We run for various reasons. Over the next few days, we’ll run for Boston.
Memorial runs in support of the victims of Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon — a phrase that is still incomprehensible to read or hear — are springing up all over the country. Here are the runs we know about in North Carolina:
For much of this week, North Carolina has been swathed in a blanket of green. An annoyance to some, a detriment to outdoor pursuits for others. We don’t care about the annoyed; we’re here to address our outdoor brothers and sisters who are afflicted with sensitive nasal passages. No doubt you were tempted by the first run of 80-degree-plus temperatures to get out and play. And no doubt you would up a runny, itchy, puffy mess as a result.
Odds are you don’t do it in winter. Odds are equally good that you don’t have a good reason that you don’t.
Go winter car camping, that is.
There is no good reason not to camp in winter.
You hate being cold when you sleep at night? Bad excuse for two reasons: One, sub-zero sleeping bags. Two, fleece blankets, layers and layers of fleece blankets. There is no better sleep than that had snuggled in a comfy, coldbomb-proof sleeping bag, the world outside crisp, quiet and dark — and with minimal threat of ornery critters lurking about.
Welcome to our latest effort in our quest to build a comprehensive list of places to play in North Carolina: Mountain biking.
North Carolina, if you aren’t aware, is a hot spot for mountain biking. Last year, Outside magazine named the Pisgah National Forest one of the top five mountain biking destinations in the U.S. Singletracks.com asked its followers to name the their favorite trails in the world, and four were in the state: Tsali, the Fletcher Creek area of Mills River, Bent Creek near Asheville and Overmountain Victory Trail at Kerr Scott Reservoir near Wilkesboro.
You want an epic ride? You don’t have to go far if you live in North Carolina.
Here’s our preliminary offering of 19 places to ride that we think are pretty swell. But we want to hear what you think. Think a place on our list is overrated and should be replaced? Let us know. Have we made a glaring omission? Fill us in. Or maybe we’ve omitted a key detail about one of the places that is listed. Tell us about that as well.
We’ll update the list periodically, and so you don’t have to go searching around the site to find, it will live permanently in the left rail of our home page. Scroll down to “Mountain biking,” click and you’re in business.
And send us your thoughts. Nothing like another good excuse to ride.
Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, 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 not under a fluorescent bulb.