Wheeling Around with Jack & Raquel

The Reincarnation of Wheeling Around with Jack and Raquel

2010-07-11T11:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, obviously I’m a neglectful parent of this little blog. I’ve completely abandoned it for The Velo Hobo. Raquel (the Raquel in Jack and Raquel) has agreed to take custody. Who knows, it may take on a bicycle belly dancer tone.

Thanks for putting up with us, Jack

Grounded!

2010-01-03T14:59:00.000-05:00

I'm officially ending over twenty years of skydiving. I know, many of you are reading this slacked jawed shaking your head saying “I’d never jump out of a perfectly good airplane” but if you saw the planes we jump from you’d be saying “I’ll never land in this piece of junk and I’m sure I smell liquor on the pilot’s breath. Let me the hell out!”

Perhaps the more sensible thing to say is, “I’d never get in that crate to begin with”.

Well anyway, it’s over. Just as soon as someone buys my rig on ebay, I’m calling it quits. Not that it hasn’t been fun. I’ve made over 1400 jumps with only 1 reserve ride. No injuries. No regrets.

So, if there are any aspiring skydivers out there with a loose 1,500 bucks check out my rig here: My Rig

Jack

(A)typical Day Ride on the Parkway

2009-11-29T16:20:00.000-05:00

Mountains have moods. Ignore this anthropocentric faux fact at your own peril. I’ve made the mistake of ignoring the mood of the mountains a few times backpacking, too light and ill-equipped while peak-bagging, and found myself in dangerous and uncomfortable situations. And I’ve done it biking a few times as well.

Today Richland Balsam enticed me to play on her steep slopes with sunny skies, moderate temperature and the solitude of a closed and gated Parkway. Just above 5,000 feet, the mood turned gloomy as a half frozen rain began pelting me. Turning back, I found the weather had closed in from behind as well. Sneaky mountain.

Jack

Warm Showers Continue...

2009-10-10T11:08:00.001-04:00

The past two weeks has brought us three WarmShowers guest. Andy Lievertz spent a few days with us as he passed through on his way to the Blue Ridge Parkway on a bike of his own creation. A tandem turned touring rig. Andy stayed with us long enough to meet a few of our friends and to join us on the gem mine ride.

About a week later Debbie and Max Thompson spent a night with us as they did a loop around our area. Starting in Cleveland Tennessee, passing through Gatlinburg, up and over Newfound Gap (impressive!), Bryson City, North Carolina (gateway to the Smokies), and on to Murphy before returning home to Cleveland. Debbie and Max are missionaries who run an orphanage in Brazil. They were a fascinating couple and we enjoyed meeting them very much.

Read more about Andy, Debbie and Max on VeloHobo

Thanks for reading, Jack and Raquel

Bicycle Prospecting

2009-09-28T18:59:00.002-04:00

Always willing to push the extremes of bicycling, we ventured out Sunday to do some ‘bicycle prospecting’. Gone are the days where prospectors loaded Molly the mule with pick-axe and shovel to stake a claim in the wild outback. Our very good friend (bicycle diva and belly dancer extraordinaire) Paige, organized a ride to a gem mine to sluice for treasure. Rubies, sapphires, moonstone, garnets and other gems pollute our local soil and we did our part to correct things by sifting through buckets of mud and removing them. Too much fun made even funner with a bike ride.

Jack

Paige's 20 carat Sapphire!!!!!!!

I Screamed for Ice Cream!

2009-08-28T18:16:00.001-04:00

Friends Cindy and Sue joined us for the 44-mile Brasstown Loop Sunday. We started in Andrews, rode to the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown where we stopped for a picnic lunch, and then rode through Murphy. We did the mandatory ice cream stop at the Sweet Tooth in Murphy then headed back via the Valley River road.

This is one of our favorite rides and is one of the most beautiful in our area. You’ll ride by rolling pastures surrounded by mountains and two quaint small towns. The folk school makes an interesting rest stop and a great place to have a picnic.

Raquel

Lighten Your Load with Free Gear!

2009-08-01T11:07:00.002-04:00

Here are a few tips to lighten your pack...er, panniers, from a great blog I've stumbled across.

http://www.geartalkwithjasonklass.com/2009/01/free-ul-gear-to-lighten-your-pack.html

"If you don't mind some borderline petty theft, here are a few things you can snag for free to lighten up your pack on the cheap."

from Gear Talk with Jason Klass

Curious Critters

2009-07-25T18:06:00.008-04:00

One thing we learned about bike touring on this last trip is not to walk off with an open pannier, even if just for a few minutes, and especially not if curious critters are about.

