My hometown of Waynesville, NC continues on the move toward increased bicycle friendliness as the first Sharrow was placed along Commerce Street today in the Frog Level section of town. (Yes, I said Frog Level!)
(The first Sharrow in Waynesville!)
Commerce Street and Richland Streets are the first to get the lane markings…
That’s right, You! the cycling advocate. Have you seen the new on-line tool to assist you in being a more effective advocate for building cycling infrastructure and developing cyclo-tourism? No, not yet, well, check it out…
Zeke meets Andy!
So, here is today’s question. What happens when two motorcyclists meet by a garbage dumpster? (No, this isn’t a slam on motorcyclists – I’m one myself!) The story behind the answer goes like this…
Greetings from the first, well second, NC Bike Summit. Apparently, the first one occurred some 20+ years ago and, I’m sad to say, I missed it. I’m not missing this one though.
(LAB President, Andy Clarke, addressing NC Bike Summit participants)
The Navigator and I made our way down from the colorful mountains of …
As I headed home last night from our weekly “new and newly returning” riders group ride, it dawned on me that I’ve lost it. I’m not exactly sure when or where I lost it but, I’m pretty sure it is gone. Small things began to come together that helped me realize it was lost. I mean I’ve had this nagging “just below the surface” irritating pull on my conscious thought for sometime. I just couldn’t name it. I may have named it last night…
(Warning! Shameful self-promoting plea ahead!) Yes, it is true. I need your help. You see my riding time has been down significantly over the past few weeks. I can tell this without looking at my fabulously detailed Excel spreadsheet in which I gather data on virtually every ride I take. I can tell my riding time is down each morning when I go to pull on my pants – one leg at a time. I can tell my riding time is down when I try to suck in the gut enough to get that middle button through the button hole and wander around the house just long enough (defined as approximately 5 minutes) to realize the cotton is NOT going to stretch enough for these pants to be comfortable for 8 hours. I can tell my riding time is down when I’m sitting at my computer looking at the weather map when the weekly group ride is starting somewhere else! So, yes, I need your help. How can you help, you say? Well, read on…
| April 14, 1944 From the daily diary kept by S.Sgt. G.C. Watts, while stationed in Italy during WWII… “Lecture on Mosquito control. We are starting taking medicine tomorrow. Dark nites now good for invasion. Beautiful days too.” |
Our first intermediate level ride of the year was held this morning. The Navigator and I enjoyed our first cups of morning coffee as the sun made its way over Mount Pisgah displaying clear skies. The morning temperatures reflected our current warming trend as they hovered in the upper 40’s. It looked to be a great morning for a ride!
(What is missing from this photo? Answer below…)
Yep, a very exciting announcement is on the horizon. I can say that it is connected to the third Annual Blue Ridge Breakaway. I can say that it relates to cycling advocacy and cycling tourism. I can say that it involves speakers of national and now international renown.
What I can’t say – just yet – is………
| February 29, 1944 From the daily diary kept by S.Sgt. G.C. Watts, while stationed in Italy during WWII… “Yes, there was an entry for Feb 29th, 1944, which must have also been a leap year! Work with 94 squadron (Harkin-Ring) until noon. A mission so I come back to our squadron area. White wash all walls of barn and everyone is painting their rooms up “American” .” |
It seems like forever since I’ve posted and, in fact, this may well be the longest time I’ve gone without a post since starting this blog some 3 years ago. I’ve found myself in a funk recently – a funk that I can relate to “too many irons in the fire”, a dying pet, housing decisions to make, wet weather, etc., etc., etc. All of which are just excuses for not getting out and riding and finding…
| February 7, 1944 From the daily diary kept by S.Sgt. G.C. Watts, while stationed in Naples, Italy during WWII… “Snow & Rain – Many tents down. We don’t do much work because of coldness. (damn this weather) Bad on beachhead – No planes in air…” |
(Oliver “Babe” Yount, Yokosuka, Japan Feb, 1, 1946)
February 7th is/was an important day in the Yount family life. Had our father survived his colon cancer and not succumbed to some other malady, he would be 88 years old today. As was my father-in-law, S.Sgt. G.C. Watts, Oliver “Babe” Yount was…
| January 22, 1944 From the daily diary kept by S.Sgt. G.C. Watts, while stationed in Naples, Italy during WWII… “Dug fox holes for shelter from strafing planes. Went to Foggi for belley tanks for P38 – P-38 leave with 2-1000 lb. bombs each…” |
Our unseasonably warm, wet winter continues. As other parts of the country are getting hammered by heavy snows, winds, and frozen temperatures, we’re experiencing almost spring like temps with lots of rain. According to my weather station, we’ve already received 2.10” of rain this month.
