What to do when dogs chases you on a bicycle.

I was out riding one day last week when I saw a person in front of me riding a bicycle. I hardly ever see anyone riding a bike anywhere close to my home. I overtook him going up a hilll as he was  going much slower than I was.  At the top of the hill I stop and waited on him to say hello and to chit chat. Boy was that a big mistake.

At first  the conversation started out rather nice but the conversation turn about dogs chasing cyclist. He said he was always being chase by dogs that nipped at his feet. I suggested that he carry some pepper spray as that has worked very well for me. None of the dogs that I use it on has ever chase me again but I don't use the peper spray except as a last resort.  Well he answer that by saying he has used peper spray but that it didn't do any good. The dogs just stop wipe there eyes with feet and take off chase him again with the intentions of biting him.

I then told him about the Lease Law in our county. Dogs must either be on a least or inside of a fence in area.  Well he said he has tried calling animal control and they supposely has said that there was nothing they can do dogs chasing him and it was waste of time to call animal control.  I told him that I have had several dogs to chase me and I reported  them to animal control and now the owners keep there  dogs either in there house or in a fence area  and are no longer a problem. 

That started to making our conversation more confrontational.  He said there was no such thing as a lease law in our county. I tried to tell him there was and that all he needed to do was look it up on the internet and see. That didn't make and difference to him as he was still adament that there was no lease law for dogs. I ask him politely to drop the subject as it did not make any difference to me whether he believe me or not. I was only trying to be helpful and didn't need or want to argue about it.

Well that was enough and I told him I only stopped to say hello to fellow bicycler rider and not to argue.  I was getting mad at myself for even stopping and trying to be nice.  

It was time to say "Have a nice day" and for me get on with my morning ride and I left quickly. He shouted out while I was leaving that there was still no lease law. I think he would have argue that all day long and if I had given him the chance.

Some days it don't pay to stop and talk with strangers who may be cooky.

 I didn’t have a specific route in mind so I just went on some roads to see where they went. Well I sort of had in mind to ride towards Health Springs the long way. After a while I came to the conclusion I was lost. So I switch my iphone to mapping to see where I was. To my dismay I was actually going in opposite direction that I thought I was going. So much for my sense of direction.

I finally recognized a dirt road that road last year and wrote a story about it in my blog. It was a shortcut back to home but it was not a road to be riding a road bike on. So I decided to turn around and go back the way I came.  Unfortunely turning around proved to be a little disastrous for me.  I got into some loose rocks and down I went. I remember thinking this was going to hurt. I laid down for a few minutes while I examined my body to see what damage I had done to it. Thank goodness that all I had is some skin rash on my elbow and knee, nothing bad. My big worry was did I damage my bike and the good news is that I didn’t.

Well I finish riding28.24miles and ascended 799 feet which is about half what I will have to do in the 


The link provided below will open up Google Earth and show you my bike ride I did today.

http://share.abvio.com/58c9/7cee/4ebd/f17d/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20120802-0903.kml

The Blue Ridge Breakaway or Bust

I have not done a organized bicycle ride since 2007 and only three since 2005. It was in December of 2005 that I had a accident that left me handicapped. Although I  kept on riding after I was able to get on a bike again I was so slow that I usually ended up one  the last people to finish the rides so in 2007 I stop trying to do long distance bicycle rides. For about the first three years after my injury I could not even get on the bicycle without help. Once on it I had to stay on it until I finish riding as I needed help getting off it.

Here it is 2012 and I am now schedule to do my first organized bike ride since 2007. I have gradually got a little better at riding and better at hill climbing on a bike. I will need to climb hills a lot better than I was even back before my injury. I hope I am able to do this ride finish closer to the front of the cyclist like I used to be able to do.  The hills is still my concern. If they are long and steep I may not do all that well but I will find out the hard way.

