2010 PMBAR RESULTS

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To the racers, volunteers, U.S. Forest Service, and especially to my beautiful wife, THANK YOU for making the 2010 Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race the best one yet.

To finish teams needed to reach 4 out of 5 checkpoints including two mandatory points. Teams that reached all 5 checkpoints received a three hour time bonus.

Without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2010 PMBAR finishers:

1st ~ Sam Koerber / Bob Koerber / 5CP / 8hr 17min.
Please note: Sam and Bob were the first finishers AND they got all 5 checkpoints. Wow.
2nd ~ Dave Simpson / Tal Ingram / 5CP / 9hr 14min.
3rd ~ Matt Rice / Ben Poss / 5CP / 9hr 23min.

4 ~ Ross Clark / Bruce Steinfurth / 5CP/ 9hr 48min.
5 ~ Dave Anderson / Charlie Roberts / 5CP / 9hr 57min.
6 ~ Chris Bennett / Derek Gentry / 5CP / 9hr 58min.
7 ~ Ryan Allen / Alex Ransom / 5CP / 10hr 11min
8 ~ David Cook / Yuri Eliashevsky / 5CP / 10hr 26min.
9 ~ Clay Faine / Toby Porter / 5CP / 10hr 34min.
10 ~ Brent Leister / Greg Leister / 5CP / 10hr 41min.
11 ~ Rich Dillen / Thad Hoffman / 5CP/ 11hr 14min.
12 ~ Brad Welch / Steve Bennet / 4CP / 8hr 26min.
13 ~ Rob Roberts / Michael Kanning / 5CP / 11hr 34min.
14 ~ Ryan Bell / Nathan Helms / 5CP / 12hr 6min.
15 ~ Eddie Odea / Namrita Odea / 4CP / 9hr 6min.
16 ~ Kip Clyburn / Paul Stahlschmidt / 5CP / 12hr 11 min
17 ~ Ed Moreadith / Rob Kranz / 4CP / 9hr 26min.
18 ~ Zack H8 Broussard / Dennis ****z / 4CP / 9hr 40min.
19 ~ Joe Pelton / Jonathan LeRoy / 4CP / 9hr 46min.
20 ~ Jim Stranix / David Parsons-Foresi / 4CP / 9hr 53min.
21 ~ JD Powers / Ben Swadley / 4CP / 10hr 1min.
22 ~ Bruce Dale / Innes Wright / 4CP / 10hr 6min.
23 ~ Kelly Bond / Chad Banner / 4CP / 10hr 7min.
24 ~ Kelly Klett / Jeff Dennison / 4CP / 10hr 9min.
25 ~ Eric Christian / Mike Rischitelli / 5CP / 13hr 23 min.
26 ~ Daniel Wren / Chris Young / 4CP / 10hr 40min.
27 ~ Ed Merritt / Brandon Merritt / 4CP / 10hr 48min.
28 ~ Richard Stem / Marshall Thompson / 4CP / 10hr 50min.
29 ~ Mike Brown / Ian Baldwin / 4CP / 10hr 50min.
30 ~ Luther Papenfus (solo unofficial) / 4CP / 10hr 54min
30 ~ Tom Hartenstein / Jeff Williams / 4CP / 11hr 2min.
31 ~ Patrick McMahon / Michael Bucking / 4CP / 11hr 4min.
32 ~ Ben Appleby / Bob Lambertson / 4CP / 11hr 6min.
33 ~ James Carlisle / James Johnson / 4CP / 11hr 10min.
34 ~ Cissy Fowler / Jennifer Rinderle / 4CP / 11hr 13min.
35 ~ Denise Sauerbrey / Rob Keener / 4CP / 11hr 15min.
36 ~ Richard Auerwick / Rob Gosline / 4CP / 11hr 18min.
37 ~ Camye Womble / Tim Bedard / 4CP / 11hr 26min.
38 ~ Mike Brown / Asa MArshall / 4CP / 11hr 28min.
39 ~ James Haskins / Jay Lundi / 4CP / 11hr 36min.
40 ~ Andy Etters / Mert Dunne / 4CP / 11hr 43min.
41 ~ Randy King / Randy Lewis / 4CP / 11hr 52min.
42 ~ LeAnne McCann / Jon Carmack / 4CP / 11hr 54min.
43 ~ Paul Diemer / Gordon Jenks / 4CP/ 11hr 55min.
44 ~ Luis Calderon / Karlos Rodriguez / 4CP / 12hr 2min.
45 ~ LG Porter / Erik Caldwell / 4CP / 12hr 17min.
46 ~ Shanna Powell / Laura Goetz / 4CP /12hr 22min.
47 ~ Curtis Burge / Robert Peerson / 4CP / 12hr 25min
48 ~ Cameron Frasier / Francis Corbin / 4CP / 12hr 27min.
49 ~ Rob Coulter / Rich Davis / 4CP / 12hr 34min.
50 ~ Emily Brock / Amanda Wisell / 4CP 12hr 57min.
51 ~ Beau Bethel / Clifton Schmitt / 4CP / 13hr 3 min.
52 ~ Anne Bringuier / Randal Tuttel / 4CP / 13hr 10min.
53 ~ Eric Bannan / Tim Julian / 4CP / 13hr 23min.
54 ~ Eric Gadlage / Bryon Horn / 4CP / 13hr 42min
55 ~ Samual Props / Chris Hansen / 4CP / 13hr 47 min.

