Just A Wee Bit Different

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable activities that I have been a part if in a long time was a tour of Highland Brewery that Cathy put together for us. But before we even arrived, we were treated to a spectacle. Not everyday do you see a goggled Scottish Terrier going for a Harley ride at 60 mph on I-40! He seemed like one happy pup!

Edward and Robin joined us for the 4:00 Friday brewery tour. The facility was remarkably clean, the 14 staff members were top notch, and each and every one of the employees seemed dedicated to the cause. And that was to produce the finest microbrew in the southeast. We were informed that Highland is now in the large microbrew category and would soon be considered a small regional brewer. We were treated to all of their current beers and their latest seasonals that will be released, soon.

Cattail Peak Wheat and Shining Rock Lager will soon make their way to your favorite beer distributor. We sampled malted barley and even chewed on hops (I was unfortunately out of brew and that made for quite a l-o-n-g chewing session and the need to wash it down, choke, choke…). Edward was in his glory and was even threatening to try his hand at another batch of home brew (shhhh, don’t tell Robin!).

After catching quite a free buzz on the freshest beer that I had ever tasted, we headed to Limones on Eagle Street for a tasty dinner. Always an eclectic meal to be had, we were fortunate to get a table (thanks Stephanie) and we were excited to have Joaquin as our server. A cross between Neil Young and Dan Aykroyd, Joaquin has been our favorite server for many years.

After dinner we waddled around Asheville, stopping at the obligatory drum circle, before landing at the Thirsty Monk, Asheville’s only Belgian Pub. The Monk offers an array of high quality beers on tap and an endless assortment of bottles from around the world. After a Pisgah Solstice (on top of the Highland brews) your writer didn’t need a thing (OK, maybe a soft mattress) to top off his evening.

Tomorrow: we tackle DuPont State Forest!

Oh Lord, I Need a Break...

My job, while I love it, has been a REAL ball buster as of late. We're down on man power and up on work and responsibilities. There doesn't appear to be any immediate end in sight. I need a break, and soon...
This weekend, Edward and Robin will be visiting with us in Asheville. I feel that I owe them a good time, as our last adventure ended with me in the ER. They're skilled mountain bikers and getting them to the mountains is always a treat for us. We're hopeful of riding Bent Creek and of course, DuPont State Forest. The Burnt Mountain trail was recently re-opened and I want to go back and clear it this time. One of the neat aspects of the trail is the fact that Trail Dynamics will soon be constructing a pump track at the top of the trail. This'll be a cool, new feature on any of the NC trails that I am familiar with...

A real beer connoisseur, we'll be taking Edward on a tour of the Highland Brewing Company. Of course, I'm kinda looking forward to it too! I have a bit of a problem with their Gaelic Ale, it's just too good and the result is a spare tire that is in need of some repair. While they're in town, we're hopeful of a visit by Chris and Lisa. Chris has been battling some health issues as of late and the perfect thing to boost his spirits would be a trip to The Thirsty Monk, Asheville's first Belgian Beer bar. Hoisting a few of the 14 beers on tap or the 140 bottled beers on the menu is sure to raise anybody's spirits. And mine could use a boost, too...

In a few weeks we'll be departing for some time off in the Philadelphia area. We'll (Cathy, Lyndsay and I) be visiting my sister Barb and her family. While there, we're looking forward to the WXPN XPoNential Music Festival. Friday night performers will include Chuck Profit, Alejandro Escovedo, Dar Williams, and Beth Orton. Should be a really fun evening. We're off to see the Phillies on Saturday afternoon. Apparently, the Phils are a bunch of hungry young kids that are a blast to watch. Sports nut Les will be in his glory. With any kind of luck, we'll get in a mountain bike ride in Philly. Look for plenty of photos and fun, as we go on location. And I take a break!

The Greens Lick, Blues

I received this email from Kevin Booth. Kevin was our leader on the IMBA / SORBA National Trails Day (reference this blog entry)

Kevin writes:

"Rode G.L. (Greens Lick) this morning and there has been some de-constructive work done to some of the rock armoring. The very first rock section has been almost completely destroyed (rocks removed and thrown into the woods) and what remains will surely become a huge mudpit. I can’t tell you all how frustrated I am right now. It’s not just the hard day’s work that went into making that section, but all of the effort that went into making N.T.D. happen. A lot of people joined together to do something really positive and 1 or 2 people decide that it doesn’t work for them… and they do something really negative. I’m guessing that these aren’t the type of people to be involved with trail building in any other way. As angry as I am about this, it just proves that:

1) The technical trail feature that was designed to get people’s attention at the start of a difficult trail…got people’s attention.

