Coast

Wasn’t so long ago that when you read of a “bike tour,” it was anywhere between 35 and 100 miles, and it was less a “tour” than a “race” (despite the fact the starter would note, “Remember, this is a ride, not a race,” which would draw a round of derisive chuckles). Steer clear of the hammerheads out front and you might have a decent ride;  you also might be out-of-luck by the time you reached the rest stops.

But that’s changing.

Witness Saturday’s Historical Southport Bicycle Tour, described as “a historical guide at a leisurely pace that everyone can enjoy.” It’s got to be leisurely if it’s “through the Live Oak canopied streets of Southport, along the Historical waterfront and the Cape Fear River,” as your guide fills you in on such sites as Fort Johnson, the Brunswick Inn, the Old Brunswick Jail, the Smithville Burying Grounds and the Indian Trail Tree. “We will be incorporating local history and cycling as your guide shares stories of Southport’s River Pilots, Blockade Runners, and Pirates,” says The Adventure Kayak Co., which is conducting the two-hour tour.

Logistics: Saturday, May 30, 9 a.m., 807 N. Howe St., Southport. $20 if you have a bike, $25 if you need to borrow one, helmets are required. For more information, go here or call 910.454.0607.

Saturday forecast: Sunny, high of 82.

* * *

Looking ahead: June 6 and 7, paddle the creeks of Bald Head Island with a guide from the BHI Conservancy. Two-hour tour; boats provided. Details here.

Piedmont

Here’s a problem with races that offer various options: which option to choose?

Take Saturday’s annual Run the Ridge event in Oak Ridge, in Guilford County. There’s the 1-mile fun-run that you could do with your kids, there’s the Run the Ridge On and Off Road 5K, which might appeal to your competitive side, and there’s a new event for this year, the Rugged Ridge Obstacle Race, three miles “entirely in the Oak Ridge Town Park, through the woods, on trails, off trails, jump over stuff, throw water balloons, carry stuff, run through a creek, crawl through stuff, run across logs, climb stuff ObstacleRace,” which likely appeals to your fun and your competitive sides. Which to chose! Such hard decisions.

Turns out you needn’t pick favorites: because of the staggered starts, you can do all three! And for a pretty inexpensive $50 (which also gets your two T-shirts).

Logistics: Saturday, May 30, 8 a.m., Run the Ridge and Rugged Ridge Obstacle Race, $15 for the fun run, $25 for the 5K, $35 for the Rugged Ridge, $50 for the whole package. More info here.

Saturday forecast: Sunny, high of 87.

* * *

Looking ahead: June 6, National Trails Day. Twenty-nine events are currently listed in North Carolina with the sponsoring American Hiking Society. Find a NTD-related workday, hike or celebration here.

Mountains

The French Broad Float: coming out of Asheville you might suspect it involves a dollop of handcrafted artisan ice cream splashed into a locally brewed IPA. In fact, it’s a five-day float of the French Broad River, from it’s headwaters near Rosman to Asheville. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, “The five-day paddle starts at the confluence of the north and west forks of the French Broad River and winds through farmland, under a canopy of trees, before widening to reveal the stunning views of the Appalachian Mountains. The river cuts through the Biltmore Estate, and paddlers will catch a unique view of the majestic house and time to explore the Biltmore Estate grounds and tour the winery.

Logistics: Saturday, May 30 thru Wednesday, June 3, French Broad River. $400 for the full five days, $175 for the first two days only. Includes most meals and Oskar Blues Beer at the end of each day’s paddle. More info here.

Several-day forecast: The typical summer forecast: highs around 80, chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

* * *

Looking ahead: June 6, National Trails Day. Twenty-nine events are currently listed in North Carolina with the sponsoring American Hiking Society. Find a NTD-related workday, hike or celebration here.

