StewStuph

Music is one of my loves. I am constantly searching out new music, listening to music almost every chance I get. This spring I had a full list of concerts that have now been postponed. Against Me!, Tiny Moving Parts, Deafheaven, Grouplove, Band of Horses, The Milk Carton Kids, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Tegan and Sara, Jimmy Eat World, Turnover.  Yes, it was to be a very busy spring and summer of live shows. Now I am working from home listening to music much the same way I would while I was at work. So I decided to start a playlist of songs. What songs should be added to the playlist?

Recently, I joined a group on Facebook to facilitate group gravel rides at Umstead Park . I've been there a few times before and have more bad luck than good. The first time I rode there I had a very bad cramp. Probably because I tried to do too much too early into my reintroduction to cycling. Another time, I was stung by a yellow jacket. However, with this new group, I was ready to give it another try. So I set up a ride this past Saturday. This time was, once again, a disaster. The ride started normally and we ended up having a total of seven riders. My previous rides at Umstead had excluded one trail due to it being closed. This time though, I suggested we take the trail since I had never ridden it before. I got off the preferred line, and into some looser gravel, and crashed. Not a bad crash, but I did end up on the ground. Later, as we are descending on another trail, I hit a rock and my rear tire went flat. After changing repairing the flat the ride continued. I

If you have been following this blog you will know that I have started cycling regularly again. In my past, I tried racing. I never did exceptionally well, but I did enjoy it. Now that I am back on a bike and getting fitter, I decided to give a race a try. I saw a notification for Buddhapalooza  and did some research. It looked like the perfect event for me to try racing again. It is set up as a fundraiser, 10 miles long (7 miles on road and 3 miles single track.) It looked like a fun, low-pressure event not so focused on winning and more on having fun. So I registered for the event and showed up to a course I have never ridden. Billed mainly as a mountain bike race, there were several other people on cross bikes like me. It was a Le Mans start, set your bike down in a given area, all the racers are fifty yards away on foot. When the race starts, you have to run to your bike and then start riding. I placed my bike close to the run start line. I think this was a mistake. By the time

Don't let the title of this post fool you. Yes, I went riding on a new route and I had to get new tires. However, I had to get tires for my wife's van, not my bike. This past weekend we took a quick road trip to Michigan so that my wife, and my step-children, could attend a memorial service for her my wife's ex's grandmother, step-children's great grandmother. Making the twelve-plus hour drive is always easier when you can divide the driving between two people. When asked if I would go with her for what was essentially a one day visit, I agreed even though I would be missing a soccer game, which is difficult for me to accept as a goalkeeper. Then my wife had the great idea that I take my new bike and spend some time riding while she and the kids attended the memorial service. Her suggestion was for me to ride the Lansing River Trail . While I love riding on greenways around home and I am sure this trail would be enjoyable, I was hoping to take my bike on a mor

I have heard about Brumley and was even told once that I would enjoy riding there with my cross bike . So this morning I drove 45 minutes to explore the trails. The ride started well and I was really enjoying my time on the bike. Shortly after this photo was taken, I encountered a technical, to my novice off-road experience, rocky section. On that rocky downhill section, I attempted to go down with one foot still clipped in and my other foot on the ground. Unfortunately, It was steeper than I thought I ended up going down on the rocks. I tried to break my fall with my hands, which I partially did. However, my left shoulder took the brunt of the impact. Upon picking up my bike I realized my rear wheel was not spinning. Upon first inspection, I thought my brake pads were rubbing on my tires. So I did what seemed sensible. I put the bike on my shoulder, it's a cross bike after all, I started walking down the trail. A fellow cyclist stopped to check on my condition and noticed that

More than six years ago, after many years of not riding with any regularity, I decided to see what I could accomplish. I headed out one Saturday morning with the goal of riding the Neuse River Trail all the way to the Johnston County line and back. I ended up doing that ride of nearly 43 miles with a time of 3:08:48. Now that I am back on a bike, even though it is a cyclocross bike, I decided to try that ride again. Instead of doing it on cross tires, I took one of the wheelsets that I got with the purchase of the bike and put some road tires on, since I had no plans of deviating from the paved surface. This time my ride ended up being 41 miles and I finished with a time of 2:36:07. June 1, 2013 ride info August 3, 2019 ride info