October 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

2.5 hours of Bent Creek with Big D.

Dennis D. and I have worked together since October 2000. Today we went riding for the first time. Over the last couple of years Dennis has lost a huge amount of weight by simply changing his diet a bit and exercising regularly. It was running that got his cardio back to where it was in his Army days (or even better) but it seems that he’s found his true exercise calling in mountainbiking. It was a smile-filled day. Wet after yesterday’s rain which was perfect because it kept me in check on the downhills…. it was, afterall, only my second ride on the Smoke. We knocked out a pretty long route at Bent Creek despite the wet conditions, my new rig, and the fact that Dennis has only been riding for a few months: Starting at Hardtimes->Gravel up to Ingles Field Connector->Ingles Field->N.Boundary->Green’s Lick->Sidehill->Hickory Top->Ingels Field->gravel->down to Hardtimes Connector->Homestead->Deerfield->Pinetree->Campground connector.
Thanks for coming out Dennis!

Big D.(not so big anymore) at Five Points:

and climbing Sidehill. This man wouldn’t give up while climbing today. Great job Dennis!!!

one more shot…. me with the new bike at the top of Green Slick (full write-up on the bike coming soon):

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 20:52:43 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, October 24, 2008

SMOKE BIKE ride#1

Bent Creek in the rain. Air temp 46*. More later.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:11:20 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Late Post!

Last weekend was the Double Dare, the Fall race Erinna and I host. The turnout was great, 100% higher than last year. As a result I’ve been busy busy busy. I was able to get in a fun ride in on Saturday. It was the first time I’ve ever gone on a ride during a Pisgah Productions race and I had a great time.
The route w/ Sophie: starting at the Turkey Pen parking lot->singletrack->across the bridge->got water at the river->S.Mills->Mullinax->Laurel Creek to the mandatory CP. About 30 minutes after hanging out at the CP I reversed my tracks back up to the van. I got to the CP just before the first racers arrived. That was cool, to see the first three teams in. I doubt they expected the promoter to be there. Thanks to MapJack and CarlostheRed for manning the CP! On my way out I ran into three teams: Bruce and Justin and Gabe and Thad were just a few hundred yards up Laurel (Bruce made me feel great for being out there) then Dave and Alex were on Mullinax. The ride was easy and slow paced, but memorable none-the-less.

Sophie at Mullinax/Squirrel:

Plume and BRob! Woooo!

Photo by Bruce S. (note the janitor-chain holding the camera to my camelbak)

Smoke Bikes Thad

and third placers Alex and Dave:

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:08:39 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, October 13, 2008

Ride/Jeep/Camp

Erinna and I got in a little while ago from a great couple of days in the woods. We parked the loaded-to-the-max Jeep at the Black Balsam parking lot then ->Ivestor Gap->Flat Laurel Creek->215->Summey Cove->Kissee Creek->140A->Farlow Gap->Daniel Ridge(clockwise)->475->140A->(HIKE)Art Loeb(HIKE)->BRP->Black Balsam Rd back o the Jeep. Then with Erinna as my spotter I drove the Jeep in Ivestor Gap trail to where the Art Loeb crosses. We camped Sunday night and Jeeped back out this morning.

The profile of the ride:

Ivestor Gap trail in the morning. We did an out-and-back to check for a place to camp/see if I was OK with driving in:

Erinna on Ivestor:

The Fall colors are at their peak right now in the high-country. Me on Flat Laurel:

Erinna at the concrete bridge on Flat Laurel:

Erinna on 215:

and enjoying a snack break at Kissee:

Jeepin’ on Ivestor:

Camp at just below 6000′. We were setup just before sundown:

Sunset:

We even found enough wood for a perfect sized fire:

Here’s a shot of camp in the AM, just before tear-down:

and finally, near Graveyard Fields on the way home. The colors were out of this world up there.:

wait! here’s the map from the GPS unit on my handlebar:

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 19:43:34 | Permalink | No Comments »

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Eric vs. Team BW

I just got in from a fast ride with Ben P., Wes M., Kris K., and Mike B. a bunch of fast guys… The route: starting at the horse stables->477->Avery->Buckhorn Gap trail->Clawhammer->Black Mountain->Club Gap->276->475B->dead end wrong road->475B->dead end correct road (wrecked by logging)->475B->225->Daniel connector->(rt on)Daniel Ridge->475->Davidson River->475->276->477.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 21:36:14 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

September 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Gasoline free Bent Creek ride.

