Saturday was the 14th running of the Huck-A-Buck at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville. The Huck-A-Buck is a tradition in Triangle mountain bike racing, born of the inspiration of Happy Fun Racing and its visionary leaders Pat Lundergan and Chris Pappas. Three years ago, its demise was rumored. Fortunately, the rumor proved to be just that.

Alas, we weren’t able to make this year’s race. Instead, we take a look back to the race’s 10th running, in 2011. Come along for the ride.

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I usually don’t throw out mountain bike races as a weekend option because they’re typically targeted to a more adrenaline-influenced crowd and they can be expensive to enter. None of that applies to the venerable Huck-A-Buck this Sunday at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville. The Huck-A-Buck has a competitive element, to be sure, but race founders Chris Pappas and Pat Lundergan with Happy Fun Racing have done a great job ensuring that the Huck remain a Race for the People — meaning people like me, who can show up and not be obviously out of place in the aforementioned adrenaline-happy crowd. I’m especially glad to suggest the Huck-A-Buck considering last year’s 10th edition was rumored to be the last. Long live the Huck!

There’s racing in a variety of categories, from Kids and Juniors 11-18, to Clydesdales (200+ pounds) to Cat 1. The course is a 7-mile loop of fast, beginner/intermediate singletrack, and the entry fee is ridiculously cheap, at $25 ($15 for Juniors, free for pre-Juniors).

Logistics: Racing begins at 9 a.m., with categories going off at 9, 10:30 and noon. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Details here.

Sunday forecast: A brisk 82, “Mostly cloudy and cooler with some showers and storms possible,” according to WRAL.

Coast

With cooler weather moving in, what better way to start a day at the coast than with a quick 5K around Wilmington’s Bellamy Mansion, which, according to itself, is “one of North Carolina’s most spectacular examples of antebellum architecture built on the eve of the Civil War by free and enslaved black artisans, for John Dillard Bellamy (1817-1896) physician, planter and business leader; and his wife, Eliza McIlhenny Harriss (1821-1907) and their nine children.” The Bellamy Mansion Race for History starts at 8 a.m. Do your 3.1 miles, then return to the mansion for breakfast before launching the rest of your day.

Logistics: Race is at 8 a.m., preregistration fee is $25, day of is $30. Details here.

Saturday forecast: High of 84, 70 percent chance of rain.

Mountains

Unless you’re a bike racer (in which case you likely already know about this) this likely is more of a spectator event. But spectating often leads to involvement, so every once in a while we offer such an opportunity. This weekend, that opportunity is the French Broad Cycling Classic, three days of racing featuring top pro and amature riders. Racing is in the Asheville area. See “Logistics” for details on where to look for details.

Logistics: Go here for details.

Sunday forecast: Highs around 80, chance of precip ranging from 40 to 60 percent.

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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.

Todd’s Calendar

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.

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Allen and I ride one morning a week at Umstead. It’s typically a mildly competitive ride where we save just enough air to chat about bikes (lot’s of debate about whether to go the 29er route), rides (mountain centuries that Allen does and I talk about), juicing (Allen is obsessed with making fresh OJ). And, occasionally, why we suck.

This morning was my turn to suck. Sunday I’d done a mountain bike race, the 10th Annual (and last?) Huck A Buck at Lake Crabtree County Park. I was the fist to sign in in my age group (Cat 2 50+) and thus at least still in contention for first place. Fifteen minutes later I saw 55-year-old Rich Wetherald and suddenly dropped to second (a distant second). A few minutes after that I ran into 59-year-old Peter Hollis (third), who mentioned he had just seen Steve Rogers (fourth) and that a buddy of his from Down East was riding. “He’s pretty fast,” said the pretty fast Hollis. Fifth.

That others more capable than I had shown up wasn’t the problem. I didn’t care that I would be coming in fifth; no matter how prepared I was I wasn’t beating these guys. (Asterisk: I did beat Steve at HAB 2010 — his seat broke midway through the first lap and he had to ride 15 miles standing.) They’re better riders: better technically, better physically, willing to take more chances. I just wanted to ride well, to ride hard, to keep from dropping off their slipstream for at least half of the first lap. For half a lap I just wanted to be able to still see them up ahead, to feel part of a race.

