MTB Brevard

Terrible Week, Good Weekend

2012-03-11T21:36:00.000-04:00

Had a pretty rough week with a friend and colleague passing away unexpectedly. I was also fighting a cold, and the stress of the situation made that a losing battle. I needed some forest time in a bad way, and luckily I was feeling well enough to ride by the weekend.

Saturday was a gorgeous day, and I was able to spend about 3.5 hours of ride time in Dupont. I started on Reasonover, and did Turkey Gap and the Poplar Loop as a lollipop out and back, then made my way over to the Corn Mill Shoals area via Airstrip, Shelter Rock, Conservation Road, Buck Forest, Pine Tree, Sheep Mtn, and Cascade. Rode Rock Quarry, Micajah, Wilkie, Burnt Mtn., Cedar/Big Rock, and then started back the way I came back to Buck Forest, Conservation, Pitch Pine, 3 Lakes, Conservation, Bridal Veil, Corn Mill, Shoals, Laurel Ridge, Mine Mtn, Car. I was happy to be able to last that long considering the week I had. It was a great ride.

Some Scenery Pics:

Today was a lazy Sunday with a short ride to work the funk out of my legs. I started late and just beat the sun. Not a very exciting loop, but really enjoyable. Hatchery, 475B, 225, Connector, Cove Creek, Davidson River, Hatchery. It was a perfect evening for a ride.

Hopefully this will be a better week.

Alert

2012-03-02T14:44:00.001-05:00

FOREST SERVICE ALERT

March 2, 2012

Forest Service Seeks Suspects for Questioning

PISGAH FOREST, N.C. - U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officials are encouraging people to stay away from the Bradley Creek and Turkey Pen areas of the Pisgah Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest. People should avoid Turkey Pen Road near NC Hwy 280.

The Forest Service is seeking two men for questioning involving alleged threats made to another group of forest visitors. The alleged incident occurred last evening in the Bradley Creek/Turkey Pen areas. The two men may be armed. No injuries were reported.

The Forest Service is seeking two white males. One is said to be in his late 20s to early 30s and wearing dark clothing. The other male is said to be in his late 40s to early 50s and wearing a red and gray plaid shirt. The men may be on horseback and have large bags.

The two individuals should not be approached. Anyone with information should call the Pisgah Ranger Station at 828-877-3265.

The case is still under investigation.

Hopefully I'll see these two idiots in court soon.

Rough Weekend

2012-02-26T18:54:00.000-05:00

Honestly, I don't know how we do it sometimes. Life here can be rough. Yesterday, Heather and I took Kenda and ourselves for a short hike up in the Graveyard Fields area. We had been meaning to check it out for a while, but it's always so crowded. Well, yesterday was a beautiful day, but pretty cold and windy, so there were only a few cars in the lot when we got there. We headed down to Lower Falls first, and played around.

I'm in this photo somewhere.

Kenda enjoyed the view.

We then started making our way up to the aptly named, Upper Falls. Kenda hiked with dad...

...but took breaks with mom.

It was a little sloppy on the trails, but was a nice hike that we all needed.

Today, I wanted to see how the new bike was for longer rides, so I went for a 30'ish mile jaunt in Pisgah. Starting at the Ranger Station, I headed up 477, up Clawhammer, down Buckhorn Gap, left on S. Mills...

...up the FS road, right on Funneltop Mtn. Road...

...right on Horse Cove to Squirrel Gap...

...right on Squirrel Gap to Wolf Ford...

...up S. Mills, up Buckhorn, down Clawhammer, 477, 276, and back to the Ranger Station. It was an awesome ride, and the bike felt great. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good, too.

First Ride

2012-02-12T19:03:00.001-05:00

I finally finished building up my new ride. Well almost. It's going to share wheels with the Lazer Cat until I can afford some new ones, but other than that, it is independently finished. It's a used 2011 Rocky Mountain Altitude 29 SE frame, with a few nicks here and there, but everything else is new. I built it up with an X9 2x10 (26-39) drivetrain. It also has a RockShox Revelation 29 fork with 140mm of travel. It is obviously quite a bit different than the Lazer Cat, and that was the idea.

I decided that the Big M would be a good shake-down ride for it. I expected it to be pretty sluggish on the climbs, and I noticed a slight sluggishness as compared to the Lazer Cat, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and I left the suspension fully active the entire time. I made it up Clawhammer and Maxwell in no time.

At the top of the short hike-a-bike up Black, I figured I'd take it easy since I wasn't used to the bike yet, and still walk the couple of spots I've always walked, but then I started actually riding this bike downhill. I felt instantly comfortable and confident, and flew down all of Black to Thrift with no problems, no stopping, and no dabbing for the first time ever. Woot!

At the bottom of Thrift I decided to hit lower Sycamore instead of my usual upper route. Despite being much shorter than the upper side, lower Sycamore is a bit more challenging with a couple of crazy root sections.

Starens Branch looked cold.

After crossing the creek, I hit the aforementioned root sections and made it through without issue. Normally, I'll at least dab here and there, or my back tire will slide completely out on the greasy roots.

For a first ride, I was really impressed with this bike. There will still be a little tweaking, but it felt good from the get go.

[Not a] Lull

2012-02-05T21:08:00.000-05:00

Haven't posted in a bit, but I have been pretty busy. There is a lot going on around here. First of all, I am in the process of building up a full suspension 29er. All of the parts should be here in the next couple of days, and hopefully, I'll be riding it next weekend. Really looking forward to having more suspension for a change of pace.

Secondly, there is a lot of good mountain biking news happening around Brevard. If you haven't read Bike Magazine's "The Bible of Bike Tests," you really should. They tested all of the 2012 bikes around Brevard (Pisgah and Dupont), and there is a nice article about the town. It should bring some national attention to the area's riding scene, and hopefully boost our economy some.

And speaking of boosting our economy, Sierra Nevada has decided to open a brewery in Mills River. Why Mills River you ask? The water is great, the recreational opportunities are great, and the fact that Henderson County is pretty much giving them everything they need is also great. Plans are for brewery tours, a gift shop, a restaurant, and possibly a music venue. Next time I sit my sweaty, dirty butt in the river below, It'll be fun to think about how that water could become my beer later on. I'll certainly be more careful about where I pee now.

Finally, one day of our weekends for the past three weeks has been dedicated to clearing trail corridor for the Bracken Mountain Trail. This is the trail that is going to start right behind our house, and connect to 475C in Pisgah. It won't just be a connecter, though, it'll have about a 4.5 mile lollipop loop in there, too. We've made amazing progress, with a ton of response from volunteers. There have been at least 20 people there every week, and the grand opening is expected early this summer.

Here is the progress after last weekend, and we cleared about another mile today.

I've really never been so excited about anywhere I've lived before.

For Sale

2012-01-21T18:41:00.002-05:00

I'm saving $$ to buy some squish, so I'm willing to part with my beloved Karate Monkey. It's six or so years old, but in great shape, and in the hard-to-find poo poo brown. Size Medium. $450+shipping takes it. SOLD!!!

I also found this Pike 426 U-Turn coil fork in my basement. It probably needs a servicing, but is a solid fork. It has a coil for heavier weight in it, but I also have a lighter one I can include. Make an offer.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Tripp

2012-01-16T16:20:00.001-05:00

Today is my co-worker Tripp's birthday, and we had the day off (that was probably because of MLK, though), so I celebrated by heading into the Forest. It was a cloudy day, with a high that was predicted to hit 50, but I don't think that ever happened. I started at the ranger station on 276, then right on 477, and up Clawhammer.

By the time I hit Buckhorn Gap, my feet were frozen solid. I dug in my pack for a Stinger Waffle, and ran across a pack of toe warmers...YAHTZEE! Within a few minutes I had blood flowing again, so I hung a right on Black Mtn. Trail.

This was only my second time riding this section of Black, and it was much better than the first. That was an early ride after moving here, and I'm much more used to the hike-a-biking now. I finally got to test out the robot shoes, and they were great for pushing my bike up a mountain. It wasn't long before I reached the overlook.

It was cold and windy on top of the world, so I moved on, looking forward to some descending. The trail was sloppy in places between Turkey Pen and Pressley Gap, due to the freeze/thaw cycle, but not too bad. Please avoid the sloppy areas if you can when riding up there. Unlike me today, you should try to ride when it's still frozen up there. After more fun descending, I took Thrift Cove instead of continuing on Black in order to avoid more slop. What a great ride.

Lazer Cat Transportation

2012-01-08T19:01:00.003-05:00

I finally got to ride today for the first time since before Christmas. Went home to Cincy for the holiday, and one or all of my nephews got Heather and I sick. Today, I finally felt good enough to go for a ride. It was 50ish and cloudy when I got to the Lake Imaging lot at Dupont; perfect riding weather. I spent several hours yesterday putting a hitch on my new car. I think it looks pretty good. Ok, so you can't see the hitch here, but the new ride is sweet.

I felt bad letting the Grand Cherokee go, but it was time. It just wasn't reliable anymore, and the mileage sucked.

I felt pretty good on the ride, and my lungs appeared surprisingly clear and healthy. I made it up to the slickrock section atop Joanna Mtn Rd. without issue.

From there, I did the usual Briery and Back route, but it rained the entire rest of the ride, so the camera stayed in the pack. I noticed some crazy water bar work on Grassy Creek Trail. Hopefully it'll settle in pretty soon, because right now it's bad. I'll leave it at that. You can go see for yourself. After a great run down Ridgeline, I was back at the car, and a worker from the park drove up taking a parking lot survey. Apparently there have been some break-ins lately of the smash and grab variety, especially around dusk, so keep your valuables out of sight.

I was wet and chilled, but the new heated seats on the way home, and some cocoa with schnapps made me feel much better. On another note, Mike and I are signed up for PMBAR again. Our team name is "Weregoingtofinishthisyear," and we are. You'll see.

The Humans are Dead...

2011-12-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

...I poked one...it was dead.

Last Saturday I helped a buddy move in Greenville, SC, so I didn't get to ride until Sunday. I did, however, stop at SunRift in Traveler's Rest to spend some cash that was burning a hole in my pocket. I needed some new bike shoes, and was debating between Lakes (which I've had before and liked), and Pearls. They had both, so I asked which ones they thought would be better for walking my bike around Pisgah, and ended up getting an AMAZING deal to take a pair of silver Lakes off their hands.

I tested my robot shoes out on Sunday by riding a very short but fun route that required zero hike-a-biking. I rode Grassy>Thrift>Black>Grassy>Upper Sycamore>276.

That's all I got for ya. Have a Merry Christmas.

Elusive Cedar Rock

2011-12-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

This post is a little late, so I won't be too wordy with it. I was able to get into the Forest both days last weekend. On Saturday, I rode from the Ranger Station, and did 276>477>Clawhammer>Black>Buckwheat>Bennett>477>276. It was a really nice ride, and I felt like I had the Forest to myself.

On Sunday, Heather and I decided to see if we could figure out how to get up to Cedar Rock from Butter Gap. We started out on what I'm pretty sure is the correct trail, and took it to the left when it got steep. This is where we ended up:

There was no really obvious way up the rock face, and it was kinda wet, and I really didn't feel like killing myself, so we went back down a bit, and took a less obvious right route when it got steep. This time, we ended up here:

Again, no obvious way up, so we hung out and had a snack, before descending back down to the gap. We then decided to take another unmarked trail from there, and ended up at the base of Cedar Rock, where there are some climbing routes. This was a fun place to just play around.

So we never did make it to the top of Cedar Rock. From what I've read, you basically have to scramble up the rock face to get there from this side, and there are supposedly some "steps" carved into the rock, but I didn't see them. I think we'll just start at the hatchery next time and come up the other side.

