Backyard Casting

Alaura wanted to practice casting with the new fishing pole she got for Christmas.  She took right to it and is a natural.  I can't wait to take her fishing and see the look on her face when she catches her first fish.  No fish were harmed in the making of this video!

Sheltowee Trace Hike / Clear Creek Lake to Arch

I went for a 6 mile solo hike today from Clear Creek Lake parking lot to the Furnace Arch, which is south of the Clear Creek Lake on the map.  I didn't see the arch but sure enjoyed the hike.  With a rest stop at the midway point it still only took about 4 hours to complete the trip.  There was about 1200 feet elevation change from start to end and my legs felt it.  I used this hike as a shake down as my backpack was loaded with everything for an over nigher.  My feet got a little tender so different shoes and socks are needed but everything else felt good.  In my pack I had a tarp, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, extra layer of clothes, food, stove and water.  I also had several other smaller items that I will not list but may put a video together later on to show everything I carry.  Total weight was around 24 pounds.

Sheltowee Trace trail marker

Clear Creek Lake

Iron Furnace

Clear Creek

Beaver activity

Backyard Camping

Alaura wanted to camp out in the backyard so we packed up the backpacks and headed out.  It was fun and Alaura ended up falling asleep in the tent after a little hot chocolate.

Hiking the 107 Cross Over Trail at Cave Run

Today was a great day for a walk in the woods!  

It's the end of December and the temperature was around 50 degrees.  The wind was gusting pretty strong at times and it was a bit overcast most of the day.  The trees were bending in the wind and howling.  

We first started out on the Sheltowee Trace at Cave Run Lake and found it to be very muddy from horse traffic.  It was too hard to walk in so we decided to walk a bit on the 107 Cross Over Trail.  It follows forest road 1225 most of the way and is easy walking.  I took my backpack so I could try out some new gear.  Alaura wanted to set up her tent and have some hot chocolate so off we went.

2011 Fall Vacation Video

Pisgah National Forest Mountain Biking

Black Mountain - Brevard, NC




Sycamore Cove
--Not posted yet--

North Slope
--Not posted yet--

Pisgah National Forest Mountain Biking

October 27, 2011 

 

 

I made it back in one piece from Brevard, North Carolina after a long weekend of camping and mountain biking.  Let me start out by saying these trails are super fun!

 

On Thursday October 20^th, I went over my checklist one last time so I wouldn’t forget anything.  The camper was loaded and I had my bike.  So I rolled out of town around 1 pm headed for the Davidson River Campground in Brevard, North Carolina.  I stopped for fuel and about 6 hours later I was set up at the campground.  I spent the rest of the evening eating dinner and planning the rides for the next day.

 

Davidson River Camp Ground

On Friday October 21^st, the outside low temperature for the night was 37 degrees and the camper stayed a cozy 60 degrees inside.  After it warmed up outside I headed out to ride a few trails.  I covered about 15 miles the first day riding North Slope, Sycamore Cove, Thrift Cove and a fire road that I forget the name of.  Not the mileage I wanted to get in but the climbing really kicked my butt!

 

On Saturday October 22^nd, it got pretty cold again but I stayed warm in the camper.  I think it was around 35 degrees.  It’s really nice to be up off the damp ground.  I even watched the Green Lantern on DVD last night, which is a good movie.  I finally got out around noon and started up a fire road toward Black Mountain.  I didn’t make it all the way to the top because my legs were worn out.  Again, the climbing in Pisgah is pretty tough.  I ran into two guys from Georgia and decided to follow them back down the mountain.  So I ended up riding what I think are Lower Black Mountain and the trail back to the Ranger Station.  This was a blast!  The top part of the trail was rough and rooty with some 12 to 18 inch drops.  There are some really bad eroded parts of the trail.  The bottom part of the trail was fast and flowy.  Top speed of around 24 miles per hour!!   

 

Roots grow above ground!

The way it works at Pisgah is climb, climb, climb and when you think you can’t climb anymore you climb and climb some more.  Then, it’s down hill and really fun.  I really wasn’t ready for all the climbing and intend to work on this before I go back.

 

 

Logs to control erosion.

On Sunday October 23^rd, I slept until noon.  I was pretty tired and fighting a cold so I broke camp and headed back home.  I took my time and even took some back roads out of Brevard so I could see more of Pisgah Forest.  

