May 2007

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The 2007 90 minutes of Bent Creek

hardtimes->homestead->pinetree->explorer->sleepy gap->s. boundary->479->lower sidehill->campground connector

I decided to head out to Bent Creek on a whim and started at the Hardtimes trailhead at about 6:30pm. It was a warm late spring day, maybe even 80*. Sophie was my only ride companion and that was a lot of fun. She was being a good dog for most of the day, except for two times when she r-u-n-o-f-t. The route for the day was my usual afterwork loop, so nothing really to say about that except I need to clean Sleepy Gap going up the next time I do it. I wussed out after my back wheel spun out this time…. next time…. I’ll make it. I guess the real memory of the day was the abundance of thoughts rolling through my head. I especially thought on the fact that so much in life is temporary. So little is forever. This beautiful dog I had running with me will be gone one day. It’s sad to think about it, but on the other hand, it would be a much more sad scenerio if , some day, I was the one that was gone for her. No matter who goes first, it’s all temporary. The trail could be here for decades, even centuries after I stop using them, or, they could be logged tomorrow. The bike I ride could be the one that ends up being eventually retired and hung above the mantle, or it could snap underneith me. I thought about my health, my family, my job, the land… and how precious life really is. I was on my bike for 90 minutes, and it was a great, great day. I love mountain-biking!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 01:51:42 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Inner Loop with Erinna

First, a picture of Ian in the act of destroying (remodeling) the bathroom:

Project after project, 2007 has been a busy year. Erinna and I got in a great little ride today, despite the pressures to work at work, work at home, and even work to play. We knocked out the inner-loop in just abut 2 hours.

For now, here are a few photos. Here’s Erinna crossing a creek/waterfall:

No, that’s not a stick, it’s the non-business end of a three foot rattlesnake that was in the trail:

and another shot after he started to slither away. His middle section was as fat as a Fosters beercan. It makes my skin crawl thinking of what this monster could do to us:

After that encounter EVERY stick across the trail looked just like that thing.

We wouldn’t have confused THIS stick for a rattlesnake, but we didn’t see him anyway. This picture is from PMBAR, not yesterdays ride.

Heh… Anyway, it was a beautiful day. The woods are finally green green green! The April freeze definately set everything back a few weeks. Here’s Erinna crossing a log bridge on Pilot Cove trail:

and at rest at the turn:

We met this guy, Trent from Ohio. He was kind enough to share a mojo bar with us since we left all our solid food in the Jeep. We talked for a little while about all sorts of things. He was most impressed by the fact that we rode our bikes to this point. That and the fact that in this big wide world, Erinna and I sure are lucky we found each other. That I would have to agree with.

So we had him take a picture of us:

and two more for now: the rhodos are in full bloom:

and a shot of Erinna back down at the bottom, right near the end of the ride:

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 03:31:33 | Permalink | No Comments »

Thursday, May 10, 2007

PMBAR CP Pick-up Ride with Erinna

Erinna and I went on a super-fun ride today. We started at Glouscester Gap, Went up the gated road to 140A, up to Farlow, grabbed the Checkpoint, then down Pilot Mountain Rd. back to the Jeep.

It was a beautiful day in the 70’s with a bright bright blue sky. When we got to the gap there was a freakin’ tour bus trying to do an 80 point turn. That was a strange sight. We parked at the gate and after just a few minutes were on the bikes starting the climb up to 140A. Warm-up wasn’t bad at all today for me but when I asked Erinna how the pace was, she said TOOFAST! so I slowed it down a little. We didn’t take a break until the fork that goes down down down the wrong way where I saw this beautiful sight:

I’m pretty sure it’s some sort of azalea. Anyway, it was awesome, and bright orange. My eye was drawn to it immediately. We took a quick break so Erinna could catch her breath and for me to take photos then were on the bikes and hammering. We really took off good at that point and after a fun fast doubletrack descent, quicker than I could imagine, the turn onto 140A was upon us. I had never climbed backside before but after today, I’ll be back. It’s surely the XC way to Farlow. Up Up Up almost the entire way. I commented once that it felt alot like Old Toll, backintheday, before it was smoothed over. The climbs on 140A are a bit more tough, the terrain is a bit more tough, but it’s double-track wide so, it’s kinda like Old Toll… Anyway, Erinna and I were having a great time the entire way up. laughing at how steep the trail was around that turn, cussing the derailleur eating sticks (no derailleurs were harmed in the making of this ride), and saying things like ‘Are we here yet?’

