late post #1 - xmas ride

thanks for the arm warmers, kenny!

i've been slacking on the posts, i know. but i will it up to thee hoffenchards. eric and i went on a xmas day ride at bent creek because it was beautiful weather and we had nothing else to do. it was in the low 60s on xmas here in wnc, 40 degrees warmer than my ride 3 days before xmas (which pretty much sucked). we met a really nice couple out on the trail, jay & jen (check jay out at bike zoo in knoxville). we met when i was trying to tackle a log obstacle for my 2nd time ever as they were stopped at the end of it. the pressure was on since they were my audience and my coach was 1/2 mile ahead as usual, and as expected i was in the wrong gear. i made it mostly across, but my dismount was none too graceful. we rode with them for the next 45 mins or so - down boyd branch, around explorer loop, deerfield to the lake, and back to parking lot. it was a bit muddy since it's been raining here for the past 2 weeks, but not as bad as i expected since the sunshine on xmas eve dried some of it out. jen was on a specialized 29er and was nice enough to let me ride it for more than half of the ride so i could get the feel for it's size since i want one. it was awesome and huge and i am now thoroughly convinced now that i need one. it will be bittersweet to say goodbye to the soma (my 1st mtn bike ever!) but i feel it's time to move on to better and bigger. the most inspiring part of the ride was the fact that jay & jen had driven from knoxville to asheville just to ride something different. granted, it's only about a 2hr drive, but we hardly even drive to pisgah since bent creek is so close! they told us about some great places to ride in TN and our goal is to explore more in our general area once the spring arrives. anyone ever ridden racoon mtn? i think that's what they recommended as fun, flowy trails in chattanooga, tn. so joshie, kenny, kyle, will - you up for some mtn bike camping trips this spring?