I haven’t given a bike update in a bit. Yep, I am still on it. I only missed a couple of days last week (my goal was to try to ride at least every other day). I’m also starting to experience the pluses of being in better shape both on and off the bike. It is certainly worth the initial pain!

My route (I call it my Urban Ride) now starts in Timmons Park. By the way, it is getting downright dangerous there. The recent rains have washed out some areas and exposed an incredible amount of roots. If you do not concentrate, you’ll end up on your can. You have to hit the roots square-on or your rear tire will slide down the root causing you to lose traction and possibly your balance.

From the park, it is off down East North Street. That is a fun portion because it is almost entirely downhill. I even get to break the speed limit. I really have to so that I can get into the left turn lane to get on Stone Ave./Laurens Rd.

After passing under the I-385 overpass, I take a right onto Richland Drive. That takes me into the next section of the ride: Cleveland Park. Even though it is a larger park, I don’t spend as much time there as I do in the smaller Timmons. The trail follows along the top of the park from one end to the other.

From Cleveland Park I get back on the paved biking/running trail to transition to the Falls Park. Once in there I navigate around the sidewalks until I am able to ride across the Liberty Bridge. That gets me to the other side of Main St. where I cut through a muddy construction area to reach River St. I turn on East Board St. to then turn left onto Main St.

On Main St. I hope to catch all the lights green so I don’t have to stop all the time. I really like that portion of Main with the overhanging trees and the people sitting out enjoying a meal from the downtown cafes. I follow it on down to East Park Ave. I take a right onto that street and it leads me back to the Stone Ave./Laurens Rd./East North St. intersection.

Remember that hill I love coming down? Well, I hate it going back. After a long ride, I just gut it out and feel the burn in my thighs. What a relief to make it back to my own street.

The good news is that it isn’t taking me nearly as long to recover now. Plus, I am feeling better during the day. A lot of the stress and tension is gone and my body feels much more relaxed.I guess the pain does have gain.

I had a break-through today. I left work in kind of a funk. The plan was to go home and put in a lap or two at Timmons park before I had to be back at the house to watch the kids while the redhead went to rehearsal. I had a bad feeling about the ride…

Turns out, it was a turning point. I made it through the first lap feeling ready to start the second. The disc golfers stayed out of my way for the most part. No major falls.

One the second lap I came across some teens on BMX bikes. The seemed to be more interested in just going down hill. Then I noticed someone else on a mountain bike. He was the first person I had seen in the several weeks I have been riding there.

The only disappointing thing about the ride was that I pushed ahead to do a third lap to catch up with the rider. In the past, a rider would stop and introductions would be made and the riders would go on together. Not this guy! I had sprinted to catch him and was pretty wiped out (this was my third lap), but he did not stop. As a matter of fact, he seemed to “racing” me. I had to break off.Maybe we’ll meet again.

Yesterday I posted “Hitting the trail again!”  Little did I know at that point that the title was a literal description of what happened!

Right off the bat I didn’t feel normal when I got back on the bike.  The running I did earlier had stiffened my muscles in ways that made the motions of riding even stiffer.  Anyway, I got into Timmons park and things seemed to be going okay.  Then coming down a hill around a blind turn just to find a large tree limb across the trail!  I had to brake radically and slide around a tree.  It left me shaken.

I continued down the trail where typically you need to have a good head of steam to make it up a nearly vertical five foot climb.  Problem is, there were four disc golf players standing right in my way.  So I had to wait for them to “tee off” before I could start the climb.  I made the mistake of trying to make the climb from a near stand still.  You guessed it.  I got about to the top and hit a rock that caused me to lose traction.  I stopped.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my pedal released and there I went over backward.

Later I found out why I couldn’t get out of the pedals.  My left shoe was loose.  The portion of my shoe that connects to the pedal was sliding around in the pedal so when I twisted my foot to pull out, the shoe moved but the metal connector stayed put.  When that happens, you can’t get out and over you go!

I finished out the ride keeping my foot out of the pedal.  After really hitting the trail, I was glad to get off of it!

Today I took my family to the Sky Top apple orchard.  We had a great time.  The kids just love it up there.  Also, it seems like every time we visit we run into people we have not seen in a long time.

When I got home I caught the last couple of minutes of the UNC vs. NSCU game.  Can you believe it!?!  The Tar Heels won!  I am now watching the recording of the whole game while I am posting here on the blog.  I like watching the recording so I can fast forward through the commercials and pause it to come back to it later.

After dinner (we’re having BBQ that we picked up at a little hole in the wall on our way back from Flat Rock.  I can smell it right now…. hmmmmmmm.  Hope the beautiful redhead calls for me soon!), I plan to get back on the bike.

Here is a map of my ride I plan to take.  This will be my basic ride here until I get my energy back.  Then I’ll start expanding it and adding some extra laps.  Click here to see a larger image. The yellow line is asphalt.  The yellow and green lines indicate single track trails.  It isn’t exactly correct.  There isn’t enough space to really show the single track – there is really more to it, but that is the general idea.

Hey, my little girl just came down to the office to tell me it is time to eat!  See ya later!