Does the stubble make my chin look big?

Right about the time Erinna was getting serious and asked ‘Have we even passed Kisiee Creek yet?’ We reached the big S turn that signifies we were, indeed, there. Next landmark was a huge switchback and the home stretch to Farlow was next. Almost immediately after arriving we heard voices coming from the woods above us and a group of riders arrived. The had done a baaaaaaaad thing but by the look of shock when I told them, I’m sure they had no idea. When they pulled out the map it had been printed in like, 1932. The OK/Not OK trails were pretty ambiguous. Next for them was Farlow, next for us was Pilot Mountain Road. First was a little more doubletrack to the gate:

Then a 3-4 mile STEEP fire road descent back to the Jeep. The pictures I took didn’t do the scene justice but what we saw from Farlow to Pilot Mtn. Road was incredible. There were thousands of pink flowers, like the orange ones, e v e r y w h e r e. Erinna told me that when she was up there during PMBAR that the fog was so thick that the only color you could make out was the pink of the flowers. That must have been surreal. Anyway, I probably hit 40mph on the way down Pilot Mtn. Rd. so, just like that, we were done. The tour bus was still parked at the gap and we had a 45 minute drive back to A’ville ahead of us. We grabbed the CP gear from Sycamore Cycles (they manned the Laurel CP) and were at Sunnypoint Cafe’ in West Asheville soon after that. What an awesome day with my sweetie!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 02:34:38 | Permalink | Comments (2)

PMBAR CP setup with Sarah

Sarah and I had a blast on Friday afternoon setting three checkpoints for PMBAR. We started at the Turkey Pen parking lot with packs and a rear rack on my bike full of checkpoint gear. We went to the S. Mills River CP location just past Mullinax first, then rode up Mullinax to the Squirrel/Laurel intersection. We dropped all the gear for one checkpoint there and headed out with the rest to the top of Cantrell on Squirrel. We doubled back to Laurel, picked up the gear, and rode down to the Laurel/Bradley intersection and dropped the third CP there. It had taken much longer than expected to do all that so rather than heading back up Laurel Creek we took Bradley/Pea/Bradley back to 66 jumps. During one of the creek crossings my feet slipped out from under me and I ended up on my butt in the creek! Damn! I was OK, but my camera wasn’t so lucky.. it got dunked.

Here are a few photos from the day… Sarah at the Squirrel/Cantrell CP:

Yes, she’s eating Clif recover drink in powder form…. We ran out of solid food pretty quick… did I mention the ride took longer than expected?

If you ever wondered how the checkpoints got out there, well wonder no more… rear racks and big back packs:

Here’s Sarah on Squirrel Gap trail:

and crossing the creek at Laurel/Bradley:

It had been far too long since the last time Sarah and I had been on a ride together. Almost a year? Don’t be a stranger Sarah! It looks like you had a great time, too! HIGH FIVE!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 01:57:21 | Permalink | No Comments »

Inner Loop with Mike R.

Mike R. and I got together for a fun ride last Wednesday. We met at Bradley Creek and did the inner loop counter-clockwise, and went out to the rock. Mike was out for a much larger ride but somehow we were still able to meet up and make this ride work out. It was a beautiful, even hot, day. Perfect temp to start seeing things like this in the forest:

Mike let me lead up to the turn at the cairns but had more in his legs than me after that. We got to the rock in good time and took our first real rest and took in the view. The view from the rock was awesome!

The descent off the rock was fast fast fast. It was the first ride on my new XTR brakes and I really put them to the test. I did a few reach adjustments to get them dialed in, but other than that, they worked flawlessly. We got to the bottom of the hill pretty quickly and mike took a right, heading to 5018/Turkey Pen area, I took a left and cruised back to the Jeep. Great ride! Thanks for letting me tag along for a while on your otherwise solo epic Mike!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 01:56:36 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, May 7, 2007

Busy Busy Busy Busy Busy!

THEY WON!!! THEY WON!!! THEY WON!!! THEY WON!!!

thanks for your votes everybody!

