Bicycle Advocacy Luncheon

Yesterday I attended a luncheon meeting at the UNO Alumni Center. Feature speakers were John Burke, CEO of Trek Bicycles and Andy Clarke, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists.
John Burke addressed the importance of the bicycle in the solution of the community problems. Big emphasis was on the obesity/health issue and concerns for the environment.
Director Andy Clarke talked about the League's Bicycle Friendly City program and what makes a city bicycle friendly.
The luncheon was sold out. Those that did not have a reservation were able to participate in the meeting.

Quick Look: R&R and Exploring the OBX

After a full day of sightseeing yesterday, today was to have been a day of rest for us.  It started out that way.  At 6:30a, we had no plans but to take it easy, go for a walk on the beach, write a post or two for the blog, do a few chores, have a picnic lunch … and maybe even dinner on the beach.  Then we checked the OBX weather.  Sunshine and comfortably warm temperatures were in the forecast through Wednesday, with rain moving in for Thursday and Friday.  So, we decided to make hay while we had sunshine, so to speak, and headed out to do a bit more sightseeing.

Seeing as how I don’t seem to be able to find time to blog, I thought a quick look at our activities these past two days was in order … detailed blog entries to be posted at some future date.

(My photo hosting service is conspiring against me — the servers are down, so I’ll be posting photos directly from my laptop; we’ll see how that goes.)

April 17 found us exploring the northern OBX …

Currituck Lighthouse

Currituck Heritage Park

the 4x4 beach in Currituck

shops overlooking currituck sound … duck
(above and below)

A short break for a sweet treat in Duck …

Mui’s waiting to get us …

… some ice cream.

Then it was back to the campground after a brief stop at  …

Coquina Beach … birds heading to roost at a nearby refuge.
(above and below)

April 18 — our rest-day-turned-sightseeing-day found us exploring …

the Wright Brothers National Memorial

North America’s tallest sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge State Park

We brought the day to a close with some wine and cheese on the beach fronting the campground …

Mui can’t resist playing in the cold Atlantic surf.

Tomorrow is another day of sightseeing in the OBX.  Depending on how our day plays out, there may or may not be a blog post when we call it quits and return to the coach.

Been decapitated lately?

This seems like a great way to commence a ride:

And so it was that I set off south, past the concealed head, on a hilly tour of the Burringbar range and surrounds this morning. A freezing start to the day, just 5 degrees C this morning -- highly unusual on the coast! Actually, I'm not sure it even reached 20 all day. All in all a very pleasant day regardless, the highlight being the wildflowers blooming and continual vistas that open up all around this range on the various routes to climb it (three different ones in all).




Actually, these ones are being grown by some of my neighbours, so I was a little surprised to find them growing in the wild, too.

Some of the other noteworthy things to come out of the day: I should probably use the mountain bike on the dirt track through Mooball National Park, rather than the hybrid. Having said that, there were no crashes or even any narrow escapes, but I didn't feel as "in control" as I'd like. I was also a little lethargic at times on the ride, not so much in the spectacular sections, just on some of the "in between" bits. I'm hoping this will clear up shortly. I may have taken the first step to that with a strong finish to the ride.
The thought passed my mind today that this range seems to be a little piece of paradise just to the East of Murwillumbah, and one that remained undiscovered for so long, given that it's relatively close to home. There are actually a lot more quality pictures I could take, ones that I decided to save for my next visit (whenever that may be). Perhaps it's all just as well -- the terrain on parts of this ride is actually quite challenging. Maybe if I'd discovered it too soon, I might have found it a little less to my liking.
Perhaps I'm paying too much attention to the sprint stages on the TdF. On the final stretch of this ride (153km into it to be precise), some teenager on a BMX wanted a "drag race". Instead of trying to play along with his acceleration, I just jumped into his slipstream and drafted until his charge died. Then I came around the outside, dropped a little "can't you keep it going any longer?", and then did exactly the same thing again. I probably shouldn't pose like that, but he didn't seem to mind.