2) Unskilled riders are making it to the top of (and riding) Green’s Lick

As always, I enjoyed riding G.L. this morning, but our work there is not done. We’ll need to schedule some time in the near future to deal with this and other issues".

It's a sad commentary on riders that just don't seem to get it, or seem to care for that matter...What I have a real problem is understanding what experience the individual (s) that destroyed the rock garden were looking for? To even make it to the start of Greens Lick, it's a good 45 minute climb to the top, so you must be in some kind of condition in the first place. Mommy and Daddy won't be lugging it to the top on Huffy's. The downhill/Free ride crowd would probably love the more advanced technical skill level that the rock garden (s) provide. So who was it and what was their motive? We'll probably never know....

Unfortunately, the answer may be in numerous bags like this, hauled to the top...

Drawing a Blank

Over the weekend of November 17^th, Cathy and I were excited to have Edward and Robin come to spend some time with us in Asheville. Our plan was to relax, play some “Phase 10” on Friday evening (enjoy a few cool ones), eat a good breakfast on Saturday morning, then go hit the trails at Bent Creek. Sunday would hold a foray to DuPont Forest…

The four of us met Doug at the Hard Times Trailhead at Bent Creek on Saturday around 11:30 and the five of us took off on the start of a rather brisk fall day. We climbed through the Explorer side of Bent Creek, eventually starting the fire road climb to one of my favorite trails, one of the many Side Hill Trails (Upper). Referred to as “Comatose” by many of the locals, the trail features a grunt climb that opens up into flowing switch backs, becoming tighter and tighter as you approached the bottom of the trail (in essence, a mini Greens Lick). Doug had warned us that the leaves were masking the trail and making things treacherous on his last ride…

As we turned off the fire road onto Comatose, we took a break and Cathy and I shared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, while the others enjoyed their snacks. Doug took off to lead us down, followed by Edward. I reminded Ed to be mindful of the leaves. Cathy and Robin followed and took their time, stopping and enjoying the remaining fall colors (which were beautiful). I pedaled along, following what I could of the trail, that wasn’t much more than a depression in the thick blanket of leaves. Edward and Doug had pulled away and I was having fun hitting all the jumps and putting my Dirt Diva clinic “limbo” skills to the test under a fallen tree and having to get on the brakes as I rounded the turn that approaches a log ride. I swung hard left, the rear end skittering around a little and as I released the brakes the rear tire caught tracking and I was flying once again…

Cathy was the first to find me, what we estimate to be some 5 – 7 minutes later. I was told that I was on my back, laying across the trail, unconscious and bleeding profusely from the right side of my face. At first she thought that I had been shot by a hunter and she believed that my right eye was gone. It was at this point that Robin arrived and apparently I was coming back to some level of consciousness. Cathy flew down the trail to retrieve Edward and Doug and as it just so happened, they had bumped into local rider David who joined in the rescue…

When they arrived back to where I had fallen, Robin had been joined by some young locals, one of whom was apparently versed in first aid. I have always been one to believe in being prepared, unfortunately it never occurred to anyone to check my pack for a first aid kit. Nonetheless they somehow convinced me to get up and start the walk down the trail. I have absolutely no recollection of any of the events, although somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, I can remember the sensation of sliding through leaves and saplings, trying to stop my momentum. I don’t know if I had gone off the trail, down the side slope and crawled my way back up or if I had merely skittered along the trail to where Cathy found me. Apparently I was laying perpendicular to the trail, feet toward the side slope, so that may indicate that I did climb back up the hill. I just don’t know…

My first recollection was about a mile and one hour later when out of nowhere, Doug’s car appeared and we got inside for the ride to Mission St. Joseph Hospital in Ashe Vegas. I remember very little of the ride or the conversations and my first real remembrance was being in the waiting room. Although the early hospital details come and go…

I had obviously had a deep concussion and many facial cuts and lacerations. They stitched up my eyebrow and the corner of my eye (I DO remember the injections to numb the wounds. That’ll light you up). Cathy told me that I was asked if I had any allergies to medication and I told them “No, but I respond well to Highland Gaelic Ale”. It’s strange that this computer system that manages our life (the brain) operates on some many different layers of consciousness. I remember very little of the entire ordeal, but I was told it was like I was under hypnosis, that I would do whatever was asked of me, although I apparently kept asking where we were and how we got there. I couldn’t believe that I was remodeling my house and that my hardwood floors had just been refinished. I was operating on a different level of awareness…

So here I sit at the Prickly Pear in Mooresville, some 7 months later, still wondering what might have happened. All I know is that I was glad I was wearing my now fractured helmet. In the grand scheme of things, helmets are cheap, my head isn't...

