Dobovedo's Journal of Journeys

Even though the Tuesday ride was rained out (my magic does occasionally fail), I went over to Sylva anyway. I wanted to meet Kent, the owner, and talk to him about options for a sturdier daily commute bike. Whether it ends up being a cross bike, urban commuter, hardtail mountain bike, or other, I still don’t know. About the only thing I found was that there are an ever expanding number of choices. Seems like every company has doubled the number of models and the variety of options is endless.

Oddly though, the thing we talked about more than riding… and bikes, was swimming… and pools.

Read more on Salt Water Swim…

Gotta backtrack some here. Writing my Wednesday ride blog on Saturday evening. How we ever got a ride in I have no idea. It rained pretty much nonstop from Tuesday noon until Friday afternoon. Four days of downpours, then light showers, then mist and fog, then more downpours. But for one brief period, just 30 minutes before the ride

What am I saying? Of course it didn’t rain. That’s because – say it with me – “It never…

Read more on Lucky Penny Ride…

Today was blessedly dog free. The yapper is gone, I didn’t get chased, and when I got home this evening, I spent some time on my porch with my cat buddies, readin’ a book, drinkin’ a glass of ale and listenin’ to the mountain sounds…

lawn mowers and weed whackers.

Read more on Better Day(s?)…

Not sure how I want to write this one. Guess I’ll stick with the facts and leave out the editorializing. On a non-sporting front, my #1 Issue with the dog next door is being handled tomorrow, as promised. It’s going bye bye. And, even better, the owners of said dog are also apparently going bye bye as well, in the very near future.

It wasn’t entirely my doing.

Read more on Tough Day, Rough Run…

If you read my twittery tweets earlier today, you saw I was pretty cranky. Mechanical issues do that to me. Especially two flat tires in as many rides on the gravel road I have been worried about ever since moving here. And when the second one also blows out the sidewall on a brand new tire. Oh.. and when the resulting walking up gravel roads trashes a nearly new pair of cleats. All of this would be tolerable, and actually laughable, if everything else were sunny in WNC. But the bloom is dying on the rose.

You’re not really surprised by this, are you? I’m not.

Read more on Cranky Turn Of The Cranks…

It only took a week and I got a flat riding up the gravel road to the farm. I’d be a bit concerned about that, except that the rear tire on the Bianchi was getting a little bit thin and it was only a matter of time. Still… I’m thinknig I may start accelerating my plans to by a more appropriate ‘commuter’ bike. I really wanted to see how my expenses went for a few months, but tubes and tires ain’t exactly cheap.

So that was the “Flat!”. The “Not So…” was my after work run. Definitely not flat.

Read more on Flat! & Not So……

Want to make a good impression at the local club ride when you first move to town? I’ve got a sure fire method.

Show up to the ride with 15 pounds of backpack on… and then leave it on for the entire hilly loop.

Read more on Wednesday Ride? More or Less…

I never really got my Tuesday Riverside Ride off the ground, because I never needed to. So I did find it a bit ironic to be riding up a mountain road along a scenic river for at least part of the time this past Tuesday evening.

This was my first Tuesday Night Motion Makers ride.

Read more on New Tuesday Review…

Judging from the title of today’s post, you might get the impression that something bad happened today that involved dogs. And in that regard, you’d be wrong. You might also get the impression that I was about to go on a rant.

And in that regard, you’d be right.

Read more on I Hate Dogs…

What’s the best thing to do after watching a mountain top finish in the Tour de France when you’ve just moved to the mountains yourself?

Go for a run, naturally!

Read more on Back At It…

Since I did my first commute to Bryson City on Friday, I went the other direction on Saturday and explored the route to Sylva. Unlike BC, there’s really only one way to get there.

By bike, of course!

Read more on Sylva Saturday…

After four days of driving I finally got on the bike and did my first commute into Bryson City. There had been heavy rain in the early AM but when I headed out the door it was sunny and the roads were drying out.

It didn’t last.

Read more on First Commute Baptism…