Hey everybody! Well the 2007 Pisgah MTB Adventure is behind us. 75 teams signed up, 63 started, and 44 finished. Not bad! I’ve gotten a couple of rides in during the past week but haven’t had time to do write-ups yet. This post is about something different though…. VOTE FOR TEAM 283!!! My friends Rebecca and Bill are trying to win the Race Face UXC for Trans-Germany. That’s right, your vote may be the one that sends my friends to Germany to race their bikes on someone else’s dime. Please vote! Just >>>click the link<<<, click on Trans-Germany, click on ‘The Videos’, enter your email address, check your email and follow the link, watch the videos, then vote! Please! It’ll take you five minutes and may really help these two out. Come on! Just do it!

VOTE for TEAM 283

DO IT NOW! voting ends this weekend!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 22:20:26 | Permalink | Comments (2)

April 2007

Friday, April 27, 2007

Wedding Day Ride!!!

Yes, I went on a ride just hours before MY wedding ceremony. Mike B, Mike R, Jonathon, and I went out for a fast paced 90 minute spin. The route: Up Cove Creek -> Yellow Blaze connector -> 225 ->Daniel Ridge connector -> Daniel Ridge clockwise -> Red Blaze connector -> Back to Cove Creek Campground

Thanks for taking some photos Jonathon! Here’s a shot of me climbing a steep pitch on Cove Creek trail:

and Mike B descending a steep pitch, also on Cove Creek.

Then, a little later in the day, Erinna and I were married by Howard Hanger. My three neices were the flower girls.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 13:42:47 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Trails! Trails! Trails Everywhere!

Nice easy paced solo ride today. It was cloudy and cool, a great day to be in the woods. The route: Spencer->Spencer->Neverendingroad->Middle Fork->ResRoad->Wash Creek->5000 back to the Jeep.

What do I take pictures of when I’m riding solo? Flowers and my bike.

and pretty trail scenes like this:

Profile:

Map:

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 18:34:54 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Fun, Quick, Hour at Bent Creek

Wode, Mike B and I, along with Mighty Max the dog hit up a quick hour at Bent Creek this evening. We started at Rice Pennacle at nearly 7pm took the trails over to the neighborhood, back over to North Boundary, up to 5 points, down Ingles Field down down down…. and eventually back to the cars. Probably 8-10 miles and 1500 feet of climbing. That’s just a guess though…

The ride started at a quick pace up and over to the neighborhood. Mike pointed out the trail to MUM’s house and dropped me on the next climb. I had a tough warm-up but that was to be expected because I’ve been trying to shake a head-cold I’ve had for a week. Fun little descent then we were at North Boundary. I never choose that route for some reason or another so it had been a long time since I was there. North Boundary is a cool road/trail because you can see the ridge that you’re climbing to for a long time before you get there, a rarity for us. The pace had slowed to a fun social pace by the time we hit ingles field gap. Mike’s new dog Max was doing excellent. He sure does move faster than you’d expect upon first glance. His tiny little legs can really move! Anyway, we had an excellent descent after that. I followed Mike for the first half and he followed me for the second. I don’t know the trail very well so I was excited to rail as fast as I did. The trail was in perfect condition, my tires were hooking up, my rear brake was crapping out, and Wode said thet we took off and were out of sight all the way to the bottom. A turn here, a turn there, and we were back at the cars. Mike R, Jamie R, and Eric C had just finished a ride when we got there. Nice new ride Jamie! Fun after work ride.

No camera, No topo, sorry.

(late edit: Anyone want to buy my Hope Mono M4’s for cheap? $300 for the set front and rear)

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 02:30:52 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Monday, April 2, 2007

April Gathering 2007

(Late Edit: WOOO! The electronic version of Eric’s Ride Log is over a year old now!)

Hey Everybody! This past weekend was the April Gathering as arranged by Brado. A ton of people were at Cove Creek Campground as I arrived on Saturday morning and before too long a ride plan had been formulated. 11 of us headed out for a pretty big day in the woods at a little past 10a.m. The route: Cove Creek Trail->225->NoNameSoonToBeLoggedRoad->475B->276->Pink Beds->GaugingStation Rd.->5018->Horse Cove->Squirrel Gap->BuckShoals->Buckhorn->Black->Buckwheat->Bennett->Coontree->276->475->Davidson River->Back to Cove Creek Campground.