The Three Amigos

I am, for some inexplicable reason, drawn to the desert. My first trip to the southwest landed me in Sedona, AZ. It was here, among the red rocks that the thrill of the desert, the wide open spaces and the big sky won me over. We spent several days, mountain biking, hiking, exploring cliff dweller ruins and the most exciting part, a visit to the Grand Canyon.

My second trip was to the Western Slope of Colorado. While I maintain Moab, UT is the destination, and Fruita, CO is the ride, both regions offer a wealth of mountain biking and amazement of the unbelievable scenery of Hwy 128 and Arches National Park. I took Travis, and we were joined by my brother-in-law (Uncle) Scott, and Frankie and Trey. We spent three days riding Fruita and two days in Moab. I was hooked.

In September of 2006, I joined a group of 8 others to ride the Kokopelli Trail, 150 miles across the desert from Fruita to Moab. We spent literally months researching maps and making arrangements to get our group safely across the desert. It was quite a haul and we did it (I can mark that off my “To Do” list), but I still longed for the sweet singletrack that we left behind in Fruita and the all too short finish on singletrack in Moab. Sandy fire road climbs are not my forte. We did however experience the beauty of the White Rim Canyon, a visit to Arches and hiking/climbing/repelling into Onion Canyon to visit the Anasazi ruins of the Pueblo Cliff Dwellers.

I was approached earlier this year by Ivan who was looking to assemble a southwest trip. We’re going to be joined on our trip by Jim, the current president of the Trailblazers. The plans call for us to venture to Fruita, Telluride and Durango, CO before swinging to Moab for our final rides. We have our flight reservations and will depart on September 26 to return on October 5. My plan is to chronicle the trip of the Three Amigos through my blog and the Trailblazer forum.

Stoned Again

I had a fun ride at LNSP last night with two of my co-workers, Bob and Jeff. The weather was perfect, mid 80's low humidity, one of those nights where you feel that you can ride forever...

I was talking with Cathy before calling it a night, and I noticed a pain in my back on the lower left side. I told her I couldn't remember anything I had done that may have strained my lower back. Tossing and turning in bed, I came to the realization that I had a kidney stone. I medicated myself with Tylenol PM, hopeful of some relief. It didn't help very much.

I was very fortunate that this wasn't as bad as the case that hospitalized me some 6 years ago. Felling better around noon today, hopefully it has passed and won't be an issue. Besides, working from home, I seem to accomplish so much more than at the office.

Father's Day

Many of us are blessed with the gift of children. I am truly blessed. Through the thick and thin of divorce, Alison and I have been fortunate to keep our kids on the right track. For years, as a young adult male, Father’s Day seemed to be just another day on the calendar. Get a few years behind you, and they become sweeter.

I was fortunate as a child to have a mentor in my dad. He worked to help me to develop into a sports minded kid that did OK in organized sports, only to reach my true potential as an adult. But my dad spent countless hours with me, teaching me how to build model cars / airplanes, to do it right and accept nothing short of my best. He introduced me to control line airplanes, watching in bewilderment as I crashed time and time again, but never giving up hope of me getting my wings. He was amazed when I told him that my buddy Vince and I were flying our planes in the same circle, trying to nibble off the rudder of each others craft in a dogfight. We flew model rockets, watching the twin 24-in. parachutes of our Gemini-Titan rocket catch a thermal on a sweltering July 4^th and rise out of sight over Pineville, never to be recovered.

My dad was my best friend, although like many, I guess that I took him for granted. And now that he’s gone, for some 22 years now, I miss him everyday. Yesterday, my mom, Travis and I visited his grave site to leave some flowers, say the Lord’s Prayer and feel his presence in me. I was ashamed that it had been such a long time since I had visited. Mental note: Don’t forget your Father…

I guess that of my siblings I was the most fortunate, as Lyndsay was the only one of the six grandchildren to be held by him and I’m sure that in some small way, Lyndz is better for it. He was a magical man, with long slender fingers that played violin and loved to direct a mock orchestra, his version of the air guitar. I miss ya dad, Happy Father’s Day!

On Saturday night, Lyndsay, her boyfriend Jonathan and his dad, Steve came to the house for a Father’s Day dinner, served by chef Tom. We cooked up a beautiful salmon fillet with asparagus and rice. It was so good to see Steve, the victim of a stroke just before his 50^th birthday enjoy his meal, making certain to get seconds and even thirds of the salmon. After all of his trials and tribulations, it is so good to once again see him on track. I only wish that I could provide more joy in his life. Jonathan is a special young man working his way through biology and hopefully on to medical school. His sister Alisha is engaged to be married in the next few months. Steve is blessed and so are his children for the loving man that he is.