* * *

Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

The post This weekend: Bike, run, float appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

“They draw pictures of bears and lions and all these really big animals,” says Weems, the center’s senior manager of early childhood programs. At the end of the program, when she asks them to draw a picture of what they actually did see at this 45-acre natural oasis in the heart of Raleigh, she gets sketches of tadpoles, frogs, crickets, ladybugs … .
“The reality is it’s really much more fun to get close to a lady bug,” says Weems, who has been in the business of exposing kids to the outdoors for 30 years.
The reality is also that today more than ever, too many kids like the ones viewing Prairie Ridge as a wild jungle have only a vague notion of what’s going on outside their living room windows.
That’s why in 2006, N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ Director of Education Liz Baird deemed it necessary to create Take A Child Outside Week, seven days at the end of September dedicated to introducing our increasingly insulated youth to the great outdoors. Take A Child Outside Week 2013 begins Tuesday and runs through Monday, Sept. 30. At least 82 Take A Child Outside-related programs are scheduled throughout the state. (To find an event close to you, check our calendar, here.)
“The average child spends seven hours a day in front of a screen,” says Baird, “with no logged time outdoors. Obviously, we still need to remind parents to get their children outside.”
Take a Child Outside Week was spurred by Richard Louv’s 2005 bestseller, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” an account of how, in less than a generation, our kids have gone from being weaned in the wild to garrisoned in the great room.
To anyone who came of age pre-1980, the notion of having to be reminded to go outside and play would have seemed crazy; outside — in a local forest, along a nearby creek, in a neighborhood park — was where kids went to escape. But as Louv notes, a proliferation of electronic options and increasingly protective parents have conspired to keep our kids inside.
Some disturbing numbers:

• According to at least three studies conducted between 2001 and 2005, children spent half as much time outdoors as they did 20 years earlier. A 2012 study by the Outdoor Foundation found that the trend has continued, with youth participation since 2006 dropping across the board, with the greatest decline among 6- to 12-year-old girls.
• A Kaiser Foundation Family study found that kids 8 to 18 years old devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to “entertainment media” in a typical day.
• In a typical week, according to a 2008 Children & Nature Network report, only 6 percent of children ages 9-13 play outside on their own.
• Time outside is important, because:
• At least two studies, in 2005 and in 2007, found that children who play outside are more physically active, more creative in their play, less aggressive and show better concentration.
• According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 60 minutes of daily unstructured free play is essential to children’s physical and mental health. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2008)
• Kids exposed to the outdoors via “wild nature activities” before the age of 11 grow to be adults more concerned about the environment.

Weems has borne witness to the trend of children separating from the natural world during her 30 years on the job
“There’s a growing gap between child and parent,” she says. “I think sometimes parents forget the joys of just being outside. Slowly, we have to let them explore their world.”
Weems and Prairie Ridge hope to narrow that gap with their new Nature Playspace, which will be unveiled Saturday, Sept. 28.
Nature Playspace is a one-acre playground with a “water feature, a groundhog tunnel big enough for me to crawl through, stumps to balance on and logs to pick up and look under.”
“In a world of ‘don’t touch,’ we want to send a message of please touch,” says Weems. “Please look underneath that rock, you are welcome to move that log.”
The area is designed as a safe place for kids to observe the wild, says Weems. “We’ve removed some of the barriers that parents often are concerned with. We’ve removed the poison ivy, the pokeberry. It’s a little less intimidating.”
That said, Weems acknowledges that one of the benefits of exploring the true wild is that it teaches kids to evaluate risk, to be aware that everything may not be safe and that you need to make those determinations on your own. The Nature Playspace is a first step in letting parents give their kids some space in the outdoors.)
Many of the Take A Child Outside Week events scheduled statewide are likewise geared toward letting parent and child explored together. At Shelley Lake in Raleigh on Tuesday, for instance, there’s a “Family Sunset Walk” intended to expose the natural world after dark. “Festival in Motion” on Saturday at Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Wetland Center includes a range of kid-friendly activities geared toward exposing families to a wetlands. And Saturday’s “Talking Turkey” program lets kids explore the unfamiliar outdoor world through the more familiar world of crafts.
TACO founder Baird says the opportunities to take a child outside over the next week offer an opportunity that no kid should miss out on.
“We need to let kids take advantage of childhood while it lasts,” she says. “Childhood is not something to be rushed through.
“Explore. Play. Be outside.”