Old Red

My trusty Road Bicycle

In signing up for this ride I had to decide on which route that I would take. Having not done a lot of cycling in  the mountains I decided to be cautious and selected the shorter route but once I get there and see the roads I may elect to do a longer ride. The mileage does not bother me so much it just how long and steep the hill climbing will be. Now all I need to do is  to figure what bicycle I a going to use while doing the Bicycle tour in the mountains.

These is the two routes that I am considering and I have to chose which one to do.. Both are not long rides but as I said I am being cautious. If I do well in then maybe I can start doing longer distance bike ride. The description of the routes are below.

Panther - A gorgeous ride through Panther Creek, Fines Creek and over Hyder Mountain. Riders will enjoy miles of river views and farmlands. Intermediate 40 mile Ride.

Rabbit Don't let the name fool you; this is not a warm and fuzzy beginner level ride. An intermediate level ride with several challenging mountain climbs. The Rabbit rolls through the farm lands of Jonathan Creek and Crabtree. The ride is marked by two moderate hill climbs over Coleman and Hyder Mountain before finishing with a scenic tour around Lake Junaluska.

Added: August14th 2012
The time is getting close now. Temperatures is expected to be around 54/55 degrees at the start  time 7:30AM. Thunder storms are forecast but hope I that I will have completed my ride before it starts. Due to the fact The sponsors will not let me changed the route from the one I signed up for so  I will be doing the Rabbit Route.  I  ought to be excited about doing my first organized bicycle ride but I am  not.

OH YES the bicycle ride is being held on August the 18th and will start at Lake Junaluska North Carolina and finish there.

Boykin SC

Swift Creek Baptist Church in Boykins

Establish in 1787

When we were on our way to Charleston  last week we stopped by the small Town of Boykin SC which is only about 5 miles or so south of Camden SC.  This isn't all that far from Lancaster were I was born and now lived.  Why I never heard of this place before I don't know but it has one event that happen a long time ago that is very significant. He happens to be where the last battle of the civil war is though to have been. It took place 9 days after the surrender of general Lee army in virginia. Wether it was the last battle or not it was at least one of the last battles.

 Inside of Swift Creek Baptish chruch. The building is in very good shape for a church that is that old. We were able to see the inside of the church and I took a few pictures of it.

 Some fo the buldings in Boykin. Boykin has a old timey grits mill, A broom maker which sells old timey brooms, but be prepare to wait if youi want one. There is waiting list of a year or more to get one. Two restaurants I didn't get to eat there but the food did look so good I plan one returning there to eat. A few other business as well.

 A cover bridge, didn't know there was one in South Carolina.

This one of the restaurants in Boykins.,arbecue is there  specialty. It has only been open about a month but I got there to early to eat. However it is a unique place and I want to go back soon to eat there.

Boykins is out in the boondocks but it a wonderul place to vist. I plan on going again soon. I also plan on riding my bicycle on the road is it located on. It looks like it would be a great senic road to ride on.

 The Cape Hattera Lighthouse as it is seen today in its new location. It was moved some years ago to keep it away from the ocean. like what happen to the Morris Island Lighthouse in Charleston.

 This is a picture I took of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse back in the late 1960s. There has been some dramatic changes in the beach since that time.

 The Lighthouse at Ocracoke NC 

 I added the above picture to show what the Lighthouse in Geogetown SC looks like as compared to the Ocracoke Lighthouse, they are very similar.

 A beautiful snarled Cedar tree near the Light House at Ocracoke. NC

 The above picture is were the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was first built. The orginal Light that was in it was removed during the Civil War to prevent the Union from using them to navigate when they travel the coast. The South was not about to help the Union Sailors any.

Another view of the Ocracoke Light house as seen today.              

This is a picture I took of the Morris Island Lighthouse back in the late 80s or early 90s.  You can see that the ocean has washed away all of the land from around the Lighthouse and it appears to be just sitting out into the ocean which it was. The lighthouse had a slight tilt to it at the time.