This photo snapped by Joe Lilly of Weaverville.

Another bike tourist we crossed paths with on Loft Mountain.

Also, keep a close eye on roadside mules. They lure you in with that innocent look then nibble away when your back is turned.

"Say Buffy, that looks like the Brooks saddle you ate last week".

Jack

And we're back

2009-07-24T10:03:00.001-04:00

As it is, we completed all of the Skyline Drive and 200 miles of the BRP. We learned a lot about ourselves, each other and bike touring. This was a tour of extremes. One night we were stealth camping a stones throw from the Parkway and bathing in a bathroom sink, the next we were enjoying dinner theater at a mountain top lodge. One day we were basking in sunshine, the next we were in fog so thick we could not see more than a few yards. We toiled for hours gaining thousands of feet of altitude only to lose it in mere minutes on fast descents.

The trip was great despite the rain and fog, which had us hemmed in at Tuggle’s Gap for two days and sitting by the side of the road for some time atop a few of the higher peaks. We reluctantly decided to cut the trip short at Fancy Gap, rent a U-Haul in Mount Airy and truck ourselves back home. We had thoughts of pushing on in the thick fog and frequent heavy downpours and getting a bit farther south, but we realized we would be missing the very thing we came for, the views. We also had a sick puppy waiting for us at the vet. The kennel called to tell us our beloved 15 year old basset hound Indio had emergency surgery. She is doing fine now.

Fancy Gap is only a four hour drive from home so it will make for a good starting point for a second tour to complete the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Special thanks to Paige for the ride north and the offer to “come rescue” us if anything went awry. Luckily, all went well (okay, not the weather, but all else) and we can hardly wait to accrue more vacation time to finish the Parkway. We feel very fortunate to live next to such a beautiful scenic byway that lends itself so well to touring by bicycle.

Here’s a link to the album: http://picasaweb.google.com/jdmoore63/SDBRPTOUR2009#

Thanks,
Jack and Raquel

And we're off (almost)

2009-07-10T16:33:00.002-04:00

A friend is driving us up to Front Royal, Va. starting at the crack of dawn tomorrow. We'll motel it Saturday night and head back Sunday. We are planning about 12 days, somewhere between 40 to 60 miles a day. Just a leisure meander through the Blue Ridge Mountains back to Bryson City, NC.

Jack

Minimalist kit for 2 weeks of touring

2009-07-06T19:17:00.003-04:00

Raquel is the ‘planning’ type. I’m more the ‘procrastinate till the last minute’ type. But I can say, I have put a lot of thought into what I will be taking on the Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive tour.

I’ve been into ultra-light backpacking for many years so I’m looking at this trip the same way I would a backpacking trip. I really don’t want to slog a bunch of gear up and down the mountains either on my back or on my bike. Luckily, the same gear works well for both backpacking and biking.

Here is my ‘minimalist’ kit for two weeks of touring in the mountains.

-Big Agnes Seedhouse 2 tent (this one can be set-up using the fly only, but Raquel will not consider it. So we’re taking the whole tent.)
-Big Agnes sleeping pad
-Coolmax sleep sheet
-Inflatable pillow (yes I could do without this, but I refuse to live like an animal)
-Umbrella (I’m not sure if an umbrella is an unusual bike-touring item. I can’t recall seeing anyone carrying one. But I never backpack without one, so I’m taking mine. It’s great to have an umbrella to cook, eat, pitch the tent, whatever in the rain and this one weighs almost nothing and is fiberglass, not metal.)
-Titanium pot/mug/bowl and a home-made stove/wind-screen/pot-stand
-Lexan spoon, knife, fork
-Poncho/tarp to cover the bike at night
-Rain jacket, booties, helmet cover
-First aid kit
-Nalgene bottle, water purification tabs and bandanna (for filtering out the big chunks)
-Head lamp
-Hygiene stuff
-Camera
-Phone
-Bike tools, pump, tubes
-Clothes in a compression sack
-Small bottle of woolite

I hope I'm not forgetting anything, Jack

Car/Bike Camping in Cades Cove

2009-07-06T18:10:00.008-04:00

Cades Cove http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cadescove.htm sits in a valley located on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It is on the opposite side of the park from our hometown, Bryson City, NC http://www.greatsmokies.com/ . The best way to explore Cades Cove is by bicycle. Deer and flocks of turkey are everywhere and occasionally a bear or two can be seen. The wildlife is accustomed to the almost never ending stream of cars that creep around the 11 mile loop, but are most active when the loop is closed to automobile traffic.