When we got back to 475 Rich, Josh, and Mike went for another 5-7 mile extension and got in Cove Creek Trail the other direction but I was having none of that, I had been done since Buckhorn Gap.

The ride started out with 8 / 11ths of the group heading out of camp in the wrong direction. We realized the mistake before going too far, turned around, headed back to camp, and up Cove Creek trail. I am a S L O W warm-up guy so I got into the last place in line behing David G. We chatted the whole way up and by the time we got to 225 I had come to the realization that this ride was indeed the gathering ‘A’ group, slow speeds would be punished with zero break time. Dennis K***z knew about an awesome connector road that I had never been on and we took a left onto that next. climbclimbclimbdescenddescenddescendclimbclimbclimb then Mr K* himself had a pretty serious mechanical, his rear der. cable broke. To everyones surprise he had a spare cable in his backpack and with the aid of my ever trusty and helpful pliers we were rolling again.

Here’s a pic taken during repair time:

and a video taken at the same time of Rich and Josh… Please people, don’t give these guys ANY idle time together. Someone just might get hurt. Yes, that ‘SMACK’ sound was a piece of Rich’s stick hitting me in the head:

Next was a little gravel and pavement over to the the Pink Beds trail. The Pink Beds was a lot of fun, I hadn’t been back in there in years. I don’t believe I had ever gone in that direction so it felt like brand new trail for me.

Here’s Jonathon near one of the beaver dams in the Pink Beds:

The Pink Beds trail ends at Gauging Station Rd. The original plan was to take a right and head back towards Buckhorn but again Mr K* had different plans for us. We took a left then a right onto FS5018, the never-ending-road-of-grassy-death. Despite that description I had a great time during that climb. I had both one of the high points and the lowest points of my ride there. I had to stop and try to get my heartrate down to an acceptable level and also felt like I was haulin’-ass up the hill. Strange combo, for sure. We made it to the top in reasonable time and took a nice long break before heading in to Horse Cove.

I led out for the downhill to Squirrel and I had a great little decent. Mike was right behind me and we were movin’ down the hill. We regrouped at Squirrel and took another long break there since there were both flat tires and a bad crash behind us. Jonathon went down hard at the rock at the end of the horse-club trail work and had to take a moment to get his head back on straight.

Here’s a shot of Rich coming into Squirrel from Horse:

Next was Squirrel down to South Mills River. Everyone kept a very tough pace up all the way to the end. My legs were starting to feel fatigued at this point so I needed to walk some of the uphill sections but otherwise I had a great run to the end of Squirrel. I did, however, over-extend my elbow during the downhill to the Ford so it was nice to see that another looooong break was in order at the river. The group was getting pretty spread-apart by this point so I was able to eat, drink, and take in the sights while waiting for everyone to arrive….

Here’s Zach chillllllin, waiting for others to arrive, filter water, do whatever people do during long breaks while mountain-biking:

If I had photoshop skills he’d be sitting under a cabana, smoking a cigarette, and with a girly drink in his hand…. Oh well, the thick, soft, warm blanket of moss was pretty relaxing…. So relaxing that he hardly even moved while Rich did this again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again:

Oh, Here’s a shot of the huge water-filtering project that was going on at the same time:

My legs were really not feeling good at all after some time waiting so I decided to putz on up BuckShoals/Buckhorn, knowing that I would be passed by everyone with fresher legs than mine sooner rather than later. Rich was the first to catch me and with a motorcycle-like noise he passed me so fast that I was left with my jaw dangling. I might as well have been not moving at all. We regouped at every turn but I left before the group after every stop past that. My legs were really not doing great and I even mentioned the ‘B’ word to Mike as we climbed up to Buckhorn Gap. Mike kept up a solid, yet friendly pace all the way to the gap which I was thankful for. If he hadn’t been pulling me along I bet my morale would have dropped pretty low. I even thought about bailing at the top of Clawhammer and mentioned that I was ‘done’ but had enough in me to head back into the singletrack when the time came to make that decision. Again I left before the whole group arrived knowing that I’d be caught pretty soon. Pretty soon this time was during the climb to our highest point of the day, past the notch-log and before Club Gap. Here’s Zach and Jody enjoying the day at that peak:

Next was Buckwheat/Bennett, the best downhillin’ in all the land. Seriously, there are some GREAT downhills in Pisgah, every one of them as different as all the others, but Buckwheat/Bennett is fast, tech, and scary plus it has the added benefit of incredible views and some of the biggest moves in the entire forest. DK*, Mike B, Jody, Rich and I were at the head of the pack and everyone made some very impressive moves. I chickened out of the Q-bert S-turn and gave the Clint Huck thread the needle line my best shot, but didn’t make it. Oh, I railed over the rootball of instant death on Buckwheat though… and Josh had a bell-ringer of a crash, too. Anyway, I led out for the rest of the descent to Coontree and felt as fast as ever. After the regroup at Coontree Mike went first and boy-howdy I sure am glad he did. Mike was on fire and went for every nasty downhill trick he could find. Roots? Smash through them. Blind drop-aways? Go for it. The perfect 8′ here to there gap? The absolute highlight of the ride. I was about 25′ back and saw him hit the first root and sail soooo smoothly in a perfect arc up and over god-knows-what to a smooth, rootless, rockless, downhill transition… It was art. It was beautiful. It was Rad. I followed his line, and with complete confidence lifted the bike, had that feeling of high-speed weightlessness, and when every image and color is crystal clear… freeze that moment in time… that, that right there is why I ride a mountain-bike.

When we arrived back at camp Erinna had just arrived, too. She rode from our home in West Asheville out to Cove Creek and had been there at camp for less than 5 minutes. We had our dogs Sophie and Floyd with us and from the looks of it, a serious party was getting ready to unfold… in the end I hit the hay pretty early but enjoyed the festivities for a while before heading off to sleep off the day.

Here’s a quick video from when Jonathon was challenged to burn ALL the wood before the end of the night:

and the outcome:

Thanks for coming out everyone!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 12:51:25 | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 2007

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Another FINE day of riding

I just got in from another great day in the woods. The list of players: Ian L., Mike B., Matt J., Ian B., Wode, myself, and Sophie and Maringo the dogs. The route for the day: Laurel/Pilot/NoName/Slate/1206 from Yellow Gap.

We got to Yellow Gap sometime around noon and got a nice slow start. Ian B and I, as the singlespeeders, led out the group on Laurel Mountain trail. Mike got up front pretty quick and took off with Ian B, we didn’t see much of them after that until the meeting log. The trail was in perfect condition, dry enough to not be slimy, but wet enough for maximum traction. The dogs were doing great and everyone was moving along at a fun, not backbreaking, pace. Here’s a shot I took of Sophie with Johnson, then Ian L., following close behind:

Matt was killing all the tech sections, as usual. This man has singletrack skills. Give him a steep up, a here-to-there, or the gnarliest downhill switchback and he will show you how to ride it. Here he is at the rock-lift/rooty-death thing:

a video of him at the Crack Rock:

and going for the high line move where the high line is only really visable if you’re going DOWN the trail:

Ian L. had some mechanical problems with his fork but luckily there were two professional bike mechanics on the scene:

Laurel Mountain has got to be one of the very best trails out there. It was a perfect day to be on the trail, too. High around 80 degrees, zero humidity, light winds, and still no leaves on the trees so views were abundant. Mike had a good time.:

Maringo had a good time:

and… I think…. Ian had a good time. Great to see you out there Ian!!!

Once we finished the 6 miles of singletrack climbing of Laurel we made our way to the connector and on to Pilot Rock. Matt led out, I followed him, Mike was next then Ian B, Ian L and Wode. We kept that order for most of the way down. I had my first good crash in a while negotiating one of the steep switchbacks. I landed with a solid thud, ‘OOmph!’ and a cloud of dust. My hip will probably be sporting a good bruise tomorrow. I was good and shaken, and nearly crashed again on the very next switchback. I took a couple deep breaths and tried my hardest and nearly held Johnson all the way into the HumVee section. I was feeling GREAT about my downhillin’ and actually got a few compliments (thank you, thank you very much).