A few years ago perservation effort made has now stablized the Lighthouse so it would not fall into the ocean. Last time I saw it some sandy shoals has buit up around the lighhouse and at low tide it was out of the water. 

 When this picture was taken there was about 10 to 15 feet of water around it at low tide. My sailboat drew about 7 feet of water and I anchor my boat near the lighthouse and row my little dingy over to it. I then climb the stairs all the way to the top. I don't think it legal to do that anymore and is probably lock so no one can. 

I hope that when further perservation efforts are made eventually it may be open up so that it would be again possible to climb to the top. The view is magnifcent.

 The Charlotte Transporter and bicycle show was held May 19th at the Hodges farm just off the bypass 495 that goes around Charlotte.  The was there 1st bicycle show I believe  and has a lot of room for improvements. But being the first it was not bad. 


I took my 1971 Schwinn Collegiate which all original to enter it in the bicycle show contest.  There was not a specific category for my bike so I just enter it in hopes of winning the peoples choice for the best bicycle. I knew I had the best but wonder if anyone else did. It didn't seem like to many people were that interested in my bike, one of about 40 or more in the contest.  I was so discourage that I almost left early. Well I stuck around but being so sure I was not going to win I pack up my bike before the the announcement of who won took place. 


When the winners were announced I was sort of on pins and needles as I knew I had the best bike of the show but still though my bike was  not going to win. The annoucement for each category was made for  the Oldest bike, the best muscle bike, the best BMX, The Tetanus award for the most rusty bike, not sure what else and then the best of the show.


My bike WON, Hurray. Surprise Surprise 

The above bicycle surely was the most talked about and I half expected it to win because of the attention it was receiving. I surely was the most unusual bike ever made, sort of scary.

The After the Bridge Run Cycling ride in Charleston SC.

This weekend was my biggest day in Cycling since my injury in 2005.I went to Charleston South Carolina to partcipade in the After the Bridge Run. I had orginally plan on doing a century ride but though better of it since I have not ridden the long of a ride since 2005. I settle for doing the Metric Century instead as I felt like I could do that even though I have ridden this far since 2006 when I came in almost dead last in three different long bike rides. That ended my doing long bicycle rides and slow down dramatically have much cycling I did after that.

This year led to dramactic improvements in my cycling ability and so this led to my trying to do the Metric Century ride in Charleston. I am happy tosay my average speed was pretty close to what I probably would have done before my injury. Can't say enough how good this made me feel. Hope to do some more organize cycling this year since I now have a better chance of keeping up with other cyclist. I know I can't expect to ever be as good as I was before I shatter my leg in 2005 but I am doing much better now than I had dare hope I would be.

The two picture here were took while cycling on James Island and Folly Beach before the big ride this past weekend. I did not take any pictures during the ride because I was pedaling like heck just keeping up.

My new 1971 vintage Schwinn Bicycle

 Collecting old vintage bicycle can be fun especially when you find them that look practically brand new. These three photos are of a 1971 Schwinn Collegiate bicycle. They are classified as lightweight but are for from being lightweight escpecially compared to modern lightweight bicycles.

I just finish putting this bike together  and spit polishing it.  It is a prize for sure and I plan on entering it into some bicycle shows in the future for best unrestored bicycles along with my 1961 Indian bicycles that are equally like new. My orginally intend was to use this bike as a rider but since it completely all orginal down to the tires I want to keep it looking like new so it will be a show bike instead. I may ride occassional maybe in a vintage bike ride.

Latest vintage Bicycles I have added to my collection.

 I have acquired three more vintage bikes to my collections,two of which are shown here. The above bike may not qualify as a vintage bike as I not sure how old it is but guess it only about 7 years old. It a Dahon Foldup bicycle. I had to do some work to get it into a good rider and it now just like new. I got this bike to take it with me camping as it folds up and I can put it in my car trunk easyly. 
My first time riding it I felt like I was riding a toy bike but since I now gotten used to it I think it a really fun bike to ride and probably could ride it on long distance rides. So far I only ridden it for distance of 10 miles and that was no problem.