Cove Creek Kind of Weekend

2011-12-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

It was a great weekend to get out and play in the woods. On Saturday, I went out for a short loop in Pisgah. I headed up Cove Creek to 225, and then down to Daniel where I went left, and took the less technical, and supposedly more flowy way. It was a fun ride, albeit kinda short, but I had some beers to drink afterwards. I got my first ever tire puncture since switching to tubeless with Stan's, and I was impressed with how well it worked. It took a few minutes to seal it, and I had to put some air in, but it held really well the rest of the ride and is still holding strong.

Once I finished Daniel, I hung a left to see how well Tom Spring Falls was flowing, and then continued past to see if I could find the connector trail back over to Cove Creek Campground.

I actually found two trails where I figured the one would be. I took the one that made the most sense to me, and in a couple of minutes, I was where I figured I would be. Anyone know where the other one goes? One of my favorite things about Pisgah is how at ease I feel, and have always felt, in just exploring. I have a good general sense of direction in the woods, and over all the years I've been visiting Pisgah, I've never felt lost, even when I didn't know exactly where I was.

After I popped out into the group camp area where Single Dare was held, I went up the road a bit to see the rest of the camping area. At the back corner of the first camping "field," I found a spot I'll be re-visiting next summer.

Today, we wanted to hike somewhere nice to get one more photo for our Christmas card, but we didn't have a lot of time. I thought Cove Creek Falls would be good, so back to 475 we went. I've ridden past the trail that leads to the falls many times, but had never actually gone down to them. It was a really pleasant surprise when we saw them, as they were much bigger than I expected.

We stopped about half-way down, and walked out on a ledge to get a few photos.

We played around for a while longer, and I took some more photos of the creek and its surroundings, before we headed back to the campground via Caney Bottom Trail.

Affirmation

2011-11-21T20:25:00.000-05:00

So I haven't really done much that was post-worthy since Single Dare. A little bit of hiking and a little bit of riding, but the camera hasn't come out at all. I started a new job about a month ago, and although it's great to be working full-time hours, it sucks to be working full-time hours. I haven't been nearly as motivated to do much in the woods, let alone post on here. Hopefully that'll change soon, though, as I get in more of a routine. The job is great, btw, thanks for asking.

This past weekend, I received a couple of reminders of how great it is to live in Brevard. On Saturday, Heather and I were tooling around town, and a yellow pickup truck drove by with a dummy dressed up as a hunter strapped to the hood. The driver and passenger were both dressed up as deer, and as they drove by they yelled "We got one!" That was hilarious to me, and it's the quirky little things like that that make me love Brevard more and more.

On Sunday, I was reminded (like I needed it) of just how great the riding is around Brevard, because I made my first ever trip up to Bent Creek. I see no need to ever go back there. Every parking lot was full, and the trails were pretty boring. I rode the higher trails including Wolf something, Ingles something, and the famous Greens Lick, and then back the way I came. I guess I'm just spoiled living here or something. A few years ago, I probably would have loved the trails at Bent Creek, and I think it is probably a great trail system for newer riders, roadies that want to ride their mountain bikes the same way they ride their road bikes, and folks who live in Asheville and don't feel like traveling to Mills River, Brevard, or Cedar Mountain. I'm definitely blessed to live where I do.

I'll post some pretty pictures again soon. I promise.

Single Dare

2011-11-02T21:04:00.002-04:00

It was a great Single Dare experience this, my first year racing. We got to the group camp around 11, with just enough time to set up camp and get ready. The race started at noon, and Eric, Mr. Pisgah Productions, told us we had to start and finish on Cove Creek Trail, get the mandatory checkpoint, and be back before midnight in order to officially finish Single Dare.

We got our passport and headed up the trail at a slow and steady pace. Once to the top of Cove Creek, we started the long gravel grind to 276, then to 477, and up Club Gap Trail to our first CP at Club Gap. My partner had some heavy legs early in the ride, but I was confident he'd work out the kinks. From Club Gap, we decided that instead of just going back the way we came to get to Pilot, we'd take the more fun route and head over Black to Buckhorn Gap, to S. Mills, 476, 1206, and then Pilot. Surprisingly, the Black hike-a-biking did not help work the kinks out. And then we got to Pilot.

The mandatory CP was at the junction of Laurel Mountain Trail, and the Laurel/Pilot Connector Trail. The fastest way to get up there is to push your bike straight up Pilot for about 2.5 miles. It is a steep and loose climb, and just when you think you're almost there, you're not even friggin close. We finally made it up to the mandatory, and we both had dead legs. It was probably in the 20s up there, and we hung out at the volunteers' campfire for a while and drank a beer. I attempted the bonus challenge, which was hitting a plastic pumpkin with a slingshot from a pretty good distance. I was damn close with every shot, but was ultimately unlucky.

From there, we pushed our bikes back up the connector trail, and then rode down Pilot very ~~wussily~~ carefully. Somewhere along the way down, or up, or somewhere else, we decided that we were done. We made it to the bottom, and started the long gravel ride back to the top of Cove Creek. We stopped at the gravel road that leads to Cove Creek in order to turn on our lights, but somehow my fully charged battery became fully uncharged, and my light wouldn't work. Thankfully, the Single Dare rules require a backup light. Unthankfully, my backup light is a 40 lumen Petzl Tikka. Not so good for riding a bike at night. It sorta worked, though, and we finally made it back to the group camp to the sound of cold people cheering our amazing Single Dare accomplishment.

Photo by brado1

It was finally time to be a little less serious and hang out by the fire with some beers. More racers came in and the crowd around the fire got bigger and bigger, but then it got smaller and smaller as people hit the rack. A small group of us stayed and enjoyed the milieu, and then all of a sudden, some guy came out with a cowbell to wake people up for something called Double Dare. It was all too much for me to comprehend, so I snuck off into the darkness to get some sleep.

Photo by brado1

All in all, it was a great Single Dare. We only got two CPs, but we finished, and we drank a lot, and that's really what it's all about. I may have to look into that Double Dare thing for next year, or maybe not.

Tough Love

2011-10-04T16:59:00.000-04:00

The Lazer Cat let me know what it really thought about having a front derailleur today.

Who am I to argue?

Back to 1x9.

3 crashes in 4 days. WTF?

Catching Up

2011-10-03T22:10:00.003-04:00

Haven't posted in a while, so now it's catch-up time. I've actually been riding quite a bit lately. Two weekends ago, I headed out to Pisgah, and put in some decent miles. My route was 477>Buckhorn>Clawhammer>Buckhorn>S.Mills>476>Funneltop Mtn Rd.>Horse Cove>Squirrel>S.Mills>Buckhorn>Clawhammer>477. I think it was around 30 miles. It was a beautiful day, and the trails were in great shape. At the end of Horse Cove, I ran into a group being led by someone I know, so I tagged along for the ride. That was my first time on Squirrel since the re-work, and I'm not sure what I think. The creek crossings are much better now, but other parts of the trail are racetrack'ish. I'm sure it'll grow on me, though.

A couple iPhone pics from Funneltop Mtn Rd.:

The next day, I headed back into the forest and rode from the Hatchery. The route was 475>Davidson River>475>Cove Creek>225>Daniel Connector>Daniel>5046?>Connector>Cove Creek>475>Davidson River>475>Hatchery. Another great ride on a great day, even with dead legs. On the way out I stopped along Cove Creek and took some pics of a small waterfall.

The Pisgah Stage Race started on Tuesday. Wednesday's stage had a remote start, so I shuttled Stephen Janes and Andy Johnston to the start, and hung out to see the racers off.

This past weekend, a group of Hoosiers, including my Double Dare partner, came down to ride Pisgah, so I tagged along. On Saturday, we parked at Pilot Cove, and rode 1206>Laurel>Pilot>Connector>Pilot Cove/Slate Rock. When we hit the start of Laurel, the stage race leaders had already gone by, but we caught a few of the fast guys heading in, and saw a bunch more racers along the trail.

We took our time heading up Laurel, as it was most of the Hoosiers' first exposure to Pisgah. My chain snapped somewhere along the way. It wasn't where this pic was taken, though.

We finally made it up to Pilot, and worked our way down to the Rock without incident.

After not-so-gracefully (I endo'd twice) bombing our way down Pilot, we took a left on the connector with the intention of heading up to Slate Rock. During one of my crashes, I bent my cassette, and my chain was skipping pretty bad, so I headed back down to the cars once we hit Pilot Cove, and started drinking out of the growlers with Nick, who bailed before the connector.

That night we headed down to the after party for the stage race and listened to the band for a bit, and then up to my house for a couple of beers, where it was decided we'd meet to ride again at 8:30 the next morning. We met at the Ranger Station and rode 276>477>Clawhammer>Maxwell>Black>Grassy>Sycamore>276. It was a great ride, and a good way for the Hoosiers to end their trip.

Today I got a little bored, so I hacked up some old clothes and made a couple of cycling caps. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I got the pattern and instructions here.

That's all I think. No wait, somewhere in there I put a front derailleur and a granny gear on the Lazer Cat. I feel dirty.

Looking Glass and North Mills

2011-09-20T10:04:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally got my brake situation worked out. I received my new hose, fittings, fluid, and bleed kit late Friday afternoon, and had it all set up in about an hour. Much easier than I thought it would be, and the Formulas are great. I'll have to see how the durability is, but so far, I'm a convert.

As excited as I was to be able to ride the Lazer Cat again, I didn't want to ditch Heather all weekend, so we planned a hike for Saturday. We still had a couple of "Rocks" that we hadn't been up to yet, so we decided to fight the crowds and climb up to Looking Glass. The parking area was full, as it usually is, but the trail really was not that crowded. The bottom half was a smooth, machine-cut track, with a fairly gradual rise. The top turned into what a trail is supposed to be, narrow, rocky, and rooty. We climbed about 1700ft in just over 3 miles up to the view, and oh what a view. It was a cloudy and cool day, but the view was still fairly endless and uninterrupted. Here are the pics:

Sunday, I met up with Eric in N. Mills River. We got kind of a late start, so we only did a ten mile ride, but it was a good one. We started from the intersection of Bear Branch Trail and FS 5000. We did the Bear Branch loop first, stopped at the cars for refreshments, and then climbed 5000. We hung a left on Spencer, and climbed some more. While Spencer has some steep climbs, it's a really fun trail. It has some rocky and rooty technical sections, and Eric was right, it does remind you a bit of Laurel Mtn. At the end of Spencer, of course, is Trace. Trace really helped me break in my new brake pads. It's a long, rocky, washed-out in places, downhill, and a ton of fun. I only had one slip-up in a deep wash-out, and just kind of fell over into the side of the wash-out. No harm done to me, but somehow my chain had come out of my Paul's Chainkeeper. Not sure how that happened, but after about five minutes, we were descending again.

After popping out at the parking lot, we started on lower Trace, but then took a left on Wash Creek, and made it back to the cars, just in time for more refreshments. I really liked this loop, and I'll definitely be doing it again in the future. Downhills like that make me wish I still had my full-suspension bike, but I'm sure I'll get faster descending on the hard tail. Sorry, no pics of the ride. It was too dark and dreary for anything to turn out anyway.

Almost Back to Normal

2011-09-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

Holy cow, I actually rode both days this weekend. It felt good to push myself again, and it's nice to be excited about riding. It's been a while. I went to put the new brakes on the Lazer Cat, but these were take-offs, and the rear hose was too short. My LBS didn't have any replacement hose kits, but it's on order and should be here this week.

So on Saturday, I ate a nice breakfast and then headed out to DuPont to try and destroy myself on the Karate Monkey, SS and rigid. You don't notice how much a suspension fork helps until you go back to a rigid. My wrists are hurting today. I don't know how far I rode, but it was a pretty good one on the SS. I rode at a touring pace, but the SS still got the best of me, as both of my quads started cramping pretty bad towards the end. I hit a couple of new-to-me trails, and saw two lakes I hadn't seen before, as well as the Lake Julia Gulia Spillway. It was a good ride.

