Today Samford the Pisgah Gnome and I went on a tour of North Mills River.

From Trace Ridge parking lot->Lower Trace->North Mills->Yellow Gap->5051->1206->Fisherman's->Lower Trace->Wash Creek->5000->5001->Bear Branch->5000->Spencer Gap->Trace Ridge->Never Ending Road->Fletcher Creek->Reservoir Road->back to the Jeep.

What's this all about? Well the mtbr nc forum has a picture game going where you find this guy where the last rider stashed him, take him on a ride, take a photo where you stash him next, then report back where he is now. Simple.

Well, yesterday I picked up the gnome at the swinging bridge over North Mills River and we went for a ride. I had no real plan of action for once I had him on my back though. How about a few loops around the North Mills River area then? Perfect. First was North Mills->Yellow Gap->5051. A great warm-up. I then took Fisherman's, crossed the river (saw a family I would run into three or four times for the first time), then climbed Lower Trace to Wash Creek.

At the first big horse-hole on Wash I saw 4 hourses parked right in the trail. I stopped then called forward 'Hello?' and these two steadied the beasts as I walked by. I got a heart-felt 'Thank You' for knowing how to deal with horses in the woods then we struck up a conversation. I had just met the head of the local equestrian trail club, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Tom Thomas:

He was very keen to the idea that equestrians and cyclists stay out of a pissing match. 'If we start closing trails to horses, or to bikes, we all lose.' No truer words have been spoken Tom. Thanks for taking a moment to talk. (I should have had them pose with the gnome...)Next was 5001->Bear Branch. 

I love the Bear Branch loop and don't do it often enough. The climb slowing ascends through an old pine stand and the descent is a fast, wide, and ummm..... FAST! The Stage Race had obviously been routed through making it exceptionally fast, too. I got to the bottom, saw the family again, then turned onto 5000 heading to Spencer.

Even with the 3-5 pound concrete buddy on my back I cleaned ALL of Spencer for the first time in forever. I tried to find someplace along the way to drop him off but no place seemed right so Trace was next. Trace is in HORRIBLE shape at the top and I almost went down hard when, at high speed, I couldn't get out of a runoff rut. Well, I pulled it off and flew all the way to the parking lot.

I saw the family again (I should have taken a photo with then and the gnome at this point), stopped by the Jeep for some food and drink, then was headed up the Never Ending Road to Fletcher. I cannot recall the last time I climbed NER and it took MUCH longer than I had expected to get to Spencer/Fletcher.

At the top I tried again to find a suitable home for Samford the Gnome but was unsuccessful. Fletcher was next and is in the best shape I've ever seen it. The brand new trail work has made it super fast and flowy almost like a back-woods Greenslick!

When I got to the Spencer/Fletcher/Middle Fork intersection I knew it was time to drop the gnome. My next stop was to be the Jeep so he had to find a new home. Just past the intersection I noticed a beautiful fern field that was turning bright gold. About 25 feet off the trail I saw this unique stump and decided it was a perfect place for him to hang out until the next person takes him on an adventure.

There were small birds chirping and flying in all directions, squirrels darting about, chipmunks sprinting, and all sorts of other Disney-like woodland creatures doing their thing. Samford is in good company at his new residence. Thanks for getting out Samford! Great ride! Oh yeah, next was the short but annoying climb, the vastly improved high-speed rocket ride to the reservoir road, and the climb back to the Jeep. The droid malfunctioned so I don't have mileage/altitude stats but I'm guessing about 20 miles. A fun day in the woods for sure!

Big Ivy / Coleman Boundary!

Jody F. and I got out for another excellent ride last night. When I say excellent and Jody in the same sentence it usually means one of a few things: 1. We went on some sort of adventure where we were on the verge of being totally lost  2. There was a mechanical failure. 3. Speeds WAY beyond safe were attained. Well, last night had all three.

One of the only views

We started with the 8 mile mostly climb on the road to Douglas Falls. Along the way I was having a hard warm-up but Jody was happy to hang back with me and talk about all sorts of god knows what.

Jody, wait until I get the camera out so I can catch you falling!

When we hit 7.8 miles we found ourselves at a left turn and we didn't know for sure if we were on course so I broke out the Droid and called Jut Rut. He had the info we needed and a bit of a warning : 'You're going to navigate Big Ivy at night? Be careful, there are big trees down and the trail is a mess. Good luck finding the next Left.' and with the sun steadily setting we were off and climbing that grassy road of death.

Water Fall along the way

The correct turn

It had been over 5 years since I had been back there and a similar amount of time for Jody. The area was starting to look familiar though and I was keeping an eye out for the Left. We rounded a corner after a few miles and there it was, an unmarked Left that dropped straight off the mountain we had been working so hard to climb. Jody was unconvinced though. He thought the turn was much more defined. After a bit of hemming and hawing we continued on the grassy road of death until Jody just stopped and declared we should go back and check out the first Left again. We backtracked, found an orange blaze on the Left, committed, and rolled it.