 Taking break while riding my Dahon out in the country

The above Bike is one that I bought back in the early 1970s and sold after a couple of years. I recentlly contacted the person that I sold it to and bought it back. Actually I had two bikes that I sold one for me and one for Leila. I bought both of them back but only have one of them posted there. I need to do more work on the girrls bike before I take any picature of it.

The bikes are made by Hulfy and are not particularly valueable, I only got them because I used to own them. The cost to restore them I expect to cost more than what they will be worth.  I hope to find some Huffy's for sale that I can use for parts especially the chrome parts.

I hope to get a couple of more vintage bikes to add to my collections and I am looking for them now.

I am planning or thinking about doing a bike ride called the Blue Ridge Breakaway this year around August in the mountains. It only a one day ride but it probably will be the most strenuous one day ride I have ever done, that is if I do it. It is to start near Maggie Valley and go into some very hilly mountain terrain. In past years I pretty much avoided doing bike tours that involved a lot of hill climbing as I never been good at this. Certainly since I injured my leg I really my hill climbing was really bad. However since moving back to Lancaster I had to ride on very hilly roads whether I like it or not, that is if I wanted to ride my bike at all. This has made me stronger at hill climbing than I have ever been so much that I now considering doing the unthinkable. It is a metric century ride however I do have the option of doing a shorter ride but the climbs will be steep no matter what.



I can’t believe that I am even considering doing this. But since a few months ago I found out I could stand on the pedals to put more power in my pedaling I am better at hill climbing now. Since my accident back in 2005 I have never been able to stand on the pedals until a few months ago. I never thought I would be able to do that again as the pain was too intense. Still is but I am over coming it.


I am also considering doing a couple more bike tours as well. One in Charleston that not far away and who knows maybe I will try and do the Katy Trail ride again. If I do that it will be my first bike tour that is longer than two days since I injured my leg more than 6 years ago.


This time of the year is always dream time. I don’t always do the bike tours I like to do but dreaming about them helps me sort out the tours that can be realty from the ones that will just remain dreams.


I have signed up todo the Blue Ridge Breakaway bike ride. I just hope I am up to doing it.

New kind of hobby like I really needed another one.

The top photo is of my 1947? Shelby Airflo bicycle. When I received it I was a bit disppointed as it look terrible. However with a little spit and polish it now looks great and does not need much done to it. Only the headlight was in bad shape but I am now working on restoring it.

So far I have obtain four antique bicycles. I love bicycling and collecting classic bicycles goes well with my love of bikes. I am hoping to at least add a couple of more bikes to my collection. However when I do find vintage bikes that are in good shape and the price is right I may just add them to my collection as well.

If you know of any please let me know where and how to contact the owners of such bikes. I am currently hunting for old ballon bicycles made in the 1940s and 1950s

The pictures of the above  two bikes are indian made bicycles. One is a Indian scout and the other is a princess Indian bike made in 1961. I am happy to be able to add them to my collections. Indian are rare bikes made by the company that also made Indian Motorcycles. In fact The Indian Motorcycle company made bicycles before they started making motorcycles.
To get a pair of Indian bicycles one a boys bike and the other a girls bike is indeed rare especially in the excellent conditions these are. The boys bike as a dyno hub in the front wheel to make electricity to run lights with. I hoping to adapt it to charge my iphone.



Wow this is indeed a rare find that I have. It is a Spalding chainless driveshaft driven bicycle made in either 1895 or 1896 which is the only two years that they were made. It is in great shape except the wheels are not correct. Some one also painted it and did a terrible job.



I am now workng at getting it restored. The original had wood wheels and I trying to get some to get the wheels like it originally had. Then I will have to strip the paint off and have it repainted the way it look back in the day. When completed I will have a true gem that should bring a good price. I only seem one other bike like this one and that was in a museum in Michingan. I will more news about my bike and restoration of old bikes as time goes by.

