Happy Birthday to My Little Angel

To My Precious Spyder:
Happy What-Would-Have-Been your 13th birthday today.

You had a smile that could light up a room - or the great outdoors...

Always eager for a ride in the car...

Or just lounging in the yard...

You always knew how to enjoy Life to the Fullest.

 

You were my Angel here on Earth,

and I hope you know that even though you've crossed the Rainbow Bridge, your pawprints remain, as always, forever on my Heart.

Two-Wheeled Weekend

It was another phenomenally beautiful weekend so Steve, the Niner and I ventured out again to enjoy Mother Nature. On Saturday we headed west to try out the Moore's Springs Trails. While this trail was definitely fun in sections, I admit I felt a bit overwhelmed by the very numerous extremely tight hairpin switchbacks and off-camber ledges (I'm more than a little terrified of heights), not to mention the literally thousands of hard mountain acorns littering the trail. During most of the six-mile ride, the sound of the acorns falling from the trees sounded eerily like gigantic hail! So it was a very slow and hesitant ride for me, but the scenery was absolutely gorgeous so my crawling speed gave me plenty of time to enjoy that. :-)

Sunday we stayed closer to home and elected to make this our "longer ride" day, putting in nearly 25 miles total - my longest mountain bike ride yet for the past couple of years. Still fatigued from the previous day, I did wimp out on some of the steeper and more technical climbs, but I was pleased to make almost all the logs.

Including the pyramids.

And several refreshing creek crossings.

I worked on my fear of heights a little at a time on the easier and flatter bridges.

Even working up to the more challenging bridges including the elevated ones and the funky curved ones.

And I actually managed to clean most of the rock gardens this time!

To finish off the weekend, we took Fry for his routine run on our final ride Sunday evening. All in all, it was a spectacular weekend of riding, and I can hardly wait til next time.

Early Autumn Smiles

C'mon Mom, it's EASY!!!

 Well, okay, if you say so.

Obviously I'll never have Fry's mad skills or style, but I still love riding this bike!

Weekend on Wheels

There's just something about the combination of a fabulous new bike - yes, I still LOVE the Niner! - and the beautiful early autumn weather we had this weekend that rejuvenated me and inspired me to spend as much time bicycling outside as I possibly could.

We spent nearly the whole day Saturday on the mountain bike trails at local area parks, riding nine miles at Harris Lake in the morning and then just over seven miles at Lake Crabtree in the late afternoon. I had so much fun that I followed those rides up Sunday with an early afternoon 13 mile out-and-back spin on the Upper Neuse River Greenway - even taking out the road bike for the first time in nearly four years! After a slightly awkward feeling start from so many years away from road biking, I eventually began to get comfortable on the skinny tires again and marveled at their silent speed on the asphalt as I cruised by the gorgeous scenery next to the river. To finish up our weekend of biking, we took our best cycling buddy, Fry, out on the trail for a nice little three mile cool-down ride.

Near the end of the ride, our little hound took his usual quick splash in the mudpuddles...

and then it was time to head home, where Fry got a bath and I relaxed and rested my tired but very happy legs.

All Dressed Up and Ready to RIP

The straight carbon seatpost, scalloped brake rotors and delicately etched bashguard finally arrived and Steve, wonderful husband that he is, got the RIP 9 all dressed up and ready for the trails as a 2X9. I could not be happier!

All Dressed Up and Ready to RIP!

The Niner RIPs!

As (bad) luck would have it, I came down with a nasty cold the very next day after taking the RIP out for its brief initial ride last Monday, so I could only lie on the couch and look wistfully at that beautiful bike and the pleasant weather all week long. However, this weekend I finally felt well enough to head out to the trail for a more extensive test ride, so this morning Steve and I joined up with our friends Ajay and Carl who graciously offered to guide us around Carolina North Forest. After 10 miles of singletrack boasting plenty of roots and rocks of all sizes, tough climbs, fast descents, tight turns, steep chutes followed by twisty wooden berms, skinny bridges and all variety of terrain and other nifty mountain bike trail obstacles, I can definitively say this bike RIPs!

The flowy smooth sweeping sections were even more delightful on the Niner than any other bike I've ever owned - and that is quite a long list, I might add.

The descents, roots and rocks just seemed to disappear under the RIP, and I have never felt so confident on any bike in the nearly 20 years I've been mountain biking. I never once had the sensation that the bike might not be able to clear any obstacle I tried, and I didn't give a second thought to just rolling right through sections that previously I would not have even considered trying to ride, like some of the skinny bridges with difficult angled entrances, rock gardens, chute type drop-ins, rocky rooty climbs and bigger logs that I normally used to walk.

The feeling I get riding the Niner is one of pure joy - this bike puts a smile on my face and gives me courage when riding that I honestly never thought I'd find. I found that rock gardens were as easily traversed as smooth dirt - this bike just seems to eat rocks, roots and logs for breakfast - and feels as stable and secure through tight slow sections as it does at speed on the straights. It corners beautifully, handles like a dream, and is just so easy to ride. It makes me feel like all I have to do is relax and enjoy the ride, so I think I will...

First Ride on the Niner

This evening I finally got a chance to take the new r.i.p. 9 out for a test ride and what a fun bike it is! I'm temporarily using a layback seatpost while I'm waiting for my permanent one so my seat is not exactly where I want it yet (although it will be soon!), but I can already tell this bike is a blast to ride.

The Niner's suspension is plush without feeling sluggish, easily handling rocks and logs, and the bike climbs surprisingly well too.

I had no problems even in tight turns, and riding whoop-de-doos on the r.i.p. was more fun than an amusement park.

Fry says the Niner gets four paws up, and I have to agree!