Saturday mornings before 10:00 am the park service closes the loop to all but bicycle and foot traffic. Prowling through the historic churches, houses and barns make Cades Cove a good mix of on and off the bike activities. The single lane road is in poor condition so fat tires are preferable but this is a great ride for kids and beginners. The biggest hazards are from (guess what) kids and beginners, but this makes for a good opportunity to practice patience. Cades Cove has a nice primitive camp ground, a camp store, bicycle rental, horse back riding, hiking trails, hay rides and lots of activities for kids.

Jack

Setting Things On Fire.

2009-06-26T19:33:00.005-04:00

Before I describe my current stove, a little disclosure of my personal history with stoves might help to explain my stove addiction. Being a typical heterosexual type male I’ve always enjoyed setting things on fire.

My first stove was a Coleman multi-fuel I picked up somewhere when I was a teenager. It would burn un-leaded gas and had a little pump on the side to pressurize the tank. All the elements for a proper disaster were in place. Teenager? Check. Gasoline? Check. Matches? Check. Device to spray gasoline into the air? Check.

To this day the hair on my left hand grows in thicker than the hair on my right. Much of my first attempt to light it is a blur, but I do remember kicking the little metal fireball away from my camp-site and into the woods then spending some time stomping out the fire. But I still used it for a few years with only the occasional mini-inferno.

Next I moved on to a tiny German-made butane stove that would easily fit into a pocket. The fuel was expensive and hard to find. I soon lost the German stove and replaced it with a Primus stove that worked great but was very noisy. Pressurize gas stoves are expensive to fuel, the canisters end up in landfills and they sound like little jet engines. The noise seems to take away from the back-to-nature experience.

I tried a wood burning stove with a battery powered blower underneath. It worked pretty well and was a move in the right direction, but a bit on the heavy side. Burning wood was appealing, fuel was everywhere and free, but rain is common in the mountains and a few experiences of eating dry/uncooked noodles led me to look for something more reliable.

On to alcohol; my current favorite. I have a couple of Trangia stoves and love their simplicity, affordability and reliability. I’ve also been making Pepsi can stoves that weigh and cost nothing. Wood and grain alcohol is environmentally safe (I think) and can be found in any hardware, auto parts or liquor store. The only drawback is the invisible flame which can easily burn the bejesus out of you.

We’re trying esbit tabs and twigs on our next trip. We are trying to go as light as possible and space is an issue as well. With the esbit tabs we can take exactly what is needed for each day. I’m looking forward to trying something new.

Jack

Another WarmShower

2009-06-23T20:12:00.001-04:00

Our second WarmShowers guest has come and gone. Once again the experience was positive. Jeremy Myers, touring up the east coast and, on a whim, deciding to traverse the state of North Carolina, took respite in our home for a couple of days. Jeremy is a recent college graduate who is doing a bit of adventuring before settling into the day to day drudgery of employment. Jeremy recently earned his degree in civil engineering. We can only hope he will go to work for DOT and dedicate his career to making the roads more bicycle friendly.

And he could start by doing away with the rumble strips that are in the shoulder of the road by our house… no pressure Jeremy, just whenever you can get to it.

Jeremy left in a somewhat southerly direction as he meanders his way back home to Pensacola, Florida. Raquel and I wish him all the best.

Follow Jeremy’s adventure by clicking on his link to the right.

Tsali Bike Camping

2009-06-13T10:33:00.009-04:00

Tsali Recreation Area is only about 12 miles from our back door. It’s named after a Cherokee leader who refused relocation via the Trail of Tears. He and his band of followers hid in the mountains of Western North Carolina until his capture by the government. Sometime later he was executed by firing squad.

The government was so moved by his bravery they decided to build a monument to his name. First they built a hydro-electric dam and flooded his ancestral home creating Fontana Lake. Then the government took axe in hand and cleared away some useless and unsightly old growth forest. In its place they created a campground with miles of single track mountain bike trails, an information kiosk, boat ramps, paved parking lot and a multi-hundred dollar cinderblock two-seat outhouse complete with hand sanitizer dispensers and those really big rolls of toilet paper. Nice.