A dirt road to far

This morning I went on my what mostly has become a almost dailey bike ride. The picture showing a old dirt road was taken on todays bike ride.

Now the story. Last week I was scouting a route that I thought would be a safe route from home to liberty hill SC, a distance of around 15 miles. Part of the route went over this dirt road. I had a feeling that this road was going to be dirt that is the main reason why I scouted it first before attempting to ride it. Good thing I did. The road is very steep even though it does not look like in the photo. It has a lot of lose gravel which would make roads tires not do well on the steep climbs. I marked this road as very unsuitable for biking unless it was on a mountain bike which I seldom ride now.

You think that after I scouted this road I would be sure and not put it on any of my cycling routes. Wrong I inadvertly added it to my todays route, a big mistake. This road name Rocky Creek Road is 2.1 miles long and it was uphill almost all the way, I mean really uphill. When I got to the start of this road I realized my mistake but it was to late. It was the way home unless I travel unfamiliar roads which I did not want to do. Doing so I would have extended my bike ride by several miles the distance to home. I was tired to do this and so I started up this road. My worst fears had materialized. Some of the climbs was so steep that my rear tire was slipping out from under me. It was so bad that I feared that I would crashed and get hurt. So I resorted to something that I have never done before. I got off the bike and pushed it up the hills rather than take a chance on falling and hurting my already bad leg. It was humilating to say the least but sometimes you have to what have to do.

By the time I got to the end of this dirt road I was totally exhausted and my neck started to huring real bad like a it did a couple days ago. I now was only three miles from home but I could no longer hold my head up to see where I was going. I did the only thing I could do and called my wife on the cell phone to come and get me. Thank goodness for cell phones.

Biking again and it about time.

A self Portriat

It been a while since I last posted to my blog so I am catching up now. I started back riding my bike on a more regular basis and I been at it for about three weeks now. I put a lot weight so getting it back off is a additional incentive to keep biking. I have a new iphone with bike navigation and workout which I really like. My wife can follow me on the computer where ever I go. She knows where I am riding all the time now. Others can view me as well that are on my approved list to view.

Last week Idid have a big scared while riding my bike. A truck sideswipe me but luckly it was not hard enough to knock me off my bike. I was hit in the side and my mirrow on the bike got hit but did not brreak it. For reason I do not know it made a huge noise when it happen. My side was hurting but after a while the pain went away. The driver did stop to see if I was OK and to help me if I needed it. I was mad a heck about him hitting me but he was very apolgetic so much so I couild stay mad. I was going to call the police but decided against it since I did not see any damages to my bike and only some pain in my side which went away.

Although I am still riding my bike I am now more leary about vehicles approaching me from the rear. Yesterday riding i even got off the road completely because I felt vehicles was getting to close to me at times.

This is a new country road that I have never ridden on before. Hardly any houses on it and is beautiful ride but just not long enough.

A country home at the end of the above road.

Yesterday I rode down to Hanging Rock Battleground. This a battle fought during the revolutionary war. Years ago there used to be a fairly good road by where my bike is parked. The road has since been block and has eroded badly and over grown now. Couldn't even ride my bike on it so I push it to get where this picture was taken.

Another view of the road. It looks fairly good in this picture but believe me it is not serviceable anymore.

A marker has been placed there since the last time I was there back in the eary 1980s. It tells a little about the Battle of Hanging Rock.

I am gradually getting back in shape to ride long distances again. I probably will never be as good as I used to be before my leg injury but I still enyoy riding a bike. Doing a week long bike tour is questionable so I am not looking to try to any of them except maybe for the Katy trail next year.. I hope to do some day tours next year.

Well that all for now folks.

