I rarely do the Pumpkin Loop, which is a gravel trail encompassing a number of the smaller trail systems in the forest, because when I run I prefer the single-track dirt trails. But now that I was on my new gravel bike, I absolutely needed to check it out. The bike performed as I expected. My tires were probably a little overinflated for what I was doing (gravel over road), but I still felt stable and comfortable throughout the ride... a pleasant improvement over the bump high-pressure road tire ride I've been used to on the Trek FX3 that I'd been using for my point-to-point commutes (and that I still love).

After we finished the Pumpkin Loop, we biked back towards the Bolin Creek trail, where I took a right to continue over to our old house in Carrboro to work for the day, and Ed took a left to get back to his aparment start his own workday.

The post The Pumpkin Loop first appeared on Conquer Your World.

A week later, the bike was ready for pickup yesterday (Sunday May 10), and I drove up to grab it. The tires hadn't been swapped out yet, so I took a brief excursion to the Wooden Nickel for an afternoon beer. The bike was ready by the time I got back.

Of course I was eager to get on this thing and give it a whirl, so I decided to ride it to Carrboro this morning to work at the old house that we're still fixing up to rent out in the future. Mondays are a gym day with my friend Ed. Ed lives at an apartment complex between the houses, so I got to swing by his place for a little lifting to. An avid biker himself, he's given me a lot of input and advice in making this purchase. He's also just been a really great friend lately, and has given me a lot of support in general, so I was excited to show off the result and talk about some trips that I'd like to take next.

It was a beautiful morning, and I was really looking forward to making the rest of my trip over to Carrboro. The bike did not disappoint. The gearing is smooth, and the range is impressive. Uphills are significantly easier in the lightest gears, and the weather was perfect for a comfortable morning ride on the Bolin Creek Trail that runs from the University Mall area in Chapel Hill all the way to some neighborhoods just north of Carrboro.

I still need to buy some peripherals for the bike. I've got lights and a kickstand on order, and should be able to attach those when I return home today. Ed has been talking to me about some rack and panier options, and I'm leaning towards an option he suggested from Old Man Mountain.

Once I'm set up for a little bit of light travel with gear, I plan to take a trip to Damascus and Abingdon VA to try this thing out on the Virginia Creeper Trail. The portion between Abingdon and Damascus is about 17 miles each way and relatively easy, so it should be a great opportunity to start in Damascus, spend a night by bike in Abingdon home of the historic Barter Theater - and then return to Damascus to drive back. Be on the lookout for a post about that in the hopefully near future! In the meantime, I'll probably explore the American Tobacco Trail and take it for some rides out in Greensboro in the weeks to come. I'm excited about this.

The post Old Friend, New Bike first appeared on Conquer Your World.

I drove up to Boone, NC on May 1 and spent the next two nights at a Hampton Inn on the east side of town along Hwy 421, planning to explore some biking opportunities in Boone on Saturday before packing up to pick him up and drive him home on Sunday.

After a little bit of research and with some advice from a fellow biker friend, I decided that my goal for the day would be to explore as much of the Greenway as I could to try to get in a solid 12+ miles of riding, with the goal of making my way to Booneshine Brewing Company, which essentially a few minutes' drive north from the Hampton Inn across 421. However I would bike just south of the Hampton and hop on the Boone Greenway Trail to explore towards campus and then back around to a pass going under 421 and back to the area where the brewery stands. 

I'll admit that the beginning of my ride quickly became a little frustrating. I had no problem finding the trailhead, and I enjoyed the first part of the ride past a couple of historical markers, like one marking the location of an early hydro-electric generator...

... but around the time I got to some sports fields where the trail tapered off and led to some town roads, I started becoming unsure about where I should go, or what I really wanted from the experience. I started to worry I might just end up biking around town and campus, and that I would end up driving to the brewery instead.

I didn't give up. After getting a little turned around (and frustrated with the gearing on the bike on a few steep uphills), I finally made my way back to the trail, returning to a fork that I had noticed very early in the ride, and took the other path to the northeast. This turned into a beautiful ride through park areas until it came to a pause in the greenway that led onto a quiet dusty road leading back up to 421. Planning to have to cross the highway, I followed the road on up to the highway, and was pleased to discover a passage leading under the road to continue on separated pathway to yet another section of greenway. After biking to the end of that path and back to a park area near the highway, I then hopped off the path and onto roads to go find my brewery.

One more very brief wrong turn and backtrack later, and I had landed where I intended: the parking lot of the Booneshine Brewing Company. I was about half an hour early, so I sat down in one of the Adirondack chairs out front and checked some emails and looked over the route to see where I'd be biking back: basically right back down that easy path to the original fork and back up to the hotel... just a couple more miles to go after a couple of beers. 