Grassy Creek Falls

Lake Dense Pier

Again

Lake (Pond) Alford

Lake Julia Spillway

Today, I headed out for a morning road ride. My legs felt a little dead at first, and my sit bones were slightly tender, but all was well after I warmed up. I headed out to the river valley again, but I threw in a few more miles and more climbing. It was a pretty nice ride on a gorgeous morning. I actually got a little chilly in some areas.

Crappy iPhone Pic

Looks like the rest of this Sunday will be a lazy one.

Busy Not Riding

2011-08-30T22:18:00.000-04:00

Well, my new brakes came in, but I haven't put them on yet, or even really thought about it. Nope, I've been spending most of my time in front of my sewing machine, with that pile of raw materials from the last post. It was definitely time well spent, because I have a sweet new hammock, that has all the features I want.

It's made out of two layers of 1.1oz ripstop nylon, which is very thin and soft, but plenty strong. It's suspended to the trees with whoopie slings (I'll detail those in another post maybe), connected to tree straps and toggles. There's an opening in between the two layers so I can slip a sleeping pad in there if I want, until I make an underquilt. The no-seeum bug netting is attached to the body with zippers along both sides. One side, the "back side," has one zipper pull unzipping from the top and stopping at the bottom. The front side has three pulls, so you can use the double pulls for entry and exit, and the third one unzips the full length to the bottom like the other side. This allows for a lot of versatility with the bug netting. And when it's zipped all the way down, there is a small stuff sack in the "peak" of the foot end that the net can go into so it's out of the way.

This was my first ever DIY sewing project. Hell, I just learned how to use the sewing machine a couple weeks ago. I'm obviously really happy with how it turned out.

On to the pics:

Off to Cincy for the holiday weekend. No time to do anything except run around and see people. But when we get back, the riding is back on. Seriously.

Riding Again.....Sort of

2011-08-22T20:57:00.000-04:00

Heather and I headed to DuPont on Saturday for my first ride back from my back strain. We were both looking forward to getting out in the woods, but it wasn't to be. We got to the Guion Farms parking lot, and I unloaded the Lazer Cat, but something wasn't right. Somehow, my back brake was locked out, and the wheel would not move at all. I have no idea what happened; I guess the calipers got stuck out. So we headed back home, and I took the brake off. I cleaned it out, and tried to work the calipers in and out, but I couldn't get them to move enough to even get them back over the rotor. The brakes are Juicy 5's, are really old, and I've had a lot of problems with them in the past, so I now have some Formulas on the way. Bye bye Avid.

On Sunday, I dusted off the Vig, and hit the road on skinny tires. I've only ridden the road here a few times now, but I should do it more often. It really is a beautiful place to ride. I headed to the other side of town, and did a lollipop route through the French Broad River Valley. I only rode 25 miles, but it just felt good to pedal again, and my back felt fine.

With my lack of riding, I've really been looking forward to cooler weather, and doing some hiking and camping. I've lost the taste for sleeping on the ground, and have been a hammocker for a few years now. As I mentioned before, I gave my hammock to Heather, and it is currently having some mods done to it. I was going to get myself a nice new one, but instead, I've decided to make my own. Whether that's cheap or frugal, I just have a hard time paying over twice as much for someone else to make something I can make. The pieces all arrived this week.

It'll have an integrated bug net, a la the Hennessy I'm giving Heather, and the net will almost fully unzip and tuck into a small stuff sack at the foot end, just like I'm having the Hennessy modified to do. I'll post updates to the project when there's something to actually post about.

Sidelined

2011-08-04T23:52:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I know. I haven't posted in a while, but I also haven't ridden in a while. A few weeks ago, I was doing yard work and was lifting garbage can full loads of crap I raked up from our yard that had been neglected for several years. They were heavy, and apparently I strained my back. I went for a ride in Pisgah the next day, and only made it up 477>Buckhorn Gap Tr>Clawhammer before I had to turn back. I got back to my car and I was bummed, so I hung out in the creek for a while.

The next couple of weeks, we did a lot of work on the house in preparation for a pseudo-in-law visit, so my back didn't really get a chance to heal. We got a lot of work done, though, and we're finally making the house our own. I also had some time to learn more about, and play around with, another passion of mine, hammock camping. I am bequeathing my Hennessy Expedition hammock to Heather, and getting a slightly larger one for myself later this month for my birthday. In preparation for the bequeathing, I have been trying to make the Hennessy as user-friendly as possible for her. I've been learning a lot of splicing techniques for rope, cord, and twine, and have made some pretty cool improvements for her. I'll do a post in a few weeks on it once everything is done. You'll just have to wait to learn all about whoopie slings and soft shackles.

On another note, I don't know what kind of spider this is, but these little bastards were everywhere last summer when I rode the Stonewall Falls trail in NE GA after taking the bar exam. I hit a web every 15 feet or so, and these guys were biting me. This one was in our front yard.

My back is feeling better, but I'm going to give it another week of rest. I had pains shooting down my right leg for a couple of weeks, and that has finally stopped. After another week, I think I'll feel OK about riding again.

DuPont Ride

2011-07-11T12:18:00.000-04:00

I went out for a quick ride at Dupont yesterday. I hadn't ridden from Corn Mill Shoals access in a while, so that's where I parked the Grand. There were only a few cars in the lot when I started, and it was a really sticky and dreary morning. It only took about two pedal strokes before the sweat started pouring down my face. I need to get one of those headbands with the sweat gutters built in.

I headed down Corn Mill Shoals and the trail was pretty wet, but this area holds up to wet conditions really well. My first destination was Burnt Mtn (clockwise), and it was great as usual. I was a little worried about the rocky downhill being slick, but it wasn't at all even though the rocks were wet. After Burnt, I rolled down Little River and took the second Cedar Mtn Trail on the left. I pedaled some and walked some. The slickrock was surprisingly grippy considering how wet it was. Once up on Big Rock, I stopped at the usual overlook, and knocked down a small can of Pringles.

It was so nice up there, I think next time I'll pack my hammock and take a nap. After flying down Big Rock, I took Longside, which is always a lot of fun, and then turned left on Pine Tree. I rode the new connector section of Pine Tree across the street, and then Cascade Trail. This will be a nice little trail once it's worn in a bit. I only wish it looped. I did it as an out and back, retraced my steps a bit, and headed up Rock Quarry Rd. I had only taken this up to Micajah, and over to and down Wilkie in the past. This time, I stayed on Quarry Rd. up to the actual quarry and looked around for a bit.

After leaving the quarry, I climbed up Buck Ridge, and took the new part of Micajah. This is a really awesome, new section of trail. There is a big slickrock section, and then the singletrack is nice, flowy, and fast, even though it isn't settled in yet. This was so much fun that I stayed on Micajah all the way back to Quarry Rd and did the loop again, and then finished the ride by coming down Wilkie, which is always a lot of fun, too.

Dupont is such a unique place, and I'm always discovering something new there. I'm really glad the Legislature gave it the State Recreational Forest designation.

Squirrel Gap

2011-07-03T18:36:00.000-04:00

Until Saturday, I had only ridden a small portion of Squirrel, from Wolf Ford to Cantrell. That section was a lot of fun, but I knew the "Classic Squirrel" would be even better. Yesterday, I finally got to ride the good stuff. Eric, my ride guide for the day, met me at Turkey Pen bright and early. It was actually a chilly drive in the Heep.

We headed down S. Mills to Mullinax, and started the longish, but not too bad climb. We merged with Squirrel and continued to climb the narrow, bench-cut ribbon of singletrack, over rocks and roots until we hit what I'm told is called the "Saddle." This was where the real fun started. The trail stayed very narrow, and basically became one long rock garden. It was pretty tough, and I was dabbing a lot and walking a little. This was a type of trail that I'm just not used to yet.

Before I knew it, we were at Cantrell, and I was on familiar ground, sort of. This section has become pretty overgrown with thorn bushes, thickets, briar patches, or whatever you call them. I ended up pretty sliced up, but it was still a blast, adding to the difficulty of the trail. We got down to Wolf Ford, and decided to hang out in the river for a bit. As we were walking down to the water, Eric reached in his pack and pulled out two ice cold beers. We sat in the river for a while and talked about how much it sucks to live here.

Eric doesn't like his pic on the web, so I smudged his head.

Did I mention these were ice cold?

After our break, we turned around and headed back the way we came. When we got to the techy section, I did much better. I don't know if it's easier to clear in this direction, or if I was just more used to it, but I didn't dab a whole lot, and didn't walk anything. Once we got to the Saddle, it was almost all downhill, and it was fun. While on Squirrel, we still had to be pretty careful not to go off the side of the narrow trail, but things opened up on Mullinax, and we could let it rip. I felt on the verge of being out of control on several occasions, but Eric still crushed me on the downhill. During the last climb on Mullinax, the hot and humid weather caught up to me and my quads started cramping pretty bad, but I was able to walk it out and finish the ride.

It was a great day in the woods, and I found my new favorite trail. It's a trail that can beat you up a bit, but not in a demoralizing way. I can't wait to ride it again.

Lull in the Action

2011-06-26T20:58:00.000-04:00

For the last couple of weeks, I haven't been very excited about riding for some reason, so I didn't ride at all between my last posted jaunt through Pisgah and Saturday. I'm certainly not suffering from any kind of burnout from over-training, because, well, I haven't been training for anything. Sometimes I just need a little break.

I was sorta feeling it again, so I headed to the hatchery early Saturday morning. It was a perfect morning; not a cloud in the sky, no humidity, and 62 degrees at 9:30. I knew I wasn't up for anything really long, so I settled on a Cove Creek + Daniel Ridge loop, at a leisurely pace. I made my way up 475B and 225, and there were a lot of campers, which meant the wonderful smell of campfires. Easily one of my favorite smells, right up there with flesh searing on a grill.

Cove Creek is not a difficult trail at all, but I really like it. It flows really well for a Pisgah trail, and it's in a beautiful section of the Forest. The group camp was full when I got to the bottom, and the creek crossing the road wasn't too high, so I skipped the bridge.

Cove Creek pics:

The parking lot at Daniel was totally full, which meant a lot more campers and more campfires. I had never ridden the loop counter-clockwise, so I stayed to the right at the split. I went a bit past the left turn to check out Tom's Spring Falls.

I really enjoyed Daniel in this direction. The hike-a-bike section wasn't bad, and coming down the rocky section along the creek was a lot of fun. Way better than trying to climb it. I stopped at the bottom to take some pics of the old bridge, and the gap jump that I can't wait to see someone hit.

Today, Heather and I headed to DuPont on another perfect morning. We added a bit to our usual forest road loop, and threw in an actual trail. She killed it, and would have ridden all of the techy sections had I not told her to stop and walk one of them. She made climbs she's never made before, and is obviously way more confident. She even bled her own blood from mtn biking for the first time. I was very proud.

Schenckville

2011-06-14T15:51:00.001-04:00

Heather and I were in Asheville this morning, and had nothing too pressing to do this afternoon, so we took the long way home via the Blue Ridge Parkway. Coming down 276, Heather suggested we stop at the Forest Discovery Center to see what all was there. We pulled in and, lucky us, no admission fees on Tuesday!

We checked out the Discovery Center building and it has a gift shop, some really great photos, and a kids' discovery area. Outside, there are several miles of paved path that take you to original wooden buildings from the Biltmore Forest School era, and past several other interesting things including an old locomotive, a steam-powered sawmill, and an old farming homestead. We were pleasantly surprised at how much was back there. If you have kids, or you're just a geek like us, it's worth checking out, especially on Tuesdays.

I didn't have my camera, but I did get one iPhone pic. This is the lodge that used to be around the stone chimney in my last post, Cantrell Creek Lodge.

Yesterday I Hated [LOVED!] Pisgah

2011-06-12T19:21:00.000-04:00

Pisgah is one of those places that can really run you through the ringer. If you ride here long enough, the forest will get the best of you on at least one occasion. A trail you ride and love one weekend will kick your ass the next. Sometimes you cuss the trails and seriously hate them, but at the same time you always love them, and it's that sick sort of masochism that keeps us coming back time and again.

