The Perfect Holiday Bike

I haven't been riding the mountain bike as much as would like to recently but I have come to the realization that it is perfect for this time of year. It is no secret that the cooler weather makes a lot of people trade in their skinny road tires for some knobbies but the 1x1 goes further than most bikes when it comes to celebrating the season. Here are a few things that make it perfect for this time of year.

Halloween - It is pretty obvious how my mountain bike relates to Halloween. Much like the traditional Halloween pumpkin, Mikey has a lot of orange. I also dress up in a costume when I go out riding, usually in assorted pieces of spandex and tight fitting clothes. The only time you ever see someone else dressed like this is on Oct. 31. On a night dedicated to frightening others, Mikey and I excel. Seeing 215 lbs of awkwardness rounding a corner on a ninja turtle bike like mine will frighten a lot more people than some cheap mask.

Christmas - Mikey's other featured color is green. No color symbolizes Christmas better than green. Green is everywhere around Christmas time in the form of trees, wreaths, garland, and tacky sweaters. While these are traditional symbols of Christmas, the most common sign of green around the holidays is the flow of green from your wallet to the sweatshop lucky enough to have this years must-have trash. This bike was also my first big purchase after graduation which is a constant reminder of the real reason for the season, capitalism.

Thanksgiving - While it is widely accepted that steel is real, it is not light. Neither or Americans at Thanksgiving (or any other time). Also, with daylights savings time over the bikes spend pretty much every weekday perfecting another one of Thanksgiving's past times, laying around and doing nothing. While weekend warriors everywhere head inside until the spring and start packing on the winter weight, Mikey is relaxing by letting that lube dry up and the tires deflate.

New Years - Since I first started riding it has been a new bike for each new year. Maybe Mikey will be the first to make it a full year without exploding. While everyone else is counting down for the ball to drop, I am counting down the days until bearings seize, spokes break, and frames crack. Maybe next year I will get a 29er to break.

Disco Ride Report

It has been a week and a half since the 2007 Discover Anson ride but I haven't written anything because I have been really busy being lazy and procrastinating, making it hard to find time to write. Maddie and I stopped by Greensboro to pick up Ethan (and whatever his bike is named) on Friday night and headed for Wadesboro to meet up with the parents. Shue also decided at dinner on Friday night to ride with us , leaving him ~15 hours to train and prepare. The ride started in downtown Ansonville and the weather was pretty cold at the start, somewhere in the mid to upper 40's if I remember correctly. Fortunately, I picked up some leg warmers on the way out of town Friday night. There was a good turnout with about 50 riders this year, up from around 20 last year.

Rolling Out From The Start.

The ride was almost all on nice quiet country roads and traffic was never really a problem. Some of the motorists we did see were so surprised to see cyclists that they gave way more room than necessary to pass. Several cars that were coming from the opposite direction ran off of the road trying to give us space, which seems really unnecessary but is a welcome break from the oblivious soccer moms in house cars that you see around here. The ride also had a lot of nice scenery, especially if you like farmland. The leaves on a few of the trees were changing colors some and at times you could find some nice views of things like Morrow Mountain. The roads were a lot of fun with some nice rolling hills and fun curves on some of the descents.

Cruising Along.

After the first few miles, riders started to get strung out and we rode with just our four person group. We rode at a nice comfortable pace which left us toward the back of the ride. I enjoyed the slower pace because it gave us time to hang out and carry on some conversations. There were a few times during the ride where Ethan and I would have a sprint or race up a climb which helped to keep things exciting. There were also some points when Shue and/or Dad would get ahead of us a little ways and we got to chase at a nice fast pace.

Dad Attacking Shue.

There were a few things on this ride that caught me off guard. Ethan and I were chasing Dad after he got a head start leaving the first aid station when we saw a new motocross track that had been built. I have never heard of this place but apparently Ansonville is now a hotspot on the motocross scene. We were even fortunate enough to ride by during a race. Another unexpected site on the ride was the exotic wildlife. We were passing some farmland not too long after seeing the race track when we saw a donkey in a pasture to the right and some sort of ostrich-like bird on the left. The bird actually ran along beside us for a little while which was fun to see, but the donkey was much more boring (Fun Fact: I beleive that the bird and the house beside it belong to Spur's childhood friend, Bruce Shankle).

The Other Bikers

We rolled back into Ansonville in the early afternoon and there was a big crowd waiting to see us finish. I think some of them may have also watched the parade that started shortly after our arrival. The ride was a ton of fun and a great time. Many thanks to the folks that organized it and I was very impressed with how well done it was, especially for a county that doesn't even have a bike shop. I hope to make it back next year, maybe with a step up to the 70 mile option.

Ethan and Dad with an Equestrian in Pursuit.

Action Shot of Dad.

Dad and I.

Mom and I After the Ride.