Mike and Kassi B. and I rode from West Asheville to Bent Creek today. The route once we got into the woods: Through the Arboretum–>Hard Times road–>South Ridge road –> Sleepy Gap–>Explorer–>??? gravel–>FS479–>Lower Sidehill–>??? gravel–>Sidehill–>Little Hickory Top–>Ingels Field–>???->Hard Times Connector->Hard Times road back to the Arboretum

Mike B. haulin’ ass on NC191:

Here’s the map of the route at Bent Creek:

oops! It looks like I forgot to turn the GPS back on after a couple of stops.. click to make big.

Mike and Kassi:

Blacksnake:

And a shot of Kassi as we made our way through the Arboretum, back to NC191, and on to Westville:

Oh man I nearly forgot. We ran into this guy near the end of the ride. Things to note: Early 90’s Pro Flex, no shirt / tiny shorts, bright-white shoes, skateboard helmet… and having a f’ing great time. (please feel free to add to the list).:

I might as well add these photos to this photo post… They are from my last time out, the trailwork ride, but I just got them off the camera.
The view from FS5018. It was a beautiful day to be in the woods. You can see Black and Clawhammer mountains and Looking Glass rock in the background: (click to make big)

Fuzzy Flowers on 5018

and Mike R on is first ride out after the great crash of ‘08. Great to have you back Mike.:

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 20:17:01 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Monday, September 22, 2008

Trailwork Ride

I got a fun ride in on Saturday. Mike B was at my house at a little after 8AM and we picked up Mike R at his place just before 9. Our plan for the day: Start at Bradley Creek trail on 1206, head to S. Mills River Rd, to 5018, to Horse Cove, to Squirrel. We met up with 10 other folks at the big mudhole inbetween Horse and Cantrell and did a ton of work to clear it out.
Here are a few before/after shots courtesy of Mark A.:

This was Mike R’s first ride since his horrific crash at the beginning of the summer and it was great to have him back out in the woods. He relied on his considerable base to get to the top and was only a moment or two behind when Mike B and I got there. He decided to play it safe and walk down Horse to Squirrel and offered up his 5×5 squishy for me to try out for the descent. I took him up on it and had a great fast run. I realized along the way that by no means do I need a full suspension ride… it’s sooooooo fast that it’s dangerous. Anyway, I hopped back on the rigid SS for the ride out to the mudhole and had a great time hopping logs and cleaning just about everything.
We were the first to arrive at the site and started by collecting rocks for the armoring that was to come. When the others did get there the plan of attack was presented and everyone went right to work. Well, 5+ hours later that stretch of trail had been completely transformed into something beautiful, sustainable trail. The mudhole was self perpetuating because of two odd things we found in the muck…. spring heads! Yes, water was coming directly out of the rock and was being held in place by logs, mud, muck, decomposing organic matter of all sorts. We cleaned them out and now water flows freely over the rock and down the hill. We also created a rock water bar and three sections of rock armoring that should stick around for a decade or two…. now that’s good work!
We wrapped it up around 4PM and started the return journey to the Jeep. The climb back up Horse really got my heartrate up as I was following geared Mike B and didn’t want to get off the SS. Up to the truck where Mark A had stashed a few budweisers for the work crew (mmmmmm….. bud has never tasted sooooo gooooood) and moments after Mike R was done with his we were flying down 5018. I got a bit out of control on 1206, having not been on the rigid in a loooong time I had forgotten how to steer through the sweeping turns (more back brake then front! Don’t push the front wheel into the corners!) and we were back to the Jeep quickly. Mike R was again only moments behind but this time his face had a huge smile plastered across it and we was excited that his legs were going to be tired for the first time in months.
It was a great day to be in the woods, too. Absolutely beautiful with a chilly start and a warm sunny day to follow. Blue skies, mild breeze, rain a few days before…. beautiful.
Thanks for arranging the work day Mark!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 13:55:11 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, September 15, 2008