I’ve noted a few cyclists out and about but, by and large, most cyclists seem to have retreated indoors or are riding at times when I’m not out and about to see them...
I’ve just had the pleasure of participating in the latest Bike Plan Kick-Off for the Western North Carolina region this past week. The Land of the Sky regional planning board in conjunction with the Southwestern (NC) Commission is preparing a region wide bike plan that will encompass 7 counties in western North Carolina.
(The BRBP logo is shown to my right during my brief chat with participants)
The $250,000.00 plan is being funded through the French Broad Metropolitan Planning Organization and will carry through to 2013. Representatives from the 7 involved counties met at….
This is the week where we pause to consider those things in our lives for which we are thankful. In recent years, it would be easy to overlook some of the positives in our community and in our homes given the nature of the economy fed by ever increasing petroleum prices, corporate greed, grid-locked Congress, and things that we’ve all heard about ad nausem. So, it is particularly important to shine the light of thankfulness on some of those positives from the past year…
Monday, November 7, 2011, saw the Haywood County Comprehensive Bike Plan unanimously adopted by the Haywood County Board of Commissioners following the plan presentation and submission at the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting…
Some readers will recall that my brother, Dave, had an unfortunate crash a few weeks ago after putting on his new Schwalbe Big Apple tires. The combination of new rubber and moist pavement didn’t work well when he went into a banked, off camber turn. He reported that before he knew it there was no bike under him and his face was bouncing off the pavement, cracking his helmet in the process and lacerating his face by either the helmet attached mirror or his glasses.
(Bro Dave took one on the chin and other places!)
Normally, quite a handsome dude, if I do say so myself, Bro Dave has been treated for his lacerations and fractured wrist and was back on his steed on Sunday..
The Navigator, Sherry Shazam, the Wood-Man and I have completed our time in the Low Country of South Carolina and are safely back home in the High(er) Country of Western North Carolina. I indicate High(er) for the benefit of those fine folk living out west whose low places are higher than my high places. Still, High or High(er), it is good to be home. We were welcomed home to a gorgeous view as the mountains have put on their fall colors and are resplendent in yellows, reds, and shades in between. Also, the temperatures are cooler.
(My snazzy new Fat Cyclist jersey got a nice workout in Palmetto Bluff)
We had a great time on our week long getaway. My overall summary goes something like this…
Today was one of those days and events that really lightens the load and makes the heart joyful. BicycleHaywoodNC members were able to fulfill a grant born in the spring of 2011. Healthy Haywood made the grant to the advocacy council last spring in order to add to and replace part of an aging fleet of bicycles for the local school system.
(Clyde Elementary phys ed students run to 15 new bikes!)
On this bright and sunny day, the 15 bikes and 15 helmets were delivered…
The past week has brought me into contact with two stories of “slow”. One of my own making and one simply shared by a co-rider as we “worked” the BicycleHaywoodNC booth at the Canton, NC “Mater Fest” this past Saturday.
Last Monday, “Cross Country Stan”, Don Kostelec, our Haywood County Comprehensive Bike Plan project manager, Claudia Nix, consultant and co-owner of Liberty Bicycles in nearby Asheville, NC, and myself enjoyed a ride…
The latest summer heat wave has made its presence known here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I was bemoaning the heat and humidity at lunch at Smoky Mountain Café on Main St. today and a tourist nearby remarked that he was from Atlanta, GA and this was a breath of fresh air for him. Last week’s cooler temps were certainly more attractive to this old mountain man!
(Members of BicycleHaywoodNC avoiding late day heat!)
Yesterday’s monthly meeting of BicycleHaywoodNC did provide the opportunity to escape the late day heat…
I’ve been absent. I haven’t written in a week due to various and sundry circumstances. I haven’t, in the words of Phil Liggett, “turned a pedal in anger” in about the same time – maybe slightly longer. But, I haven’t been away from cycling…
(Waiting for the crowd of curious patrons at the Red, White, and Boom festival)
To make a tax deductible donation to support Appalachian State University Cycling, follow this link:
http://www.give.appstate.edu/.
Posts
All Comments
