Happy Birthday Tripp

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

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...

...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

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

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

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

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.