When the day starts with Bill high-fiving a cowboy...

It's a good bet that it's going to be a stellar day in the woods.
photo by Bill Fehr


This morning I met Rich D., Bill F., and Dave B. at Davidson River campground to watch the start of the Pisgah Stage Race then head out via bike to spectate. Walking around at the start/finish I saw all sorts of people, sorba people, racer people, and friends and family people. It sure is fun being a part of this community. Anyway, they were off for their big day in the woods right at 8am then we headed off for our own. The temps were in the low 40's with gray skies and on and off rain.

We drove over to the horsestables and impatiently waited for the rest of the Charlotte crew to arrive. Rich was doing a map dance in his head. If they left at... and we don't leave until... then we won't meet them until... and then the whole day is ruined. RUINED! The others arrived and Bill and I headed up clawhammer. Me on the redbike, Bill on the desert storm fixed.

It was nice catching up with Bill and we had a great climb. I have to look into his claims about moon mining and the like, never a dull cognitive moment when Bill has something to say.

Dicky, Tim?, and Skadophally-trophy-brophy


joined Bill and I for the advance march up clawhammer with Rob C. and Blair taking their sweet ass time following behind. The decision was made that the best place to see racers was on 1206 or Pilot if we could make it there on time so we pushed past the intersections without pause for the slowfolks. A quick stop at the Liberty CP then up Pilot was next.


I was on and off he bike, feeling good about getting a solid night's rest rather than going out, and suddenly the first racer flew by JeriBishop.Com! 4 minutes later a pissed looking Sam K was in the number 2 spot. Our group climbed to the HumVee section where we found a photographer and the perfect place to chill/heckle/spectate.

Being that the temps were in the low 40's and we were standing around the decision was made to start a fire and open a beer or two.


The plan originally was to meet Mike B. at his CP up on Laurel but... with the reports of snow... and the perfect vantage point... we decided to stay put and watched about 35-50 more racers come through before the sweep. LEFTY!!!

We then climbed a bit more with the intent of finding the legendary snow but turned around at the quad-switchback. We turned around,


Bill on the fixie was the only one to clean the HumVee, and took 1206 back to smillsrd with a vague plan. Blair was starting to feel it and Dave wasn't far behind so we altered the return route to include pinkbeds


to club


and in the end, it seemed that Avery was in the best interest of the group.

Oh, and by the way, Rob C. has grown a fine set of downhill skills in the last couple of years....

Dicky on the otherhand... is still learning how to use one of those new fangled 'movie forks'

I was feeling great and hit a little here-to-there jump on the Avery descent and broke my left pedal. I mean, really broke it!


That made me drop back for the final descent but I was able to wedge the toe end of the cleat into the front bar so I did have a minimal amount of 'clipped in' feeling for the rest of the day.

Great ride everybody! Sorry for the quick write-up, I need to go get some food!

counter-clockwise:
25.26 miles, 3875' climbing

Split Shift

This afternoon I got in a little over an hour of riding at Biltmore.


I worked all morning then had to be back at 6pm for a few hours so, during my extended lunch break I rode right out of the back of the employee parkinglot for Black->Blue->Green->Arbor Trace on the fixed. Right as I was at the furthest point out I got a call that the client was there so about 20 minutes before I expected to I hauled back to the Jeep in the parkinglot, and like superman turning back into Clark Kent, changed from mountainbiker to button-up-and-tie guy.

We are secretly planning our takeover of the world.

Fixed gear riders of Pisgah! Untie! wait.. um... Unite!

I just walked in from a quick spin around the neighborhood side of Bent Creek with Gabe H.
neighborhood?->corvair->powerlines->rice p->???
Anyway, lots of short steep climbs, a little tech, some fun singletrack, a bit of doubletrack, and lots of good tales and catching up. About an hour out on the fixie. Thanks for the light and water and tour Gabe! Let's try to get out there for some more rides during this prime night riding season.

clockwise:

Now THAT'S Mountain Biking

What is a quick definition of mountain biking?