* * *

Find an event

Looking for a scheduled outdoor program you and your kid can enjoy during Take A Child Outside Week? Great Outdoor Provision Co. has assembled the most comprehensive list of events in the state, 82 events in all, broken down by the following geographic areas: Charlotte, Greenville-Wilmington, Triad, Triangle. The events begin today and run through Monday. You can find the events here.

Make your own event

The Take A Child Outside folks offer tips on making your own outdoor adventure. Click on the link for direction.

• Getting Started: Simple activities for all ages and seasons
• Animal Signs and Observations: Activities that encourage discovering animal signs and making observations
• Trees and Other Plants: Activities that facilitate the exploration of woods and fields
• After the Sun Goes Down: Activities that involve discovering the night world

Resources

Find out more about the importance of kids being in the outdoors through these resources:

• The Children & Nature Network “Building a Movement to Reconnect Children and Nature” is the mission of this site, established to collect and distribute information between researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children’s health and well-being. “C&NN also promotes fundamental institutional change and provides resources for sharing information, strategic initiatives and success stories.” Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods,” which sparked the get-kids-back-outside-where-they-need-to-be is chairman and co-founder.
• US Play Coalition A unit of Clemson University’s College of Health, Education and Human Development, the coalition is made up of anyone — from parks and rec directors to health officials to concerned individuals — interested in getting kids up and playing. Their focus isn’t entirely outdoors, but their very mission calls for a goodly amount of outdoor play.
• Nature Grounds The focus of this non-profit is to make nature a more integral part of playgrounds. Encourages playgrounds less reliant on standard playground equipment and more focused on natural elements that let kids create their own adventures, as is the case with The Nature Explorer Zone at Reedy Creek Nature Center in Charlotte.
• Green Hearts: Institute for Nature in Childhood Another non-profit founded to get kids back outside. Founded by Ken Finch, a former vice president of the National Audubon Society.
• Richard Louv’s Web site Richard Louv wrote the book on why kids need to play outdoors; it’s called “Last Child in the Woods” and it makes a compelling case, even if you’re an avowed shut-in.

* * *
Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post This week: Take A Child Outside appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

This weekend you can race early through the streets of Asheville or late through downtown Durham. Not a city person? Fret not: there’s a marsh paddle near Wilmington that goes nowhere near concrete or traffic lights.

Coast

There are lots of paddling options at the coast. My favorite: riverine and salt marsh habitats. That’s the destination Saturday of a trip sponsored by New Hanover County Parks & Gardens and Hook, Line & Paddle at Riverside Park in Castle Hayne. The 2.5-hour guided trip will explore the flora and fauna of this rich habitat.

Logistics: Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $25 to $50 (depending upon whether you need a boat). More info at 910.798-7707 or mcollogan@nhcgov.com.

Saturday forecast: High of 88, 40 percent chance of rain.

Piedmont

I don’t know about you, but my motivation to run or ride diminishes greatly when the temperature is on its way to the mid-90s. But when it’s on it’s way down that’s another matter. Even if in both instances it’s 85 degrees, it just seems cooler if you know the temperature is on its way down.

Such will be the case Saturday night for the 7th annual Habitat Bull Moon Ride & Run in Downtown Durham. There’s a 5K run and a 12-mile bike ride, both originating at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and both taking in the sights of downtown Durham. The ride starts at 8:15, the run at 8:30. Running or riding through downtown Durham after dark: how cool is that!?

Logistics: Saturday, July 27, 8-11:30 p.m. Register by close of business Thursday and it’s $32 for adults, $22 for youngsters; register Friday or race day and its $40/$30. For more info or to register, go here.

