I’m a more obsessed than usual today with cycling. I’ll explain why in a moment. First, an observation or three from the cycling realm.
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Being honest about your shortcomings is an admirable trait in anyone, let alone a pro athlete. Humility among our elite athletes is a rare commodity. Sure, an air of confidence is good, but too often athletes become taken more with PR than performance, and if lucrative endorsements are about anything, they’re about style rather than substance. Which is why Lance Armstrong’s observation following his disappointing finish in Saturday’s Tour de Suisse prologue was especially refreshing. The 4.7-mile time trial was run on wet streets, and Armstrong didn’t pull any punches in admitting that riding fast on wet roads is a weakness.read more
Following Thursday’s screening of “Ride the Divide” in Carrboro, endurance mountain bike racer Matthew Lee answered questions about the race. Some quick highlights:
The Cannondale bike he rode for 2,700 miles (200,000 total feet of climbing) weighed just 35 pounds. “Just,” because the Ride the Divide is a self-supported race — Lee had to carry everything he would need on the race.
Lee won the 2008 RTD, the focus of the film, finishing in 17 days and 20 hours.
He averaged about 150 miles a day.
His typical day: Wake up at 4:30 a.m., ride until just after dark. In the northerly lattitudes of Canada, that didn’t occur until around 11 p.m.
Fifteen racers started the 2008 Ride the Divide, six finished.
About 40 racers are signed up for this year’s RTD.
Since the race started in 1999, a total of 100 riders have started, 40 have finished.
The RTD route is not “super technical,” says Lee, who is also the race organizer, though more singletrack trail may be added in the future.
Lee has won the race four times.
“The heavy headwinds will drive you crazy.”
Lee’s goal for this year’s race: 16 days.
If he does this year’s race in 16 days, he says he’ll probably retire.
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.read more
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.read more
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. read more