Sunday, October 31, 2010

WILL TODAY BE THE DAY?

One of the aspects of writing a blog that remains interesting to me is watching the statistics tracking visits and page views. Possibly today or tomorrow, I should reach the 10,000th visitor to my site. As I type, I’m sitting at 21 visits short of that new plateau. Averaging 26 visits per day, I may get there there before the midnight hour.

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(Will today see the 10,000th visitor?*)

I’ve remarked frequently to friends that writing the blog helps to keep me motivated to ride and, hopefully, to find new and interesting cycling related materials that are of interest to my readers. Through the time that I’ve been publishing this blog, I’ve tried to work hard to utilize technology to make this a more interesting reading experience. I’ve also tried to be vigilant in improving my writing skills that were first nurtured by my parents, especially my mother Ila Jean, a published author herself.

Friday, October 29, 2010

THE WORK WEEK WRAP-UP!

This work week has reached its end and I’ve not gotten in a single ride since last Saturday during the Wood-man’s and my gorgeous trip over to Newport, TN. Between catching up on home chores, a rainy several days, and evening meetings, my Fuji CCR3 has gotten several days of rest.

The cold front following our severe weather pattern mid-week is now firmly entrenched resulting in clear blue skies, which means there won’t be any heat sticking around overnight. This is predicted to be our coldest night of the year thus far. The temp has already dropped into the mid-50’s at my house and the sun is still shining. We’re getting the weather that Tracy, the Springfield Cyclist, had yesterday. Click on the link to get his take on the dropping temps and to see him in his snazzy Team Fatty jersey!

Meanwhile, The VeloHobo has been continuing his perusal of the internet for ultra light cycling. He’s on to some light weight dishes and cutlery from Finland…

Regionally, The Asheville Citizen-Times took an editorial stand supporting more bike lanes and sidewalks for the local community. The editors note the positives to be achieved by continuing to increase non-motorized transportation alternatives. It’s good to see the stance they are taking! Of course, the comments to the editorial are full of the usual “it’s a socialist conspiracy”, “a waste of taxpayer money that only benefits a select few..”, etc. (I’m personally on the verge of never reading comments again…)

Locally, we had our first planning meeting for next year’s Blue Ridge Breakaway. Our group met this morning bright and somewhat early and got down to business. The permitting process is going well thus far and conversations with the Blue Ridge Parkway officials has again been very pleasant and cooperative. We reviewed and considered suggestions to route changes/additions. This is a conversation that will continue for some time. In fact, we meet again next Friday to focus only on routes. We’re asking for permits for 700 riders next year. Given the success of this year’s ride and the early registrations we’re already receiving, 700 may not be enough! If you are looking for a great riding experience in the mountains of Western North Carolina, please check out the website and give us a strong consideration! There should be sufficient routes and mileages to entertain and challenge all comers.

Meanwhile, down in the eastern section of N.C., our good friend Jim Artis is hard at work on his newest adventure, which is utilizing a flying drone to take HD video and images. Jim’s forte is blending technology and cycling. With his latest adventure, he is reaching readers on a global basis as he brings together flying, imaging, and cycling coverage. I can certainly see the day where one of Jim’s drones does a “fly by” of a race and gets a real bird’s eye view of the rider and cycle. Check it out at Cycling Experiences!

Jumping out to the West Coast, Ted at BikingInLA does his usual comprehensive round-up of all things cycling. Los Angeles may be on the cusp of instituting a  significant piece of legislation that allows cyclists to pursue, through the civil court system, individuals who have harassed them . This would put the cyclists on a more powerful footing to get their issues addressed. The bill calls for a $1000.00 fine if the alleged harasser is found guilty.

That’s about it for this wrap-up! Have a great weekend and “keep the rubber side down!”

Until later,

- Zeke

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

THE DOGS OF MADISON COUNTY AND OTHER MATTERS!

(Part II)

This is part II of two parts covering Zeke and the Wood-man’s ride on Saturday, October 23, 2010 from Waynesville, NC to Newport, TN.

To read Part I, CLICK HERE!

 

In Part I, the Wood-man and I had just competed our 20th mile of the trip and were sitting nicely amidst the colors of Betsy’s Gap. We were ready to mount up and head down…

Monday, October 25, 2010

2 States, 3 Dogs, 21 Miles of Climbing & 1 WWII Veteran

(Part I)

Well, the ride that the Wood-man and I undertook Saturday is hereafter named The Wood-man’s Betsy’s Gap Invitational”  and should probably happen annually from this time forward. As the only invitee to this year’s effort, I was pleased to accompany the Wood-man on a 65 mile jaunt…

Friday, October 22, 2010

A LEG LOOSENING THURSDAY

Not to be confused with “Thirsty Thursday” wherein local baseball fans flock to our local minor league baseball team (the Asheville Tourists) games and consume massive amounts of beer, I enjoyed a leg loosening Thursday ride of ….

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A TIRED MIND REVISITS SAFETY

It was dark: The room was blanketed in the early morning blackness that occurs just before the glow on the horizon marking the daily appearance of the sun. I was again startled from sleep by a bad dream of some sort or another. I lay there beside my still peacefully sleeping wife waiting on my heart rate to drop, the feeling of anxiety to wash away, and my brain to cleanse itself of whatever demons had traversed my subconscious this particular night. Seemingly increasing in frequency as I age, these intrusions happen when it’s too early to get up but too late to go back to sleep. I know the Navigator will be rising shortly to begin her preparations for the day and to fall back to sleep would only make me drowsy and irritable when my alarm sounds shortly. Sometimes, it’s just easiest to get up…

Monday, October 18, 2010

A FINE FALL RIDE…

Yesterday, Sunday October 17th, was a beautiful day here in Western North Carolina. We have been on a wave of some late summer – early fall temperatures for the past few days. The nights have been crisp with frost warnings each night but the days have been just simply outstanding with temps in the upper 60’s and the low 70’s. Yesterday made it to the mid-70’s. It was perfect weather for….

Friday, October 15, 2010

A GOLDEN THURSDAY EVENING RIDE…

Our BicycleHaywoodNC Thursday evening ride was held yesterday following the exit of a 24 hour period of rain and gusty winds. Mid-afternoon Wednesday saw an approaching cold front arrive earlier than anticipated and made riding on Wednesday evening out of the question. The cold rain and winds coated the streets with fallen leaves making for a bad combination of wet slick roads and low light situations. Thursday would be different…

Saturday, October 9, 2010

I FOUND IT… WELL, SORT OF…

As I mentioned in my last post, a mysterious crashing sound behind me turned out to be my Planet Bike Superflash as it achieved separation from my seat bag. On Friday, I realized that I knew exactly where the light came off my bike on Thursday’s ride so I decided to return to the scene of the loss and determine the light’s condition. I’ve had the light come off before when hitting a pothole or other bump in the road and it has survived each time. I was hoping it would be the case once again. Upon returning to the bridge crossing the Pigeon River, I found…

Friday, October 8, 2010

THAT THING ABOUT THE LAW OF AVERAGES…

After several days of coolish weather that in 3 months we’ll be calling a heat wave, yesterday turned out to be an immaculate day. My juices for riding were flowing. My work duties were sufficiently under control for a change allowing me to beat the end-of-work traffic to the roads. I made arrangements with the Navigator to pick up my clothing and laptop at my office and I hit the road.

An omen was about to present itself for my consideration…