After dinner we gathered around the boob tube to take in “Running with Scissors” a rather dark comedy. As a connoisseur of the dark comedy, I must admit that this one was nothing short of bizarre. We all seemed to make it through with our senses intact.

Travis awoke on Father’s Day around 9:00 and proceeded to cook me a breakfast of bacon and vanilla, coconut and cinnamon waffles. What an interesting combination and it was so nice to have him cook for me. He’s going to make someone one hell of a wife one day! After breakfast we went to Lowe’s to pick out a new grill for our man cave. We visited with mom who made us a dinner of spare ribs, mashies and salad before departing for a mountain bike ride at Sherman Branch. Trav still has the skills to handle the bike and we had a really fun time. We capped the evening off with National Treasure II. I couldn’t have asked for a better 24 hours from my kids. How blessed I am!

The only downside was the absence of Cathy, who had to leave early to tend to her youngest son Brent, who is giving her a fit these days. I can only hope that maturity kicks in soon and that he realizes that as a follower, you can only be as good as those that you choose to follow. And Brent’s current choice of friends is less that exciting. It hurts me to see her in such pain over Brent’s choices. My co-worker Joe was telling me today that a sheriff’s deputy once told his son that you NEVER make your momma cry. I can only pray that Brent hears that from someone and suddenly he “clicks” get’s it and starts making better decisions. Cathy doesn’t deserve this…

Riding a Secret Spot

I had been invited sometime back to ride a private trail that a good friend of mine, Brian, had constructed on the grounds of his business. Saturday seemed to be as good a time as any to meet with him and ride. A huge manufacturing facility, the plant sits on Lake Wiley, in southern Mecklenburg County.
Brian and his fellow trail builders (er, fellow employees) had received permission from management to construct the trail for the use of the employees at his facility. The corporation does not recognize the trail system as an amenity.

The trail is a rolling masterpiece. With the minimal amount of traffic that the trail actually sees, it should remain healthy for years to come. And the trail was built right, using IMBA standards. At 5.5 miles and for a piece of property with little actual elevation gain/loss, you seem to be on the gas the whole time. Brian and his crew incorporated many of the naturally occurring obstacles into trail features. The trail skirts “Withers Cove” a quiet finger of Lake Wiley.

Brian has served as the Trailblazer’s liaison to the Greenway Advisory Committee for about the last 15 years. A tireless volunteer, he is heading up construction of the latest addition to our network of trails, Southwest District Park. SWDP sits between Billy Graham Parkway and West Blvd, in an area with street names like Nobles and Burnett, two Charlotte Mecklenburg police officers, killed in the line of duty. The trail system will be the initial offering of new amenities to the new park that currently houses an indoor recreation center. Future plans include baseball/softball/soccer fields. It’s great that CMP&R looks upon the Trailblazers with such favor as to allow us to build in so many different and diverse areas. Volunteers such as Brian make the difference.

IMBA/SORBA National Trails Day Festival

Cathy and I attended the National Trails Day Festival activities in Asheville last weekend. Amazingly enough , for years, there has not been an organized mountain bike club in the Asheville area. But things are changing in a big way for the region...

With literally hundreds of miles of trail in Buncomb County and beyond, an effort to build and maintain the trails was of the utmost importance. Pisgah Area SORBA was formed in November of 2005 as an effort to gather the collective resources of the mountain bike community to promote land access, trail preservation, and new trail development...

Friday night’s festivities kicked off with a meet and greet at Asheville’s Stone Ridge Tavern. Saturday’s announced work plan, a rework of the treasured “Greens Lick” trail in Bent Creek, was discussed. Apparently, in July of 2007 alone, almost 60 riders were evacuated from the trail, indicating the advanced level trail needed choke points and deterrents to keep the lesser qualified riders from getting in over their heads...

The plan included high skill rock gardens at the trail head to make a rider think twice before attempting the trail. Plenty of rock amouring of creek crossings, moving lines and berms, and modifying the final leap of faith, a three tiered tabletop system, giving riders a choice of a go-around and three increasing levels of jumping difficulty. 130 workers were on hand to assist in the process!

I was fortunate to meet with the IMBA Trail Crew of Kelly and Collins Bishop. It was quite interesting to hear that they were well aware of the Trailblazers physically challenged trail at Jetton Park. Apparently news of the trail had come up in a conference in Knoxville, just a few weeks ago! Word does travel fast...

