I got out yesterday for a fine couple of hours of riding with Mike R. We met up at Hardtimes trailhead at about 2PM on a beautiful late winter day. It was sunny and in the 60's, we were riding in shorts and short sleeves! The route: Homestead->Little Creek->Deerfield Conn.->S. Boundary(?)->Chestnut->Explorer->wrong way to the top of the gravel->Explorer->Pine Tree->BC Road->Lower Sidehill.







The pace was nice and easy as my ribs are still recovering from the crash on Farlow last week and Mike was recovering from 'the sickness' that has been going around. The pace was right there where we were labored to talk, but not so fast that we didn't talk at all. The boundary road climbed and climbed and climbed and Chestnut was as fast and flowey of a descent as one could imagine. Mike mentioned that the trail crews have turned that area into a hotwheels track and that it would be a shame if all of Pisgah was redone like that. That type of trail has it's place, like at the local afterwork public recreation area, but it does lack any resemblence to 'backwoods'. The climb to Lower sidehill put the hurting on both of us but the descent was well worth it. On the way back to the trucks Mike nailed the big log ride for the first time on a hardtail and just like that, we were done. We got back to his place in time for a bit of Jeep maintainence and I was home by sundown. Now that's what I'd call a great afternoon!