Laurel -> Pilot in 1:53

Today I got out for an interesting ride. Laurel-> Pilot from Yellow Gap. Erinna started about 10-15 minutes before me, on foot, and I didn’t catch her until almost the meeting log. At one point I though, had she been abducted by aliens? no, she’s just a badass, even after months of downtime. The warm-up was as hard as ever and I had to stp and adjust my shifters, the thumbies don’t play nice with the strokers but that was no excuse, she covered ground quickly on foot. I took a quick breather at the meeting log but Erinna (oh, and Sophie) continued on with hardly a break. I caught them again about 5-10 minutes after I started and pushed a great pace through the gaps. At the switchback I was wondering if I could break the 2 hour mark again, and figured not. I knew Erinna wasn’t far behind but continued on and pushed the pace. When I got to the $2K climb I was singing out-loud and having a great time of it when lo-and-behold, Erinna was right there. Yes, in the time it took me to get to Turkey Pen Gap on bike, Erinna did it on foot. We stayed together to the top of the Pilot/Laurel Connector and we bid adieu with me saying, ‘I’ll meet you in the car somewhere on the gravel road…’ as was the plan. I railed Pilot. I was pulling freestylesque swichback turns. I went full-force into the straight aways. I took a quick look at the overlook, but hardly slowed. I cleaned the Hum-Vee section with relative ease, …. then… during the next series of strights I was hauling, feeling out the new brakes and the adjusted fork pressure and my front end slipped off the trail. In an instant I was sliding on my left forearm like it was a bulldozer, my right arm drug across rocks and roots, and faster than it started, the crash was done. I first thought I may have broken my hand (not true), then I saw the blood on my OTHER forearm… oooh my hip hurts…. yup, that’s quick for that big of a raspberry… then I thought…. time to get out of the woods and back to the vehicle. I was up immediately and (much more cautiously) headed towards 1206. A left then bigring down the fireroad. By the time I passed Bradley Creek my arm was covered in blood and I passed some motorcyclists their conversation stopped and they just watched as I passed. How ya doin’? one said…. I let out a grunt but that was about it. I had the climb from Bradley to Yellow ahead and I wondered if I could pull it off in less than 20 minutes as the timer said 1:41. I wanted to beat 2:00. I cranked it out, downshifted and stood when I could, and rocked it out in 12 minutes. Back to the car in 1:53. I then hopped in and picked up Erinna who was already about a mile or so down 1206 towards the finish when I reached her. Fast fast fast go of Laurel ->Pilot. Erinna ran it in an amazing pace, too.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 00:47:14 | Permalink | Pilot in 1:53">Comments (1) »

Saturday, September 6, 2008

A couple of hours ago I got in from another great ride, this time with Mike B and Maximum Overdrive the dog. We started at the Daniel Ridge parking lot->475->5095->Long Branch->475->5003->140A->Farlow Gap->Daniel Ridge back to the car. Just under 16 miles in 3:10 ride time.

As the warmup was underway I wondered if I was going to be able to hang with Mike for the whole ride. See, he just did the Shanandoah 100, toured the Colorado trail, and generally has clocked many more miles than me this summer. I decided early on to keep my own pace because if anything, Mike wouldn’t get upset about hanging out in the woods, with his dog, waiting for a friend. By the time we reached Gloucester Gap I was feeling pretty good and we kept a good moving pace to 140A. We stopped for our first real breather along the way and I was surprised when we arrived at the gate (which was open) that we were there already. Right onto 140A for the first time ever for me. I’ve descended it a dozen times, I’ve gone to Courthouse Falls and up Kissee Creek, but this was a first for me…. and it was tough. 140A is old roadbed doubletrack wide but covered in rocks the entire way. Pilot Mountain looms to the right until you can actually see Farlow Gap in the distance. Mike had an Oh Sh!t moment thinking we had missed the turn (taken the turn?) but quickly we passed the lefty and were on our way to Farlow. Mike got a good 5+ minutes ahead of me there. After a nice long break at the gap Mike took the lead into the descent. We both got stuck in the nasty rock field but cleaned just about every steep chute we could get our wheels in. We stopped at the first waterfall and went to the bottom to check it out (It’s great to stop and smell the roses).

Then it was the up down up down, across creeks, and railing through 12″ wide benchcut on the way to Daniel Ridge. Daniel went by superfast except for one memorable incident: Mike took a digger that sent him over the edge and down 20+’ into the ravine. He stopped sliding down the bank, hopped up, and was better than OK, he had just had the best thrill of the day. Yes, he was totally unharmed. Moments later we were at the gravel 1.5 track and across the new bridge. Great ride Mike. Thanks for not completely kicking my ass!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:33:20 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Advanced Pisgah XC Ride

Well… I got in a little while ago from a great little big ride. I wouldn’t call it an epic by Mr. mountaingoatepics standards but… it was a ride that I would not take beginners on. Squirrel Gap to South Mills River to Black Mountain to Turkey Pen Gap starting at Turkey Pen parking lot. 20.8 miles of pure singletrack, 7250′ of climbing, 4:24 ride time + about 30 minutes of sitting still. 4.7 mph average and the GPS says 3250 calories burned. Yeah, Squirrel to Turkey isn’t easy.

