Quiet Ride in the Country

It was the last Saturday in July and I could not believe my luck. The high was going to be around 85 with nothing but sunshine (a rarity as of late - we got over 10" of rain in July). I had not been out for a good long on/off road ride in quite a long time so I decided to take advantage of it. I got on my bike and headed over to Uwharrie National Forest.

I am quite familiar with this area and have a number of routes in my GPS. I opted for one of the longer rides.

This ride goes through a lot of farmland but also sweeping turns and hills along with many wooded drives. It really is a fun ride that is close to home.

I had forgotten how much I liked this ride. Also it was nice to really give my new tires a test. I just got new Dunlap Trailmax Mission tires installed a few weeks back and have not really given them a proper test. Well today I did. They performed very well. I can tell they are not as aggressive as my previous set of Mitas tires but they performed very well.

One thing I do like about this ride is there is a 3-4 miles stretch of road that twists and turns in the woods. I always look forward to that last section until today. Coming out of a turn, I was faced with a fallen tree.

I got off the bike to get a better look. With the large embankment, going around the tree was not an option. The right hand side there were too many limbs and the trunk of the tree was too close to the road. I gave the left side a look and it was doable. I just took it slow and was able to go under the trunk in between the two branches. This is when I hate having such a heavy / large bike. I am sure there are folks out there that could just whip this bike through the obstacle (sorry, that is no me).

Anyway, was able to get around the obstacle and complete the ride which interestingly enough, ends at the Bigfoor Bar and Grill. I stopped in for a quick bite and drink then headed back home to close out a great afternoon of riding.