calcified because the current best musical talent seems to have abandoned it. That conversation was with Jason, another WB semi-regular -- cook there too for a while, as well as at Weyerbacher -- who now hangs out at the newly-refurbished Colonial Spaghetti House. Hmmm, note to self...

 

"All talk of cause and effect is secular history, and secular history is a diversionary tactic."

-- Thomas Pynchon

Projector

Morning weigh-in: 164#, 10% BF

 

Rode last night from Joe C's place: me, Joe, Cindy, Greg, Eric B, and Scott S who I haven't seen in probably a year; we were also met on the road by Joe Viagra -- he's a drug rep, that's one of his products and the name stuck, at least with me -- who rode with us for a bit before continuing on his own way. (There's apparently a "Tuesday night crowd," and nobody besides me was surprised to see any of the others.) We got in about 31 miles total, maybe 17 mph average: a good pace, sometimes faster than I would have liked for a recovery ride, but I (mostly) avoided getting sucked into the game at the front, getting crushed anyway, and needing a recovery day from my recovery day... I should probably make this part of my weekly routine, I'd get faster in a hurry.

 

I hit Christian's Spring Hotel on the way home, got a roast beef sandwich & washed it down with an Allagash Double White. Saw Eskandalo owner Alison there, with her boyfriend Nick who used to work at Which Brew. Funny, his hair used to be so long and unkempt... They were there for Movie Night, some late-50's teensploitation flick about bad-girl HS gangs or something. I stayed at the bar, didn't check out the movie room; it didn't seem that interesting even for camp, and I just wanted to eat & get home. I'll probably be back Saturday though, when Tommy Ramone shows up to play bluegrass -- wait, what?

Doldrum Believer

Morning weigh-in: 165#, 9% BF

 

Dinner was Porters, soft tacos, and I knocked a few brews off my list (I am getting very close to earning my third mug), directly after yoga. Chatted with an older couple, a music professor and his wife/girlfriend/friend/whatever, and also Marty & Maria, who rode a cute little pink tandem down to the bar. Pretty cool, I didn't even know they rode -- actually I'm pretty sure he doesn't, but she used to: Jacobsburg, back in the day.

 

Work is very busy and very satisfying, by the way. Things are quiet; not much is happening and the drama level is dropping again (and thank goodness for that, even if it was mostly just internal drama), so postings may get a bit boring for a while. Tonight I'm riding the road with Joe C and company. It's supposed to be a "recovery ride" tonight, but I know the crowd so we'll see. I'm leaning towards beans & rice for dinner.

Dead Calm

Morning weigh-in: 164.5#, 10% BF

 

Happy Beltane! Just walked past the lobby here at work, noticed that the flags are hanging straight down. It looks totally windless out, blue skies and sunny and I'm not riding tonight -- it ain't discipline, I'm just tired from yesterday. I'll hit yoga class tonight and call it "active rest." Last night's dinner was black beans with a bit of salad, tonight's will probably be something Mexican.

 

My friend Scott rode in with me this morning; he bicycled over from Nazareth, and I gave him a lift the rest of the way. He just got back from Sri Lanka and India, and I got to hear about some of his adventures. He says he saw places that looked like Costa Rica and even Moab, but didn't do much biking, just some running and a lot of yoga.

 

Ladies, Don't Drink The Water! I think the fertility clinic must have had a wastewater spill, and it got into the drinking supply -- there are two women out on maternity at Easton Yoga (three counting Kelly who just had her baby); I saw Weyerbacher-back-in-the-day barmaids Cara and Rachael the other day, and both were close to due; and I expect to hear something from Jeff and Tracy about their new addition any day now. On the way in to work today, we listened to Social Distortion (one of Jeff & Tracy's favorite bands), to send them some good vibes.

Moving Up On My Over/Under

Bikes Allowed
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Whelp, I'm home from Michaux. The bike's been cleaned, lubed and put away, dinner's over; it's almost like Christmas has come and gone... I went down with Eric B and Joe, who both had phenomenal days (Joe actually came in 3rd in Masters), and I managed to pretty much hit the goal I was shooting for, a 3:30 finish time (my official finish time was 3:31:28). Not bad, and especially when it turned out to be a perfect day!

I felt very confident in the rough stuff (and I'm now convinced that that fork is a keeper), and found that what I call my "over/under" -- the level of technical difficulty for some physical challenge on the bike, such that I have a 50-50 chance of success given my current skill level -- has improved significantly enough that I was able to pick people off by catching and passing them when they flubbed the technical sections, actually gaining the most ground on stuff I used to dread. Anyway, Michaux is now behind us, and I think I saw what I was looking for there.

