it's tremendous, but I never would have thought that it could be so strenuous to keep going this here diary friend of mine...especially when you got friends that are so much better at it, and even promote your own diary to old friends...by now some 15 kids have probably looked at this here diary and thought...how lame, a couple of breakfasts and a boating trip on a pond? Well, my latest excuse is that I meant to post so many blogs, but could never remember to bring the camera to take pictures to go along with the blog...ja ja...well, this one will have to do without pictures. The South Loop out at Beaverdam just north of Raleigh is my new love affair. When I rode it for the first time probably a couple of months ago, I couldn't believe that something so cool could exist so close to home - this is liking having Tsali in your backyard I was thinking - and it really is, but let me rewind to the beginning. A week ago my buddy John called me at work as we were getting ready to meet for a Friday after-work ride. Beaverdam had closed because of a drizzle, so Chapel Hill back behind the Highschool seemed to be where we were going to meet. But once I had gotten into the car I just couldn't get excited about it, so I called John again and we decided to meet out at Lake Crabtree instead (no, not to go boating...to go Mountain biking Stupid). It was a great ride down history lane. This is where we used to go ride a lot when I was still going to State (North Carolina State University) and the trails actually have much improved since then. To favor much needed after work conversation that had nothing to do with work we opted for the fireroads (I always get a kick out of thinking: "Yeah suckers" when we cross over Interstate 40 and see all those cars downthere most of the time stuck in a traffic jam). To our pleasant surprise we noticed that the fireroads had gotten a new edition and after crossing the creek we were actually able to continue and do a beautiful loop.
Anyhow, after a great ride we headed back to Chapel Hill, stopped at the grocery store to pick up a six pack and some salad, and then met up with the rest of the family who was just getting ready to take a bath. Once the kids were in bed, John and I ate (pasta, what else) and then mellowed out until it was time to call it the quits.
So the South Loop is what brought me here. The last time I had met John out there after work I had had the same grand idea of driving there on backroads in order to avoid Friday afternoon traffic...I came so close to getting lost again (Old Weaver Trail Road went off to the right, and Old Weaver Trail Road continued straight ahead - so where do you go???) - but once the off to the right didn't look right, I turned around and everything worked out - puhhhhh, still took me 30 minutes to get to the trail though. Once ready to go ride we figured to better leave the cars outside of the trail gates (they close at 7:30 pm) in order to buy us another 30 minutes of riding time (the park closes at 8:00 pm) - easily done and off we were to the left, dropping into the woods over a little wooden bridge. I guess what's so great about the South Loop is its speed; it's just such a fun and fast trail that I always end up wondering how long it can keep on going like this. At first it's pretty much a regular singletrack with some roots, some ups and downs, some left and rights, a nice little wooden bridge over there, but then it turns into one big drop after another, the trail narrowing down at times to a foots width, with no ground to fall on on its right side, then there is a tree trunk on the right, that has the top third of it chopped of so you can ride over it (for more than two canoe lengths (= 10 meters)) - today I fell on the first attempt - and then you got those great views of Falls Lake jumping out of the bushes here and there...about a third of the way into the ride I notice that I had lost my water bottle...and decide to turn around to go look for it - once I have ridden so far back that it is stopping to make sense, I turn around again to try to catch back up with John, and sure enough, after another rapid descent and almost falling of my bike...there is the water bottle...peacefully laying on the ground just to the left of the trail. It feels nice to take a sip of water after all that - but then the race begins. In my attempt of catching back up with buddy John I push so hard that every other turn I wish for my protective pads that I didn't bring, and the water bottle in the drink holder becomes a pathetic fixation as I am wondering when it is going to fall out again. I keep reminding myself not to forget to put a smile on my face - because this is about the only thing I would want to be doing right now. But John is nowhere to be found, the harder I peddle, the bigger the burning gets in my lungs, the less time there is to drink water - and where is that smile? over and over again the smile turns into another eye brow raising facial expression as I barely miss tree after tree. Finally another good uphill and I start cheering myself on: hep, hep, hep, hep...and sure enough, at the top of the hill there is John smiling and saying:"Well, I figured it's seven o'clock and you must have been getting closer!" Wow, we have already been out here for an hour. Not too much daylight left this time of year (late September) and about 20 minutes later we are forced to break out our headlights - much to our liking though - night riding is a whole other aspect of mountain biking that makes it even more lovable. Back at the vehicles the ranger stops by to chat and kindly request from us to not park our vehicles just outside of the gates, but also shares some fun stories about novice bikers getting stuck on the trail and crawling out in the middle of the night desperately asking for help from a ranger that came out to start looking for them. Apparently there also is a local mountain bike club that organized night rides last year...something we may have to look into. This time Johns off to Greensboro to spend the weekend with his brothers, but the kids are just happy when I get back to the castle and throwing a ball around in the shower/bathtub is really what life is all about Dad, not riding a mountain bike.
So long my friends, get out there when you can!
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