Anyway, Tsali Campground was our destination for a short overnight bike camping trip. I ran out of the office at exactly 5:00:01 pm and made my usual 20 minute commute in 17 minutes flat. Raquel had the bikes packed and waiting at the back door. So off we rode.

Arriving at Tsali, we found the campground packed silly with screaming children, RVs with generators, people grilling with pungent lighter fluid soaked charcoal, and not an empty camp site to be found. So, in the spirit of Tsali himself, we quickly decided to defy the government and sneak off to one of the many finger-lakes to stealth camp.

We returned home early the next morning.

Jack

Hanging a bear bag

The Bicycle by Korns 1892 ...Enjoy

2009-06-10T18:33:00.004-04:00

If this isn't working for you, the book can be found at issuu.com

Open publication - Free publishing - More selection

Jack's Gear Notes

2009-06-06T09:40:00.006-04:00

The Surly Travelers Check is working out well. The Travelers Check is basically a Cross Check with couplers. It’s a good all-around bike that can be dressed up for touring or dressed down for general riding. I’ve enjoyed the bike on day rides and now a short credit-card tour and look forward to two weeks on the Blue Ridge Parkway soon. The chain stay length is a bit shorter than the Long Haul Trucker and there are no braze-ons for front racks, but still a good bike for touring and a more affordable choice if you are looking for S&S couplers.

I could not be happier with the Carradice Camper Long Flap saddle bag and Ostrich handle bar bag. Together they provided plenty of cargo room (before over-stuffing, which you can easily do with both). People have thru-hiked the AT with less pack space. Together they should provide enough room for many days on the road if packed wisely.

The Carradice bag sits mostly in my slipstream which is a good thing if you are riding into a strong head-wind. Most of the weight is carried in front of the rear axle (also a good thing) and I didn’t notice any ill effect on handling having the weight so high. The Ostrich bag sits on a Nitto front rack putting the weight on the fork, not on the handle bar, so loading it heavy is not a problem.

Another handy item is my parking brake. I’ve tied a loop of elastic cord around my handle bar and slip it over the brake lever when I park the bike. The bike stays put even in a stiff wind. This is a useful thing even if you don’t use a kickstand.

And then there’s that. I’ve had a mental block keeping me from putting a kickstand on my bikes for years. Now that I have one, I love it. No more laying my bike down in the dirt and no more bending down to pick up a loaded bike. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen folks lay expensive bikes down on pavement or have them fall over after being haphazardly leaned against something.

Metal versus plastic fenders. I have plastic fenders on my Sequoia and metal fenders on the Surly. Yes, the metal ones weigh a bit more, and cost a bit more, but I think they are worth it. They are much more durable and should last years. I’ve had a few toe strikes before I got used to the overlap. Now, I don’t even think about it when I adjust my pedal stroke to miss the fender in a slow turn. It quickly became automatic. If I’m in a slow uphill turn, I’ll unclip my outside foot and pedal through the turn with my foot back a bit.

Jack

Raquel's Tommaso

2009-05-30T15:43:00.003-04:00

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, sometime in 1993: It was a regular day, like any other. I decided to pop into my local bike shop, Bay Ridge Bicycle World. I hadn’t seen Patrice, the owner, or Gerald, the wrench, in a few months. I walked in and saw a beautiful sight, a Tommaso frame hanging from the ceiling. I said “wow, she’s beautiful”. Patrice pointed a tobacco stained finger at me and said “that’s an Italian racing bike, it’s not for you!” I don’t remember if I gave her a smart-ass response but, being a native New Yorker, I probably did. It hung there unsold and after a year I convinced Patrice to sell it to me.

The bike and I have been through a lot together. I’ve been squished between two buses in Manhattan, crashed in the Adirondacks which dented the top tube and gave me a concussion and I was knocked over by a pickup truck. But lots of good things too, century rides in Montauk, New York, Lake Tahoe and Savannah and countless shorter rides as well as some light touring. Throughout the years my Tommaso has been a faithful companion and just like her owner, she’s a tough New Yorker.

