My Favorite Trail Run + Frozen Lake Pics

My favorite trail run is at Moses Cone Manor. Unfortunately, it is a 45 minute drive, so I don't get to go as often as I would like. I visited the local ski slopes in February to go snow tubing. As soon as my friends and I arrived, it began to snow heavily, so we visited a few local areas and went home. Here is Bass Lake below Moses Cone Manor:
If you look very carefully, you can see a white house in the top middle of the picture. I run from the lake in the picture all the way to the white house and back (5 miles). This is not a trail you want to run if there is even one cloud in the sky, because storms can pop up all of a sudden when you're miles from your car. It's happened to me and it's scary as hell.
Above Image: Bass Lake in Fall

Those mountain trails up to the manor frigging kick my ass! Along the way, the scenery is just breath taking, and you pass a lot of pastures and centuries old structures. Then when you finally make it to Cone Manor, you can use their restroom, which used to be the carriage house when the Cones lived there. You can also tour the manor. The bottom floor sells high quality local arts and crafts. My ex-boyfriend is a potter, and every time I go in there, I take a look at his pottery, which is sold in the gallery there. In the summer, the manor offers a night time grave yard walk to the Cone cemetery.Above Image: Flat Top (aka Cone) Manor

Moses Cone was in the textile business early last century and any land you can see in and around the lake and manor used to belong to him (3500 acres). His family donated it to the state some time ago. There is also another lake, called Trout Lake that belonged to him. I cannot imagine looking outside my house and knowing that I own everything I see.

A lot of the trails around the property allow horse riding, so you sometimes have to be careful where you step, if you know what I mean.

I also took some frozen lake pictures at Price Lake, which is close by. The last 2 pictures are the view 0f Bass Lake from Cone Manor. Notice the snow in some of them. Click to enlarge.

My new hobby

It seems I have a habit of collecting hobbies like a normal person collects stamps (and yes one of my hobbies used to be collecting stamps). Last year I picked up 3 new hobbies-belly dancing, running, and kayaking. I no longer belly dance, but I intend to start classes again within the next year. I still love to run and kayak and intend to run some races this year and get in lots of kayaking as well.

I have been trying to get in shape again since I have been in hibernation all winter. I have been doing lots of running, but you can only run every other day unless you have a penchant for pain, so I have had to pick up a cross training activity for the days I can't run. Today I decided on a whim to get out my dusty bike and go for a ride. Besides a few isolated excursions, I haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid.

Now North Carolina has it's downsides, namely copious amounts of rednecks, but one thing that can be said for NC is they believe in parks and recreation. I've been to some other states and noticed a huge lack of parks and recreation areas. I was reading an interesting article in Newsweek recently that stated that the state you live in to a large extent influences whether you are overweight. States that don't spend much money on parks and recreation have much higher rates of obesity, duh. I am really lucky to be within quick driving distance of many parks and recreation areas.

I am beyond thrilled because there has been a movement in North Carolina in the past few years to build “greenways.” In case you don't know what a greenway is, it is simply a paved network of paths where people can walk, run, bike, and skate. There are greenways in a lot of local towns, but my favorite is in a town that is a 15 minute drive from my house. It is absolutely unbelievable (to me anyway). There are around 10 miles of paved trails, with more being worked on as I write this. There are also 15 miles of unpaved trails. Before this greenway was built, I had to drive 45 minutes to find a trail in the woods to run. I think that running on a track or down the street is sooooo boring.

Anyway, back to my story. I got out my bike and went for a ride at the greenway. The paths are through the woods or around green grassy fields and flowing creeks. The smell of cut grass is everywhere, which I love. One of the things I like best is there are enough people there to where I'm not afraid of being mugged, but not so many I can't move. I went by myself and loved it so much that I rode 40 miles! I know that because I have a mini computer attached to my bike that shows speed and distance. It is pretty cool. There is a magnet on the wheel and this little gadget gauges stats by counting how many times the magnet comes in contact with the device.

When I go to the greenway again (probably today), I am going to bring my camera and take some pics and maybe post them here.

Here is a picture of me in my cycling gear. Looking at it now, with my soccer jersey and gang-like bandana (I'm not in a gang-it's just a cleverly disguised sweat rag, heh heh), I had a completely random thought. What gang would I start if I were to start a gang?

We would be called the White Chicks. This would be our gang sign:

Notice the W and backwards C, lol! We wouldn't be involved in selling drugs like other gangs. Our business would be selling counterfeit designer high fashion handbags. Now that is some hardcore shit there! And we wouldn't drive krunk mobiles with hydraulics either. We would roll up in our badass Cooper Minis, because that's how we roll.

But I digress...whoa do I ever digress. How the hell did I start out talking about a bike ride and end up talking about gangs? Ok, where was I? I have no idea. I think it's best I stop writing now...