Here’s a shot of Sophie and I at the top of Pilot.:

and here’s a quick video at the Pilot Rock overlook. It was a very early spring, beautiful day:

Sophie, by the way, did EXCELLENT. she is one faaaaaaaasst puppy. Mike was telling me that she just wants to ride behind me and she was doing a great job hanging on to Johnson and my pace. Mike did go down hard once making sure he didn’t run Sophie down though…. I guess I need to teach her to GET OUT OF THE WAY! Ian B. went back and cleaned the HumVee section for the first time and Wode had an over-the-bars experience that left him dazed and confused but everyone was ready for the no-name connector to Slate. We took Slate down to 1206 and stopped at the first swimming hole we could find for the dogs, and the people to cool off before the gravel road miles back to the cars. The climb back to the cars was as hard as ever but the mood was bright and lively at the finish. Great ride with great people. If every ride could be like this, every ride would be freakin’ fantastic. Thanks for coming out everybody!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:57:08 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, March 24, 2007

It REALLY IS Springtime!

Erinna and I went out for a good one today…. HEARTBREAK RIDGE!!!!

We started at the Geyser:

Went Rattlesnake to Old Toll:

to Heartbreak Ridge:

and saw the first wildflowers of the year!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 23:15:15 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, March 23, 2007

It’s Springtime!

Erinna and I just got in from a fun and fast paced loop around Spencer / Trace. We parked at t he gate at Spencer so our day started with a warm-up on singletrack. We hit the steep climb pretty quickly and I was feeling good . I cleaned all the way to the nasty rooty section where a tree was down. Thank goodness! My heart was about to explode. The climb the rest of the way up Spencer was fun as always. There are some pretty steep ups but the trail more or less climbs at a easy rolling sort of way all the way to Trace. I was able to get a few photos of Erinna along the way.

Here’s my beautiful wife-to-be, enjoying the warm early spring afternoon:

Here she is negotiating a little creek crossing on Spencer:

More Spencer goodness:

and finally, some new camera fun at the Spencer / Trace intersection:

Erinna and I were both feeling GREAT on the climb. We both cleaned just about everything, including the off camber rootballs and little steep ups. After the Trace intersection there’s still another climb left and we didn’t rest at all, we just attacked it. I pushed really really really hard and got to the top and could hardly cath my breath. Erinna got there moments later and next on the agenda… the Trace Ridge downhill. Screamin’ fast, not so tech, ass haulin’ 2000′ in 2 miles downhillin’ was next. We both continued to feel great and I gapped every little here to there I could find and giggled out loud more than once because of how far out there I was letting it all hang… I tried to not touch my brakes unless I really needed to and ya know what happens if you do that? The trail becomes a blur, rocks and roots and turns come at you so fast, time stands still, thoughts vanish, there’s just a rush of air, images, and feelings, then, you’re in the parking lot at the bottom.

Erinna got there once again only moments after me and wearing a huge smile. We decided to head right back up to the Jeep and wee kept the pace high but comfortable. We chatted the whole way up, well, until te road got steep after the first gate, and the gravel was over in about 15 minutes. Total time out: 1:10. Total value of the experience: One miiiiillion dollars.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 00:37:02 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Fish Hatchery Area w/ Mike B, Kassi, Amber, and Kristy

Mike and I carpooled out to the Fish Hatchery today and started with going up, then right back down, Butter Gap trail. We timed it perfectly because when we got back to the parking lot the girls had just arrived. Once they were suited up we hit Cove Creek then Daniel Ridge. It was a beautiful day, highs in the upper 50’s and clear. I forgot my camera so all I’ve got is a profile and ride description (to follow soon)

Just over 20 miles and with 3838′ of climbing.

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 21:07:41 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Road Ride!

Erinna and I went on a fun paced road ride today. We left from our home in West Asheville and cruised over to Biltmore Forest. We climbed straight up to the parkway and discussed possible loops through there. Our goal was for a larger ride than a few neighborhood loops though. We made it to the parkway in good time and started the climb up to Town Mountain Road. Erinna has been in school full time AND working full time so the pace wasn’t super fast, it was all about having a good time on the bike. The descent down town mountain was fast and fun, as always, and as we descended into downtown Asheville, looking at the skyline, with the mountains in the distance, I was thinking: Thank You God for letting me land here, in this place, at this time…

Erinna coming down Town Mountain Road:

Whoaoaoaoaoaooooo! Camera Fun (edit: turn down the volume first!):

Elevation Profile of the ride:

The Multibeast at rest on the Blue Ridge Parkway:

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 22:42:15 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Spirited Pace Ride with Ben, Mike, and TMCBITW.