No, not blurry pictures...It's riding bikes over, around, and on mountains. Douglas H. and I got out for a great ride today that fit that definition perfectly. It couldn't have been a better day for it, too. Temps starting in the 50's and topping out in the high 60's, zero humidity, and bright blue skies.


I was supposed to show Douglas a route for his upcoming group ride but... we ended up going much further than originally anticipated. The ultimate route: from the PMBAR start/finish->276->477->Avery Creek->Buckhorn Gap->477->Buckwheat Knob->Black Mountain back to the vehicles. 17.5 miles, 3950' climbing.



We started with a swift pace up the pavement to 477. Then a couple of miles of gravel to Avery Creek trail. A perfect warm-up. Right about the time I was thinking it had been a loooong time since I had been back there I took us on the first Buckhorn trail I saw. Well, I had planned on going the other way on Buckhorn Gap to Clawhammer->Black->back to the vehicles but *gasp* I made a navigational error down in the soggy beauty and didn't realize it until we hit 477.


477 is NOT clawhammer. I asked Douglas if he was in for a longer ride than planned and with a big smile he said he was game. Next thing I knew he was climbing away from me on 477. He was always just a switchback or two ahead but it was apparent he's been spending some time on the road bike. I had to drop into granny and give up the chase at one point but immediately, around the next corner, he was doing a trackstand and was waiting for me. Class. This man ooozes it.


Thanks Douglas, that was a huge boost seeing you right there.
Next was Buckwheat Knob... UP. A first for me. After explaining that yes, I do ride down that root-ball, I was regaining my push and likity-split, we were at Club Gap.


Oh, and regarding that definition, here's the map. Clockwise: Buckwheat Knob. Clawhammer Mountain. Black Mountain. Hickory Knob. I love this place.



Saying it was just Black Mountain from there to the vehicles doesn't do the next two hours of riding justice. Include: Tech climbs. Tech descents. Whoops, hollers, and yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!'s. We stopped and talked with a group of riders a Buckhorn Gap, then continued on Black. Douglas would take the lead on the climbs and I would on the descents. I was feeling ON FIRE descending Black. That trail is super-fast right now, a welcome change from the tech tech tech tech that we had experienced up to that point. The ride ended with the full speed ahead lower section of black and we were both railing the berms and having a great time of it all. a little less than 3:30 after we left we were back at the vehicles. No wrecks, No mechanicals, No bonks. What a great day in the woods.

Douglas, we need to ride together more often. That was awesome. You pushed me harder on the climbs than I have been pushed in a while and you were rocking the descents. Thanks for coming out.

Melissa and Ian Lione:

Rain, a Black Bear, MUNIs, and a Dead Deer

After going out with a rowdy crew for a night on the town to celebrate Ian L.'s impending wedding I woke up this morning with a funny taste in my mouth (juniper?) and loaded up for a ride with Dicky and Bill Nye. We originally were headed to Yellow Gap but the call was made to stay out of the clouds and hit up a couple of hours at Bent Creek. The route: from the new parking lot->gravel->Ingles Field conn.->Ingles Field->Tony Michaels->GreenSlick->Sidehill->Little Hickory->Ingles Field->???->Hardtimes conn.->Homestead->Deerfield. I took a wrong turn and we ended up at the campground so I decided then and there that I was done for the day.


It's been raining in Asheville almost non-stop for two weeks now. Last week the French Broad River broke it's banks. Well, the rain had let off for two days, then was on all afternoon/night Friday, let off for about 10 hours, and resumed moments after we arrived at Bent Creek.


The order of the day went like this: Dicky and Bill Nye would take off on the climbs and after a few minutes I'd catch back onto Bill Nye's wheel. We'd arrive at the top where Dicky was waiting and I'd take the lead for the descent then would wait for Dicky, then Bill Nye to arrive at the bottom


There were a few interesting sights today, as indicated by the title of this post. First I saw my first bear in a number of years. It was awesome. As I rounded a corner I saw what I first thought was a big black poodle take off down the trail. I quickly realized I was following an adolescent black bear and I maintained a 50' buffer and followed it for a good 5 count before it ambled off the side of the trail.


There were also 20+ unicyclists scattered all over Bent Creek and a dead deer on the trail that I'll talk more about later.