I started a little after 12 at the Turkey Pen parking lot and hit the doubletrack down to the river. Across the bridge then a left onto S. Mills River trail. It was a tough warm-up and the right onto Mullinax took a while to get to. I found my groove heading up Mullinax to where Squirrel intersects at Pea Gap, though.

What was this odd wet stuff falling from the sky? RAIN!!! Glorious, glorious rain followed me from Pea, past the lefty to avoid Laurel Creek trail, and all the way to the peak. The trail started clicking by quickly with tunes in my right ear. I was groooovin’ and just like that, likity-fu*ckin-split there was Cantrell…. then a bit of rain jacket on-rain jacket off later I was at Horse Cove…. the last of the short ride bail-outs… I had it in me…. on To the end of Squirrel. I found that place along the way where time slips by unnoticed. I was shocked to find myself at the Wolf Ford and crossing the S. Mills River bridge at the other end… already.

Was I just spacing out or I was I hauling ass through slime covered rocks and roots and not paying attention to the passing of time? It was like a long drive really. I was by myself, I was going to Buckhorn next, the radio was on… never mind the threat of bodily harm that looms as every yard passed under my tires. never mind the gnomes that were out to get me, never mind the climbs, the fallen trees, the rock gardens….. I was, however, pleased to hit the ummm… mindless? eroded sandy doubletrack that was next. Much easier and I started imagining first timers out there. Poor bastards. Lefty onto Buckhorn proper and I took the headphones out for the climb to Black Mountain trail. The silver Waltworks was running flawlessly and long before I expected it I was at the gap, crossed Clawhammer and without a break continued on Black Mountain trail.

The insides of my legs didn’t like the off the bike climbing up the switchbacks so I slowed the pace until I reached Turkey Pen gap trail. Usually the section of Black to Turkey is notable for the only real views of the ride but today the view was nothing but a white fog. No view to be had today. I took a breather at the Turkey Pen trailhead but not a long one.

The rain resumed so I thought some good thoughts and attacked the first big descent. I thought about Erinna, I thought about how lucky I was to be out there, I thought about how I was probably about as far out there as it gets in the Pisgah district and grannied up the next climb, no time for the fatique to set in… the rest of Turkey was more of the same: Move fast, be safe, don’t cramp. Right towards the end I directed a couple of lost hikers back towards their car ,they took a photo for me,

then it was maybe 10 more minutes of descending back to the Jeep. Great solo ride to celebrate the end of a great summer.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 01:46:25 | Permalink | Comments (2)

August 2008

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Daniel Ridge->Cove Creek

uuugh… too tired to write…. I got in a little while ago from a 2 hour ride out at the Fish hatchery area. I started at the Daniel Ridge parking area->Daniel Ridge Loop counter-clockwise back to the Jeep->Davidson River->475->475B->225->Cove Creek->475 back to the Jeep a second time.
14.9 miles, 2250′ climbing, 8mph average,1:58 riding, 2:06 out.

Here’s a shot of the silver Waltworks at the new bridge heading to Daniel Ridge:

If you make it to this waterfall (one of many in the area) you just missed the trail to do Daniel’s counter-clockwise. It’s worth missing the trail and taking a look…..

Cove Creek trail:

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:54:42 | Permalink | Cove Creek">No Comments »

Friday, August 29, 2008

Run+Commute

I got in a quick 40ish minute run around the neighborhood with Floyd today. It had been quite a while since I was on my feet and my legs rebelled for the first mile but were feeling good right about the time fatboy Floyd was feeling tuckered-out. I had to go back into work at 5:00 so I decided to ride the Raleigh in. The Nexus hubs look and work great. I’m able to drop into harder gears and crank on the downhills and flats…. and ease it up for the ups. There was a weird vibration in the front end that concerns me though…. I need to figure that one out. I’ll post a full review of the generator powered Supernova E3 light soon. Anyway, the run got my heart rate up, the commute got my heart rate up, I hope to get out into the woods tomorrow. Anyone up for Daniel Ridge in the A.M.?

Here’s the commuter (a 1969-70? Raleigh Sport) dressed up with new gears and wheels:

Alfine shifter and Supernova E3 dynamo hub powered supertorch….er… light

The Alfine shifter is mated to…… A Nexus redband 8 speed hub. This bike is officially bad-ass.