Saturday forecast: High of 82 (and that’s during the day), 40 percent chance of rain.

Mountains

This race isn’t at night; in fact, it’s pretty dang early with the starting gun firing at 7:30 Saturday morning. But it is in a downtown, Asheville’s, and has a reputation as being a top-flight 5K. It’s the Bele Chere 5K, and if you need additional incentive, this is your last chance at this event: Saturday’s running is the 34th and final version of the race.

There’s a lot going on with this race, too much to mention here so we’ll refer you to the website.

Logistics: Saturday, July 27, 7:30 a.m. Register through Friday and it’s $30, $35 on race day (registration opens at 6 a.m.). More info here.

Saturday forecast: High of 79, 50 percent chance of rain.

* * *

Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

* * *
Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post This weekend: downtown runs, a marsh paddle appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

Think you’re a pretty good volleyball player? Or at least enjoy some good competition? Get your spike on Saturday at the 2 v 2 Beach Volleyball Tournament at Emerald Isle. This is open competition (two guys can be on a team, two gals, a guy and a gal … I think that covers the potential combinations) in a round robin format — “unless,” says Brittany Wood, recreation coordinator with the sponsoring Emerald Isle Parks & Rec Dept., “the number of teams exceeds 10, at which time the tournament will be set up in pool play.” Winners advance to the championship round, and the ultimate winners get to split the registration fee pool, with 70 percent to first place, 30 percent to second. Participants must be 16 or older.

It’s $25 per team, and you need to bring your own ball. And when you aren’t playing, you’ll need to officiate another game. You’ll need reserve a spot for your team in advance, either by calling Wood at 252.354.6350 or emailing her at bwood@emeraldisle-nc.org.

Mountains

Recreational walking and hiking are a way of life in Europe, so much so that it’s become organized into formal walking clubs under the Volkssport banner. It’s a concept that’s caught on in the States, even here in the Tarheel state, where there are five Volkssport clubs.  The clubs have sanctioned routes that you can can hike on your own, and they host periodic event hikes. One of the state’s five clubs — the Asheville Amblers — is holding one of those event hikes Saturday at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville.

Event organizer Dennis Michele tells us their will be two hike options: the 11K route heads out to the nearby Lake Powhatan Recreation Area, the 5K sticks to the trails of the arboretum. Either way, scenic hiking is assured. Michele says the route is rated as a 2 (out of 5), “which means, yes, there will be some tough climbs, especially on the 11k route, but they’re not extremely steep. Also, while there may be an occasional root or two, the trails are free of obstacles.” Both hikes are guided, and no one will be left behind.

The hike, which leaves no later than 9:30 a.m.,  is open to non club members and there is no charge. (There is, however, a $6 per car fee to get into the arboretum.) If you get into the Volkssport thing and decide to join, there is a nominal fee for patches awarded for completing a walk. Post walk, Michele says group members sometimes go out for lunch.

The arboretum is not far off I-40 in Asheville, so it’s convenient to get to, especially if you have to drive a bit. A good way to walk with a group, an opportunity to add a little formality, structure and discipline to your walking regimen.

Piedmont

Did you know that dancing can strengthen your heart, increase flexibility, tone muscles and improve balance? And did you know you that a 170-pound person can burn 428 calories during an hour of vigorous ballroom dancing?

Yet because it’s considered a social activity, you don’t wear sweatpants to do it and it’s fun, most people don’t consider dancing a good workout. But you should, and you should consider going to Sunday’s two-and-a-half-hour workout at Greensboro’s Skateland USA West, sponsored by the Carolina Heartland Chapter of USA Dance.

But I don’t know how to dance, you protest?

All the more reason, since the session begins with a 45-minute lesson by a professional dance instructor. Begins at 5, $10 admission, $7 if you belong to USA Dance, $3 if you’re under 22. More information here, directions to Skateland USA West here.

* * *

Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.

The post This weekend: Spike, amble, dance appeared first on GetGoing NC!.