 

 

Watch the drop on the left!

It was a great adventure and I learned a lot about my riding ability and what strategy I should use next trip.  I learned my climbing needs improvement - more leg conditioning.  I also learned my technical riding skills and downhill skills are better than I thought.  I did really well on the rough rooty trails and I got more comfortable with the drops after I got my speed up a little.  My Turner bike still wanted to take off and leave me a few times but I had to hold it back out of fear of riding above my ability.  It has been said "A man only truly lives if he is ready to die at any moment."  I feel alive while I’m racing through the forest around the trees, over the rocks and roots but I’m not ready to die doing it. 

So looking back on the trip, there are a few things that I will do next time.  I’ll ride Black Mountain the first day while I’m fresh.  The climb to the top is brutal and I need fresh legs to hit the summit.  Also, I’m going to run a wider tire next time.  The 2.0 inch wide tires took quite a beating on the way down the mountain.  I didn’t have a flat but I just didn’t feel like I had enough rubber on the ground at times.  The trails are really rooty and rough at times so a wider tire may give me a little more stability.  My helmet cam was a little shaky because of the way the suspension system in the helmet is made.  I need to fix the current helmet or find a different design.  All in all the trip was great and much needed.

 

Log bridge.

I’ve already started planning a trip back to Brevard in the spring.  I can’t wait!!

 

I have some video from the trip I'm still editing and when I'm finished I will post it too.

 

The "Mobile Man Cave"

I've been wanting a camper for some time now but just hadn't decided what kind or how much I wanted to spend.  I've been wanting to camp and mountain bike more and want a home away from home or a home base while doing this.  The idea of having a nice bed to sleep in after a long days ride is very appealing to me.  I don't want or need a big camper, only something to get me up off the ground and one that has some conveniences on board. 

The goals that I set for purchasing a camper are:
1.  I have to be able to set it up and take it down by myself.
2.  It needs to have enough space so I can stock it with food and clothes before the trip and leave the stuff in there for a few days when I get back home.  I will unload it at my leisure.
3.  I also want to utilize my current truck.
4.  It needs to be cheap.  Or should I say "within my low budget".   

After pondering on which direction to go I decided on a camper that slides in the back of my truck.  I searched flee-bay, the local paper and Craig's List for a few weeks.  I got a hit...Craigs List had a listing for a 1988 Sun Lite slide-in camper.  The ad stated it was in good shape to be an '88 model.  Now that almost scared me away.  The ad also stated it has a gas heater, dc/gas refrigerator, a three burner gas stove, and a 20 gal fresh water holding tank that feeds a sink.  And it was in my price range!  Could it be too good to be true?  Was I already getting my hopes up?  After an e-mail and phone call I had a time and date set to go inspect my find.  Was this a gem in the rough or a piece of junk?  I would soon know.

Amy, Alaura and I set off on a journey to see if this was the camper for me.  We loaded up Big Red and traveled to Corbin which is about an hour and a half drive.  We were only about 10 miles from Cumberland Falls State Park when we finally arrived.  I recommended we buy the camper and head to the falls for a little camping fun but I was out voted this time around. 

As we rolled up the driveway there she was, stored under a shelter, up on jack stands just waiting to be loaded up and hauled away.

 But before that could happen a thorough inspection was in store.  Remember the ad that said everything works?  Well, it took about 4 hours to get everything to actually work.  What the ad should have said was..It worked the last time we used it which was 2 years ago.  Anyways, I was not going to be discouraged by this minor set back.  After all, we got it all working and that was good, right?  By this time Amy and Alaura were getting hungry but I had been working so hard to get all the appliances working I forgot about the need to eat. 
So after the final inspection and a short board meeting I was given the "nod" from the "Boss"...I knew what was getting ready to happen.  I was going to have a Mobile Man Cave!

We spent another hour mounting the brackets under my truck and loading the camper.  It was going home with me.  It was a little gem in the rough. 

It just needed a good cleaning and a little TLC to be ready for the camp site.  Alaura was happy to help with the cleaning.








So it all has worked out.  I have met the goals that were set out by this project and I'm in the process of stocking it for a trip later this month.