Oh one more thing…. something special is in the works. A little fire + A lot of smoke + a touch of soul =

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:47:15 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Laurel->Pilot in 1:57

YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHhahahaha! WOOOOOooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this evening I had a great ride. I started at Bradley Creek on FS1206, turned onto Laurel Mountain trail to Pilot Rock connector to Pilot Rock to FS1206 back to the Jeep and I rocked it out in less than 2 hours. There were only a few moments when it didn’t feel like I was hauling ass. Great solo ride, first ride with the GPS (more on that later), first ride with the Hayes Stroker brakes. Saw a bear, managed to ride the whole loop without a single real breather or food. Hardly stopped at all, actually.

Holy crap that was AWESOME.

The Laurel Mountain trailhead:

Tech on Laurel:

At the top of Pilot Rock:

and finally, the view from the overlook, 7:40 p.m. Aug 20, 2008.

big pic here.

check out the GPS stats here

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 02:42:36 | Permalink | Pilot in 1:57">Comments (2)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Dog Ride!

I just got in from a fun 90ish minutes at Bent Creek. I was supposed to meet Mike B but he had to work later than expected so I started at about 6:30pm at Hard Times with just Sophiedog. We went over to Homestead (saw Ben B on the way) then Little Creek ->Pine Tree to the campground. I9 Clint S. was out riding with his kids so I stopped and talked briefly about the things you talk about when you haven’t seen them in 6 months or so… then continued on… Anyway, when Sophie and I got over to the campground Sophie wasn’t on a leash and a lady had words with me about that. I decided to backtrack and I headed back in Pine Tree to Explorer. We went this way, we went that way, the dog and I were having a great time exploring the Explorer side. I started out hard, so Sophie was getting tired, and was actually headed back towards the Jeep and ran into Mike B! Sweet! ‘You got more in ya dog?’ I asked. She said ’sure!’ and Mike and I continued around and around playing on that side of Bent Creek for another 45 minutes. We stopped when we came across Shanna P. and friend having mechanical issues. tried our best to help, then headed on. We wrapped it up a little after 8pm. It’s easy to forget how awesome Bent Creek is. It’s right there, it’s fast, it’s (more or less) dog friendly, you can run into all sorts of people, it’s awesome!

Oh, no camera, no idea of the route really so… no visuals this time ’round.

One more thing, I hit a pretty huge jump completely by accident at the bottom of the rhodo tunnel on Explorer. It was big enough and completely unexpected enough that I was able to yell out ‘Oh SHIT!’ while in the air. It was exciting to say the least. I guess that’s what happens sometimes when you reach warp speeds on a full rigid SS…..

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 01:41:42 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, August 9, 2008

A good sized Pisgah loop….

From Yellow Gap->Laurel Mountain->Pilot Rock->FS1206->NC276->FS477->Club Gap->Black Mountain->Turkey Pen Gap->Bradley/Pea/Bradley->FS5015. 32 miles, 7900′ climbing:

There were great views:

Surprises:

Excellent Trails:

Unreal timing:

Big Smiles; part 1:

Big Smiles; part 2:

Primal behaviors:

Did I mention the views?

There were also bell-ringing crashes:

look at the new dent on the side of Josh’s helmet!

Mechanical issues:

and more kick-ass moments than I could possibly list:

Mountain Biking in Pisgah is good for the soul.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:56:56 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

A weekend OTB

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 20:09:08 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, August 1, 2008

A week of commuting to work by bike

Well I haven’t been on the mountain or road bikes in quite some time. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been riding though. A couple of weeks ago I put a wire basket and a white light on the front and a rack and a red light on the rear of my trusty 1969 Raleigh. It’s usefulness was increased 100% and I started riding it every time the trip wasn’t far or heavy.

Last weekend I didn’t get a ride in so I decided to ride to work every day this week. Now that it’s Friday I can say I succeeded. The commute is just over 6 miles with about 300′ of climbing each way. So multiply that by 10 trips and that’s over 60 miles and 3000′ of climbing on a 50 pound singlespeed. Add to that daily trips to the store, the post office, wherever….

I’ve got a new Nexus wheelset on the way, that should increase the usefulness of the Raleigh even more. It’ll be 8 speed and the front hub is also a generator that will power lights front and rear. Sweet!

Oh, and beyond saving gas, feeling great when I get to work, and being able to enjoy the scenery, I’ve seen a fair amount of wildlife in the past week: Many many deer, 2 Blue Heron, rabbits, possum, groundhogs, an owl, and a coyote!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 14:33:57 | Permalink | No Comments »