Saturday's ride was one that ran me through the ringer. I had still never ridden Turkey Pen, so that was the plan. I got up with the sun, got dinner going in the crockpot, and headed out. I started from my usual spot on 477, and headed up Clawhammer. I could already tell that I really wasn't feeling it, but it was a beautiful morning, so up and up I went.

I slowly and steadily pedaled my way up Maxwell, and hung a left on Black at Pressley Gap. I rode the bottom part, but then it turned into a nice, steep hike-a-bike.

I made it to the intersection with Turkey Pen, and headed into the unknown. At first this trail was ok, and the hardest part about it was seeing the obstacles in the trail through the overgrowth. There were even some nice rhodo tunnels along the way.

Maybe I need to ride it more, but shortly after the above pic, Turkey Pen turned into my least favorite ride in Pisgah. The trail basically went straight up, and straight down. While the downhills were long and sometimes fun, there were sections that were just too steep and slick to ride, and the uphills were the same, you know, except the other way around. Lots of hiking on this trail, and by the time I hit the TP parking lot, I was already pretty tired.

I headed down to S. Mills River and refilled my water. It was a hot and humid day. I wanted to head up Mullinax (another trail I haven't ridden), and then ride Squirrel (large sections I hadn't ridden), but I knew that route was going to have to wait for another day. The new plan was going to be S. Mills, Cantrell, Horse Cove, and then Squirrel. As I started down S. Mills, Pisgah opened another can of whoop-ass in the form of the first thunderstorm of the day. The Lazer Cat and I took cover under a bunch of rhodos along the side of the trail, and waited it out.

Once the rain and thunder lightened up enough, I continued on to Cantrell, where I took a spill on the wet, slick rocks. When I hit Horse Cove, I knew I'd be in for a hike, and boy was I. It wouldn't have been that bad, but along came the second thunderstorm. The soil on this trail is red clay that is already mucked up from all of the horse use, and after the rain, there were sections I wasn't sure I'd be able to hike up.

I finally made it up to Squirrel, and I knew the hiking for the day was over. Squirrel was fun and slick and the roots almost slid me off the trail a few times, but I made it down to the river crossing with no real injuries, but lots of mud. Most of it was from one particularly deep puddle on Squirrel.

I then headed up S. Mills, which was pretty chopped up from horse use. This trail is also really sandy, and the wet sand just stuck to my tires, making them much heavier than normal. I hung a left at Buckhorn Gap, and cruised down Clawhammer to finish out the ride. The final mileage was 30ish, but it felt more like 60. It was just one of those rides.

Luckily, when I got home there were some icy cold recovery drinks waiting for me. The Highlands Oatmeal Porter works like a charm every time. And a few hours later I inhaled some crockpot turkey "carnitas."

DuPont Weekend

2011-06-05T16:48:00.000-04:00

I had a great weekend riding in DuPont. Saturday, I determined I had just enough new skin on my heels, so I went out on my own to get a harder ride in. I parked at Lake Imaging, and something was going on there. There was a big tent being erected, and some official-looking people stopped me to tell me where to park. Apparently, they're filming part of The Hunger Games here this week, and that lot will be home base. I headed out on my usual Briery and Back loop from this lot, and I was feeling good. I climbed all of the newly armored section of Jim Branch for the first time. After flying down Locust, I popped back out onto Lake Imaging Rd and hung a left as usual. As I descended down the gravel, I noticed that Grassy Creek Falls trail was open for the first time since I moved here. Since that was the only waterfall I hadn't seen in DuPont yet, I of course had to stop.

Only had my iPhone for pics that day.

I also noticed a new trail to the right, immediately after I turned onto Grassy Creek Falls. I headed up this nameless trail, and it was obvious that this was brand spankin' new. It was still very soft, but pretty fun. It popped out onto Lake Imaging Rd., right by where I came out of Locust, branching off from the Hilltop Loop. I'll definitely be taking that instead of the gravel.

I continued on, climbing more of Oak Tree than ever before, up to Joanna Rd., and down to Twin Oaks, which was in perfect shape. I was really working on my body position, especially on the downhills, and I was carving down this trail better than ever. I hung a right on Briery Fork, and did the same with that downhill. This trail has two creek crossings, both with steep, technical climbs immediately after, and I've never been able to make it up either of them before. Today, however, I cleaned both climbs. Needless to say, I was very happy with that ride.

Sunday was another great ride at DuPont with Heather. We did the same loop as last time, but instead of going to Wintergreen Falls, we crossed the creek and got some photos coming down Grassy Creek Trail. This is a long, steep, rocky, and loose trail that is a blast. Part of the reason I love this trail is that it is never the same. Horse riders use this trail a lot, and the rocks are never in the same place. I only rode the bottom third of it, but Heather got some pretty good sequence shots. I made an animated .gif file, but it was too big for flickr. Meh.

Heather did great on the ride. Her fitness was much better, and she rode with a lot more confidence. She'll be flying down Black Mtn. with me in no time.

One last shot.

Memorial Day Backpacking

2011-06-01T20:27:00.000-04:00

Some of our friends from law school came down from Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend to do some backpacking. The original plan was to hit Pisgah, and hike and camp for two nights. They left the route up to me, being a local and all, but of course I put it off until the last minute and really just picked a general area for us to hit. They asked for an all downhill route with nothing but pretty waterfalls along the way, and I told them no problem, happy to oblige. Well obviously, things didn't work out quite as planned, as is par for the course in Pisgah.

Everyone made it down here fine, and we headed into the forest after a nice breakfast on Saturday morning. We stopped for the obligatory photo ops at Looking Glass falls, and then headed up to the BRP. We took in the views and parked at the end of 816, unloaded, and headed down Flat Laurel Creek. All was well until we hit 215, and then the Mountains to Sea Trail. I really liked this trail, but it was definitely pretty rugged, and it took a toll on our feet. I had been getting hot spots on my heels, and used moleskin, but it was getting worse and worse. I had worn these boots many times before, and had concerns that they would give me blisters, because I just didn't feel like they were the right boots for my feet. Well, my concerns came to fruition, and my heels were on fire. Heather's boots were getting to her, too. On top of that, one of my friends twisted his ankle. We were in pretty sorry shape, so we headed back down to Flat Laurel via Little Sam, where we knew there were plenty of camping spots.

We unloaded, and I took off my boots, and about two layers of heel skin came off with my socks. I knew the backpacking portion of my weekend was pretty much over at that point. [Un]Luckily, the rest of the group was in a similar situation. We set up camp, lit a fire that lasted the short time that the small amount of dry wood we could find lasted, ate dinner, drank some bourbon, and hit the rack. It was great to sleep in the woods again.

The next morning, we packed up and gingerly hiked (hobbled) the 1.5 or so miles back to the lot. We headed back to the house, got cleaned up, and then went downtown to check out the White Squirrel Festival for a bit, before chowing down at Cielito Lindo. Even though things didn't go as planned, it was still a great weekend. I was proud of Heather and happy to hear that she wanted to backpack again. We desperately need to find some boots that work for us, though. On a side note, we have his and hers Asolos for sale.

Pics:

I've been Double Dared

2011-05-30T20:13:00.000-04:00

...and I committed. I feel a slight addiction starting to develop.

Weekend With my Lady

2011-05-23T16:28:00.001-04:00

Heather and I finally had a weekend all to ourselves. For some reason, it seems like we've had something going on every weekend for months. On Saturday, we were finally able to start tackling the years of neglect that our yard has endured. We were out there most of the afternoon with Heather clearing the retaining wall/planter, with the exception of me cutting out a few saplings, and me trimming bushes and trees and raking out the flower beds, which were filled with a very thick layer of leaves and pine needles. I took the back seat out of the CJ7, lined it with a tarp, and we made three trips down to the community brush pile. We worked pretty hard, but have barely made a dent. The joys of home ownership.

We decided that Sunday would be the day that Heather got out on a mountain bike again. She enjoyed the road riding we did in Cincy, but the mountain biking freaked her out a bit. She said she'd like to give it another go, but start out on some tamer stuff, so we headed to DuPont to do a short loop of mainly service roads. We started out at the Guion Farms parking area, and pieced together a loop starting out on Tarkiln and coming back on Buck Forest, with stops at Wintergreen Falls and Thomas Cemetery. It was a perfect day for a ride, and Heather did great. I think she enjoyed herself, too.

A few pics from the ride:

The Post-PMBAR Blues

2011-05-11T15:45:00.001-04:00

I've been in a little bit of a funk the past few days. Maybe it's because I was just worn out for the first couple of days after PMBAR, or maybe it's because I have a slow work week. I don't know. Maybe it's a combination of both. When I woke up this morning, I seriously debated just drinking bourbon all day, but that seemed pathetic, and reminded me of a time in my life where things weren't good. Things are fantastic now, so that wasn't the right solution. I had a bit of work I could do, but I just wasn't feeling it. No, I needed to ride.

I headed down to my bike shop in the basement, and unpacked all of my required PMBAR gear. Today wasn't going to be an epic ride, whatever the hell that even means. Out came the compass and the emergency blanket. My blinkie was reinstalled on the road bike. My unused, pre-measured, cocaine-like bricks of half-evil endurance fuel were set aside for another time. Just clean water today, thank you. The water filter wouldn't be necessary either, 100oz. would be plenty. I didn't want to care about the time, distance, speed, elevation, or calories, so the Garmin was left on the workbench. I did, however, add the camera. Today was going to be a cruise around DuPont, my recently neglected stomping grounds. Just me, the Lazer Cat, and minimal gear.

I loaded up the Grand and headed out to the southeast side of town. I hadn't driven this way in a while, but the curves were still familiar. So was the frustration of being behind an out-of-stater not so familiar with the curves. No big deal; I'd be on the trails soon enough. On the way out, I decided to stop and see the newly opened Connestee Falls Park. This is a waterfall a very short distance off the road, that had been closed for some time while the City turned it into a park. I gotta say, I was disappointed. I was hoping the City would make the bottom of the falls safely accessible, but all they did was build a boardwalk to the top of the falls. It's a shame. This is a double waterfall, and I would love to see it from the bottom.

I eventually made it to the Fawn Lake access lot, and headed down to Reasonover Creek Trail, one of my absolute favorites. The forest was quiet, and it seemed like I was the only one there.

I made it down to Lake Julia (Gulia), and hung out for a bit, walking around taking pics of anything that interested me.

From there, it was up to the airstrip, down Airstrip Trail, and over to Bridal Veil Falls via Barn Trail. This was to be my lunch stop, and I had it all to myself. The falls were really flowing today.

From the falls, I headed up Corn Mill Shoals Trail, to Shoals Trail, to Laurel Ridge, and finished up with Mine Mountain. On my way up the tough Corn Mill Shoals climb, I stopped to talk to a couple of Brits for a few minutes. One of them was talking about how mountain biking was putting a strain on his marriage. That's just something I luckily don't understand. Riding makes me a better person at home. It centers me and keeps me sane. Heather gets that. She knows when I need to ride and why. She supports my passion, and wants to hear about each and every ride I do. That's just one of many reasons why she's my soul-dork.

After quickly telling the Brit that I would not represent him in his potential divorce, I continued on and finished my ride, cleaning two tough climbs I've never cleaned before in the process. It was a great, and much needed ride, and I couldn't believe how good I actually felt physically. It was nice to ride just to ride. Goal specific riding has its place, but that's not why I make my way back to the trailheads time and time again. For the near future, I won't be training for anything. Any riding I do will be because I love it. Just me and the Lazer Cat, sailing through the forest.