Raquel

My "mojo"

Indio the Wonder Dog

Oriental to Bath

2009-05-28T08:46:00.003-04:00

We had to tear ourselves away from Oriental the next morning. Our room at the Oriental Marina & Inn was wonderful and the food delicious. If you visit, ask for a room upstairs, which is actually an efficiency apartment with a loft bedroom and fantastic views of the marina. There’s a tiki bar, pool and restaurant on the property and a nice coffee/ice-cream shop across the street.

Only on the coast, a bike with barnacles

Shrimp boat (not Bubba Gump)

Last ferry, then only 6 miles back to Bath

Cedar Island to Oriental

2009-05-28T08:14:00.007-04:00

Seventy miles of open marshland, swamp and pine forest lie between Cedar Island and Oriental. The terrain is flat but the distance, winds, mosquitoes and lack of drinkable water can make for a difficult ride. We spent the day putting one pedal stroke in front of the other until the miles were behind us. At the end of the day we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful towns on the North Carolina coast.

Two recreational vehicles passing

Viewing the vast void, a vacuum of vanishing vacationers

Leaving Bath at daybreak

2009-05-27T09:11:00.001-04:00

Touring bikes are modern day versions of servant carried sedan chairs or passenger elephants. They creep slowly through the world at a pace perfect for soaking in the view. Touring bikes can be therapeutic tools to help rat-race refuges be more ‘in the moment’ and soon after the first pedal stroke the bike itself disappears and all that’s left is the experience of traveling.

Soon after leaving Bath, I forgot about my stressful job, mortgage payments, student loans, taxes and all the chronic irritants that eat away at my wellbeing. All that remained was the experience of traveling.

In Ocracoke we had a short layover before catching the Ferry to Cedar Island.

Exploring Bath

2009-05-27T09:00:00.003-04:00

Exploring Bath takes about 15 minutes. If you are a skilled rock thrower, you should be able to toss a stone from one end of Bath to the other with little effort. Bath is a beatuiful tiny place. We finally found a town smaller than Bryson City!

Leaving town. . .

2009-05-27T08:50:00.003-04:00

Up at 6:00 am, load car, drop the kids off at school (see you Tuesday!!), drive seven hours from one end of the state to the other, check-in at motel and, yes, I would like to get on my bike and explore Bath. And that is just what we did . . .

Biking on a boat

2009-05-16T14:36:00.003-04:00

One of the coolest things to do on a bike is ride a ferry. Maybe because it’s such a novel thing for me, coming from the mountains. A couple of years ago we went to Raquel’s hometown, New York City, for the Five-Boro Bike Tour. We rode the Staten Island ferry as part of the Tour. We also rode from Manhattan to Coney Island just to eat a famous Nathan’s hot dog and then took our bikes on the subway to get back. That was cool too; to me. Raquel was pretty blasé about it. It’s hard to impress a New Yorker, but for a country hick like me…I was excited, “Can we do it again, can we?”

We’ve ridden the ferries at the Outer Banks several times in the past few years. The OBX ferries are small and most folks get out of their cars and mingle. Sport fishermen drinking beer, families with kids and dogs, business people, UPS drivers and occasionally bike tourists, all crowded onto the deck. It’s neat to explore the coastline by bike, then ride onto a boat and explore in a different way, then hop back on your bike and off you go. I love that.

It’s also very inexpensive. What would it cost to charter a boat to sight-see for a couple of hours? You can ride the OBX ferries for just a few dollars. The ride from Swan Quarter to Ocracoke and the ride from Ocracoke to Cedar Island are each about 2 ½ hours long. That’s plenty of time to meet other passengers and have a nice picnic lunch before getting back on the bike.

As you can tell, I’m getting pretty excited about our Outer Banks trip. We leave Friday!

Jack

Reflections on Touring

2009-05-12T08:48:00.002-04:00

So we’ve been described as “avid tourers”. I agree, we are. Jack and I love to tour. We have not done any long tours, most of our tours are short (4-5 days to a week or so) but we’ve done quite a few in the 4 years we’ve been together. This summer we will be embarking on our longest and most difficult tour together, 2 weeks on the Blue Ridge Pkwy/Skyline Drive. Next summer we plan another 2 or 3 weeks to do the Pacific Coast Highway (Astoria to San Francisco).

Although Jack and I talk about taking several months off and doing an extended tour, the truth is that we really love being in the Smoky Mountains and although we go away several times a year, we always look forward to coming back home. After reading several blogs recently, we were talking about this and it hit me-we just don't have the urge right now to be away from home for more than a few weeks. I said to Jack "in 20-30 years all our short tours will add up to several long tours". Jack believes we appreciate our short tours more because of the fact that they are short.

