6 posts tagged “north carolina”

No angry dogs, no dirt roads to trudge up and even a quaint little 'Lemonade Stand'!

This is not the first time I've done this ride: Oak Ridge to Summerfield and back.  Its a really good loop with little traffic and rolling hills throughout.  The roadside is lined with trees almost the entire way and despite having little to no shoulder, the road is remarkably smooth; obviously a result of the infancy of this entire residential area.  While some of the roads and houses are older (some are so old they're 'protected'), most are 1 to 5 years old and quite a few still are less than a year.

I was pleased to find that there was a lemonade stand at the half-way point.  Normally, I don't like to stop when I'm on a ride, but I wanted to make an exception in this case.  I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up prematurely, so I pedalled past them a ways until I was out of sight (to make sure I actually had $1.00).  I turned around and spun my way back for a little "drink break".  The "owner/operator" was a kid of about 6.. I was pleased to see that his mom was there helping out!  Two lemon slices (one extra free one compliments of the owner because I was "so sweaty") and some cold sucrose and I was off again.

If you want to see this ride from my 'handlebar cam', check here and here.

This map is here to show that there are good rides in Oak Ridge.. many, in fact.  The ride I did yesterday is the exception.

Distance: 17.8 miles / 28.8 km
Time: 71 m
Max speed: 38.5 MPH / 62.3 KM/h
Angry dogs: Zero!

 

Avoid this road ride..

I'm always looking around for cool places to ride.  Exploring the local roads and getting the perfect route mapped out is part of the reason why I road ride.  The other reason why I ride is to enjoy the meditative state that is achieved when you're on the perfect ride, focussed only on rolling tires, cadence and maintaining a straight riding line.

I explored some roads yesterday that looked good on the map and satellite photo, but unless you enjoy being chased by angry dogs (lots of them) and walking your ride bike up steep dirt roads..

AVOID THIS RIDE!

Distance: 16.9 miles / 27.4 km
Time: 71 m (including the dirt road walk..)
Max speed: 45.1 MPH / 73.0 KM/h
Walking on dirt: 1.2 miles / 1.9 km
Angry dogs: 7

We went camping and riding at Powhatan Lake this weekend!

 

This is the best campsite in the park!  Close to water, close to biking and close to the washrooms (but not TOO close..!)

 

 

Yeah, we still snuggle when we're sweaty.. and let me tell you, it was an ugly climb to get to this spot.  Somehow, the ride was all uphill.. luckily it 'paid us back' eventually.  But there was still a lot more climbing after this bench!

 

 

"Your brakes are gonna work fine.  Trust me...."

 

 

We might not have matching bikes anymore (well, I still have my hardtail..), but we still love riding together!

 

 

 

This is some of the fun things Laurie, Jeremy and I have done in his first few days here..

 

 

We had a "late" Father's Day extravaganza!  He gave me a new photo-mug from our New Years '07 party, Forza 2 and Call of Duty III for XBOX 360!

Jeremy installed a new CPU and a new video card into one of our computers!  This was, of course, required in order to play the hoard of high-tech games he brought with him!

Riding in Battleground Park

 

 

Stompin' up the hill.

Checking out the "six-pounders".

..its not green, at all!

So, I got my green card today!  As promised, here is a picture of what a real honest-to-goodness green card looks like.  Was I really surprised that it isn't green?  Ummm.. no.  I've been dealing with our friends at USCIS for exactly one year now, and if there is one consistent thing that I've learned: they are consistently inconsistent.  Constantly.

Not only did I get my green card today, I also got my North Carolina driver's license and North Carolina license plates.  By the way, everything you hear about the DMV.. its all, painfully, true.  Two hours of squirming in my chair-shaped torture device waiting for my number to be called and they didn't even have WiFi so I could at least get some work done!

I even tried guessing the WEP key of the Volvo dealer beside the DMV office.. no luck.  It wasn't "volvo".

However, I did run into my old friend, Inspector Dan - the nice guy from the sherrif's office who helped us get our ducks in a row to make our car "American-ized".

If you missed it, and like to look at super-hard to duplicate USCIS identity cards, then don't forget to check out Employment Authorization Card, which exists only in memory now that "they" took it from me.

 

What will our homes look like 237 years?

While on a quest for new places to ride, Laurie and I stumbled across this faltering, but still quite impressive, stone home.  The stones that make up this structure have worn the years' weather with the same stamina as those who laid these walls and lived within them.

Forged from the need for a sturdy shelter during the tumultuous American Revolution, this house served as both home and stronghold for locals who fought to keep America free from the English.  The stone walls were originally laid in 1770 by its owner, Colonel John Martin.  Col. Martin played a key role in defending the area from the Tories and led the assault on Tories Den, their secret cave hideout in Hanging Rock Mountain.

 

Col. Martin survived the war and raised several children in Stone House.  In April of 1823, Martin defended his ground one last time.  This time, he did not battle onrushing warriors but instead his home was being threatened by a grass fire.  Once the fire was under control, Martin sat near his home to rest where he quietly passed away at the age of 67.

Click here for the Stokes Country page on The Rock House.