Grassy Road of Death

The top of the descent was fun but nerve wracking. The trail had a super fun flow and it was easy to get going WAY too fast. Following Jody is a blast. The mechanical showed up right then though, my rear brake line must have air in it as I had to set the lever ALL the way out so it wouldn't hit the bar when applied. Not having enough brakes was not the way I wanted to run one of the biggest fastest descents in Pisgah (if we were even on it). The worst part was not knowing if we were going the right way or not. It was pitch black and windy with the temp steadily falling. The weather channel said to expect a low of 36* and the last thing I wanted to do was cuddle with Jody until sun up.
Jody arrived at a landmark he recognized from the Enduro and let out a huge 'Whoop!'. I was 50 yards back and knew by the sound of his voice we were on the right track.

The jump from the Enduro

We took a long breather once the anxiety had faded away then railed into the real reason to go to Big Ivy / Coleman Boundary, Bear Pen to Stair Creek. That descent is like two Farlow Gaps in a row. Stomach on the saddle, just on the edge of control, big fun. Stair Creek drops out just above the parking lot so the ride was done. 10 miles of climbing for 3 miles of descent. That right there probably sums it up the best. Great ride Jody. Thanks for getting out!

A fine afternoon on the Biltmore trails

 I just walked in from a fun (until the very end) ride at the Biltmore Estate. Arbor Trace->Black->Blue. I had planned on getting out into Pisgah but after being called into work a second time I decided it would be best to just stay close by, like, on property.

Arbor Trace has a nice warm-up along the river and gets into some fun rolling singletrack after it crosses the Winery Road. I stopped for a few photos, gave directions, and was on the back of the out and back quickly. Black was next. 

 Black has the hardest little grunt climbs but over in a flash. The longest singletrack on the Estate is Blue. It's not as tech as Black but has a flow that only Woody built trails have. It meets up with the Land Rover Experience trails and passes by the front of the Inn before diving back into the woods for the final few hundred yards of trail.

Little Buddy on Black Diamond Trail

 Well, just as I was about to turn into the field in front of the hotel I had yellowjackets attacking me. One landed on my lower lip and as I went to spfft! spit it away it stung the inside of my lip and the tip of my tongue! Holy Hell!

Obviously not the attackers, just someone hanging out at the Jeep when I got back.

 I'll try to remember to take a picture when the swelling is at it's worst. Hopefully that's not much greater than right now because.... already I don't think dinner or drinks without a straw are in tonight's plans....

OK, here's a shot from 1 hour after the ride.... and my lip is STILL swelling....

View 2011-09-28 13:50 in a larger map
  

 

Dude. I was on this ride and like, a HIKE broke out!

Today was awesome. Totally F'ing awesome. Jody F. showed up at my house at 8:00 and we met Tomato and J at NMRC. We were on our bikes around 9:30 or so, rendezvoused with Erinna and Zoe at the top of Mount Pisgah at 1:00, and were back at the cars at 3:30. Our route: NMRC->1206->Laurel->Gnome->*walk* M2C->*walk* to the Mt Pisgah Summit and back->BRP->Big Creek->Reservoir Rd->Lower Trace. 

Kitsuma on the SS on a Monday

View 2011-09-19 14:03 in a larger map

Where's that confounded gnome?

Jody F and I got out last night for a ride in Turkey Pen. The idea struck us on the way out to try to locate the gnome down in the bowels of Turkey Pen since soon enough it'll be too cold and the water will be too high to get down there until next Spring.

Well, damn that gnome. Damn that gnome to Hell! Every time I go after it something unexpected happens including an adventure ride. We started slow on not-Vinyard and looped back around to the parking lot as a warm-up loop and just as we arrived the rain started to fall. Up Vinyard followed and the rain slowed then stopped, just after turning every root into a snotty-slick mess.

I hit the deck pretty hard then almost immediately had a crazy mechanical. A thick stick got caught up in my rear triangle, somehow broke the valve stem off without breaking a spoke, and actually forced the tire off the bead. Crazy. I was wondering if I was in for a repeat of the shortest ride ever because my front tire was also loosing air. Anyway, we BOMBED down Vinyard to Riverside. The descent was incredible. Slimy roots were sending my wheels in all sorts of unintended directions and my foot was off acting like a rudder on more than one occasion. We crossed the river and I made the fateful decision to go Left on Riverside, thinking that it was the shorter and dryer route.


I was wrong. After what felt like 10 crossings we ran into a problem.

We could not find where the trail exited the river at one especially wide crossing. New trees were down and we scrambled among the crowns trying to find a blaze. After literally a dozen times crossing back and forth trying to find the trail I finally spotted the yellow blaze we were looking for.

A half hour had passed where we were wading in thigh deep, fast moving, river water and the temps were steadily falling. I was feeling rather chilled and was happy to be moving again. We missed the turn to Pea Gap and were at the swinging bridge shortly thereafter. We decided that you know, it was already 10 PM, it was probably best to head back to the parking lot. We took the singletrack back up to the vehicle then enjoyed a couple post ride beers. We talked and laughed and told stories for probably an hour but just before we turned onto the highway was a moment to remember: A huge flying insect had entered the car and by the time Jody got it out I was laughing so hard I was crying. You had to be there. Great ride Jody. Even if it took us 2.5 hours to cover less than 8 miles!

48 mph

30.6 miles, 2646' gain, 2:17 total time, 14.8 mph moving average, 48 mph max!
Town Mountain->BRP->Ox Creek->Reams Creek->Merrimon->WT Weaver->Riverside->Craven->Waynesville

View 2011-09-07 11:48 in a larger map