Another double ride post?!?!? No way!

I just got in from an excellent ride with a HUGE crew. Let's see if I can get everybody: Rich D., Bill F., Eric C., Mike R., the other Eric W., Drew H., Jerry, Bill Nye, Lance, Craig, Sophiedog, and myself. Is that everybody?

Our route for the day: S.Mills->Mullinax->Squirrel from one end to the other then back. I dropped down Cantrell->S.Mills with Bill Nye (Ryan) and Lance to finish the day while the rest of the crew went for Squirrel->Laurel Creek->Bradley->Squirrel->Mullinax.... well except Mike and Eric, they were headed to Pilot->Laurel once we hit Wolf Ford.

More on that ride later.

On Thursday evening I left the house with a heavy heart, not knowing if it was the right thing to do or not. Floyd was getting weaker and weaker but there was only so much sitting with him and patting his head that either of us could endure. I had to pick up Erinna and Zoe at the airport at midnight so I made up my mind and drove out to Yellow Gap for what had to be a fast ride of Pilot->Laurel. I started a moment after 9PM with the cool/cold descent on 1206. My mind was all over the place, hardly on the bike at all, when I passed right by the bottom of Pilot and continued on all the way to Funneltop Mountain Road. Crap. I retraced my steps to Pilot, checked the time (9:40) and without a further break, started up Pilot. Pilot was easily as hard as I remembered it ever being. I was moving forward at all times and I did have to walk a bunch so it took over an hour to get to the top. Again, along the way my mind was all over the map. I remembered a Summer Solstice Sunrise ride I did with Dennis H (about the time Floyd found Erinna and I) and how we climbed the same trail before picking up Erinna at the airport. I thought about Floyd a lot and still wasn't sure that it was the best idea to be out on the trail. I was hungry and thirsty and in a rush when I made it to the connector (10:48)
and took only the slightest rest after the 2.4 mile ~2000' climb. Descending was what I needed and it came next in spades. Descending a mountain on a bike gives me the focus to let all other thoughts gently fall away. Watching the trail and feeling connected to it, the machine, and the fragility of the balance and movement and action of the whole process gives me the ability to let the whole world melt away and have my entire consciousness be wide-eyed committed, without cognitive thought, without mindchatter, to a single...flow and....being and....
Down the connector. Down the $2000. Down to Sassafrass. Down to the Cairns. A tough climb out of that gap then Down to the overhang rock. Down to the meeting log. Down to the Crack Rock. Down to the Jeep. Into the Jeep the RedWalt went, stripped off the sweaty jersey, hit play on the iPizzle, and I was hauling ass Down 1206 headed to the airport. I was 15 minutes behind my time goal and rode the Jeep down that hill with the same resolve as the bike on Laurel. I ended up being about 10 minutes late (thank God I didn't have a flat or anything on the ride!) and we were back at the house at 12:30. I spent the next hourplus on and off helping Erinna and Zoe into the house and hanging with Floyd. He was laying in the exact position he had been when I left. Erinna said goodnight to him around 3AM. He was dead when I got up for work at 5:30.

Rest in Peace, Floyd.

We're going to miss you buddy.

The Ultra Rare 'Double Ride' Post

I just walked in from riding with Mike B. at Richmond Hill. He and his crew have built a few more miles of trail since the last time I was out there and now it feels like the whole trail system is starting to come together.
The next time you see this man be sure to tell him 'Thank You!'


The trails are SUPER twisty and tight with steep uphills that are just long enough to put a nice burn in the legs and lungs. This trail system has great potential.We started at 5:30 right from my house in West Asheville with temps were hovering around 80*(!) and it was a bright sunshiny day. We took a longer, hillier, and more fun route home.

Thanks for not giving up on asking me to get out there, Mike.

On Saturday I got out on a ride in with the one and only Wode...
and Sophiedog:


He had come out to Cove Creek campground to help out with the Pisgah36 and we followed the racers Prologue loop: 475->Daniel Ridge gravel->upper Daniel->225 connector->225->Cove Creek back to the camp.

What I really remember from that ride are just a few points. 1. It has been forever since I've been riding with Wode. 2. Mountain Biking makes me feel great. 3. Upper Daniel is a ton of fun to try to clean 4. 225 to Cover Creek is even more fun to descend than Daniel is to climb. 5. The first wildflowers sprung this weekend.

Oh, and 6. It's always best to stop and look at the waterfalls.

I rode my two different bikes for these two rides, the red bike on Saturday and the green today. It's amazing how different they really are. The red bike is like riding on the back of a bulldozer. The green bike is like riding on the back of a ninja.

Baby Exchange!

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.