Sunday in Charlottesville: Carter Mountain & Columbia Bicycles
The reward: cold Bock Rock hard cider on top of nearby Carter Mountain. The plan: conquer the Shenandoah trails on foot (trail running for me) and wheels (mountain biking on a new Columbia Bike for Dan).
It’s been unseasonably warm in Charlottesville lately (like, air conditioning might be needed-warm) so yesterday Dan and I took for into the woods for an hour of trail running and mountain biking. As part of a fun collab I’m doing with Columbia Bicycles, Dan got to test out their new Men’s Everest 27.5″ Dual Suspension Mountain Bike. Columbia Bicycles is in the process of relaunching their product line but unbeknownst to me prior to the collab, has actually been since 1877 and the first American bike manufacturer. Interestingly- the company actually invented the tandem bicycle, true thought-leadership in bicycle engineering. Have you ever ridden a tandem? My folks have one and while it can feel silly at first, it’s actually super fun. Next time you get the opportunity grab a buddy and cruise around for a bit because A. you can go a LOT faster than on a regular bike & B. you can get away with fake pedaling while your buddy does all the work. So I hear, at least. 😉
Instead of waiting around for me to get ready, Dan pedaled off into the Virginia forest:
Eventually he came back and I was able to snap a few pics of him as he whizzed by, overjoyed with his snazzy, new ride.
Available at Target (or as some say, Tar-jay), here’s a quick run down on the the specs of the bike:
- 21 speeds for aggressive trail riding
- steel suspension front shock
- light weight alloy frame
- alloy wheel rims
- aggressive off road Kenda tires 27.5″ x 1.95″
- front disc brake
- full Shimano components (shifters & derailers)
- authentic Columbia MTB saddle
Columbia also has a line of cute, hipster-styled beach cruisers, perfect for pedaling around town. These bikes are available at Toys R Us, Target, Amazon, Walmart and Dicks, so keep your eyes peeled for them!
While Dan is the bike enthusiast in the fam, I prefer hitting the trails on foot and LOVE a day spent on the trails. I actually find it easier to run on trails than road. You might remember that last year I ran a half marathon trail run in Heidelberg which I’d LOVE to do again.
After working up a good sweat, we toweled off, grabbed Stuart from the house, and headed up nearby Carter Mountain for a little cold hard cider reward! It seems like I can’t get enough of this place lately – wine, orchards, sunset yoga, and VIEWS. Oh my, the views of the Shenandoah are so spectacular. The best part? This place is 10 minutes from my front door.
A little charcuterie, cider and celebration for a Sunday well-spent!
What’d you do this weekend?