The PMBAR Experience

2011-05-09T11:43:00.004-04:00

PMBAR was awesome. I don't know how else to put it, and the more I recap the day, the more awesome it was. That may be because the memory of the pain is starting to fade, but it was one of the best days I've spent in the woods. Yes, this was a race, but Mike and I weren't really racing, so it really was about the experience for us. Sure, we wanted to get our 4 checkpoints and finish the race, but most of all, we wanted to have a good time and push ourselves to our limits, and we achieved both of those goals. We made it to 3 checkpoints, but rode 63 miles. In looking at the results thread on mtbr, other teams rode the same distance, if not less, and got 4 checkpoints. That means I chose the wrong route. I may have known where all of the trails were, and we may have only had to look at our map a couple of times, but I learned a valuable lesson about sequencing the checkpoints. Next year, we will not be heading out to the furthest checkpoint first.

After handing in our wooden nickel, avoiding a 2 hour penalty, we headed up Thrift and Black like everyone else. Once we hit Pressley Gap, where most teams were sitting down looking at their maps, we headed down Maxwell>Clawhammer>477>276. We decided that we would go to the checkpoint at the intersection of Daniel Ridge and Farlow Gap. We hit Daniel, and followed the creek up to Farlow. At this point, we were feeling just fine about our day, and were confident we would get 4 CPs. We continued on Daniel, took the shortcut trail up to 225, over to 475B, and up to 276. We stopped at the Pink Beds picnic area and filled our water, and then headed up and down 1206 to the CP that killed our day.

The plan was to hit the mandatory CP at the Pilot Connector/Laurel Mtn intersection, head down Laurel Mtn, then down Bradley Creek to its intersection with S. Mills for that mandatory CP, then up S. Mills to Cantrell Creek, up Horse Cove to Squirrel, to its intersection with S. Mills for the final mandatory CP. From there it would be the home stretch up to Buckhorn Gap, down Clawhammer to Maxwell, up and down Black and then Thrift Cove to the finish. Well, that didn't really work out.

We headed down 1206 to Pilot, and started the 2+ mile hike-a-bike straight up. At this point we were probably at around 3000ft elevation, and the top of this trail is close to 5000ft. 2000ft of elevation gain over a little more than 2 miles makes for a steep hike. Add to that the 30'ish miles we had already ridden, and the fact that we were pushing our bikes, and you can probably see why this zapped most of our energy. My quads were cramping, and we got to the point where we were only taking 20 or so steps between rest stops.

We finally hit the CP and decided to reassess our goals. After finishing Laurel, heading down Bradley Creek would be a commitment. That trail is out there, and we would have a long way to go for the finish. We decided that we would be happy with 3 CPs, and really wanted to knock down a beer sooner than later. After heading down Laurel, we were feeling pretty good, but I assured Mike that it was a false high, and would fade as soon as we hit some climbs, so we continued on 1206 past Bradley Creek, and up to 476. From there we went up and down S. Mills to the CP at Squirrel, and then headed back up S. Mills, up Buckhorn Gap, down Clawhammer, down 477, and then took 276 back to the Finish. That part of 276 was off limits, but since we were DNF'ing anyway, we didn't care. We were just ready to be off our bikes.

Again, we rode 63 miles over ~11 hours in some of the toughest terrain around. I feel like that was a pretty darn big accomplishment, and I know that we will finish the race next year. Mike did awesome. This was really only his fourth time ever mountain biking, and he was able to do this. Unbelievable. Our first PMBAR experience was a great one. The atmosphere was the way anything involving mountain bikers should be, and the weather and trails were perfect. I also had the opportunity to ride with this guy for a bit. I didn't take the camera out at all during the race, but brado1 was there taking much better photos than I could have, and you can see his here. A big thank you to everyone involved with coordinating and carrying out this event. We'll definitely be back next year.

Some Garmin Stats:

PMBAR

2011-05-06T12:14:00.000-04:00

This time tomorrow I'll be somewhere out in the middle of the mountains above with my buddy Mike G. I've done endurance rides before including the Brown County Breakdown, the Muskingum Mayhem, and a road tour from Cincy to Cleveland, but I've never been in a race. I'm excited to finally enter my first one, and I'm sure it will lead to many more. We won't really be going at any kind of racing pace, though, just hoping to finish with four checkpoints before it gets dark, so hopefully I'll pull out the camera and grab some pics for the blog.

I'll report back on Sunday. Gotta go eat a few pounds of pasta now.

Busted Pisgah Loop

2011-04-25T10:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I went for a ride in Pisgah and wanted to do some exploring/scouting for PMBAR. I knew that one of the checkpoints in the past had been the intersection of Squirrel Gap and Cantrell Creek, so I thought I'd go there. I parked in my usual spot in front of the South White Pines Group Camp, and headed up 477 and Clawhammer. Once I reached Buckhorn Gap, I headed down the trail with the same name to S. Mills River trail and turned right. This is an easy trail, so of course I wrecked on it on a big, slippery rock. Not too much damage was done, so on I went.

I made it down the switchbacks to the suspension bridge just before the intersection with Squirrel Gap.

The first part of Squirrel is tight, twisty, and low, and actually reminded me a bit of trails in Ohio. Once you hit the intersection with Horse Cove (I think), the trail turns into pristine, benchcut singletrack that flows nicely along the contour of the mountain.

I made it to the intersection with Cantrell Creek Trail, but not before having to cross Cantrell Creek itself.

At this point, I had a loop in mind, and headed down Cantrell Creek Trail. I liked the tight, techy feel of this trail with all of the rocks and creek crossings, but I didn't like how overgrown it was. My legs were quickly sliced up. Also, this trail has 10-15 creek crossings on it, and the water was flowing, so I was only able to really ride across a few of them. It was hot out, though, and I didn't mind the wet feet.

I made it down to the intersection with S. Mills River Trail, and this is where we get to the busted loop. I inconveniently forgot that this section of the trail requires you to cross the S. Mills River many times without the help of a nice suspension bridge. I mentioned before that Cantrell Creek was flowing, but it was nothing compared to the river. I started the first crossing, and almost lost my footing a couple of times, with the water coming up to my lower thigh. I made it, though, and continued on to the second crossing. This one looked a little deeper, so I looked for a better place to cross. The place I found was still deep and flowing hard, but the deep section looked to be shorter, so in I went. The water here came up to mid to upper thigh, and the rocks were slippery as snot. Somehow I made it and continued on. I got to the third crossing and said "no mas." It was a very wide crossing, and looked to be even deeper. It was just a little too much to attempt alone, so I turned around.

I barely made it back across the first two crossings, and continued on S. Mills Trail the other direction, past the intersection with Cantrell. The trail basically turned into an old road bed, and the trip up to Turkey Pen Rd. was uneventful. I was happy to see three more of these along the way.

Not really feeling like I had the energy to head up Turkey Pen Gap Trail to Black, I shot down the road and pedaled the pavement back to my car, which of course was pretty lame. I still managed to get 30 miles in, though, and had a good adventure.

Laurel, Revisited

2011-04-19T09:44:00.001-04:00

When I first moved down here, the Laurel/Pilot route was one of my first rides in Pisgah. At that time I was riding my rigid, SS Karate Monkey and between finishing law school, studying for and taking the bar, and then moving to Brevard, my fitness level was dreadful. Now, I would say my fitness level has risen to the level of "poor," so I thought it was time to hit this route again on the Lazer Cat. Only, by the time I decided to ride up Laurel, I had already put in 15 miles in Pisgah, which is roughly equivalent to 127 miles on any trail system in Cincinnati.

The ride up Laurel started off much better than last time, and I think a lot of the reason was the addition of gears. Laurel has some pretty technical sections, and I still couldn't clear most of them, but did better. On my way up, there was a group of three riders that passed me in the other direction, easily clearing a section that I wouldn't even attempt. Not too long later, they passed me in the other direction. There really are some amazing riders around here.

Anyway, I eventually made it to Pilot, and wussed my way down switchback hell and through the rock garden. I ended up doing 36 miles, and felt pretty rough by the end. My fitness is really improving, but I need to work on feeding myself better on long rides. A Cliff bar just isn't going to cut it. For anyone interested, my route for the day was 477>Clawhammer>Buckhorn Gap>S. Mills River>476(?)>1206>Laurel>Pilot>1206>276>477.

A few pics:

Family Visit and Riding

2011-04-11T11:14:00.000-04:00

Heather's parents came up to see our new house this weekend, so Friday and Saturday we hung out with them. Before we met up with them on Saturday morning, though, we walked down the street and watched the roadies from the Assault on the Carolinas zip by.

I believe there were 700-800 riders this year, and it was more of a festival atmosphere than in years past. They had a band playing, vendor booths, and food and drink booths. Hopefully a precursor to a mountain bike festival in the near future? If you rode in the race, I might have a pic of you if you go to my Flickr page.

Sunday, we met the pseudo in-laws for breakfast before they headed home, and then I went to Pisgah for a longer ride. I started off climbing up Clawhammer, and immediately regretted eating french toast right before the ride. I felt better by the time I hit the top though, and continued down Buckhorn Gap to South Mills River. That was my first time down that way, and I really enjoyed it.

From S. Mills, I took Pink Beds. I really wanted to do Squirrel, but I had no way to get more water, having left my filter at home. Once I got up to the Pink Beds lot, I refilled my water and headed down 276 to 477, and up Club Gap. Club Gap is rough and straight up, but thankfully short. I then sat down in whatever shade I could find for a quick break at the intersection.

I was thinking about going down Avery, but felt like I had a little more in the tank, so I headed up Black instead. On a downhill section, I came around a corner a little too hot, and my front wheel slid out. Everything went in slow motion for a second, and down I went. I landed hard on my left side and just stayed still for a minute. Once I realized that nothing was broken (bike or body), I got up and noticed the major knot in the side of my calf. I tried to work it out, but it wasn't helping, so on I went.

Once I got down to Buckhorn Gap, I was really wishing I had just gone down Avery, and in fact, I still wanted to go down Avery, but how should I get over there? Well I decided I wasn't beat up enough, so I thought some exploring would be in order. I had noticed an unimproved road on the map that connected Clawhammer to Avery (5057), and wanted to check it out. I headed down the somewhat overgrown path, and all was well for a bit, but then I ran into sections that were totally overgrown with thorn bushes. I was glad I had just filled my tires with some fresh Stan's, but wished I had worn long pants and long sleeves.

I eventually made it over to Avery, and the trip down was a blast, and uneventful. It was a great, and long day in Pisgah. This place is like nothing else. I only rode 25-30 miles, but I was in the forest for 5+ hours. The miles here are tough and slow-going.

New Digs

2011-04-07T11:52:00.000-04:00

I've been MIA for a bit, but it's been for a good reason. Heather and I bought and moved into our new house. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and we are both totally exhausted, but we absolutely love our new place. We're still in Brevard, but tucked away in a quiet little corner, just outside of the city limits. Without going into too much detail, it has way more space than we need, is in great shape, and we got it for a killer price.

Now, onto the features of interest to mountain bikers. For the first time ever, I have a dedicated bike space. We have a full basement, and one section in particular just seemed perfect for it. I can keep all of our bikes, parts, tools, and accessories in one place, and still have plenty of room to work on the bikes.

Here's the space with the Lazer Cat in the stand, getting some TLC.

It's not all put together yet, but I'm very excited to have it.

The next feature of interest is the setting. We are tucked away on a hill, with trees all around us. There's another house on one side, but the other side is an empty, wooded lot. Behind us is a gravel road, and then just mountains beyond that. It's so incredibly quiet and peaceful, especially compared to the townhome, which was on a very busy road, and had very thin walls separating us from our fat neighbors. The difference is remarkable, and our stress levels have just plummeted.

Back and Side Yards:

Now, the real kicker. If you look closely in that last pic, you can see the gravel road. About a hundred yards beyond the section you can see, the road dead ends right into a conservation easement that the city owns. If you go up there and look around, you'll see colored tape around trees. That's because the city is planning on building trails through the property, and have already started the layout phase, with construction probably starting this summer. So yes, we will have trails to ride and hike right out of our back yard.

But wait, it gets better. On the other side of that conservation easement is Pisgah. The ultimate plan is to work with the Forest Service and connect the city trails into the Pisgah trails. My guess would be that it would connect to 475C, which would mean I could ride from my house, into the fish hatchery area.

Needless to say, we are so happy and excited to be here for many reasons.

Family Weekend and DuPont Ride

2011-03-21T10:27:00.000-04:00

My dad and stepmother came into town from Ohio on Friday, and we got to hang out for a couple of days. I haven't been able to see my family since we moved down here last September, so it was really nice to have them down. We did all the usual touristy stuff, including Looking Glass Falls, a pottery shop, the shops downtown, and some nice restaurants. We were also able to show them the house we are in the process of buying. It was a very nice visit. And for any of you that are looking into visiting Brevard, I would highly recommend staying at the Red House Inn. The place is newly renovated, and the owners are great. One of the owners is also an avid mountain biker, and can suggest some routes for you.

After my family left on Sunday, I headed over to DuPont for a quick ride. I did the usual to Briery and Back route, with a stop on the slickrock on Joanna Rd. It was a good ride, but the roads connecting the trails were a little sloppy. The trails themselves were in good shape, except for the bottom of Jim Branch, which was recently re-worked. The weather was cool and damp, which kept some people off of the trails. It looked like there had been a burn recently along Twin Oaks trail by Briery Fork trail. Couldn't have been too long ago, because it smelled great.

Black Mountain Trail

2011-03-13T18:22:00.000-04:00

So what do you do when you live 10 minutes from the gate to the most beautiful place on Earth and it's 65 and sunny? You grab your bike and drive through that gate of course. I parked at the Ranger Station and headed up 477>Clawhammer. Once I got to the top, I decided that I was going to go right on Black Mtn., since I had not been on that section yet. I knew there would be some hike-a-bike, and boy was there. It's basically one long hike-a-bike with intermittent sections of riding until you get close to the intersection with Turkey Pen. Then it is literally all down hill from there to Pressley Gap. I'm not sure how often I'll actually do this section of Black, but I'm glad I did today, because the views were outstanding.

While up near the top of Black Mtn., I actually had 3G service and heard my phone vibrate. It was a voicemail from Heather asking if I wanted a burrito from Pescado's. What fantastic timing to get reception! My reply was a resounding "Hell yeah!!" Once I got to Pressley Gap that burrito was all I could think about, so I hung a right on Maxwell and flew down it and Clawhammer. The burrito and beer waiting for me at home really hit the spot. Not a bad little Sunday.

Turrible Weekend....Just Turrible

2011-02-28T13:58:00.002-05:00

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:

Short After-Work Ride - Bennett Gap

2011-02-22T19:24:00.000-05:00

It wasn't long ago that my after-work/school rides were at Tower Park in Ft. Thomas, KY, or East Fork State Park in Batavia, OH. While I still felt pretty lucky to have decent places to ride within a short drive, now I can be in Pisgah in 10 minutes. It's still a little surreal to be honest. I got out of court a little early today, so I headed to the Forest and parked at the Ranger Station on 276. From there, I rode up 477 to the top of Bennett Gap, and bombed my way back down to 477 and back to the car. The weather was perfect and the trails were empty. I actually felt really good today, too, and now I'm drinking a Highlands Black Mocha Stout. Life is good.

15 Perfect Miles in DuPont

2011-02-19T20:27:00.000-05:00

It was sunny, 60'ish, and dry. I had had a stressful week due to house purchasing drama and a disappointing hearing on Friday, so I definitely needed some forest time. I headed to the Fawn Lake parking area and figured I'd put together a loop from there. The trails were absolutely perfect, and it wasn't quite as crowded as I thought it would be, but there were quite a few folks there nonetheless. I started down Reasonover and, after the climb, decided to head down Turkey Knob Rd. and Poplar Hill Loop for the first time. That was a good call. I went out and back on those and then continued on Reasonover. This is easily one of my favorite trails in the area. I wish it was about 10 miles longer, though. From Reasonover, I did the Lake View Loop real quick just to see what it was, then on to Lake Julia Gulia Rd.>Camp Summit>Airstrip>Airstrip Tr.> Shelter Rock>Barn Tr (Where I saw two older ladies riding llamas. Not joking.)>Bridal Veil Falls>Corn Mill Shoals>Shoals>Laurel Ridge>Mine Mtn. It was an excellent day on the bike.

Turkey Knob Rd.

Old Wagon on Poplar Hill

I bet this was sweet when it was new

Perfect Day

I love the Salsa bottle cages

Boathouse on Lake Julia Gulia

View from Airstrip

Bridal Veil

Short Spin in Pisgah

2011-02-13T18:39:00.001-05:00

Heather and I are officially house hunting. It's a little sooner than we wanted, especially since we are only half way through our lease, but we just can't stand sharing a wall with a gaggle of heavily-hooved humans anymore. Thankfully, our landlord is going to let us out of our lease early. Apparently a lawyer complaining about his right to quiet enjoyment of his leased property is scary to a landlord, plus we're using him as our agent, sooooooo...

Anyway, we had a meeting scheduled with him this afternoon, so I had to cancel on my planned ride for the day, but the weather was too perfect to not get out for a short ride. It was sunny, 60, and hadn't precipitated in a while, so I headed into Pisgah for a short but fun loop. I parked on 477, rode up Clawhammer and Maxwell, and then descended Black. 477 was a little sloppy in parts, but Clawhammer and Maxwell were solid. Most of upper Black was perfect, but there were still a fair number of muddy spots toward the bottom, where they did all that great drainage work. No precip forecasted for the upcoming week, so the trails will have a chance to dry out a bit more for next weekend.

It was a nice ride on a perfect day. My cardio shape is still really lacking, but the 1x9 setup worked great. I have a Paul's Chainkeeper on it, and it worked flawlessly. I think it'll give me just enough gearing options.

Pics:

The 1x9 Setup

Perfect Day in Pisgah

On Maxwell

Pressley Gap

Lower Black

It's Done

2011-01-26T17:51:00.001-05:00

After much bitching and moaning about my inability to singlespeed my way up these mountains, I have converted the Lazer Cat to 1x9. Do I feel like a quitter? Yes. Will I be able to ride up hill better and not spin out in the flats? Hopefully.

Notice the nice new Park workstand that Heather got me for xmas. It really makes working on my bikes a lot easier. Also notice the psychotic tuxedo cat, all worn out from driving me crazy by attacking my shifter cable while I was setting it up.

I hope to be back to SS someday.

Cabin Fever

2011-01-25T10:20:00.000-05:00

This has been a pretty rough winter for riding. We have had a lot of snow for this area, and it has stuck around. That means that I have not been riding much at all, and my fitness level shows it. I got out to DuPont with some folks on Saturday, and it was the worst ride I've had in a long time. The cold air, sore/tired legs from squats, chunky, icy snow, and my inhaler giving its final puff, all joined together like the perfect storm of excuses for my abysmal performance on the bike. The people I was riding with are definitely faster than me, and I started too hard and just burned out early. They had a training agenda, so I just told them all to go ahead and I would continue on a winter, Rick-paced ride. Well that didn't work out all that well either. I tried to hit a couple of my usual trails, but Joanna Rd. was either the aforementioned chunky, icy snow, or a solid sheet of ice. I just cut my losses and turned around, riding a whopping 10 miles for the day. No ride is a waste, though, and at least I did get out and pedal a bit. I need to get out and ride more for sure, but unfortunately, more snow is on the way tonight.

I mentioned in a previous post that I had some new fitness plans, so I thought I'd just mention them here. I know my core strength is lacking, so I thought I'd give some kettlebell workouts a try. I'm on my third week, and I love them. I just bought a 30lb and a 50lb off of Walmart.com, and they are plenty for me so far. The workouts I found online have been fun. You basically just do five-exercise circuits, and do as many circuits as you can in 30 minutes, so there is a pretty good cardio aspect to them. I'm feeling stronger, and my pants are fitting looser, so I'm headed in the right direction. I also got some Vibram FiveFinger KSOs, aka, "monkey feet." These "shoes" are pretty cool. I work out in them, and I have just started trying to run in them. It will definitely take some time to get used to running in them, because you use different muscles and they can be a bit hard on your feet at first. My first attempt was a short, 1-mile run, and my calves were sore for 2 days. I think that's a good sign.

Hopefully I'll be able to start riding again soon, and this blog can get back to what I intended it to be.

A Hike Before the Storm

2011-01-09T18:29:00.000-05:00

We apparently have a big winter storm heading our way tonight, so we made a point of getting out in the forest today. We had always wondered about that trailhead along the side of 276 by the bridge, aka Moore Cove, so that's where we went. It was a pretty easy little hike, and surprisingly busy considering the cold, but the falls at the end were cool. It was basically a tall, but low-flow, waterfall, falling over the front of an overhanging rock, or what I have always called an Indian Cave. The falls were much bigger than I expected, because they really don't look very big in pictures, unless there's a person for scale. We followed the trail a bit past the falls and came across a smaller version of them, but then turned around.

We had also heard that if you follow the trail that branches off of Moore Cove close to the trailhead, that it will take you to Jack's Cove falls. We decided to go for it. If you want to follow this trail, you want to take the left at the top of the wooden stairs from the trailhead. The marker will just say "Closed Road" on it, but it's open to hiking. We followed this for quite a ways, and made it to Jack's Cove, but turned around before we made it to the falls. It was getting late, the temps were dropping, blisters were forming, and I had Chicken 'n Dumplins to make, dammit.

Pics:

Unfortunately, a Road Ride

2011-01-02T19:59:00.001-05:00

We had six inches of snow last weekend, which has subsequently melted [mostly], and it rained all day yesterday, so the trails were not rideable today. I needed to spin the pedals, so I dusted off the road bike for the first time since moving here. It's a very nice road bike, a Bianchi Vigorelli, a graduation present to myself over the summer. I rode it quite a bit in northern KY, but I just haven't had any desire to ride anything with skinny tires since moving to mtb Mecca.

I left the townhouse and it was dark and dreary here in Brevard. It looked a bit brighter to the south, so I headed down Rt. 64, and up Rt. 215 to the BRP. The gate was closed, but the road looked clear, and the sun was shining bright at this point, so I hopped on the Vig and headed south. Everything was going smoothly for the first 3.5 miles, but then my first ever roadie wreck happened. It was a downhill section, so I had some speed, came around a corner and.......nothing but black ice. I slammed to the pavement and slid about 20-30 yards on my left hip and ankle. Burned a few nice holes in my shorts and left me a real nice road rash. Ouch. That's also the side I sleep on and I'm out of bourbon. Tylenol PM maybe?

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics:

I tried to ride a little further, but there was even more ice, so I just quit while I was only slightly behind. On my way home, going down 215, I came across a little Beagle mix trotting down the middle of the road. I stopped to get him off the road, but he kept coming back to hang out with me, so I picked him up and placed him shotgun. I had no cell reception, so I had to drive all the way down the mountain to call the number on his collar. On the other end of the call was, of course, a total redneck that told me the dog was just fine walking along the road, because they live right there. I'll help animals out whenever I can, but I won't just take someone's pet unless they're treating it pretty bad, so back up the mountain I went. I dropped him off back at his home, and headed back down the mountain. I didn't feel great about it, but at least I got him off the road.

Stay safe, buddy.

I also have some fun and different fitness plans in the works. Plans, not resolutions. I hope to do some endurance races this year, but right now I'm a fat bastard, so I'm pretty excited to start doing something about it. Maybe I'll be able to avoid transitioning the Lazer Cat to 1x9.

DuPont Ride with Mike G.

