Turrible Weekend....Just Turrible

The title is my best Charles Barkley impression.  It's pretty awesome in my head, and hopefully in yours, too.  Anyway, the weekend was actually the total opposite of turrible.  It was pretty perfect to be honest.  After soliciting for ideas on Facebook, I decided that Saturday was going to be a riding day, and that it would be a ride from my house, into and around Pisgah, and then back to my house.  I got ready, hopped on the Lazer Cat, and started pedaling into town on a sunny, 65 degree day.  I hit the bike path, took the new Estatoe Trail into the Forest, and then 477 to the horse stables.  I stopped there to stretch and looked at my Garmin, and to my surprise, it was just over 9 miles to that point.  Not a bad warmup. 

After doing my calisthenics, I removed my sweat bands and leotard, and started the long grunt up Clawhammer.  This was actually the first time I rode Clawhammer past the Maxwell Cove turnoff, and I was delightfully surprised to see that the rest of the climb is not quite so steep.  On my way up, I ran into three downhillers and finished the climb with them.  It was a nice change of pace to have some folks to pace with for a bit, making the climb less of an internal mental struggle.  At the top, they told me they were going to take Black, to Buckwheat Knob, and then come down Bennett.  I didn't really have a plan, but I had just ridden Bennett a few days prior, so I decided to follow them on Black to Club Gap, and then part ways with them and head down Avery Creek instead.  We pushed and pedaled our way up Black, and they bombed the downhill sections while I followed, doing my best impression of bombing, which wasn't nearly as good as my Charles Barkley impression.  They were a great group to ride with, having that mountain biker mentality that was one of the reasons I got into the sport in the first place.

This was my first time on Avery, and it was fun.  Pretty much all downhill, and all rideable.  I only wiped out once in a washout that was filled with at least a foot of leaves.  It was a soft landing, and there was no damage to me or the Lazer Cat.  After getting all of the leaves out of my shorts, I continued down off the mountain and back to the bike path.  The ride back home was pretty turrible for real, though.  A strong headwind and tired legs made every pedal stroke a struggle, but I eventually made it back to my front door to complete a great day on the bike. 

I only got one pic on the ride, and it's at the bottom of Avery Creek:


Heather needed some forest time, too, so on Sunday we crossed the border for some hiking at Caesar's Head State Park. We hiked a loop that we thought would be less crowded than the popular Raven Cliff Falls trail, and thankfully, we were right. It was a nice loop with a 10-foot waterfall, and plenty of elevation change and creek crossings. We took Kenda, and she did awesome. She was a little scared of the creek crossings at first, but by the end, she was boulder hopping across rushing water with us.











The Aftermath: