DjD and I played hooky today and went riding.
Heartbreak Ridge starting from the Kitsuma parking lot in 4:02 total time out.
vid soon.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Heartbreaker. . .
DjD and I played hooky today and went riding.
Heartbreak Ridge starting from the Kitsuma parking lot in 4:02 total time out.
vid soon.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The unprecidented FOUR ride post.
Ride #4 You're doing it wrong.
Well, I sure have been slacking lately when it comes to riding my bike and updating this here ride log. I've gotten in four rides in the past couple of weeks and will try my best to recall them now. Let's start with yesterday's ride: Jody F. had invited a huge crew out to White Pines for his 40th birthday celebration weekend and after a night of whooping it up (drinking Mike B's keg beer and watching the most serious game of corn-hole I've ever witnessed) the morning broke and a ride plan was conceived. Jody F., Mike B., Jonathan L., Justin M., Park B., and myself finally got rolling around 11:30 am for Avery->Black.
I had never ridden UP Avery and now I know why. The climb was relentless and there are easier and more enjoyable ways to make it to Club Gap. Along the way we lost and found Tomato, watched Park drag a tube change out for 45 minutes (hardly exaggerating) only to have it go flat again 5 minutes later, and bid ado to Park who was then questioning our sanity for continuing to the ridge despite the rumbles of thunder and cracks of lightning that surrounded us. It was a hot and muggy day and all I could wish for was the sky to open up, which amazingly it did not do until the last half hour of the ride.
The thunder surrounded us for the entire ride. Around to the shelter followed Club and the lack of water consumption (and the abundance of beer consumption) was catching up with me. I was having a rough go at it by the time we reached the shelter and thought of dropping clawhammer back to the camp but pressed onward to Clawhammer and Black mountains. My legs were then starting to cramp and I had consumed 100oz of water and just before the Black peak I declared that I had indeed reached that point of no return, I was bonking. I watched as everyone pulled away on the descents, passed a broken down Jody who mumbled something that I didn't register until Spencer Gap, and was inbetween the rest of the riders that had continued on Black and Jody behind. I realized Jody said 'broken chain' as I had passed, I waited for about 10 minutes, the rain started, I knew we were behind our three hour goal, and I decided to bail down Maxwell to finish the ride. I got back to camp and explained the situation and about ten minutes later the ahead crew arrived, sans Jody. In the end Jody made it back about 20 minutes after everyone else... he had more mechanicals along the way. No problem though, nothing like an introspective walk by yourself in the rain on your 40th, right? Thanks for having a birthday Jody. It sure is better than the alternative! Oh, and here's a photo from later of Mike B and Sohiedog enjoying the day:
Ride #3 Vampires, Ninjas, and Fairies, oh my!
Zoe and I arrived at White Pines on Friday evening and waited for Erinna to finish her 38 mile 4900' climbing pavement/gravel ride from West Asheville to White Pines. Mike B., Jonathan L., and myself then decided it would be a good idea to get a bit of low-land night riding in before the keg beer began to flow too liberally. I've got to say that what came next was the best night ride I've been on in ages. We climbed 477 to lower Buckhorn to lower Avery then took Avery to 477 then back to the camp. We stopped for a minute at the top of the gravel climb to take a quick breather then hit the singletrack with huge smiles. Mike and I decided to ride without lights as much as possible in the near pitch black darkness.
The sight of our shadows dancing off the trees ahead, being illuminated by Jonathan's low powered light, was a beautiful thing. Watching as Mike and I outran the light was downright trippy. We would use the power of vampire vision (which tomatoes obviously lack) to negotiate the twists and turns of lower Avery and pull away from Jonathan until we were riding like stealthy ninjas. Silent. Invisible. There was nothing guiding us but the Force. I took an unsurprising spill near the end of the single track but other than that there were no other unscheduled dismounts. On the way back to camp we were laughing, already trying to remember quotes from the ride, and again riding without lights. What we saw next will hopefully stick with me forever: Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of tiny specs of light floating just above the surface of the earth all the way up the hill as far as you could see. They outlined the curvature of the terrain, a thousand points of light. Fairies dancing in the still of a warm Spring night.
Ride #2 This is why I write this stuff down.