The tall Ship Gloria and one very nice cadet

The Gloria

A tall tale but so very true

The Gloria is a tall ship from Columbia South America. In February 1992 she came to the port of Charleston SC for a good will visit. While in port the public was invited for a guided tour of the ship. The guides were all naval cadets from Columbia. I arrived there too late for the tours. However the ship's Captain did permit me to tour the ship and assigned one of the naval cadets to guide me. His name was Cisar Montengro and he could not speak a word of English and I of course could not speak any Spanish. However that came to be only a minor handicap as he was very good at being a tour guide. TThe Gloria dockside

After the tour was over I asked Cisar commanding officer who spoke English if I could take Cisar out sailing out in the harbor of Charleston the next day. Of course the had to translate all this in English for Cisar to understand. Permission was granted and Cisar was eager to go sailing with me on my sailboat the "Rambler".

The next day I arrived early in the morning for a day sail in the harbor with Cisar. A cold front had moved in and the winds where really howling at about 25 knots of sustain winds with higher gusts. A good day for racing but not a good day for a pleasure cruise. Worse was how was I going to tell him what needed to be done and when. Winds this high is no time to explain how to handle the sails especially when we needed to tack which is often in the harbor. I did not need to worry about that as Cisar just started to doing what needed to be done without me telling anything. He turnout to be a very good sailor and even though he had never seen my sailboat he knew how to do things as well as I did. I thought he would like sailing past his ship so we set sail to do just that. As we went by the Gloria all the grew recognized Cisar and started to hollering at him. He was easy to recongnized as he was dress to kill in his navy blues.

Looking down on the deck of the "Gloria"

That is me in the bar room aboard the Gloria. I never have seen a boat that was so well appointed as this was. No I didn't have a drink. I think this was only for the officers





(This is the Rambler named after my high school annual. Cadet Cisar and I went sailing on it out in the harbor when the Gloria was in Charleston 1992)





We did have one exciting time while returning to Ashley Marina where I kept my sailboat at. The knew Ashley River bridge was under construction and there was no way I could go under it where the channel was. Too much stuff dangling of the side of the bridge for me to clear it. The bridge height from the water to the bottom of the bridge is 55 feet at high tide and guess what my masked was 55 feet high and it was high time made even higher by the high winds blowing the water up the Ashley river. I had to get Cisar back to his ship before 5:30 PM or he would be in trouble with his commander.

I had no choice I had to get under that bridge even though it was too low for me to clear it with the mask. I sure did not feel like losing it either. Since the wind was very strong I adjusted the sails to capture the wind enough to heal the Rambler over to about 25 degrees thus lowering the over all height low enough to clear the bridge, I had to inch my way and watch to be sure I did clear it. Only my radio antenna hit the bridge but no harm was done. The only real worry I had was if the bridge piling block the wind enough for my boat to pop back up straight and then hitting the bridge. But I am a good sailor and was pretty sure I was going to make it.

CADET
Cisar Montengro

My tour guide

Cisar is in full navy dress ready to go out sailing in the harbor. Not the kind of clothes one would wear to go out sailing in rough weather. I guess that still had to wear their dress uniform to look good for the public.

I often have wonder what has happen to him over the years. Could he now be a admiral in the Columbian Navy?

The figure head on the tall ship Gloria

I think all tall ships had to have a figure head for luck or something like that. I always wanted one for my sailboat but then again it would have look sort of stupid on it.

Did a little woodturnng

I finally found time to do a little woodturning, Some years ago I bought a hour glass with the intentions of turning the wood for making hour glass clock. For one reason or another I never got around to making it until about a month ago. It looked simple to make but it there was more to making it than meets the eye.

I did make a mistake that I can not explain why I did it except to say I just got unusually careless. The spacing for the spindles is not right and I failed to notice it before I drill the holes and even then I did not notice it. It sure was obvioius and I don't see how I could have overlooked it. It not noticable in the picture of it but I will correct it by making the tops over again, dumb me.

Hope to find more time to do at least a little more woodturning after all that is why I bought a new midi lathe.