That delusion lasted about 30 seconds, until I hit a small tree that I’m guessing felt sure it was a safe distance off the trail. For the next 19 miles, the next two hours, I rode alone (except, that is, for the seven Cat 1 riders who lapped me). My race quickly turned into a ride, then a leisurely tour, and finally, survival. It was hot (99 at neighboring RDU at race’s end), I had exhausted the 100 milliliters of fluid in my Camelbak (plus a 16-ounce bottle of hot strawberry electrolytes) and for the last half hour or so it was all I could do to turn the pedals. I had nothing left, and worse, no apparent reason for having nothing left. I hadn’t gone out too fast (the tree), I hadn’t been clinging to the back of the pack for a ridiculous amount of time (again, the tree), I hadn’t partied until 4 a.m. the night before (I was in bed by 10). I sucked, and I couldn’t figure out why. Which is where Dr. Allen came in.

“So … did you avoid the heat last week or embrace it?” Good question. If I’d hidden inside during last week’s brutal 100/100 (heat/humidity) days, I would have been more susceptible to Sunday’s steam bath. But I hadn’t: I’d run twice (including seven miles midmorning at Umstead) and ridden for 70 minutes at Lake Crabtree.

“Eat anything funny?” Not funny for me.

“Injuries?” I wish.

“Bike issues?” Tempting to blame the , but no.

Finally, Allen got around to the obvious, which he would have started with had it not been so obvious.

“How much have you been riding?”

A lot! was my initial reaction. Last week alone I’d ridden … hmm, just once, for an hour and 10 minutes. But the week before … OK, the week before there was a spin class, but no actual saddle time. Allen let me connect the dots. My perception, it turned out, was far from reality.

In early spring I had vowed to be doing a weekly three-hour ride at Umstead; It had been at least a month since I’d ridden two. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers was doing regular centuries on his road bike to build stamina. I hated to think what the others in my age group were up to.

Not that it matters, because, again, it’s not a pair of 3rd place socks that I’m after. As Peter, who always makes the podium, puts it, “I’m here for the fitness.” I’m doing this for myself.  Next race —  Aug. 21’s Race at the Reactor, at Harris Lake — I don’t want people looking at my lap times and thinking, “He must have flatted on that lap.” I don’t want my last lap to be seven minutes slower than my first (I could live with a two-minute difference). I don’t want guys passing me and saying, “Are you OK?” while I’m still upright and moving. I don’t want to wind up being on the course so long I end up drinking hot strawberry electrolytes. I don’t want to simply survive: I want to look at the results, check out the guy who finished ahead of me and think, “Maybe next time.” (OK, maybe I am a little competitive with the other boys.)

As we rolled back to our cars, Allen said, “I’d like to do some extra credit, but I’m afraid that’s it for me.”

I looked at my bike computer: 1 hour, 40 minutes, 23 seconds. “I think I’ll ride a little longer,” I said, pulling a u-turn and heading back into the woods.

The post Do I suck? (Or am I just bad?) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast, especially come summer. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. 
To help ease this trying transition, we’re running a new feature every Monday, at least during the summer, called 90 Second Escape. Essentially, it’s a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s in the sun.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: A ride through the woods.

It was billed as a race, the 10th Annual Huck A Buck mountain bike race at Lake Crabtree County Park in Morrisville. But to a lot of us, “racing” isn’t something to be done in 100-degree heat. Regardless, race or ride, mountain biking in the woods is always a good time.

Escape with us now, for the next 90 seconds …

The post 90 Second Escape: A ride in the woods appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

For 10 years, the Huck A Buck has been an institution for Triangle area mountain bikers. And for the last two years, the race’s organizers, Happy Fun Racing, have said the 2011 edition would be the last.

But a month ago, we detected waffling. It might be the last, one organizer let slip.

So, was Sunday’s race the last? GetGoingNC.com took its cameras (just one actually, a flip video) to Lake Crabtree to get a definitive — sorta — answer.

The post Does the ‘Buck stop here? appeared first on GetGoing NC!.