A week had passed since PMBAR and I had yet to get on my bike. I had sourced out the pickup of the last checkpoint and was otherwise feeling overwhelmed with the enormity of the tasks ahead of me. Everything needed to be aired out, the garage needed cleaning before PMBAR could return to it's storage for the year ahead, the house was a hot-mess, the basement needed more attention than the garage, and I needed to get a quick ride in or I just might have cracked. Saturday afternoon I got out to Bent Creek for a ride with Sophiedog. My route: from the new parking lot->gravel->Ingles Field->Tony Michaels->Greenslick->Sidehill->Little Hickory->Ingles Field->Hardtimes connector->back to the Jeep. It was about 12 miles of fast fast fast moving. Maybe even a little too fast for Sophie. I didn't have my camera along but I did have my new GPS. Unfortunately the GPS would not communicate with my computer afterwards so there is no visual representations of this ride. Out of the four rides I'm writing the details of this are already slipping my mind. I need to write this stuff down as soon as I get home.
Ride #1 PMBAR Checkpoint setup ride
DjD, Sophiedog, and I got out a couple of days before PMBAR with a mission other than having fun on the bikes: Setup two PMBAR checkpoints.
The CPs weigh about 20 or so pounds each and as we suited up in the Turkey Pen parking lot I could see the concern in Dennis' face. He had never ridden with such a heavy load and was commenting of how his tires and fork felt squishy under the increased load. We took the singletrack down to the bridge to test the pack's hold on the gear then headed S.Mills to the bottom of Cantrell.
Our route for the day: SMills->Cantrell->Squirrel->Laurel Creek->Bradley Creek->66 jumps back to the parking lot. 
The climb up Cantrell went by much more quickly than either of us expected as we chatted the entire way up the hill. The CP setup also went very quickly and with half the load on each of our backs it felt like I had wings and flew down Squirrel to Laurel. Down Laurel to Bradly where we setup the second CP (photo of the 1st CP)
and after the slightest breather we were headed back to the Jeep on Bradley. Again, many of the fine details of this ride have slipped into my overall consciousness of Pisgah riding. Stuff happened. Fun was had.
We got back to the Jeep in great time and high-fived in the parking lot saying YEAH! that was a good time. Mission accomplished.
OK, that was an epic one-draft post, I'll do better in the future about not getting behind.
One more! Erinna just finished her first iMovie project. Behold, the cuteness that is our baby:
Well, I sure have been slacking lately when it comes to riding my bike and updating this here ride log. I've gotten in four rides in the past couple of weeks and will try my best to recall them now. Let's start with yesterday's ride: Jody F. had invited a huge crew out to White Pines for his 40th birthday celebration weekend and after a night of whooping it up (drinking Mike B's keg beer and watching the most serious game of corn-hole I've ever witnessed) the morning broke and a ride plan was conceived. Jody F., Mike B., Jonathan L., Justin M., Park B., and myself finally got rolling around 11:30 am for Avery->Black.
Avery Creek to Black Mountain from pisgahproductions on Vimeo.
It took only about two hours to figure out how to create that rough vid in iMovie. This mac beats the crap out of any PC I've used.I had never ridden UP Avery and now I know why. The climb was relentless and there are easier and more enjoyable ways to make it to Club Gap. Along the way we lost and found Tomato, watched Park drag a tube change out for 45 minutes (hardly exaggerating) only to have it go flat again 5 minutes later, and bid ado to Park who was then questioning our sanity for continuing to the ridge despite the rumbles of thunder and cracks of lightning that surrounded us. It was a hot and muggy day and all I could wish for was the sky to open up, which amazingly it did not do until the last half hour of the ride.
The thunder surrounded us for the entire ride. Around to the shelter followed Club and the lack of water consumption (and the abundance of beer consumption) was catching up with me. I was having a rough go at it by the time we reached the shelter and thought of dropping clawhammer back to the camp but pressed onward to Clawhammer and Black mountains. My legs were then starting to cramp and I had consumed 100oz of water and just before the Black peak I declared that I had indeed reached that point of no return, I was bonking. I watched as everyone pulled away on the descents, passed a broken down Jody who mumbled something that I didn't register until Spencer Gap, and was inbetween the rest of the riders that had continued on Black and Jody behind. I realized Jody said 'broken chain' as I had passed, I waited for about 10 minutes, the rain started, I knew we were behind our three hour goal, and I decided to bail down Maxwell to finish the ride. I got back to camp and explained the situation and about ten minutes later the ahead crew arrived, sans Jody. In the end Jody made it back about 20 minutes after everyone else... he had more mechanicals along the way. No problem though, nothing like an introspective walk by yourself in the rain on your 40th, right? Thanks for having a birthday Jody. It sure is better than the alternative! Oh, and here's a photo from later of Mike B and Sohiedog enjoying the day:
Ride #3 Vampires, Ninjas, and Fairies, oh my!