In addition, I was introduced to Brian Williford, IMBA’s North Carolina Rep. Brian has many great ideas for interlocking clubs across the state, getting us to work together to secure grants, rally politicians and continue to grow NC as the southeast’s mountain bike capital. Brian will be attending the IMBA Club Care Clinic in Charlotte this November and we’ll discuss a roundtable of the NC clubs in the same time frame…

Walt Bready of SORBA was on hand to discuss the regional SORBA involvement. It was again interesting to note that our club, while not SORBA affiliated, is looked upon with much favor by the larger organizations. I met with Van Rogers, the Pisgah Area SORBA president. Van is interested in linking with our club to assist in the development of their fledgling organization. I assured him that we have probably made every mistake a club can make, so our knowledge would go a long way to making certain that they more forward quickly and avoid some of the pitfalls that we have fallen into as a club.

Mike and Claudia Nix, owners of Liberty Bikes in Asheville, threw an after party at the Liberty House on the grounds adjacent to the park, and it was the perfect place to party. Their chapter has a Green Man Ale sponsorship, so you can imagine the suds were flowing! It turns out that Claudia is on the NCDENR board that votes on RTP grants. She was familiar with our club and excited to have representation. She told me that she had just voted to approve the Trailblazers $5K SWDP Adopt-A-Trail grant...

My Expanded Profile

I originally wrote the following for my profile, but as this is a free blog site, I found that I was limited by characters, so here it is, in all of it's glory, bringing you from my formative years in diapers, to the present, edited of course for brevity...

I was born in Pittsburgh, PA in the early days of winter, 1958. Without a whole lot of input from me, the second arrival to Bob and Janet’s fledgling brood, our clan headed for the sunny south in 1960. I have pretty much been in the Metro-Charlotte, NC area all of my life. My father, my mentor, passed away in March of 1986 and I miss him each and every day. Mom is doing well, living in Matthews, although somewhat hobbled by a bum ankle. I’ll keep you posted on her.

After 18 or so years of marriage to my former wife, Alison, we found our own Y2K problems and we packed it in as husband and wife. The fruits of our labor are two wonderful young adults, Lyndsay, a graduate of UNCC, and Travis, a rising sophomore at Appalachian State University. Alison and I have found our way past the trials and tribulations of a failing marriage and we support each other in our efforts to send two prepared human beings out into the (somewhat scary) real word.

My sister, three years my senior (sorry Barb) lives with her family in Southern NJ and after taking early retirement from her Pulitzer Prize winning career in journalism, she has settled into a second career as a middle school teacher. Her husband, Les, is my music loving buddy. Les travels with the Philadelphia Eagles as a sports journalist for the Philadelphia Daily News. They have two hilarious sons, Matt, a rising sophomore at Drexel, where he is studying nursing and his younger brother Dan, the Tuba Man.

My brother Jim is five years my junior, married to Cindy for 20 years or so. They have two beautiful daughters, Caitlyn, a rising junior at UNCC (nursing) and her younger sister, Carissa, a high school student. They reside on Crowder’s Mountain

My educational path has taken several twists and turns, but suffice it to say that between 18 years in the nuclear power industry and currently in 10+ years in the field of metallurgical failure analysis, I feel that I have found my way. I specialize in the analysis of good race parts, gone bad. I support the engineering staff of several of the top teams in NASCAR in terms of failures and other metallurgical issues.

It was during the 18 years in power generation that I met a young woman that was vibrant, full of life and energy. Cathy and I watched as between the two of us, we brought 5 children into the world. Time, marriage, family life and employment took Cathy and her family to Asheville and I lost track of my friend. Alas, never say never, as we reunited after 10 years or so through a chance email distribution. Marriages on both sides had failed and the security of seeing someone that you had some sort of history with was somewhat comforting. We’ve been burning up the I-26 / I-40 corridor ever since.

Cathy’s has two sons (Brian and Brad) at NC State University in Raleigh, and her youngest (Brent) is a rising high school junior. Stay tuned for many wacky stories involving two middle lifers, trying to remain young, in love, surrounded by 5 kids and separated by 120 miles. It’ll make for some excellent blog fodder.

My passion (OK, besides Cathy) is the sport of mountain biking. I introduced Cathy to the sport and now she sees why it is that I was so passionate about it. It grips you, pulls you in, adds a degree of excitement to your life, all the while keeping you somewhat fit. OK, so the technical skills are eroding a little (I’ll write about a “minor” tumble that I took, later) and the spare tire that I carry doesn’t fit the bike (although it may fit the car soon if I’m not careful), I still get a kick out of it. I am the recent past president of the Tarheel Trailblazers and I continue to be active in the day to day workings of the club. Much of my blogging will center around our adventures on two wheels.