Following Thursday’s screening of “Ride the Divide” in Carrboro, endurance mountain bike racer Matthew Lee answered questions about the race. Some quick highlights:
“Ride the Divide” — a 2,700-mile off-road odyssey
There’s one key difference between “Race Across the Sky,” last year’s documentary on the Leadville 100, an epic mountain bike race two miles above sea level, and the just-released “Ride the Divide,” which chronicles a lesser-known, 2,700-mile race that follows the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta, Canada, south to the Mexican border. I’ll get to that difference in a sec.
Vote to refresh physical activity at school
Imagine being able to improve the health of North Carolina school kids to the tune of $250,000, and all you have to do is log on to your computer every day this month. Details in a moment; first, some quick introductions.
Be Active North Carolina. Be Active NC is a non-profit aimed at getting more North Carolinians off the couch and: a) into the gym, b) onto the trail, c) out on the playground, d) all of the above. Among its various programs is Just Push Play, the goal of which is to go into our schools and revive the notion that a kid who is receptive to learning is a kid who gets at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day.
Reminder: Saturday is National Trails Day
I’m back to remind you that Saturday is National Trails Day, a day when we celebrate the more than 200,000 miles of trail that help us escape the oppressive monotony of day-to-day existence and recoup our souls.
OK, maybe that’s a little strong.
But trails do play a vital role in our physical and mental well being. So in honor of National Trails Day, pay a visit to your local trail. You can either give something back (in the form of a workday) or you can celebrate their existence. And while you’re at it, celebrate the essential role that you, the people, play in blazing and maintaining the nation’s trails. To wit, another account of the vital part volunteers play in our trails, this one in regard to the Neusiok Trail in the Croatan National Forest.
“You ask about the vital roll volunteers played in the trail,” says Sue Huntsman. “There wouldn’t be a trail without them! The Carteret County Wildlife Club — specifically my husband Gene Huntsman — conceived of the trail in 1970. With the advice of the USFS district ranger Ed Grushinski, the trail’s 22-mile course was determined. For the next decade, the members of the club donated untold hundreds of man-hours, blood and sweat roughing out the trail’s path in sections then connecting and refining the sections. Finally, (and still on-going) boardwalks and bridges were built to protect wetlands and ease hikers’ passage.”
While the U.S. Forest Service now does most maintenance on the Neusiok, the club continues to improve the trail, building additional boardwalks in perpetually wet areas, as well as shelters and fire pits for backpackers. In addition, the club remains busy building another trail in the Croatan, the Weetock, and also built a third trail, the two-mile Sea-Gate Woods trail for the Coastal Land Trust. All this from a club whose membership is largely over 55 years old.
The Carteret County Wildlife Club plans to celebrate National Trails Day on Sunday with a cookout Sunday afternoon. Show up between noon and 4 p.m. to hike, paddle the Neuse, fish or whatever (“The afternoon activities are unstructured,” advises Huntsman), the cookout commences at 5 p.m. (bring a side dish, barbeque will be provided).
For a rundown of other National Trails Day events, check out the GGNC post from last Thursday. In addition, Tim Lee with TORC fills us in on this late-breaking NTD event at the growing Briar Chapel trail network south of Chapel Hill.
NTD @ BC
The skinny:
10 a.m.-noon — Guided mountain bike rides (RSVP required at site below).
12:30pm — Free lunch, including Carolina-style BBQ with burgers, hot dogs, drinks, more.
1-4 p.m. — Party.
More info here.
Beer for butter, unprotected support and other insights from the Burn 24
I haven’t counted how many racers from the Triangle were in this past weekend’s Burn 24 Hour Challenge mountain bike race at Dark Mountain near Wilkesboro, but I couldn’t walk from our pit to the start/finish without running into someone from hereabouts. These are a few of the stories I picked up along the way.