Pisgah on a Monday

This morning I got to work at 6:30, did my required paperwork and sets for the day, and was home before 8:00 and managed to get out to the PMBAR start/finish by 9:00 for a quick jaunt around the Clawhammer->Black Mountain loop.


When I arrived I was surprised that the temps were much cooler than in Asheville so I donned every bit of clothing I had along. The pavement/gravel to the horse stables went by in a flash as I tried to get nice and warmed up as soon as possible. Clawhammer was next and after last night's rains it was nice and soft and slow. I passed right by Maxwell and was feeling pretty good (chugging along in my granny) until the last time Buckhorn trail crosses. I thought for sure I was at the top.... but no, it just gets worse from there... Oh, along the way I was looking for the cemetery that's up there somewhere. Does anyone know exactly where it is? No rest at Buckhorn because I was feeling rather frozen and up the switchbacks to Clawhammer Mountain followed. When I reached Clawhammer it looked like a war zone (well, minus the concrete/metal/fire/death). The top of every tree was broken off by this past winter's snow storms but the trail had been cleared.

A big thanks goes out to everybody that's been clearing the trails.

THANK YOU.

I took my first break at the overlook in the saddle, pushed over Black, noticed hat it was starting to SNOW, then started the descent back to the Jeep. This ride served as the rebuild break-in ride for the PR2.0



and I had a few issues that came to light during the downhill but otherwise the descent was fun, kinda fast, safe, flowy, and my hands were frozen. When I got back to the Jeep the temps had fallen and a steady flurry of snow had started. Perfect timing.

A little over two hours on the bike with slow and steady moving and hardly a rest...

Impromptu Trail-Work Day

Last night I went to the Grey Eagle to check out the Wood Brothers and I completely forgot about G.W. time so this morning I was an hour behind for the scheduled 8am raincall/9am rally/10am start that was planned. With Sophiedag along we picked up Mike B. and Maximum Overdrive and met Mike R. and Eric C. at Turkey Pen trailhead at 11. The proposed route for the day: Mullinax->Squirrel asfaraswewanted then back. I was looking forward to getting out in the woods and didn't really know what to expect in terms of trail conditions. This has been the hardest winter that I've experienced for the Pisgah region. Record snows, huge wind events, and bitter cold that was proceeded by (and seems like it will be followed by) record rains. Well, the trails were a total mess. We still had the idea of making it to say.... Cantrell Creek area as we made our way onto Squirrel. Someone had already cleared Mullinax. Soon thereafter we understood that what lay ahead was not a ride day but a trail work day. Squirrel was a disaster. Luckily there was a folding saw in Mike B.'s pack as with the aid of that one tool we were able to clear the length of Squirrel all the way to Laurel Gap. It was if nothing else, a day of trail work that I needed to get in and a total body workout. On and off the bikes, taking turns sawing through up to 6" trees, pulling, pushing, dragging trees downhill, it was very tough and slow going.
We probably cleared a hundred of piles of downfall. I don't believe I'm exaggerating.


It took nearly three hours to get to the gap. Once there I felt the need to get home and do my part tending to Miss Zoe so we turned around there. It was very rewarding being able to descend the freshly cleared trail. Our work had made Squirrel ridable again and we hit break neck speeds and accomplished some fine bike wrasslin' by the time we got to the bottom.


Eric and Mike R. decided it was such great fun that they should do it again so we bid good-day to them at the S. Mills River bridge and Mike B and I climbed back to the Jeep.
Great day in the woods with he dogs and great company. Exactly the ride that I needed to start the long road to getting back in shape.

REGISTRATION is again OPEN
As of 3/6 we have 25 team spots left.

Williamsburg!

Erinna and I are in Williamsburg, VA visiting the family and we just got in from an excellent road+ ride: Mill Pond->Field Stone->Six Mount Zion->Mount Laurel->Ware Creek->Croaker->Riverview. Mt.Laurel/Ware Creek is a one lane olllllllld ribbon of pavement through corn fields and past old farmhouses. Beautiful riding. I guess it reminds someone of someplace else:

Then we went into York River State Park and hit one of the mountain bike trails there (I didn't catch the name but it was about 2 miles). Of note, this was the first ride Erinna and I have been on together since she was about 5 months pregnant! Anyway, it was a ton of fun riding the road bikes back in the woods.

Erinna even commented 'Tell me again why mountain bikes have flat bars?' Yes, I too want a drop-bar off-road bike... After a quick detour to look at the river...

we left the park then rode: Riverview->Croaker->Ware Creek. Rather than turning onto Mt. Laurel we hit the gravel road portion of Ware Creek.

We are definitely mountain-bikers on road bikes, again the road chosen was the roughest. It actually had a few hills! Then back to Six Mount Zion and back to my Mom's neighborhood. Great ride with my sweetie in my hometown!

runclub

Yesterday afternoon I got out for a little runclub training. I took the same route as the last time: Hanover->State (up to/past pro-bikes)->Haywood->Ridgelawn->Wellington->State->Hanover (3mi 250' climbing )with Sophiedog. I didn't feel as fast as last time but I didn't walk at all. Sophie sure wished I had walked some. She wasn't feeling it after mile 2.
sunny skies, temps in the low 30's, and there is still a bunch of snow and ice on the ground here in West Asheville.

Pisgah 36 is back ON!!!!

We'll see you crazies on April 2-3-4!!!
Registration is again open at active.com

Biltmore in the winter

Picture this: I'm sitting down with baby Zoe over my shoulder, burping her, and trying to one-hand-type-out a quick description of today's ride... Here goes:
DjD, Sophiedog, and I got out today for a very fast spin around the Biltmore trails.


Black->Blue->Green. The trails were either the consistency of peanut butter or covered with 2 inches of snow. The only other tracks out there were those of one hiker, his/her dog, and loads of deer. The deer tracks were fun to spot because they took every other easy line through the woods than the trail we were following.
Black was a fast warm-up full of quick ups and downs, sudden turns, switchbacks, roots, rocks, and I thought I may lose my cafeteria lunch.


Blue was fast, fun, and flowy. Woody trails at their finest.
Green had the one hill that I couldn't clean and was over in a flash.
We were headed to Arbor Trace next but turned around because of the Antler Hill Village construction. I had time constraints and getting into and out of that area, twice, would have eaten up too much time.
Great after-work ride on a frozen (24*) and sunny day in Western North Carolina.