Tuesday, September 28, 2010

SITTING AND MUSING…

The last several days of rainy cool weather have not been particularly inspiring to be out and about in the elements on 2 wheels of any kind. A cool front with lots of moisture moved in Saturday afternoon and stayed with us until mid-morning today (Monday). The Navigator and I actually closed up the house for the first time since late May due to the cool damp weather. At last count, we had received 1.94” of rain out of this storm. It was much needed so it is hard to complain about it.

This is in contrast to the temps being “enjoyed” by Bro Dave and his compatriots out on the West Coast. I understand it was supposed to cool down from 111 degrees on Saturday to 109 degrees on Sunday. Bro Dave reports getting LOTS of built up “honey-do” chores taken care of INSIDE the house on Saturday. Ted at BikinginLA reported similar temps and “enjoyed” the pleasures of power failure.

Tonight’s plans will prevent a late evening ride as we’ll be meeting for the 20th Annual Haywood County Motorcycle Parade and Toy Ride, the principal fund raiser for children’s Christmas needs in our home county. Tomorrow is promising though and I look forward to getting in a good commute home! This weekend holds the hope for camping along the Blue Ridge Parkway and some riding at higher elevations.

Meanwhile, on the eastern end of North Carolina…

Our friend Jim Artis of Cycling Experiences is prepping for coverage of not one but two record breaking attempts for century rides this weekend. Maria Parker is back in White Oak, NC to break her own record set last year. Jim’s coverage of that event was quite comprehensive and well received. Also, attempting to break a record this weekend will be Mike Zagorski. Jim will be covering both events with live coverage throughout. Be sure to check in and catch the action.

Back in the Great Smoky Mountains…

We’ve all had our moments of frustration, irritation, and perhaps even escalated to anger with our equipment. As yet, I’ve not reached that point with my Fuji CCR3 but the VeloHobo is reporting on one fellow, who apparently had just a little too much… in more ways than one!  While checking out this story, scroll down and catch the great images of the Linn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, NC.

Fatty does it again…

Eldon “Fatty” Nelson is at it again. Yep, raising funds for a the fight against cancer. If you aren’t familiar with the Fat Cyclist, get on over to the site and check out Fatty’s latest fund raiser. You might just find yourself winning a fantastic bike or other great prizes!

Well, I’m outta here for now! I hope you have some great fall weather in your area! Now get out and RIDE!

Until later,

- Zeke

4 comments:

Jim Artis said...

Hi Zeke,

Thanks for the referral on the coverage in White Oak and for following. As you know, Maria reset her record--quite impressive and Mike stopped after 50 miles.The coverage was full of the unexpected--what an exciting time. I appreciate you keeping us in mind. --jim

Unknown said...

Hi,

Very happy to do it. I'm just back in from the woods and haven't even had a chance to check on-line yet. I'll get to do that shortly after I check some pictures I took while camping. I'm glad the coverage was as exciting as it sounds!

Zeke

Jim Artis said...

Welcome back. Was it cold? It was pretty chilly out at 4:30 in the morning--just sitting there. Take care. --jim

Unknown said...

Hi,

It was quite cool to say the least. The strong winds Friday night really made it worse because it just sucked the heat right out of the fire. Our furnace got a pretty good workout inside the camper. It was 39 degrees when we got up Saturday morning and 37 degrees this morning. It felt warmer this morning because there was no wind BUT the clouds had settled on the mountain so everything was soaking wet as if it had rained. Both days were beautiful but cool and I had summer weight riding gear so my riding was seriously curtailed.

Still, it was good to be away from cell phones and computers for a couple of days! Just Kathy, Zeke, and Orla for company...

Zeke