and my Sunday Afternoon ride

JJ had to head down to Ft Fisher to take some engagement pictures for a couple that's planning on getting hitched, yep she's a photographer check out her site at jjpearce photograpy. So I took advantage of the opportunity and threw the dirt jumper on the truck and away we went. Sorry, no action shots but I really like this first one. I had fun just playing around while the love birds smiled for the camera....
(Me at Fort Fisher)
(still me, and still at Fort Fisher)
(Just chillin)

Sunday morning ride...

I've been thinking about riding the downtown area on Sunday mornings for a while now, so this morning I decided to check it out. I wanted to get down there before there was a lot of traffic, so I headed down around 7am. I'm an early riser anyway, so this fits perfect for me on the weekends. I think next week I'm going to try to get there a little earlier, and try to catch the sunrise which would be cool.

I parked at the beginning of Market Street near where the horse carriages are normally located. I figured this was as good as place as any. I took a right on Water and followed it all the way to Nutt St., from there I worked my way to North Front Street until it intersects with Third, and then took a right and took Third all the way down to Queen St. From there I headed down to the public boat ramp and took some pictures and then took Front back down to where I had parked. Sounds convoluted I'm sure, but it was fun. I took advantage of the hills on Nun, I think it was because we don't have tons of them and I need all the practice climbing that I can get. Once I finally got back to my truck, I took a breather and then did the entire route in reverse to see which way had more climbing. I ended up with 11 miles, and had a great time in downtown Wilmington.

There were several other people out riding as well, most on their road bikes, some on cruisers and I was the solo mtbr downtown at the time. I saw a few guys skateboarding, lots of folks walking or walking their pets. Speaking of pets, I'm a dog owner and lover, but if you are going to walk your dog down the River Walk, don't let the PISS on the wooden posts! This is just wrong....

This ride was a lot of fun, so much that it may become my weekly Sunday morning ride... Hope to see you out there. Here's a few pics from this morning.

(Downtown Bridge)

(Downtown Storefronts)

(My bike at the boatramp near the Downtown Bridge)

Not enough hours in the day...

I haven't updated this page in forever it seems, and if you would have seen me on the trails yesterday, you would have sworn I was a noobie. My new position at work is great, and I should be able to ride everyday, but I don't. For the past month, I have been helping my wife and Mary Ann with the CANbike event which is a mountain bike race to raise money for breast cancer. I've been hitting everyone I can think of online for donations, so I've spent way to much time typing and no where near enough time peddling.

I am excited about CANbike, it's for a great cause, and I have been blown away by the support of some of the companies. I wish they were all that way, but I know that's just not possible.

New Rims!

I've been wanting to get a new set of rims for a while. A few weeks ago while I was at a bike shop near Bent Creek, I talked to a guy about all the different ones that Mavic has to offer, and decided to go with the Mavic CrossTrails. Thanks to Shawn at Bike Cycles for getting them for me!



I'm heading out today and pick up some tires from Brannon, and hopefully these will be put together and on the trail by tomorrow!!

New Purchase

I'm tired of doing yard work! I have 2 acres of land, and I have been using a Honda Push mower and my trusty weed eater for 4 years. I'm done! I told J.J. that I am going to buy us a riding mower. J.J. had a great question, how am I going to pick it up and get it to the house. So, I bought this. Dual purpose, next trip to Tsali, I can load it up with gear....

Beer of the Week

I figured I'd share another passion of mine, good beer! It's hard to find new beer here in Wilmington, but I do try to mix it up. So here's my Beer for this week. Pete's Wicked Ale.

Bent Creek

Here's a quick slideshow that I threw together from our Day of riding at Bent Creek. This place was awesome!

Tsali '08

The July 4th Tsali trip has become a ritual for the Knights of Sir Bikes a lot, and this year would be no exception. Well, except hardly any of the Knights went this year. I know what you are thinking, No Sir Bikes-a-lot? No Sir Toots? No Sir Launch-a-lot terrorizing every little jump and berm on Thompson? You got it!

I was bound and determined to keep the trip going. After loosing my best friend Milo two weeks before, I desperately needed some dirt-therapy and mountain air to help me clear my head. I kept the emails and phone calls going, and it ended up being Tony, Brannon and myself and then Wendy and Wai would meet us there.

We headed out early on Thursday in order to get a campsite there in Tsali, the truck was loaded down with camping gear and bikes. When we arrived however, there was not a campsite to be found, except at the Kickstand Lodge which was a motorcycle campground which promised we wouldn't have "this much fun" anywhere else... Let see, three mountain bikers, 35 Hariley riders.... yeah, we opted for plan C.

I have a great friend that lives about thirty minutes from Tsali, and he and his wife graciously took the three of us in. Beer on ice, Great food, Great friends, and comfortable beds and no line for the showers... Now this is ruffing it!! I still can't thank Shawn and Kathy enough. If you are ever in the Nantahala Area, please stop by their store and check it out - Bryant Bait and Tackle!


July 4th - Time to ride. After a awesome breakfast that Shawn and Kathy cooked up for us, we headed to Tsali. I was the only one that had ever rode Tsali of the group, and I had not hit Left Loop before, so Left Loop it was. We mounted up and moved out. Less than a mile in, Tony's back wheel caught a root and he went down and I became the first one to go over the bars for the day... FACE-PLANT!!!

Well, enough with the commentary, it ended up being a great trip, here's some pictures.
(Tony at the old Fire place on Tsali's Left Loop)(Brannon coming through a small rock section on a narrow ledge Tsali - Left Loop)(Wai, Wendy, Brannon, Tony and my Prophet taking a break)(Time to check the map)(Views from the Overlook, this makes climbing the mountain worth it!)(Brannon and Me at the top!)

Tony and I called it quits after the left loop, being flat landers I had done all my lungs could take for a day. So we headed to the bike wash, while Brannon and the girls hit the right loop - You guys are my heros!

Later that day, we hung out at the NOC and watched everyone playing in the rapids and enjoyed good food and scenery. The next day we got rained out and decided to pack it in, and stopped and rode Bent Creek. I'll do another post with those pics.

Road Trip!

My stuff's all packed, and I'm heading to Tsali! I made this trip last year for the first time, and although I was so out of shape I thought I would die, I have to go again. Unfortunately, the group is much smaller this year I am sure the ones of us going will have just as much fun. I'll be heading out in a few hours, for four days of camping, mountain biking, but most of all NO WORK!!! It will be wonderful to be able to wake up and breath the crisp mountain air.