Raquel

Book Report: Odysseus’ Last Stand by Dave Stamboulis

2009-05-10T18:11:00.003-04:00

The Cycling Dutchman, Peter Van Glabbeek, http://petervanglabbeek.googlepages.com/ , left a book behind after his brief stay with us on his trip around the world (we sent him off with Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods). Peter’s gift to us, Odysseus’ Last Stand, by Dave Stamboulis, is a wonderful telling of an around-the-world journey by the author and (at least for more than half the trek) his wife Hitomi.

Dave Stamboulis does not gloss over the hardships of bike travel nor its rewards. He tells of being pelted with rocks, pedaling through feces strewn roads and near muggings as well as the beauty seen from the saddle. This is a great book to occupy rainy days.

We hope to pass the book along to our next Warm Showers guest. This copy has a life of its own. I don’t know where it’s been or where it may travel. Hopefully it will keep us posted.

Jack

Another Short Tour of the NC Coast

2009-05-10T12:15:00.008-04:00

Two weeks till we tour the inner and outer banks of North Carolina!
Here’s what we have planned.

-Day One (44 miles with 2 ferry crossings): Leaving from the home of Blackbeard the Pirate, Bath, N.C. and heading to Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge.
-Day Two (66ish miles): Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge to Oriental, N.C.
-Day Three (54ish miles): Oriental, N.C. back to Bath, N.C.

A Bit About Blackbeard:
“Wild Times in Bath Town. The sleepy little village became a lively place when Blackbeard and his crew sailed into port. They traded their ill-gotten gains at reasonable prices, engaged in wild sprees, and replenished their ships for additional sorties to keep the cycle going. All of this brought economic prosperity to the region. People came from great distances to buy foreign goods in the shops in Bath. The "ordinaries" (hotels of the era) became crowded with boarders, and Bath Town sprang to life. The pirates, with no shortage of hard drinking and swearing, regaled the villagers with wild tales of their adventures on the high seas.” From: http://www.nchistoricsites.org/bath/blackbeard.htm

A Bit About Bath:
“European settlement near the Pamlico River in the 1690s led to the founding of Bath, North Carolina's first town, in 1705. By 1708, Bath had 50 people and 12 houses. It soon became North Carolina's first port. Political rivalries, Indian wars, and piracy marked its early years but in 1746 Bath was considered for the colony's capital.” From: http://www.nchistoricsites.org/bath/bath.htm

A Bit About Cedar Island:
“Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge, located in Carteret County, North Carolina is on the end of a peninsula marking the southern end of Pamlico Sound. Established in 1964, the refuge consists of approximately 11,000 acres of irregularly-flooded, brackish marsh and 3,480 acres of pocosin and woodland habitat. The marsh and surrounding waters provide wintering habitat for thousands of ducks and nesting habitat for colonial water birds.” From: http://www.fws.gov/cedarisland/

A Bit About Oriental:
'The Sailing Capital of North Carolina' ...a place where land and water meet under the best circumstances. A place shared by fishing trawlers and racing yachts, Victorian homes and modern marinas, shady lanes and waterfront vistas. It’s a quiet place where people smile and wave to passersby. A pace that captivates you so quickly and thoroughly that, from the moment you arrive, you’ll be making your plans to return – or just maybe stay” From: http://www.visitoriental.com/oriental/

Tour de Cashiers

2009-05-04T14:50:00.004-04:00

Some days it’s better just to stay in bed. It’s a shame we seldom recognize which are ‘stay in bed’ days and which are not until we’re half-way into a ride. Halfway into the Tour de Cashiers metric, with the rain coming down in buckets, both Raquel and I realize we are feverishly ill (hopefully nothing related to Mexican pigs or Asian birds). We both made the best of it and did what we could.

The highlight of the ride for me was the second big climb. It’s a steep ascent with a series of demoralizing switchbacks and false summits and a teeth-clenching descent on the backside made even more epic in the pouring rain; our wet brakes only promising to slow a crash down to a sub-fatal speed, and our wet tires hinting at a little bit of traction.

The highlight of the ride for Raquel was taking off cold wet clothes and putting on dry warm clothes (and that’s all she has to say about the ride).

Two days later we are still recovering from both the ride and this croupy mess infecting our lungs. I look forward to doing this ride again next year…in better health of course.