Mike B, Ben P, and I went on a killer ride today. We knocked out the classic Big Creek loop in about 4.5 hours and with a pretty serious mechanical.

Yes, we hiked from Little Bald Mountain all the way to the Pisgah Inn…

We got started at NMRC at just before 11AM. Perfect start time for a Saturday. The pace up to Yellow Gap wasn’t super fast, but quick, none-the-less. We made it to Yellow Gap in 27 minutes and when we got there no-one had been killing themselves. I even mentioned that a few years ago a 27 minute pace would have made me hyperventilate, need a few moments to stretch, and need to eat a gel, but not today. Next was the climb up Laurel Mountain. Mike B was setting the pace but Ben had the skills to clean a surprising number of the tech sections.

Here’s a shot of Ben making a pass, standing and hammering through the rocks:

We took a break at the meeting log but didn’t rest again until Pilot Rock trail. I felt pretty good and the pace was ‘Spirited’. I was even able to keep within a few yards of Ben for most of the climb… well, until the steep stuff after Johnson Gap. After that the guys were having to wait for me at the gaps but would continue on as soon as I got there. We knocked out Laurel in good time, just under two hours from NMRC to the connector. Here’s Ben and Mike arriving at Turkey Spring Gap:

Left on the connector, Right on Pilot and hike-a-bike all the way to the parkway boundary where… the hike-a-bike continued all the way to the Pisgah Inn. Mike did try to ride a bit of Pilot Rock but ended up getting gnomed and crashed pretty hard. What the hell happened? Musta’ been a gnome… In the process he tore off his rear der. hanger…. damn! It took a little while to fix but after 20 minutes or so of tinkering he was able to continue on in single speed mode. There were a few great views along the way to the Pisgah Inn. Here’s Asheville from the very top of Pilot:

We stopped by the Pisgah Inn employee housing and I refilled my camelbak. I forgot to mention that about 20 minutes into climbing Laurel the hose popped off my water bladder. My drinking water ended up all over my back and not in my pack at all! Oh well, luckily we were prepared for such an emergency, I was carrying a water filter. An employee let us use their sink though, and that was much easier than filtering water from the creek. Next was the parkway to Little Pisgah Ridge:

Along the way there are spectacular views of Mount Pisgah and of the ridge Laurel Mountain trail climbs:

After the parkway was the walk in on Little Pisgah Ridge to the Big Creek trailsign. That is a beautiful place to be. Not because of any great views or anything like that, but because what is next has got to be some of the finest mountain biking on the planet. Big Creek is that good folks. It has a downhill that drops 1800′ in less than two miles. Holy Crap. If you can handle it, Big Creek can be the fastest backwoods experience you’ve ever had. Mike, Ben and I were all feeling the groove and seriously hauled ass down the hill. Ben led out first, followed by Mike, then me. Mike got a little squirley and let me around so I set my sights on Ben. It took quite a bit of effort but a caught him and as he messed up one of the HUGE sweeping switchbacks I made a pass. I was really having a good time on the downhill, the White Bros. fork is awesome. I was scaring myself pretty good at this point, rocketing into rocky sections with no regard for personal safety and the death grip I had on the bars was finally getting to my hands. Along with that Ben was right back on my tail so I let both him an Mike around for the final bit of descending to the creek running section of Big Creek Trail. We checked up for just a moment then continued on. The rest of Big Creek is relatively flat but slightly down hill. The trail crosses the creek a bunch of times and since the water was high, we got our feet wet. Burrrrrrrrr! I was hoping for dry feet but oh well, the downhill was worth it.

Here’s Ben and Mike crossing the big log on Big Creek trail:

The trail ends at the Hendersonville Reservoir and I figured it was a good time to take a photo…

Introducing build 2.0, a.k.a. The Most Comfortable Bike in the World:

It was all gravel road back to the cars from there, so not much more to say. Great ride guys! Thanks for coming out!

Posted by Eric Wever / Pisgah Productions at 22:20:16 | Permalink | Comments (2)