2010-12-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

My buddy Mike was in town, and he had some free time and wanted to ride. He doesn't get much free time with a young daughter and a pregnant wife that is about to pop, so I was more than happy to pick him up and show him around DuPont a bit. This was only my second opportunity to ride with him, and it honestly may have only been his second time really going mountain biking. Well, he's a natural. He does way better than I ever did starting out, and he climbs like a damn goat.

It was a pretty cold day, and there was quite a bit of ice and snow on the trails still, but it was still a blast. We started from the Lake Imaging lot and did an abbreviated version of the Briery and Back loop, with a slight detour to see High Falls. We did around 12.5 miles at a nice leisurely pace. Great ride.

I only got one pic before my battery died. Guess I should have charged it after yesterday's hike.

Pressley Cove

2010-12-18T21:55:00.000-05:00

Heather and I both needed some forest time, so we went for a hike in Pisgah. We parked on 477, went up Pressley Cove Tr., and came back down Maxwell and Clawhammer to 477 again. It was cool, but never actually cold. There was still quite a bit of snow and ice around, and the forest was nice and quiet. We both felt instantly better as soon as our feet hit the trail. We did around 4.5 miles with almost 1500 ft of elevation change. It was a nice little Saturday. We were going to go to Bed, Bath & Beyond, but we just didn't have the time.

Pics from the Actual Hike:


Man, Beast, and Machine

Full Set:

SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-11T16:36:00.000-05:00

Not only is Brevard the Land of Waterfalls, but it's also home of the White Squirrels. In fact, 27% of Brevard's squirrel population consists of white squirrels. How do we know this? Because people like Heather and I volunteer to count them each year. We were assigned our own sector to walk and count white squirrels, gray squirrels, and squirrel nests. It was a beautiful day for squirrel countin', and we got a few good pics of these elusive creatures.

At first we thought it would be tough to get a good pic, as they kept their distance from us.

But then we found a couple that weren't so shy.

We counted gray ones, too.

Poor Kenda was left at home with only her squirrel dreams.

Quick and Slick DuPont Ride

2010-12-10T18:58:00.002-05:00

The weather was great and I had nothing to do, so I headed down 276 and hit DuPont from the Corn Mill Shoals parking lot. This was my first ride back from my groin injury, so I wanted to sort of take it easy. I rode Corn Mill Shoals>Burnt Mtn>Corn Mill Shoals>Little River>Cedar Rock(1st one)>Big Rock>Corn Mill Shoals>Longside>Pine Tree>Cascade Lake Rd.>Rock Quarry Rd.>Micajah>Wilkie>Cascade Lake Rd. It was a nice little loop. I was able to ride all of Burnt Mtn for the first time ever, finally not being freaked out by the rocky downhill section that isn't that hard, but is quite steep. My groin felt pretty good, but did start to get sore towards the end of the ride, right around Longside.

It was good to be riding the Lazer Cat again. Every new bike has a bit of an adjustment period, before the bike really just feels like an extension of yourself. Today got me one ride closer to that feeling. It feels more and more right with every ride.

Every time I ride Cedar Rock/Big Rock, I am absolutely in awe of the scenery. It is such a unique place, and never fails to give me the inner peace I'm looking for in the mountains. The ride up was a bit sketchy in places, because the slick rock was made a bit slicker with solid sheets of ice across it in parts, but it was nothing a little detouring couldn't fix.

While I was pushing up Cedar Rock, I reflected a bit on the past year and I realized that there has been a whole lot of change going on. I finished law school, took and passed the bar exam, we moved to Brevard, and I started practicing law on my own. It's really been a pretty crazy year. Looking forward, I'm confident that 2011 is going to be the year that it all comes together, after many years in limbo. I'm sure there will still be more change, hopefully in the form of a home purchase, but I think stability will finally be coming into our lives. One sure sign of that is that we absolutely love it here.

Enough of that; here are the few pics I took on the ride:

Explorin' Pisgah

2010-12-06T11:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we wanted to get out and take a pic to go on our Christmas cards this year. We went into town and walked and drove around, and nothing really felt right, so we decided to drive into the forest. Brevard is known as the Land of Waterfalls so we headed to Looking Glass Falls. It was pretty cold out, so it wasn't crowded at all. We snapped a few pics of us, which turned out pretty good, and then a few pics of the falls. It was cool, because the mist from the falls was forming ice crystals on the vegetation around the bottom. On our way back, we decided to take a short detour on 477 to the horse stables, because Heather had never been down that way. At the stables, it started flurrying. After that, we headed into the campground area, and back to the English Chapel, which neither of us had seen up close yet.

Anyway, nothing too exciting, but here are a few pics:

Short Pisgah Hike

2010-12-01T16:48:00.001-05:00

Lately, I've really been feeling stressed and anxious. I have a lot of uncertainty in my professional life right now, and it's just been building up inside of me. And due to a groin injury, resulting from me trying to set my foot down on a ride, only to have it hit wet leaves and slide down a rock face on a steep mountain slope, causing me to do the splits until something popped, I haven't been able to relieve the stress that has been building. Add on top of that the fact that it has been monsooning here for the past few days, and you have a bona fide funk in the works.

I decided today was the day to get out and try to do something about it. I had a couple of things to take care of this morning, but as soon as I was finished I came home, grabbed Kenda, and headed for the forest for a short afternoon hike. We parked the Grand at the Art Loeb trailhead by the campground, and headed out along the river. The water was high and flowing fast. The sound of the rapids had an immediate calming effect. We followed the crushed limestone path and then hung a right on the Art Loeb. This is a long and challenging, hiking-only, trail that has several different sections crossing the Pisgah Ranger District. The challenging part of this trail is that it is basically a ridgeline trail, so there is a lot of climbing over summits.

We went up and up and up, and the trail was nice. It was a little wet from all of the monsooning and whatnot, but never muddy. We heard some hunting dogs in the distance, but they seemed pretty far off. I was originally planning on just doing an out and back, but then we came across an old road (Joel Branch Rd.?). I didn't have my map, but my spidey sense told me it would take me close to where I wanted to be, and it was downhill, so off we went down the road. Well, my spidey sense is yet to fail me, and we ended up coming out at the back of the work camp, connecting back up to the bottom of the Art Loeb, and back to the car. We did see one hunter on a trail off the side of the road, but he didn't see us. I was a little nervous about it being rifle season, but I just kept talking loudly to Kenda and it was a non-issue.

It was a nice, and much-needed hike, and ended up being just over 4 miles. No matter how stressful my career path (or lack thereof) is right now, I know we made the right decision moving here. Where else can I drive 10 minutes and be able to go on a short hike on a trail like the Art Loeb, in a place like Pisgah? Just amazing. Now I just need to find some boots that won't give me blisters. Today was pretty much the last chance for these Asolos.

Pics:

On the Art Loeb

I was feeling a bit Irish today, hence the hat.

Foot bridge over the rushing river.

Lazer Cat - Dupont Ride

2010-11-17T18:50:00.000-05:00

I hung out in court this morning, just observing things and learning a bit, and then had lunch with some attorneys, social workers, and a judge. After all that fun, it was time to get real again and go for a ride. I headed home, got out of my stuffy "court clothes," and grabbed the Lazer Cat. This would be my second ride on her, but my first with the build totally complete with fork remote lockout installed, and the tires set up as tubeless.

I rode her Saturday in Mills River, and she felt great. Very responsive, light, and smooth. Today, I wanted to get her out on a route that I have ridden many times on the Karate Monkey to get a good comparison, so I hit Reasonover Creek>Lake Julia Gulia Rd.>Camp Summit Rd.>Airstrip Tr.>Shelter Rock Tr.>Corn Mill Shoals Rd./Tr.>Shoals Tr.>Laurel Ridge Tr.>Mine Mtn. Tr. The route wasn't nearly as long as it sounds, but it was a good, late afternoon ride.

Right off the bat, I loved the feel of this bike. It's a little difficult to explain, but it feels like more of an extension of me than something I am sitting on top of. That means that maneuvering the bike is much more intuitive, and less work. I don't know if that is because the geometry is just a better match for my size, that it is quite a bit lighter than my Monkey even with a suspension fork, the fact that it does have a suspension fork, or a combination of all of that. I really do notice how light this bike is, as it's so easy to get airborne, and pop up over obstacles. It certainly helps on the climbs, too. The frame is also very compliant. Steel provides such a smooth ride, and the Lazer Cat doesn't feel nearly as "tank'ish" as the Monkey does. I'll chalk that up to Brendan's tubing selection. And finally, having a Reba XX/Race (the dampener was swapped out from Xloc to Pushloc by the PO which meant it was quite affordable for me) with a 20mm thru axle really made a difference as well. The bike is a point and shoot, not requiring nearly as much finesse as the rigid fork, and allowing me to bomb the downhills a bit more.

That's all I have to say about that for now. I'm anxious to see how much more I like it as I get used to it.

Here are a couple pics of the build:

Hike to Bridal Veil - 11.7.10

2010-11-07T22:03:00.002-05:00

Heather had never been to Bridal Veil Falls in DuPont, so we decided to put together a hiking loop that would include them. I basically just decided on a variation of a loop that I usually ride, which turned out to be a pretty darn long hike. We were out there for a good 4-5 hours hiking, and playing on the falls. We parked at Fawn Lake access and from there the route was Reasonover Creek Tr.>Lake Julia Rd.>Conservation Rd.>Shelter Rock Tr.>Barn Tr.>Bridal Veil Falls Rd.>Bridal Veil Falls>Corn Mill Shoals Tr.>Shelter Rock Tr.>Airstrip Tr.>Conservation Rd.>Fawn Lake Rd. It was kind of a long one, and we were both spent, but very happy, at the end of it.

It was the perfect way to spend such a great day, and right now we are enjoying the perfect way to finish the day, hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps.

Pics:

Some Nice Canadians with Broken Hockey Sticks as Walking Sticks Took this for Us.

Coming At Ya!

A Little Ice up High

Too Cold to Get Wet Going Behind

Nice Scenery ;)

See Ya

Forget the Iceman, The Lazer Cat Cometh

2010-11-06T10:59:00.000-04:00

After a slightly longer than expected, but apparently well-worth-it wait, my new John Henry is finished. Brendan puts out some great frames, and mine appears to be no exception. The color we decided to go with was Lazer [Cat] Rootbeer, and now you know where its name came from. I was originally looking for something in the charcoal family, with a mocha tint to it, or Charcoal-ate, but nothing was jumping out at me. Then Brendan showed me this color and I was sold. These pics sort of show it, but the color has a lot of depth to it, with multi-colored flake. I left the decal choice up to Brendan, and I'm glad I did. I probably would have picked silver, but he came up with cream decals, with a brown outline. I think that complements the frame color much better than silver would have.

Anyway, here are the pics that Brendan sent, and of course, I'll post more once she arrives in NC, next Thursday.

I'm getting ready to go ride at DuPont today. It looks beautiful out, but I know that it's also cold. High of 44 today, which should be some pretty good riding weather.

Bennett Gap Ride - 10.24.10

2010-10-24T21:09:00.001-04:00

I decided to head back into Pisgah today, and try out a new trail, Bennett Gap. Bennett is a seasonal trail, which means it is only open to bikes from Oct. 15 - Apr. 15. This was a very fun trail, with the best views I've seen so far in Pisgah, because of the depth of the mountain ranges you can see. I started out at the Ranger Station and took FS 477 toward the horse stables. I stayed on 477 past the stables, and pedaled (mostly) up a loooooooooooong climb, to Bennett Gap. I didn't see any signs for this trail, but when you see Buckwheat Knob Trail on the right side of 477, look directly to your left and go around the gate, and you're on Bennett Gap. You'll start out on some pretty normal singletrack, then you go through a small field of thorn bushes (blueberry bushes maybe?), and then you start doing some ridge riding with some hike-a-bike sections and the amazing views. After a downhill hike-a-bike with some big rocks, the trail generally points down and is rideable. It ended with a screamin' downhill that I had to take breaks on just to let my hands rest a bit, from the rigid fork beating. I think the downhill was a good 15-20 minutes. All-in-all, it was a fun trail, but a killer climb to get to it.