Meantime, I uploaded a bunch of North Carolina photos, maybe just less than half of what I'm going to post (so stay tuned for more), and you can find the set here. Enjoy!

Watching Girls Go By

Hey there's no Saturday morning weigh-in!

I remember a few weeks ago I tried to "be a friend" to someone, a friend who was unhappy over a soured relationship, and I said totally the wrong thing. At least, I thought it was the wrong thing, so I apologized the next day, and got a sort of "you are forgiven, and I appreciate that you care" hug, which was nice in its own way but I was also struck by how small and frail my friend felt; in my eyes she always seemed ten feet tall.

Listening: various Yes CD's, mostly Classic Yes and Close To The Edge, over and over since the trees bloomed.

Tough end to a tough week yesterday. Work was OK, then I got home and did a hot lap on the towpath. I was far enough ahead of my normal game that I managed to get in a short ride at Sals, just fifteen minutes on the Orange Loop and back out at Reeb. I was riding fast and well, and felt really stoked. Until...

The geese are nesting right now along the canal, and when they have chicks they can be very aggressive. I've never really had a problem, but last night one goose actually attacked me, and in fending it off with my foot I kicked it -- keep in mind I'm also doing around 20 mph, so the blow was extra hard. Even big birds are build kind of delicate, and I could feel a sort of sickening crunch when my foot connected with the goose's head. It let out a kind of yelp like a dog does when you accidentally step on its toes, and over my shoulder I saw it all knocked out and flapping on the ground, with its mate and chicks milling about. Not my finest moment, and the image stuck in my head for the rest of the ride.

When I got home I called the Game Commission, and they didn't seem too be too worried so I figure it's not as big a deal as it felt to me, but it did not put me in the best of moods for the evening -- from "Sister Bluebird" to goose murderer in about three hours.

I decided to go out, and went down to Pearly Bakers for dinner, that's where I ran into a big chunk of the Which Brew crowd: "Hey we're taking this place over!" Had a good conversation with Lara, then when she & Fred took off I got to talking with Andy about his house, which he's been renovating over the past few years. He's almost done, and was talking about the issues that have kept him off track: he'd been having trouble staying focused, especially after the death of his father, and of his friend Xantha last year.

Well, Xantha. Say what? I knew her too, not well but she was a pretty girl, easy to spot at a party (like one of Andy's parties) or at Porters, and she was very active with the Downtown Civic Association scene so you'd see her just about everywhere at things like the Scarecrow Festival, or out at the Farmer's Market with her toddler son Rocco. Just a little less than a year ago she was going to a family get-together in Maine, and apparently lost control of her car-- she died at the scene, and her young son died on the way to the hospital. This was horrible news, even if it was old news to everyone but me. (I was just so freaked out I didn't really believe it -- and I also could have swore I saw her at the Scarecrow Festival or the Garlic Festival last fall -- so when I got home last night I googled her obituary.) Rest in Peace Xantha, and rest in peace Rocco --- I remember teaching him how to throw pebbles at the party I linked to.

I hit Porters for one beer after Pearly Bakers, ran into Andy again there and followed him over to Fugly's (I am on the prowl for a new hangout: Porters is a "yes," Fugly's -- not so much) but I called it an early night; I just wasn't in the mood.

I woke up this morning kind of stressed and depressed -- yoga class, take me away! And that's exactly what happened... We started with a kind of meditation, two minutes of sitting across from each other, silently looking into each other's faces. (I was paired with a pretty girl so I didn't mind, but where were my walls when I needed them most?) Standard yoga class after that, but we also worked "tree pose" as a group: arms to shoulders like a chorus line, and it was interesting to feel the movement and sway, almost like wind in a forest.

Coffee shop, gym with Dawn -- first time with her in a month, much catching up to do -- drycleaning, oil change, then I hit Eskandalo for a haircut. Got an earful of current events and gossip from owner Alison, but I will not be repeating it, at least not here... We're all so fragile.

Just Thought I'd Mention

By the way:

 

Uzimaki

 

Zodiac

 

A Spring Clean

 

The May Queen

 

Just sayin...

Whoops!

Morning weigh-in: 170#, 7.5% BF

 

Hit the gym, then hit dinner at Porters -- and apparently I hit it pretty hard. I thought I'd been fairly sensible & careful, oh well. Not a very fun night anyway: it was open-mic night, not the best of entertainment options, and once again I attracted a loony -- drunk dude sitting next to me thought I was Tommy Chong, and attached himself to my ear on that basis. I texted my friend Stu to invite him on tonight's towpath ride, and found he'd already moved to Florida, like last Sunday. WTF? But that explains why he & Cathy weren't at Which Brew for those last days...

 

Like I said, tonight is a towpath ride, then I'm probably staying in -- I have to work on the bike some more, I have to keep away from the calories, I want to hit early morning yoga tomorrow, and I will also be messing around with the computer. (If you look to the left you'll see that I've added a few links, including my friend Greg aka MTBSailor's new blog, and I will be adding a few more tonight, as well as culling a few of the less interesting ones; I also have about 100 North Carolina photos to upload, and I want to get moving on that.)

 

My new cycling glasses came yesterday, two pairs so I now have a backup. Michaux will probably be rainy, so I must get the fogproofing thing happening too.

Uzumaki, Zodiac, Just a Spring Clean For The May Queen

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 7.5% BF

 

Happy Birthday, Minamata Disease! You poor fuckers...

 

Yoga last night, pretty decent and I didn't get beat up too bad, and I could already see the influence of that Max Strom workshop.

 

(By the way, I just got an email: Kelly, my original yoga teacher and a fellow mountain biker, gave birth to her baby boy at 3:45 AM today. Eight pounds two ounces, 20 inches; he will probably be named Noah. Congratulations Kelly and Michael, and welcome Noah!)

 

Dinner was Porters, a late-week laundry night, but it just wasn't the same... it was still good though: I had the "Turkey Dinner Sandwich" and washed it down with a few brews from my list -- I am now 15 beers away from earning my third mug there. Scott the bartender joked "Oh sure, they all come crawling back now that Which Brew's closed!" but the truth is, I spent more time in Porters during the WB years than I ever did before that. They were not hurting before Which Brew and they won't be hurting for business now, but there was a synergy going on between the two pubs that will now be missing.

 

Tonight is the gym, then grocery shopping and a little bike work. Michaux is Sunday.

Mourning In Springtime

Morning weigh-in: 166#, 8% BF

 

Picked up the bike last night, took it up to Sals and turned a hot lap -- 58 minutes (rolling time) for my standard loop -- on my new fork. The verdict is still out, I'm not sure, after one ride, whether I will like an air-only fork: it felt harsh & bouncy, but I noticed I cornered a lot -- a lot -- better, and of course I was going faster overall so maybe I was just bouncing more anyway. Ran into Doug & Eric, and Doug commented that the fork maybe needed more air pressure. I didn't want to mess with it on the trail but I'll be setting the preload tonight, and there are plenty more adjustments still to come.

 

You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go: Well, my instincts were correct: going to Which Brew last night was the right move, because last night was the last night. (I can remember the first days there, just about the time I started blogging.) I walked in for some dinner, the place was packed and Brujos was playing "The Weight" -- it was all I could do to keep from crying, but things brightened considerably, and everyone was saying their goodbyes-that-aren't-really-goodbyes, or at least I can hope that's what they'll turn out to be. Last thing I ate there was a plate of nachos (I am avoiding wings, and I had the cheeseburger Monday), washed down with a couple of Franziskaners; I stayed until last call and, since they were out of Jameson, I had a Tullamore Dew & Ginger Ale to finish the night. What's past is gone, we've had five years and it's time to move on. So uh, until next time...

 

The Vision Thing: My "new" glasses (which I got maybe 4 years ago) finally shit the bed the other day, and I am now wearing the backups I bought at the same time. (I actually think I like the backups better than the ones I usually wear/wore, but they were less of a radical change from the old style I was trying to get away from at the time.) I could probably do with a new prescription as well, and will be dealing with this over the next week or so -- I must get my stylish friends together to help me make the right eyewear choice. Meanwhile, my riding glasses are having end-of life issues of their own, but I've had trouble finding replacements without resorting to stores I don't like. Things got even worse over the weekend, so when I got back from NC I bit the bullet and ordered new ones from Optics Planet. They already shipped and should be here tomorrow -- we'll see if they managed to get the order right on the first try.

 

Tonight is yoga, first time on a Wednesday in maybe a month. I am going to get my ass kicked. Meanwhile, I don't know where my next meal is going to come from.

 

Tyrant King Porn Dragon

Morning weigh-in: 167.5#, 8.5% BF (partial pig and python, neh?)

 

Man, I likes my crazy when it's all crunchy and good with ketchup...