Jack

Somewhere in the middle is the best place to be.

2009-04-28T18:55:00.003-04:00

Organized rides are a great way to train for longer multi-day or multi-week tours. They are also a way to connect with other riders and explore a new area and I enjoy the festive atmosphere. Raquel and I usually travel to different states to do organized rides, but this year we decided to stay closer to home and do the rides here in the Mountains in preparation for our Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive tour.

Despite the race like beginning and after the Hammer-Heads pull ahead to warm up the pavement, you’ll find more casual riders beginning to group together. In Burnsville we shared a few miles of road with a very nice couple of brothers from Germany. On other rides we’ve struck up conversations with groups of grandmothers, teenagers on Wal-Mart mountain bikes, plump bearded guys on recumbents. Generally people from all walks of life on all types of bikes.

One good thing about riding slower is you can carry on a conversation with your neighbor cyclists instead of staring at their rear wheel praying you’re not the one to collapse the peloton into a yard sale of twisted bloody bicycle parts.

Another good thing about riding slower is the sights, sounds and smells you’ll pass. After a long day on the CNC last year, a group of us were standing around talking about what we had seen. One person chimed up, “well I didn’t see any of that! All I saw was the back of so-and so’s tire all day!” How sad. Personally, I would hate to pass by a cedar grove or a field of lilac so fast I didn’t notice the refreshing scent or race by an old couple sitting on their front porch without waving hello.

For me, a good pace on organized rides is somewhere in between Hammer-Head fast and dead-last. If you go too slowly, you may find the rest stops have pulled up stakes and called it quits and the SAG drivers are looking at their watches impatiently asking, “Hey dude, are you okay?” Too fast and you’ve missed the experience of exploring a little corner of the world or meeting a new friend.

Jack

Burnsville Metric 2009

2009-04-26T13:23:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures of the Burnsville Metric. What a beautiful ride! This is definitely one we will do again. About 400 riders showed up. The first half follows a river through gently rolling hills. The second half is a bit steeper (not Tour de Tuck steep, but still, steep) as the course takes you into the mountains and back into Burnsville.

The Virtues of Riding Slow

2009-04-19T18:25:00.003-04:00

The reason I ride is to decompress from my stressful job and to spend quality time with my wife. But riding together can be difficult; my leisurely pace is Raquel’s moderate pace. Last year, as we rode across North Carolina together, I made an effort to slow myself down and stay behind her as much as possible. Whenever I had the urge to hammer ahead, I would remind myself I had nothing to gain from racing a mile up the road only to stop and wait. I reminded myself we were touring together and ‘touring together’ was the point of the trip. I had to tell myself to stop being selfish and enjoy being where I was; not focusing on some imagined, not yet reached, destination up the road.

Be where you are, Jack

New Sport: Extreme Picnicing

2009-04-19T10:28:00.012-04:00

Over 2,3oo feet of climbing in less than 9 miles makes food taste so much better and a sweet downhill for dessert! Yumm.

Jack and Raquel

Springtime brings Warm Showers.org

2009-03-30T18:10:00.003-04:00

The recent downpour brought us a weekend house guest, world traveler Peter Van Glabbeek. Peter is from Holland and has been bike touring South America for the past two and a half years. Before his tour of South America, Peter toured Australia, Asia and parts of Europe. He has been on the road for over four years! Peter found us through WarmShowers.org. Peter mostly camps but occasionally takes a respite from his tent by taking shelter with Warm Showers hosts. We were fortunate to get a break in the weather long enough to take Peter out to ride the Burningtown loop on Sunday. Peter left early Monday morning to cycle the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive on his way to New York City. From there he plans to fly back to Holland and visit family before heading back out to tour Africa.

Peter was a great house guest and he kept us entertained with stories from the road and lessons learned from touring by bike. He was our first Warm Showers guest and the experience was rewarding. We hope to host other riders as they make their way to the Parkway and the beautiful Appalachian Mountains.

Here is a link to Peter’s website: http://petervanglabbeek.googlepages.com

Here is a link to the Warm Showers website: http://www.warmshowers.org

Jack and Raquel

Assault on the Carolinas

2009-03-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

A pleasurable ride if you overlook the miserable parts. It rained the whole time but the course was very well marked and easy to follow. The rest stops were well spaced and well stocked. The sheriff’s department and course volunteers were at every major intersection to help with traffic. (They must have thought we were crazy to be riding in such weather). The turnout seemed very low (only about a hundred or so), but everyone appeared to be in good spirits.

