He chose to sell his original motorcycle
after we found out we were expecting Jack, but always held on the hope
that he would one day get a bike again. This time around he prefers
riding in the woods to riding fast on pavement.
Even though I have a motorcycle license, I haven't ridden in almost a
decade, so thankfully he has several good friends that he enjoys riding
with.
This is a little peak at one of his recent excursions – it looks like
they covered some fairly technical terrain including a creek crossing.
He came home tired and muddy. Which means it was a good day in the woods.
When Daniel and I were first dating, Daniel purchased his first motorcycle – a Ninja 250. It was a bike that was small enough that I could handle (I actually got my motorcycle license shortly after we were married), but big enough that we could ride on it together.
When I was pregnant with Jack, Daniel decided to sell his motorcycle. He didn't really have time to ride and I think the knowledge that we would soon be parents shifted his priorities. He likes to tell me that we made a deal before he sold the old one that if he ever wanted to, he could buy a new bike.
Fast forward five-ish years and he had an itch. Earlier this summer I took a road trip to visit my sister in Florida and Daniel took the opportunity to rent his dream bike from an outfitter in the Smoky Mountains – a dual sport motorcycle that he could use to explore the jeep trails and singletrack on and around our mountain. I thought he was having a mid-life crisis and just needed a ride to get it out of his system.
I came home from Florida and he was ready to buy a bike and he even knew which one...
He found it on Craigslist from someone in Knoxville and suddenly we were motorcycle owners again. Our little boys are both gaga over their daddy's new bike.
Daniel has been wanting to take me with him but free time is hard to come by, and dates are even harder to make happen. This weekend I celebrated my 36th birthday and Daniel's mom and sister came to town to watch Jack play soccer. They were sweet to offer to hang out with our boys (win win for everyone) so that Daniel and I could go out.
We felt like we were in college again, getting on Daniel's bike to ride to grab lunch at one of our favorite local restaurants. After eating, we picked up our four-wheeler and headed out to the trails that lead to Edward's Point.
We had tried to mountain bike to this view about a year ago, but missed a turn and didn't make it before the sun set. Daniel has since been back on his own (on his new dual sport), but I hadn't had a chance to go. So we hit the trails. And it was a ton of fun!
We spent two hours exploring, stopping at Edward's Point for a break and to enjoy the beautiful view. We love our little mountain and the access we have to such great vistas of the Tennessee Valley and the Tennessee River below.
It has been years since I have driven an ATV and it felt good to discover that I still know how to handle myself on a trail. Maybe one of these days I'll give Daniel's bike a try!
Thank goodness for birthdays, lunch dates, and opportunities to spend time together doing activities we love! In other news, Daniel may or may not have laid his bike down after skidding on a thin layer of dust and leaves that covered slick clay...
On my actual birthday night (Friday), we went out with our boys to our favorite local Mexican place. Jack wanted to know if I was going to get whipped cream smeared on my face. I told him, "only if he told our waitress that it was my birthday." So he did. It's been a good weekend, a great way to welcome my 36th year on this planet.
Some people go to dinner and a movie, or visit the theater. When the opportunity allows, and the weather is nice, we get outside.
Yesterday one of Daniel's sisters was in town and we took advantage of free babysitting to hit up the muddy jeep trails in Prentice Cooper State Forest, just a few minutes from our house.
Daniel first introduced me to mountain biking back when we lived in Charlotte (about 10 years ago) and I was quickly hooked.
I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so once I got used to navigating roots and twisty trails, and how to properly work my gears, I was in love.I am in better shape than I was ten years ago, so now it's even more fun!
There is something about flying through the woods at breakneck speeds that gets your blood rushing.
It rained most of Thursday night so we knew that there would be mud, but we weren't quite prepared for the huge puddles we encountered. Our ride was a bit of a balancing act as we rode on the banks of puddles while attempting to stay upright.
It's been about two years since our last ride and I surprised myself by riding fast and without fear. This was one of the more technical rides that I have completed and riding over logs, down slippery boulders and climbing up steep embankments didn't phase me in the least.
About halfway through our ride I realized that I had been in low (heavy) gears for the majority of the time. I think the heavier gears helped me to feel more in control, like I wasn't just going to slip off the steep muddy slopes, but it also made the climbs hard.
I can tell that I have been doing weight lifting this last year because even with the heavier gears, I had no problem climbing the steep hills.
Not to say that I wasn't breathing hard!
My pictures make it look like we walked a lot, but those were just times that I was stopped long enough to take a photo.
I think we both took one spill (nothing serious) and we both had to walk our bikes across a couple of logs and up one or two really steep, muddy slopes. Other than that, we were on our bikes the whole time.
We started our 6 mile ride from Timberlinks Drive, with the hope to make it to Edwards Point before sunset. Somewhere along the way we missed a turn and ended up on Edwards Point Road.
Since it was getting late, we changed plans and biked back to our car on pavement. It is so fun to ride fast after you have been slogging it in the mud (though our knobby tires threw a ton of mud onto my face as we rode back).
It was such a fun return to mountain biking. We really love where we live and I hope we can hit the trails more often. Today we are both sore, but it was worth it!
Trail Stats: Trail: Prentice Cooper Jeep Trails, near Edwards Point Distance: 6 miles Time: 1.5 hours Elevation Gain: 360 feet