I look forward to the journeys that await me in the Mobile Man Cave.  Whether it be an epic mountain bike trip, a family camping trip or me just plain getting kicked out of the house.  I will know that, when the day is done, I will have a nice comfortable place to lay my head.

New Helmet Camera

I’ve entered a new realm,  I've purchased a small helmet camera.  I have a desire to document my mountain biking adventures as sort of a way to leave a legacy I suppose.  Maybe it’s more simple and I want others to see what kind of trails I venture upon.  My hope is when others see how much fun mountain biking is they will want to "Go Ride A Bike" too.

The Contuor HD 1080p point of view camera has been delivered to my back door and is now mounted to my bike helmet.  The camera is very light weight but there was still a need to counter balance it.  A bike inner tube fills the bill and if I have a flat, well, I have a spare tube handy.  I may experiment with other items but for now its the inner tube.

Here is what the camera looks like mounted to the left side of the helmet.  I used the flat surface mount that was included with the camera but the included sticky tape was not going to work on a curved helmet.  So I used Gorilla Glue to secure it to the helmet.  Also, included was a safety lanyard in case the mount fails and the camera comes loose from the helmet.  This is a good idea!

I’ve made some test videos to see if the mount is lined up and everything looks good.  The quality is great as it is 1080p High Definition.  Amazing they can get that out of a small camera.

I’m looking forward to trying this camera in the woods.  So far I'm pretty happy with the set up but more testing is needed.  Handling HD video is pretty hard on my computer too.  The record rate is about 15 minutes of video equals 1 gig of storage and the software is a resource hog.  I have a feeling a new computer with more memory is in the near future.  Maybe a MAC!?

My inspiration for this project comes from a guy in North Carolina that calls himself Sir Bikes-A-Lot.  Check out his web site for more info and a lot more knowledge on setting up a rig like this.  His web site address is www.sirbikesalot.com

First Time Riding Veterans Park in Lexington, KY

Sunday September 11, 2011
It seems fitting to ride at Veterans Park today since this is the 10 year anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on the United States.  We Will Never Forget!

I hooked up with "The Dude", aka Travis, around 5pm and we headed for the trails.  We rode for about an hour and forty-five minutes with a total mileage around 7.5 miles.


There were several people out walking, jogging and hiking the trails today but to my surprise we only saw a few other mountain bikers.  The trail is a fun single track with minor elevation changes with mostly hard packed dirt with a few loose spots.  There are some exposed rocks and roots but most of them can be avoided.

The Dude just being The Dude.

Mostly single track trails.

The Dude exiting a tree tunnel.

We had a good workout and decided that we would be coming back to ride it again.  We didn't have a map so we just explored around and followed trails to see where they went.  Now that I have some GPS data from the ride we know that we missed some of the trails in the field.  We didn't venture across them as it was starting to get dark and the lights were in the truck.  It was a great time and we talked about riding these trails when there is an inch or so of snow on the ground.  I can't wait!

Getting the Kid Karriage Ready

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Alaura helped me get the kid karriage ready for a future trip.  After we tuned it we hooked it up and took it for a spin.  She had to bring Gigi her doll with her on the ride around the house.

Skull Buster with Scott

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Went back to Skull Buster today and Scott joined me. We met around 5:30 pm at the trailhead and set out for an epic ride. We haven’t ridden together in several years so this was a real treat. I always turn on my bike computer/GPS and attach it to my handlebars right before I head out and for some reason this time it would not turn on. I can’t remember ever riding without it but I wasn’t going to let that slow us down. I came to ride not play with electronic toys. So, we rode some, joked some, rested some, took some pictures and had a great time. I hit a tree with my shoulder and I thought the world had stopped spinning for a few minutes. Nothing was broke so back to having fun. We rode until it was dark in the woods and then headed for the car. Note to self...take lights next time! We rode about 9 miles in 2.5 hours at a nice easy pace. I got to spend some time with my brother riding bikes, I felt like a kid again. Thanks Scott!

First Time Riding Skull Buster in Georgetown, KY

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Rode at Skull Buster in Georgetown, KY today. The trails are new, well manicured, hard packed and fast! I intended on riding by myself while Amy and Alaura hiked some of the trails, but I met Matthew who said he would ride with me. He has ridden here once before and that was more than me. We rode 10.75 miles in about 2 hours time. I was sucking wind by the time I got back to the car. All in all it was a great ride and I will be coming back to Skull Buster for some more mountain biking.

