Bikes and Boulders

Occurred February 11th and 12th, 2007

It has been a few weeks since I last ventured out onto moving waters. Bitter cold temps have settled into the region and I have used the weather as an excuse to get involved in other activities. Last weekend was rather uneventful in ways of adventure. Shannon and I got into some indoor climbing and a hike on the Billy Goat Trail in Great Falls National Park. I was glad to hike finally hike the entire trail, and impressed with the ruggedness of the terrain. It ended with beers and the Superbowl.

This weekend turned out a bit different. Shannon trekked to New Jersey to visit family and friends and I headed south to Charlottesville. My only plan was to meet up with my buddy Shad. It turned out this was not much of a plan. I was suppossed to meet him at the Virginia/Duke wrestling match, but could not find him. In frustration, I set out to mountain bike Observatory Hill. After all, it was right there.

I headed up to the trail and geared up. It was about 35 degrees, but felt like the tropics after a week of weather in the teens and twenties. Fortuitously, I ended up meeting a guy named Ethan Harris, a Charlottesville native, mountain biker and kayaker. He graduated the same year and attended the rival high school across town. It was a good, old fashioned, sloppy mud fest. At one point we were haulin' ass downhill and I leaned into a turn a bit too aggressively for the trail conditions and nearly bit it. I quickly unclipped and smacked my toe in the dirt in a fast attempt to keep myself upright. It felt good to be back in home grown territory.

It was a good ride and I am looking forward to boating with Ethan. I headed over to Shad's place to hang out. We quickly had all kinds of ambitious plans to paint the town. Two hours later, and bellies full of beans, beers, and burgers, we just as quickly decided to dismantle those plans, watch 'Into the Tsangpo Gorge' and 'A Bronx Tale', and proceeded to pass out around eleven o'clock.

Sunday morning I awoke to familiar scenes. Just like old times, we drank coffee while we dreamed up our next adventure. The conversation continually turned to talk of the upcoming Endorphin Fix adventure race in April. I wanted to spend some time with my folks, so we went to meet them and grab some breakfast and Bodos the local bagel bakery.

Just as I walked in the door, they were walking out, and I was unable to catch them while saying hello to a few good friends. After breakfast, we decided to drive out to Sugar Hollow and check out the ice on the reservoir. One icicle hanging from a cliff measured about twenty or thirty feet.

On the way back we hit up the local boulder spot, one of the best in Virginia. I recently took up climbing and had never been to the local rock, but was enthusiastically suprised when I saw it sitting beside the tranquil ice covered river, crackling in the warm sun, and covered in chalk. My first time bouldering outside was fantastic. I climbed a few sweet routes. We lacked a crash pad, so I was unable to get too aggressive in fear of falling and getting some serious foot shock, but it was still great.

All in all, it was a relaxing weekend. I look forward to getting out on the water when the weather breaks or the rains arrive. There are rumblings of a Moose River trip in the spring in New York and I recently purchased tickets for me and my dad to Costa Rica where we will spend some time on the rapids of the Pacuare River. Until next time...