Pics:

Slate Rock Hike - 10.16.10

2010-10-17T17:10:00.000-04:00

It was another absolutely perfect day yesterday, so we decided to go for another hike, this time to a lookout that neither of us had been to, Slate Rock, in Pisgah. This is a relatively short hike, but it is pretty steep. We parked at the Pilot Cove trailhead and took Pilot Cove all the way up to the second intersection with the Pilot Cove Loop/Slate Rock trail.

This was an extra special hike because we took Kenda, our Jack Russell/Beagle mix, out on her first hike. She absolutely loved it, and did great. It was really nice to have her out there with us.

And........here are the pics:

Ready to Go!

The Forest was Glowing

Listen.........you smell that?

Just a Little Guy Catching Some Rays

This was a Really Nice Trail

More Color Higher Up

Checking the View with Dad

The View is Always Better with Mom

Posing

Whole Set:

Coming Soon to a Trail Near [Me]

2010-10-14T19:55:00.001-04:00

I got an email last night from Brendan of Siren Bicycles, and it looks like John Henry will be coming to Brevard pretty soon. It's going to powdercoat on Monday, so it should be here in a couple of weeks.

Here are the pics he sent me.

Bottom Bracket Junction

Dropout

Seat Stay Junction

Tacked and Ready to Weld

On another note, I rode in Pisgah today, but didn't take my camera. I rode from the Ranger Station, past the horse stables, up Clawhammer and Maxwell to Black Mountain. Down Black to Grassy Rd., to lower Sycamore to 276 and back to the Ranger Station. It was a fun ride, but I'm starting to think I might be moving to 2x10 this winter, instead of SS. I don't know; we'll see how it goes on the new frame with slightly easier gearing for a while.

DuPont Ride 10.10.10 - To Briery and Back

2010-10-10T16:14:00.000-04:00

I did a loop today that I have done a few times since moving here. It's a pretty fun one, with some decent mileage, and a good mix of terrain. You start out at the Lake Imaging lot, and proceed from there. The list of trails and roads that you connect is long, so I'll just post a link to the PAS directions, which is where I learned this route in the first place. LINK It was a perfect day, and the forest was crowded. The touristy lots were overflowing onto the road, and there were quite a few horses on the trails, which made for loose conditions. Overall, though, it was a great day to be on my bike in the woods.

Pics:

Fall Color

Slickrock Outcropping on Joanna Rd.

These Two Trails are a Blast

One of Two Crossings on Briery Fork

Sweet Singletrack

Grassy Creek Tr. - You Have to Carefully Pick Your Lines Down

I Have No Idea How This Happened


Old Family Cemetary

Cat Gap Loop and John Rock - 10.9.10

2010-10-09T22:42:00.001-04:00

The forecast for today was perfect, so we decided to go for a nice hike. Heather had never been up to John Rock, above the fish hatchery, so that was the destination. I was a little worried that the trail would be packed, since it's a bit touristy, and I was even more worried when we pulled into the hatchery and the lot was pretty much full. It turned out OK, though. Yeah, we passed some people on the trail, and yeah, some of them were loud and annoying, but it was better than I thought it might be.

We decided to take Cat Gap Loop counterclockwise, with the John Rock detour. According to my mapping software, this loop is only ~4.5 miles, but it felt longer. It's pretty darn steep in spots, and very rooty. Despite all that, we hoofed it and made good time. We took plenty of breaks along the way to try and capture just how beautiful the forest is right now, with the leaves starting to change. Hopefully, some of my pics do it justice.

Rushing Water

Waterfall along Cat Gap Loop

Natural Vignette around some Shrooms

GORGEOUS!!!

The Leaves are Changing

Some Sort of Bud Along the Way

Lots of Color

Looking Glass from John Rock

Afterwards, we stopped at the Hub, then Pescado's for burritos and tacos, and then Brevard College to watch a bit of the soccer game. Unfortunately, they're not so good, with only one win so far this season, and only one all of last season.

College Football

They were losing 4-1 when we left early in the second half.

You can see the full set of pics HERE.

Tomorrow, I ride.

Dupont Ride 10.5.10

2010-10-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

I spent a lot of time working on an appellate brief that I was able to finish up last night, so I decided that today would be a riding day, and that DuPont would be the place. I wanted some flowy trails, so I parked at Fawn Lake. From there, my route was Reasonover Tr.>Fawn Lake Rd>Conservation Rd>Airstrip Tr.>Shelter Rock Tr.>Corn Mill Shoals>Laurel Ridge Tr.>Mine Mtn Tr. and back to the car. I did a version of this loop as my first ride as a Brevardian, so I was a little anxious to see if my fitness has improved. Thankfully it has. I was able to ride quite a bit more of the climbs this time around.

It was a perfect day for a ride. The temp was around 60, and it was sunny. With the brisk breezes on the ridgelines, it was definitely arm warmer weather.

On to the pics:


Reasonover Crossing

After the Downhill on Reasonover

Bridge on Reasonover

Lake Julia

The Airstrip

Airstrip Trail

Corn Mill Shoals Gets Really Rocky, Really Steep, Really Fast

The Flow on Laurel Ridge Tr.

Rain

2010-09-27T12:25:00.000-04:00

It has been pouring here for the last couple of days, but even the rain is better in the mountains. That means that it's a good day to get some cover letters and resumes out, and do a little remote clerkin' for the Bulldog. No matter what I'm doing, though, I'm generally daydreaming about riding. I can't wait to get back out and explore some more of my local trails. Hopefully that'll be sometime later this week. In the meantime, though, I'm taking care of some priorities, and planning my new bike build. My new frame should be here in a couple of weeks, and I still have some parts to collect. I have the major stuff already (see pic), but I still need a headset, bottom bracket, stem, and handlebars. Not sure which bars I want. I would really like to try the Ragley Carnegies, but they're not available in the states, and I don't want to wait for international shipping. Any other ideas? I like my Mary's, but I don't want a riser. Maybe Salsa's with a 17-degree bend?

Random bits:

Pisgah Ride - 9.21.10

2010-09-21T21:53:00.000-04:00

So I got a route recommendation from brado for a nice loop to hit Laurel Mtn. I took FS 1206 and parked at Pilot Cove, as recommended. From there I took 1206 up to Laurel Mountain Trail to Laurel Mountain Connector to Pilot Rock Trail to 1206 then back to the Heep. Apparently brado thought I was in better shape than I was. It was only ~12 miles, but that's about equivalent to a 40 mile ride in Cincy. This loop gave me a swift kick in the ass, but it was a blast. It started off with FS road climbing, then rocky singletrack climbing and hike-a-bike sections. Once you got past this, there was some really nice, flowy contoured ridge riding. Really nice trails. Then, of course, there would be a huge field of rocks to navigate (walk) through/over/under. There was one demoralizing hike-a-bike section just before hitting the connector trail, and then there was Pilot Rock Trail. Insane downhill. Steep, rocky, loose, switchbacky (I just made that up) terrain that went on and on. It was a ton of fun even though I wimped out on a few spots. This downhill really beat me up on my rigid, but I definitely noticed today how much better the big wheels roll over rocks. Anyway, fun loop that I will hit again, fo sho. True Pisgah and the reason I moved here.

On a small side note, every route suggestion I've received here has ended with "And if you have anything left after that..." I love that. There is just so much good riding here, that you can add on more loops if you feel up to it. Of course, I haven't had anything left after that yet. In time.

Pics:

Gorges State Park - 9.18.10

2010-09-19T12:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we headed down to Gorges State Park, close to the SC border, for a 6-7 mile hike. We decided to take the Rainbow Falls trail and parked in the appropriate, and insanely packed, parking lot. We then headed down what started off as the most boring trail ever built. The first mile or so is a wide, gravel-packed trail that just goes down and down. Once you leave the park boundary, though, it gets better. The gravel ends, you start hearing and seeing water, and the trail then actually gets pretty rocky, rooty, and steep.

We were starting to feel better about this trail until we noticed that there were a bunch of college kids from Clemson all over the place, wearing bathing suits and flip flops. Along the way, there were some nice river views, and once we got to the falls, they were beautiful. I will never go back to this park, though. The college kids sucked. Apparently this is a Clemson hangout. The little bastards were everywhere, and they were loud and obnoxious. During our hike back, they were yelling all along the trail, and one of them was blowing a bubuzela. Really?!?!? I can't blame it all on the Clemson kids, though, there were also some total rednecks yelling. We surmised that they had a compound of trailers, with no phones, so that's how they were used to communicating.

Anyway, I don't recommend going to Gorges S.P., unless you're an obnoxious college kid, which I'm not....anymore.

Some pics:

It was a surprisingly large waterfall

The guy on the right in the khaki shorts stood there for about 20 minutes, contemplating, taking off his shoes, then socks, then putting his socks in his pockets, then adjusting how his socks were in his pockets, then sitting down, then standing back up, never jumping. The kids were making fun of him and just went right past him, jumping in.

Pisgah Hike - 9.12.10

2010-09-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

This probably should have been my first post, but a week ago we went for a nice high-country hike in the Shining Rock Wilderness of Pisgah N.F. We started out on Ivestor Gap Rd/Tr and took that almost all the way to Shining Rock, meeting up with Old Butt Knob Tr close to the Rock. We hung out on Shining Rock for a bit and listened to a cool local named Duane tell us stories, and talk shit to me. I hope we run into him again, he was a good guy. We decided to take the Art Loeb trail back for a bit, and then meet back up with Ivestor. Art Loeb is a narrow trail that pretty much goes right over the top of the mountains, instead of staying level like Ivestor, which is an old road or railroad grade. Anyway, Art Loeb was a tad more strenuous, and I think we ended up losing the trail and following a game trail, or blueberry picking trail. No big deal, though, we found our way back eventually. We saw plenty of bear scat along the way, but luckily no bears. Apparently our "Whoa Bear!" calls were effective. All in all, it was around 8-8.5 miles.

Some pics:

Ivestor Gap

Morning Dew

Part of Shining Rock

Duane Talking Shit to Me on Shining Rock

High Country Views

You can check out the full set of pics HERE.

DuPont Ride 9.17.10

2010-09-17T20:28:00.000-04:00

I got plenty of work done today, so I decided to head out to one of my local parks for a quick ride. I've been trying to get out as much as possible. This summer has been tough for riding for me between finishing up school, studying for and taking the bar exam, and moving down here. I'm way out of shape, and am finding the singlespeed quite difficult in the mountains. I have a new frame coming soon, and I think I'll stick with singlespeed, but ease up the gearing ratio a bit until I get my legs. Anyway, here was my route:

Corn Mill Shoals > Burnt Mtn > Corn Mill Shoals > Little River > Cedar Rock (east) > Big Rock > Longside > Pine Tree > Cascade Lake Rd. > Rock Quarry Rd. > Micajah > Wilkie > Cascade Lake Rd.

Here are some pics:

Ready to Roll

Burnt Mtn Downhill

Climbing Cedar Rock

Top of Cedar Rock

Top of Big Rock

Introductions

2010-09-16T11:59:00.000-04:00

My name is Rick, and this is my blog.

I don't really like the word "blog." I'm not a blogger. I won't be providing any insightful analysis on hot political issues, or updating you on the latest Hollywood gossip. This won't be strictly another ride log, either. It will simply be a place to post some pictures and accounts of our outdoor and life adventures here in Brevard.

We just moved here about two weeks ago, from the Cincinnati area. I'm originally from Cincy, but I've also lived in Nashville, TN and Clearwater, FL. I moved back to Cincy about four years ago to attend law school. Since I just graduated, now seemed like the perfect time to go ahead and move to the place I've always visited and never wanted to leave. I think we have finally found an area where we could spend the rest of our lives.

Now we just need to find jobs...minor detail. But at least we're finally happy in our environment.