Booneshine opened up right on time, and quickly filled with activity. It's a popular place, and for good reason. The folks behind the bar were - as were all of the people I encountered in Boone - really nice and welcoming, and the beers they suggested were delicious. I enjoyed a burger for lunch, finished a second beer, and hopped back on the bike to head back to the hotel.

More than just biking...

Biking was only a small part of what became a really rewarding - and honestly therapeutic - ad-hoc vacation in Boone. When I arrived Friday, I drove into town to find some dinner. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had only been to Boone twice in the 90s: once when I was 17 to take a campus tour of App State (I didn't attend), and then one more time a couple of years later to have lunch and a brief visit with some friends that did attend. Both times I found town to feel kind of drab and run down. But this time, as a competent adult with the patience to do a little research and the money to spend on a nice meal and drinks out, I found myself having a delightful time.

First I went to The Social, where I sat at the bar and had a steak dinner and an Old Fashioned. Both were excellent. When I finished, I paid up and asked the bartender for advice on where to bar hop next. She recommended the rooftop bar of The Horton, so I did. I wasn't disappointed. The bartender was even friendlier than the drink was excellent.

Feeling pretty satisfied with my time out at these two places, and wanting to get on up reasonably early the next morning to ride, I decided to head on back to the hotel for the night.

After my ride the next day, I decided to go back out again. The bartender at The Social had recommended their sister restaurant, The Local, and since I'd enjoyed the first one so much, I again took her advice. I had a terrific time. Not only did I enjoy the dinner and drink once again, but I also got wrapped up in curious and chatty locals who were extremely warm and welcoming.

I was enjoying my company so much that I never ordered a second drink. By the time dinner, my drink and my company were gone, I decided to just keep it simple, swing by a bottle shop around the corner, and take a bottle of wine back to the hotel to watch some TV.

I was up early the next morning to grab a quick breakfast downstairs, hop in the car, and go pick up my friend on the Tennessee border. We spent 4 hours riding back together talking about his adventures so far, and dabbling in some side talk about relationships, friendships, family and grief.

The weekend turned out to be one of the most important things I could have done for myself after the last two years: both for my fitness and for my mental health. Ted keeps thanking me for the ride home, but I should thank him for the excuse to jumpstart what I am determined to make a habit of regular bike travel in the coming years.

The post Biking the Boone Greenway first appeared on Conquer Your World.

The post Coastal Coffee and Pastry Run first appeared on Conquer Your World.

Traffic isn't as scary as I thought, as long as I ride safely, use my eyes, obey (most of) the rules, and pick ride times and destinations sensibly.

My (almost) daily route now is through our neighborhood to the University Mall area, where I connect to a greenway at the Community Center that takes me all the way into some neighborhoods in Carrboro, where I come out a hop and a skip from Gray Squirrel Coffee Company.

Gray Squirrel is a place with lots of memories for me over the past half decade. I first started going to Gray Squirrel regularly shortly before the pandemic started in 2020. In the Fall of 2021, when they were opened back up and just being careful about it, I started to walk our dog there daily for love and attention from baristas and neighbors.

When we moved to our new house across town in Chapel Hill proper, I quickly began to miss my mornings at the Squirrel. But thanks to my newfound interest in biking, it wasn't long before I realized that I could easily bike there and back in just about an hour total, and suddenly the Gray Squirrel was back in my life on an almost daily basis, and suddenly Carrboro didn't feel so far away anymore...

The post Two-Wheeled Time Machine first appeared on Conquer Your World.

My mother passed away that April, but thankfully my father made was seems to be a full recovery, and I was able to move back to Chapel Hill most of the time and just visit now and then. Back in Chapel Hill, I started to miss my bikes to downtown Greensboro, but soon discovered that I could safely ride from from our house in Chapel Hill to my favorite coffee shop in Carrboro, where we used to live. I do it 4 to 5 times a week now.

Discovering my love of riding for exercise collided with my wanderlust a couple of months ago when I started to fantasize about where to take my next vacation, and decided that I might like to start factoring bicycling into future travel adventures. That is what led to this website and the project behind it. I intend to plan bike-friendly trips around North America - and eventually abroad - and will document those adventures here and on social media as they unfold, in the form of routes and locations that I will keep organized on this WordPress website.

Without further ado, I present to you my first regular route... They'll get longer and more interesting as we move forward.

The post Getting on The Bike first appeared on Conquer Your World.