Enterprising

The snow had gone by the time I encountered this sign in the Aberlour chemist, but I thought it was a good example of joined up marketing.
You can see Gammack's snow shovels here.

Journey of Hope

Sunday morning I had the necessary layers for a cool (chilly) Sunday Morning Ride. Had my breakfast at Panera but my riding friend did not show. I was not really disappointed - not ready for the cooler riding weather.
With the wind kicking up, I decided to ride the Wabash Trace from CB up to Dumfries. When I got at the trailhead, I found there was a charity ride there - fund raiser for cancer support groups in CB. The ride was the Journey of Hope Bike Ride/Walk for the Winds of Hope. I signed up for the ride, got my ls t-short, and headed up the hill.
Have not done much hill climbing. I sure felt it. My legs were tired by the way I got to Margaritaville. Normal stop there for a granola bar and G2. Back down to the trailhead.
Did my good deed for the day and had my bike ride at the same time!

Scritch scratch

Another recent game cam pic. After looking through some of the older game camera photos, I realized that we've had the camera in almost this exact location before.
I'm not sure why it surprised me, when I first realized it... Animals like to walk on clear, open paths just as much as people do.
I suppose I vaguely imagined some sort of I'm an animal! I walk in the woods! philosphy. But no. If we built an asphalt highway through those trees, the animals would be walking on it.

Little Rock!

Very early Fruday (3:30) I got on the road for my trip to Branson, via Little Rock. While in the area of Branson, I took the opportunity to visit friends and ride bike in Little Rock. Regular readers of this blog know I at usually take a circuitous route to my Army Reunion.
Saturday dawned sunny with a light breeze. By noon, the temp was up into the 70s. Great bicycle riding weather!
Kitted up, aired up the tires on the road bike, and headed out from the house. OH, how I like not having to haul the bike to the trailhead!
First destination was the new Clinton Presidential Park Bridge. Today's photo is of the Clinton Presidentail Library taken from the that bridge.
Across the Arkansas river to N. Little Rock. Rode the River Trail for some 7 miles to the Big Dam Bridge. While it was a climb (I had to stop and walk a little as the heart rate was getting too high) I was not ready to head back. Rode down the BDB (Big Dam Bridge) to the Little Rock side, knowing that I would have to climb back up on the way back to the house.
Continued on West along the river to the new Two Rivers Bridge. Was seeing some beautiful, wooded. paved trail when i got across the bridge. I resisted riding further. It was getting late and I had about 13 miles to ride back!
On the way back I did not stop as much tp take photos. On the other hand, I was riding a bit slower. It was rough climbing back up the BDB (had to walk part way). A second shot block about the time I reached Burns Park. Had already consumed my G2 and over half of my water. I didn't want to bonk.
Finally back to the Clinton Bridge and onto Little Rock city streets to the house. A great (yet exhausting) 25.5 mile ride. Guzzled my 32 oz PowerAde, and headed out for dinner.
I had a hankering for Mexican food. My friends selected Brownings Mexican Grill. Great food and I washed it down with a good local IPA.
Crashed to bed about 8pm! Awesome day.

Warmer Weather

After a couple cold weeks, the weather turned warmer. When I headed out for my ride it was 45 deg and filtered sunshine. Parked at the Wabash Trace Trailhead and headed toward the Western Historic Trails Center.
The bicycle trail is mostly clear and dry. Some spots are wet with melting snow. Caution! Underpasses and the railroad tunnel are icy. The tunnel is particularly treacherous. The tunnel has a lot of standing water with ice underneath. My bike slid under me and had problems just walking in the tunnel.
There is a big drift crossing Indian Creek Trail just South of Hwy 92. A couple other short sections have slushy snow.
With day-time highs in the 50s this week, the trails should be clear withing a couple days.
It was great to be back on a bike for a good ride.