hikes, bikes, and beyond
Have you seen any announcements about 2023 being the North Carolina Year of the Trail? Did you know trails are an essential resource for the $28 billion outdoor recreation industry in NC that employs over 260,000 people? Those numbers are a little dry so one of the promotional videos makes it simpler to understand –...
"Make A Date With A Trail"Continue reading
One of my goals for 2023 is to ride more long trails. My friend Rémi had not ridden the American Tobacco Trail yet. Inviting her on this ride seemed like a great opportunity to start off the year. Not only would we ride the full length of the trail, but since we were doing an...
"American Tobacco Trail (ATT)"Continue reading
Is it 2023 already?!? Looking at my blog posts, you might get the impression I haven’t been doing much over the last five years. I’m ashamed to admit that would be a correct impression. But it’s not accurate. The truth is I have been fortunate enough to have done a lot of exploring and traveling...
"2023?!"Continue reading
It was one of those rare windows of opportunity when schedules and weather align just right. My cousin Brian asked if I wanted to bikepack the Appalachian Gravel Growler route over a 4-day window he had open. I knew it would probably hurt, but what the heck. I had been wanting to do a serious...
"Biking the Appalachian Gravel Growler"Continue reading
Road Trip!!! A road trip is a great way to get out and enjoy seeing the world. Destination trips can be fun too but for sheer volume of scenery, it's hard to beat a road trip. You can travel by bicycle, motorcycle, car, or RV. All it takes to get a road trip started is...
"How To Plan a Road Trip"Continue reading
The Wendell Falls bike and hike trails are one of the ten trail systems in Oak City Cycling Project‘s Tetractus MTB Challenge. Finding these trails was a challenge for me. Maybe that’s appropriate for trails that are part of an ‘MTB challenge’. The guidebook author in me wants to change that. If you prefer to...
"In Search of Wendell Falls"Continue reading
Bike Travel Weekend is an annual celebration of travel by bicycle. Thousands of people worldwide do an overnight bicycle trip on the first weekend in June. I convinced a couple of friends to join me this year for a multi-modal cycling adventure. We planned to take our bikes on the train to Durham, NC and then...
"2018 Bike Travel Weekend"Continue reading
Most sensible people need shelter on an overnight adventure. Adventure racers who simply race through the night might be an exception. If you’re backpacking, doing a bike overnight, motorcycle touring, or kayak camping, you’re probably taking along some form of functional shelter, even if it is a reservation for a hotel room. A Dysfunctional Shelter...
"Leaky Tent – To Pitch Or Not To Pitch"Continue reading
On the Tetractus Quest The next trails I rode in my quest to earn Oak City Cycling Project‘s Tetractus Bike Challenge patch were Lake Crabtree County Park’s multi-use trails and Harris Lake County Park’s Hog Run Trails. Both of these trail systems are fairly well known. On the Tetractus list, one could argue they are...
"More Tetractus Trails"Continue reading
Need a little motivation to help you ride more often and on more trails? If you’re like me, you probably end up riding the same trails over and over. Riding just for the sake of biking is all fine and well, but sometimes a little motivation can make riding a lot more fun. Enter the...
"Take on the Tetractus MTB Challenge"Continue reading
