Alan and I were overdue for an epic ride. During the early summer we’d done a handful of 4- to 5-hour rides at Umstead, Lake Crabtree and adjoining single track networks that will go unnamed for fear of prosecution for trespassing. But since July — or specifically since I’d done ORAMM and no longer had the incentive to put in long hours in the saddle — our longest ride had barely topped 2 hours. So we were overdue, we realized last week, but we were also short on after work daylight.
There’s lots of outdoor adventure to be goblin’ up this last weekend of October: a spirited run in Wilmington, a haunted night hike at Jordan Lake, a hike into history in the Great Smokies.
Coast
Tis the weekend of the pumpkin run, and while they abound across the state the Trick-or-Treat Trot in downtown Wilmington rises to the top of our list. In large part, that’s because it’s in downtown Wilmington. Run your choice of race — Monster Mile, 5K or 10K — at 9 a.m., then have the rest of the day to kick around Wilmington. Hang downtown, head over to Carolina Beach State Park and do some exploring, hit the beach (the water temperature at Wrightsville Beach as of Tuesday was 71.6).
Ride not one but two days at the coast for a great cause, acquaint yourself with a sport that takes stones, cozy up to the night sky atop Mount Mitchell.
Coast
This may not be something you can pull off at the last minute; for one thing, fundraising is involved. But you should definitely put this weekend’s Bike MS out of New Bern on your list for 2013.
Surf while you can, don’t pass up a good shower, and there’s a trail run in the mountains — somewhere.
Coast
A regret that needles at me seven years after the fact: Standing on a pier in Kaanapali on Maui watching a beginner surf lesson and not ponying up the $25 or whatever to take the lesson myself. I can still see people far less athletic than I bounding atop the long, spongy beginner boards and riding two-foot swells that went on forever. Looks like fun, I kept telling myself. That bit of melancholy leads to today’s weekend suggestion for the coast …
I have various rules of thumb for when it’s too hot to do certain things. Over 80? Too hot to hike (sweat + overnight cobweb construction + lots of body hair makes me feel like a wad of cotton candy after a mile or so). I draw the line slightly higher, at 85, for running, mainly because of the skimpy apparel involved. I’ll paddle into the low 90s, but not on open, unshaded water. I can handle 90 degrees on a mountain bike; the calculation becomes more involved on a road bike. I’ll ride up to 95 on road, maybe higher if I don’t have to stop; few things are more demoralizing than coming to a stoplight after generating an 18-mile-per-hour breeze, then losing that breeze altogether. (Sweaty fact: 109 F is 42.777 C.)