Zoe and I arrived at White Pines on Friday evening and waited for Erinna to finish her 38 mile 4900' climbing pavement/gravel ride from West Asheville to White Pines. Mike B., Jonathan L., and myself then decided it would be a good idea to get a bit of low-land night riding in before the keg beer began to flow too liberally. I've got to say that what came next was the best night ride I've been on in ages. We climbed 477 to lower Buckhorn to lower Avery then took Avery to 477 then back to the camp. We stopped for a minute at the top of the gravel climb to take a quick breather then hit the singletrack with huge smiles. Mike and I decided to ride without lights as much as possible in the near pitch black darkness.
(there's a reason this photo is funny that I'm not going to mention)
The sight of our shadows dancing off the trees ahead, being illuminated by Jonathan's low powered light, was a beautiful thing. Watching as Mike and I outran the light was downright trippy. We would use the power of vampire vision (which tomatoes obviously lack) to negotiate the twists and turns of lower Avery and pull away from Jonathan until we were riding like stealthy ninjas. Silent. Invisible. There was nothing guiding us but the Force. I took an unsurprising spill near the end of the single track but other than that there were no other unscheduled dismounts. On the way back to camp we were laughing, already trying to remember quotes from the ride, and again riding without lights. What we saw next will hopefully stick with me forever: Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of tiny specs of light floating just above the surface of the earth all the way up the hill as far as you could see. They outlined the curvature of the terrain, a thousand points of light. Fairies dancing in the still of a warm Spring night.Ride #2 This is why I write this stuff down.
A week had passed since PMBAR and I had yet to get on my bike. I had sourced out the pickup of the last checkpoint and was otherwise feeling overwhelmed with the enormity of the tasks ahead of me. Everything needed to be aired out, the garage needed cleaning before PMBAR could return to it's storage for the year ahead, the house was a hot-mess, the basement needed more attention than the garage, and I needed to get a quick ride in or I just might have cracked. Saturday afternoon I got out to Bent Creek for a ride with Sophiedog. My route: from the new parking lot->gravel->Ingles Field->Tony Michaels->Greenslick->Sidehill->Little Hickory->Ingles Field->Hardtimes connector->back to the Jeep. It was about 12 miles of fast fast fast moving. Maybe even a little too fast for Sophie. I didn't have my camera along but I did have my new GPS. Unfortunately the GPS would not communicate with my computer afterwards so there is no visual representations of this ride. Out of the four rides I'm writing the details of this are already slipping my mind. I need to write this stuff down as soon as I get home.
Ride #1 PMBAR Checkpoint setup ride
DjD, Sophiedog, and I got out a couple of days before PMBAR with a mission other than having fun on the bikes: Setup two PMBAR checkpoints.
The CPs weigh about 20 or so pounds each and as we suited up in the Turkey Pen parking lot I could see the concern in Dennis' face. He had never ridden with such a heavy load and was commenting of how his tires and fork felt squishy under the increased load. We took the singletrack down to the bridge to test the pack's hold on the gear then headed S.Mills to the bottom of Cantrell.
Our route for the day: SMills->Cantrell->Squirrel->Laurel Creek->Bradley Creek->66 jumps back to the parking lot. 
The climb up Cantrell went by much more quickly than either of us expected as we chatted the entire way up the hill. The CP setup also went very quickly and with half the load on each of our backs it felt like I had wings and flew down Squirrel to Laurel. Down Laurel to Bradly where we setup the second CP (photo of the 1st CP)
and after the slightest breather we were headed back to the Jeep on Bradley. Again, many of the fine details of this ride have slipped into my overall consciousness of Pisgah riding. Stuff happened. Fun was had.
We got back to the Jeep in great time and high-fived in the parking lot saying YEAH! that was a good time. Mission accomplished.OK, that was an epic one-draft post, I'll do better in the future about not getting behind.
One more! Erinna just finished her first iMovie project. Behold, the cuteness that is our baby:
Zoe's first months. from pisgahproductions on Vimeo
One more one more thing.... At 2:38 in the morning....
Ever wish you had one of these?
Sunday, May 2, 2010
2010 PMBAR RESULTS
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.
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.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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.
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.
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