Sorry I’m getting this up a little bit late….I’ve been trying (as you can probably see) to update the site a bit. I know I’ve been slack as hell, but those of you that have kids and work too much will understand when I say I haven’t had the time. Anyways, Dustin has been sending in some ride reports and will now be updating the site whenever he wants. If anyone else would like to be able to post up stuff just let me know and I’ll set you up a username and password so that you can post stuff without sending it to me to do.  Ok…now onto some riding….

Matt and I were supposed to get our lazy asses out and ride some pedal bikes the other weekend….buuuut, Matt had to “work”. I guess I could have gone for a solo ride, but my transportation isn’t all that “safe” at the moment….my jeep has some steering issues. So I didn’t feel like driving the almost 2 hours to wilson’s in my junker. Next option? Go for a moto ride. Being in Statesville now I’m almost closer to the Virginia Highlands area up around White Top and Mount Rogers. I’ve been wanting to go explore up there so thats what I did. I left out about 7 am on Saturday morning headed for Virginia. It started out super foggy……foggy enough that i was having to wipe my face shield off every 30 seconds or so. Pretty much all the way to the VA line it was really foggy. I live right off of HWY 21, so I just took that north to HWY 221 S then turned up HWY 113 to VA Hwy 58 right around Mouth Of Wilson, VA. I was running low on gas before I got to VA, but I still probably had 40 miles till reserves, so i figured “ahhh there will be a gas station up there”…..30 min. later, no gas. I remembered that there was a station where HWY 16 meets 58. Cool, no problem right? I pull in, and “NO GAS” sign on the pump. Shit…..I’m thinking next gas station will be in Damascus. I went up to the porch where a local was sitting. He informed me that there was another station just a mile or so up HWY 58 towards Damascus. Ok, Great!….Well, It was more like 6 miles, but there was indeed a gas station…with gas.

After grabbing a quick snack I headed up towards Whitetop Mtn. I had seen that there was a road that went all the way to the top of the mountain that offered some pretty awesome views. I had the general area that it was, but just had to do some putting around until i found the road. Once you get up top, it is pretty amazing as you’ll see in the pics. I’d like to camp up there this fall. I can only imagine the sunrises and sunsets with this kind of view. The road goes allll the way to the top where there is a radio tower area…..somewhere around 5500 ft. elevation.  I hung out here for a while, but not too long, because I still had a long way to go.

I headed over to Damascus, and turned down HWY 133 down to Shady Valley. I passed through backbone rock, which was pretty cool. I then headed down through Mtn. City, Back through Boone, down to Wilkesboro, and back down HWY 115 to Statesville. According to the GPS the trip was around 8 1/2 hours with a moving time of a little over 6 hours. Total mileage was 265 miles. My ass hurt after that one. Overall it was a good ride. Weather cooperated,  and I got to see some new stuff. Here’s a few pictures.  Some are me trying to be artsy fartsy….Enjoy.

Well, the past few weeks have been a bit crazy. The past nine months of anticipation have now turned into a reality. A peeing, pooping, crying reality. I’m not complaining though. Being a dad is an awesome feeling. Those of you that are already dad’s know what I’m talking about. Here’s a pic of  the little guy. He was born July 24th and was 8lbs.

Here are a few shots from the festival going around. Check out these two links to see some nice photos.

Photos from Ben Goff here 

Photos from Ben Ullman here

I didn’t take any pics this year….these two did a great job. Thanks guys!

 Now a message with some great news from Swanson……

Hello everyone, wanted to thank each and everyone of you who turned out on Saturday for Pee Wee’s 9th festival!  We had great weather the whole day…not too hot, not too humid. 
 
I wanted to let everyone know first of all that I received some fantastic news from Rachel Sylvester yesterday on the phone.  Rachel told me that with help, Danielle was able to stand up and get around a little.  She had some pain doing it, but her doctor’s think she’ll make a full recovery in time.  Danielle Crocker was riding the beginner teeter-totter in the “stunt’s” area when her wheel dropped off of the edge of the teeter, and she fell on her head.  She fell so quickly, that she didn’t have time to put her arms out, or try to roll.  Thanks to the Lincloln Co. rescue squad workers, she was stabilized and taken to the local hospital and examined. Read more…