 

Anyway, Black Mountain. The basic gist of the riding down there, at least for the routes we took, is that you climb for the first half of the ride, then the second half is all descent -- Black Mountain was uphill for the first eight miles or so, but it was non-technical, and a fairly easy climb except for the staircase hike-a-bike near the top. The descent went on forever it seemed, and was crazy fun until it ended abruptly and waaaay too soon. ("Forever" and "way too soon" -- how does that work? Like childhood summers I guess.) We were near the cars, but did another short section, up a little and then down to the road, for a total of about 17-18 miles.

 

We had a few mechanicals, so we stopped in at the bike shop on the way home, then somehow drifted by one's and two's over to the Mexican restaurant next door -- our plan, decided in the aftermath of our travel day's lunch stop, was to not eat Mexican again, but they had 42-oz margaritas and tasty gloppy food and the next thing you know... The rest of the afternoon was spent on the porch of our "cabin," basically napping.

 

More bike stories later I'm sure, and pictures eventually as well.

 

Last night I dropped the bike off to get my new fork installed. (Not a hard install, but I wanted them to do the tube cutting etc.) Dinner was Which Brew, possibly the last Monday night there; I met Brian there and told him about the trip, and also hung out with fellow rider Anne. I also got to see Jim & Alison's wedding photos, and later learned about a female cyberpunk author, whose name now escapes me, from Christina. A pretty good night there, all in all.

 

If all goes as planned I'll be picking the bike up tonight, and riding Sals to get the suspension dialed in. (My backup plan is the gym.) Dinner? Probably Which Brew again -- this week is very likely the swan song, the final stretch. It seemed like forever, but now, too soon, it's coming to an end.

 

 

Friggin Finally!

Posse
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

Another milestone: this photo just passed the 100-views mark after sitting at 99 views for weeks. The photos from Megan's party were once among my more popular ones, but they got bypassed & left behind...

Lotta cuties in this photo, and they're all really cool people. (This is the original crew, of which I used to say they made feel young but they also made feel old sometimes. Whippersnappers.) Smoe have moved away, and a few of them I don't see much anymore for whatever other reasons, hope they're all doing alright & are happy.

Back With A Vengeance

Morning weigh-in: 169#, 7.5% BF

 

So, one pound a day, that's quite a vacation... lotta bad food choices, aside from the usual suspects: beer, wings, more beer, etc. Oh well, I had fun.

 

To Recap: Wednesday was our travel day, eleven hours on the road starting at 6:15 AM from Greg's house. I traveled down with Doug in Eric's car, while Rich drove Greg and Bob. (Dave -- self-employed and essentially nocturnal -- caught some ZZZZZ's after playing a show, then traveled down on his own a few hours later.) Our "cabin" was really an old house, rural and very nice but on the wrong side of the tracks, tucked in between a trailer park and the recycling center, and with an abandoned factory and power plant up the street. We got there a little before 6:00, unpacked and got ourselves settled in, then hit downtown Brevard looking for food.

 

Unfortunately, they roll the sidewalks up early in Brevard, at least on weeknights, and especially "this early in the season," as the locals kept telling us -- I never found out what season they were talking about, biking, kayaking, or just "summer tourist," but whatever season it was, it wasn't happening in Brevard just yet, and most restaurants were already closed by the time we got there. We ended up eating at Dugan's, an "Irish" (read: redneck, as our waitress informed us) bar which was actually really good; this was also where Dave caught up with us. Our waitress was way cool, and gave us a few nightlife tips, but even the bars were closing by 10:00 or so. (Those tips came in handy later in the week though.)

 

Thursday morning we rolled out of the cabin, consulted with the local bike shop guys, and ambled over to Pisgah National Forest, the entrance being about a mile from the cabin and visible from the bike shop, for our first ride: Black Mountain.

 

To be continued...

Greetings From North Carolina

That's a big 10-4 good buddy, comin' at ya through a 14.4k modem on Windows 98...

The trip down was long (11 hours or thereabouts) but mostly uneventful, maybe a little too much Mexican food, but we only found that out later.

Today was a 19 mile ride in Pisgah, maybe 8 miles up then mostly downhill from there. Killer downhills too: steep, roots & rocks, real fun screamers. A good day overall, then we hit yet another Mexican place, for 46 oz margaritas. Now we are just chilling on the North Carolina porch & rocking chairs.

By the way: me, Rich, Doug, Eric, Bob R, Greg H, and Dave L. We are having fun. Yo later.