November Milage

November was a rough biking month. I got sick and lazy. I only logged 63 miles.

I did have a good ride last week with the Cave Run Group. We road 17 miles in the blowing wet snow with lights on the road and fire road 16. It is so quiet in the woods when there is snow on the ground. Pretty fun stuff!

Alaura's Halloween Costume

This is not bike related but I couldn't resist. Alaura went trick or treating as a pumpkin.

She is soooooooo cute.

Easy Walker II with Amy and Alaura

Well I forgot the camera and the video camera so here is a pic of Alaura in the Kid Carriage from August.

Amy, Alaura and I went to Easy Walker Park II for a family joy ride. We rode about 4 miles in about 35 minutes and had a good time. It was sunny and in the 70's so the weather was great!

Amy pulled Alaura in the Kid Carriage so she got a pretty good work out. We look forward to doing it again.

October Mileage

I fell a little short of my goal for October. I was shooting for 100 miles for the month and ended with 82 miles. I fell ill to a cold and all was good until it moved into my chest. I chose to skip last Thursday's Cave Run ride to rest and I'm glad I did because I'm feeling much better now.

Capital View Park with Scott

Scott and I played hookie today from work and went to Frankfort for a ride at Capital View Park. The weather was a bit cool at 40 degrees but it made for great riding weather after we got going.

We rode 10 miles in 3 hours. Talk about a slow pace but we had a great time. We rode many of the technical trails several times and got some cool videos.


In this video Scott starts off demonstrating the technical nature of the trails.


Music by Van Halen

My New (used) Bike

Meet the newest addition to the family. My 2005 Turner Flux with the full XTR package. It weighs 26 pounds and has 4 inches of travel in the rear and 5 inches in the front.

It has taken me a few weeks to get used to how it rides and shifts. The new stuff is so smooth and crisp in the shifts. The disc brakes are out of this world. Just watch the front one. The 180 mm disc can stop the bike on a dime!

I seem to be holding the bike back when the trail gets sketchy. It's like hanging onto a rocket when you head over a rocky rooty hill. The bike just wants to go but I'm not ready for that. However, the faster you go the more stable the bike gets. It kinda gets up on top of the rough stuff and really smooths out.


It's a fun bike to ride and I'm glad I picked an American made frame with top of the line components. We should have many years of fun together.

Online Mountain Biking Game

Try your skill at this online Mountain Biking game...how well did you do?

http://games.fungadgets.org/bike/mountainbikebig.htm

September Mileage

I rode 60 miles in September. Most of the miles are from riding every Thursday with the Cave Run Group at Caney Loop in Morehead. It's a 10 mile loop in the woods but we start and finish at the bike shop which makes it about 13 miles round trip. It takes about 1-1/2 hours if there are no break downs. This time of year lights are a must. Warmer clothes are in the near future too.

Mountain Bike Videos of WNC

Check out this site for some very cool videos and pictures of Mountain Biking in North Carolina.

www.SirBikesAlot.com

Scott and I were planning on trekking down to North Carolina and camping in the Davidson River Camp ground on Friday and Saturday but the rain is moving in so we scratched those plans. We are going to hit is when the weather eases up.

There are some sweet trails in that area.

Caney Loop with Scott

Oct 18, 2008
Scott and I rode about 8 miles on Caney Loop. It wasn't a race but a fun trail ride in the woods with my brother. The sun was out and it was in the low 50's, great riding weather.

The only downer was the countless horses. There was some kind of fund raiser going on and we encountered about 20 horses on the trail. Most were polite but some of the horses scared Scott's bike and he had a time keeping it under control. After talking to his bike to calm it down we fixed the saddle that was about to fall off and we were on our way.

We stopped to see John at the bike shop and loaded up on energy bars. All in all it was a great day of Mountain Biking with my favorite brother.

Capital View Ride

Oct 4, 2008
Amy, Jennifer and I rode Capital View Park in Frankfort, KY. It's been about three years since we rode this and it's still a fun and rolling single track trail. Amy thinks the sinkholes are the coolest part.

Thursday Night Mountain Bike Ride

Sept 4, 2008
Mountain Bike ride starts at the Cave Run Bike shop every Thursday night at 6pm.