We didn't see any giraffes, but they definitely cross here in sufficient numbers to warrant a sign.

A good first organized ride of the season!

Jack and Raquel

Riding Computer-less

2009-03-25T12:51:00.000-04:00

Over the past few weeks I’ve been riding without a computer on my bike. Here are a few things I’ve noticed.

-I’m spending more time looking around at things, old barns, cows grazing, wildlife, whatever.

-I’m noticing how demoralizing a bike computer can be sometimes. Lately, I don’t really care how fast I’m going or how far I’ve traveled. I thought this would really bug me, but no. I’m going as fast as I’m going. I’ve traveled as far as I gone.

-I’m no longer measuring myself by my last ride. I’m not trying to beat my best time to the top of Water Rock Knob. I’m just happy to be where I am riding my bike.

-I’m more mindful and in the moment. When I ride with a computer, I’m more focused on numbers and I’m usually scrolling through the data looking for my average speed or total time. Now I’m more focused on how I’m breathing and how my legs feel.

I’m not saying computers are a bad thing to have on a bike, just that lately, I’ve enjoyed not having one.

Jack

Training begins! As soon as this damn rain stops.

2009-03-15T10:37:00.000-04:00

This year’s rides include:

The Assault on the Carolinas
Burnsville Metric
Tour de Cashiers
**A three day inn to inn tour at the Outerbanks**
Ruby Ride
The Fletcher Flyer
The Cherohala Challenge
The Roan Moan
**Bryson City, NC to Front Royal Virginia via the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive**
Tour de Tuck
Tour de Leaves
Tour de Nantahala
Tour de Franklin
Lots of day rides here and there and a few bike camping trips on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Jack & Raquel

Surly Travelers Check 99% complete!

2009-03-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

Just need to have the head tube thingie dressed up and it's done. Took it for a short ride in Burningtown today and it rode great. The Carridace saddle bag is humongous. Thanks Motion Makers!

Surly Travelers Check (in Brownlow?)

2009-02-26T08:02:00.000-05:00

My first look at the bike. The color, something Surly calls Brownlow, is almost not as ugly as I feared.

Not a Unicycle.

Kent and crew at Motion Makers bike shop are doing a great job!

Jack

Surly Travelers Check

2009-02-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

I’m having mine built as a touring bike by my local bike shop. I like the idea of a bike that can be broken in half and stuck in the trunk of a rental car or stowed away in flyable luggage. Well, truthfully, any bike can be broken in half and stuffed in the trunk of a car…but this one you can put back together. I also like having ‘SURLY’ written on the side of my bike. Not that I’m a cantankerous old coot, but it does express a bit more attitude than ‘SALSA’, ‘SEVEN’ or ‘MOOT’. What the heck is a ‘Moot’ anyway?

I’ve been saving all year for the bike using an ingenious savings plan sponsored by the federal government. Each month I send them a large portion of my hard earned paycheck and at the end of the year, after completing and submitting an insanely complicated multipage form (caution: screwing this up may preclude you from confirmation for that cabinet post you’ve been dreaming of), the government decides if they will return some of my money or put me through an auditing process and penalize me with fines and interest. Cool.

Hopefully, the actual building process will begin in a week or two.

Jack

Random Stuff

2009-02-01T16:34:00.000-05:00

Crossing the Eastern Continental Divide…whew!
Cycle Across North Carolina. Black Mountain to the coast.Cruising around NY City.
5-Boro-Bike-Tour

(insanely crowded with over 30,000 people)

'07 Outer Banks -Buxton to Ocracoke to Englehard and back

2009-02-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

This was our second tour of the Outer Banks. Our first in '05 was freezing, windy and Jack fell off his bike and bruised his ribs (he forgot to put his feet down when he stopped).

Welcome

2009-01-31T13:33:00.000-05:00

Here it is. . .our first post. Plans are in the works for a short bike tour of the Outer Banks, NC with a small group of friends.

This will be a FLAT 3-day loop. Starting in Bath, NC

Day 1: riding to Swan Quarter/Ocracoke/Cedar Island (44 miles + 2 ferry crossings)

Day 2: to Oriental (66 miles)

Day 3: back to Bath (54 miles)

In August, we are planning a 2-week tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive.