Through most of December my ride-time was sparse. It's a new year now, and I have made more time for riding lately. I am, however, going for quality over quantity as a resolution.
Sleeping-in a little, Saturday morning, I made it to Haw Ridge by 10:am. It was quite a bit colder than the local weather man predicted, and never really warmed up. It seemed perfect for a "southern" winters ride. Me and Drew poked around the ridge a bit, spending alot of time shooting the $hit. When we started making the push up Rainbow, en route to the lot, Drew's handlebar snapped in half. Five miles out with a broken aluminum handlebar, I guess it could have been much worse. Drew rode most of the way out on the lower trails, and I continued on over the ridge.
Erin is 14 weeks pregnant and still running. She has stayed dedicated to her Saturday morning runs with the KTC, and continuing marathon training, although she will likely be way too pregnant by March's Knoxville marathon. She set out in the cold for a 10 mile run and ended up doing twelve, however she made the wise decision to walk the last two. Its great that she is feeling strong and running.
Waking up slow Sunday morning, I made a big breakfast then made some calls to potential riders and headed out to Lone Mountain with Jeff Murray. We stopped along the way at Potters Falls, and rode around the falls a bit before continuing to the trail.
Lone Mountain trailhead is at the bottom of a 4+ mile climb to the summit, known as Coyote Point. We passed a few horses at the bottom, which were the only other people in the park. Nearly a half mile from the top, Jeff flatted and realized he had no tubes or any other tools for that matter in his ginormous back pack. I had a 26" tube which he stuffed into the 29" wheels and pumped full and then ripped the nozzle off the tube, rendering the rear wheel nearly useless. With no way to fix the unexpected flat, we ditched our bikes and jogged/hiked the rest of the way to the lookout. Enjoyed the view for a few before getting back to the bikes about one hour before dark.
With 4 miles to get back to the car, I rode on down while Jeff hiked/rode down with the unfixable flat. I grabbed a tube from Jeff's bag, yes Jeff's bag, and rode back up to meet him. He was most of the way down by the time I had gotten back to him, but we fixed the flat and rode out. I had a blast, I just hope Jeff had as much fun despite the casualty.
see pictures below:
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