Eric’s Ride Log

Mike R. and I hit Kitsuma this evening starting just after 6PM.

After showing off the new rig we were on the bikes and headed up the switchbacks. Mike took off and I spun along behind trying my best to clean everything I could. One dab and one complete stop later I was at the peak. Mike had made it there about a minute before me and with just one dab. He sent me out front for the downhill since I had been there just a few days before. The weather was interesting today, hot and sunny in Asheville but as we drove up to Kitsuma a rainstorm had just passed through. Even though I had just been there the trail was completely different. It was slick and slimy over the roots, there were a couple standing puddles, and there was no way I was hitting the jumps today. The texture of the trail was, shall we say, inconsistent. Who knows what your tires would (or would not) grip on to upon landing. Anyway, despite the conditions we kept the speeds far above safe. We just kept two wheels on the ground…. but…. we did cover the ground very very quickly. Big wheels+Big tires+Big fork= a fast bike in any conditions. It was Mike’s first time on the repaved old 70 and we kept the pace high, chatted about life and the like, stopped at the overlook for just a quick second, then continued to keep the pace high all the way back to the vehicles.
Thanks for coming out Mike. It had been too long.

I got out this AM for a little solo Pisgah Ranging…. From Turkey Pen->SMR->Mullinax->Squirrel->SMR->5018->Horse Cove->Cantrell->SMR->66 jumps.

25.45 miles, 3624′ climbing.

I got out this afternoon for what turned into a memorable ride….

There is a picture missing here. The one I missed of the guys that drove me back to the Jeep. Oh well.  I remember them. They were kind.

OK, so real quick I’ll describe this ride. DjD and I were supposed to get out but… having very similar jobs, I understand why he had to bail. I got to the Spencer trailhead a little ofter 5pm and was quickly ascending to Trace. Gears are great. I pounded the less tech sections and didn’t quite clear the techs. Without a break I went for the hell hill (again didn’t quite clean it) and on to the Trace downhill was next.
So, I don’t mention it here often but I say a lot of prayers on the trail. Not just ‘Please God let me not kill myself’ but a lot of ‘Thanks for my health… Thanks for letting me be here…. Thanks for….’ but this time I asked directly for a non-injury and INSTANTLY I heard and felt the pssssssssffffffffffffffffttttt from the rear. Damn? I fixed the flat, pumped the tire 175 strokes, got going, and the very next tech section it happened again, another flat. I knew right away that I didn’t have another tube. I didn’t have a patch kit either. Fuck. I was halfway down Trace…. so decided the only thing to do was to keep the heartrate up and run to the Trace parking lot and hope for a ride back to Spencer. Well, you couldn’t have scripted it any better. Three guys (inlcuding a 12 year old) were just finishing up fly fishing and were happy to drive me up the hill back to the Jeep. Thanks Guys!

After the ride I met Erinna out for a Michelle’s surprise B-Day party. Wooooo!!! Birthday Girl!!!

DJD and I got out for a 90ish minute ride today, the second ride on the PR2.0,… KITSUMA.

We met at 4pm and were on the bikes slowly. Up the switchbacks by 20 after or so was first. The front end still felt a little tall despite yesterday’s swappage but I still had a respectable run at the switchbacks. Dennis did, too. We stopped very briefly at the overlook then up to Kitsuma peak. There were a bunch of Boy Scouts at the top and as I peddled into the first descent I had stragglers on my mind. I saw them out of the corner of my eye as I lanched off the first of the series of hucks Kitsuma has become known for. Long gone is the Kitsuma of past, a straight away as fast as Trace, now it’s full of rooty tech balls and log drops and built launches. Up the middle climb was easier than the first climb, maybe because I was warmed up, maybe because I was learning the bike, and the second descent was upon us. DjD had an unscheduled dismount during one of the switchbacks going down and I taught how to wrench a chain out from between the spokes and cassette. We both hit the first log jump with great success then on to the final singletrack climb/descent of the day. Mike B had told me that all the jumps were ridable now but as I ran across the final one I didn’t believe him. I scoped it, saw the landing, and went for it before I could second guess myself. I landed short but without harm. I ran back up the hill for a another try and nailed the second attempt.

We were in the campground waving at a picnic of 60 y.o.’s moments later and on to the climb up Old 70.
Old 70 was almost as much fun as Kitsuma. No, seriously! It was my first fast climb with gears in three or four months and I felt great. DjD and I would spinspinspinspinspin then one or the other would give up and fall behind. Then I would stand up, upshift, and crank it out. By the time I was done I was 50 yards ahead of D. He’d catch up and I’d do it again. Needless to say we were done with old 70 very…very quickly….

Thanks for getting out on a Tuesday Dennis!!!!

The new Pisgah Ranger has arrived. the Smoke  guys conceived it. Walt nailed it. 29″ wheels, 5.3″ of front travel, clearance for a huge rear tire, sub 17″ chainstays, 2×9….

and seriously Gabe and Thad, if it wasn’t for you guys and the Pisgah Ranger I don’t think Walt would have taken this on. Thanks for taking me seriously.

The frame arrived Friday at 3pm and I had it built by 6pm. Saturday I went on a 25 minute ride, discovered a build issue, and landed on my head on my way back down the hill. I knew the SORBA trail crew was out there so when I ran across them I decide to hang out and put in a few hours of trail work. Afterwards I stopped by Pro-Bikes, fixed the build issue, then Erinna and I went to Dennis ‘Race Nazi’ H.’s 41st birthday party. babiesbabiesbabiesbabiesbeerbabiesbabiesbeaniesbabiesbabiesbeerbabiesbabiesbabies
I awoke this morning with one thing on my mind: Getting the Pisgah Ranger version 2.0 out on the trail. Sophiedog came with me so I started at 9am with the two mile gravel road climb from Bradley Creek to Laurel Mountain trail. Gravel early=No cars= No leash= Happy Sophie. Our route for the rest of the day: Laurel Mountain->Pilot Connector->Pilot Rock->down to 1206 to get water->NoName->Slate Rock/Pilot Cove Loop clockwise back to the Jeep.

In my opinion Bradley Creek is a great place to start the Laurel Mountain+ loop. The climb back up to Yellow Gap is 2 miles. I’d rather do that first thing rather than at the end of a 15 mile ride. I was nice and warmed up by the time I hit Laurel Mountain trail. I’ve been on that trail probably more times than any other, anywhere. Perfect for testing the new sled. 

Speaking of the new bike, it was running great on it’s first ride over 25 minutes long. The wide bb took a little getting used to but as I had hoped the wider stance had no ill effect over the course of the ride and actually, I didn’t think about it once after the meeting log. South Mills River CP John and his friend Eric came riding up the trail as I was taking a breather so I hopped onto their wheels through the next few gaps.

The PR2.0 climbs great. I was still in SS mode and was looking at steep ups with skepticism. After getting off the bike a couple of times I rediscovered this clever little gadget attached to my handlebars…. a front shifter! The big fork makes SS style ’stand and hammer’ efforts tough so having the granny gear for the opposite style of climbing… sit and spin, is a necessity.
Before John and Eric took off for Big Creek they were nice enough to share some water with me and Sophie. I swear I looked in my camlebak and it looked like I had enough water before the ride !

Anyway, Pilot Rock was next. Pilot drops about 2000 feet in about 2 miles. It’s covered in rocks and filled with switchbacks. The PR2.0 was designed with trails like this in mind and it performed beyond expectations. The shorter chainstays seem to help with picking up the front end and maintaining speed through switchbacks. I was also able to ‘pump’ the bike through corners and over little here to there lips better than the previous Waltworks.
more later.

 

Dennis D. and I got out there this afternoon for a great after-work ride. We started at NMRC->5000->Spencer->Trace->Lower Trace->North Mills River->Yellow Gap Loop->gravel->1206 back to NMRC.

The ride started with a fast paced climb all the way to Spencer. It was hot (well, Asheville hot) in the mid 80’s with what felt like 100% humidity. The climb up Spencer was hard as hell and I didn’t even attempt the steep up through the field. DjD was feeling the effects of the heat and humidity, too. He declared today as his hottest ride yet (remember folks, he’s only been at this for a year….) We made great time to Trace and didn’t take a break until the top of the hill on Trace.

Next was the reason we were there, the Trace downhill. The rain has taken a major toll on the tread though and the normal high-speed-with-little-attention-needed downhill has been replaced with a rutted out mess. After the little up the trail was in better shape and high speeds were attained. We popped out in the parking lot and lower Trace followed. That section is also in baaaaad shape from the rains. A few wheelie drops, 45* off cambers, and a bunch of plop! oooomph! ting! shhhwtt! and Oh No!’s later… I was waiting for DjD…. it was taking too long…. and yes, he came walking down after taking quite the header.

 This dude amazes me though. I said, hey, next time we should take this trail that way and goo over…. and before I was done he said ‘Let’s do it!’. So off we went on an exploration. I knew where it went but I hadn’t beem back there in years so I, you know, didn’t know EXACTLY where the turns were… and at one point I had to *gasp* break out the map! Anyway, after three or four river crossings I found our Left and we climbed the old road bed up to the gravel. It was beautiful back there.

The rain started as we descended to 1206 and as we turned and heaed back to the cars we both noted that that gravel road would be a b!tch to climb….
Great ride Dennis. Thanks for getting me out there.

Mike B., Maximum Overdrive the dog, Sophiedog, and I got out yesterday for a challenging Pisgah loop: Starting at the Turkey Pen Parking Lot->South Mills River Trail->Squirrel Gap trail->Mullinax->SMR->66 jumps.

We crossed the river many many times….

Sophie wasn’t so sure about our route choice:

But soon she understood the direction we were heading. Across the river again.

….and again:

It was wet, hot, and humid yesterday. Perfect weather says this fungal growth:

Mike ’soaking’ in the beauty of it all:

and keeping the rubber side down on one of the calmer sections of SMR trail:

but wait! There were still more river crossings before we reached Squirrel Gap trail:

Mike shot this vid of me crossing Cantrell Creek on Squirrel Gap trail:

Cardinal flower of Squirrel:

As Mike and I were discussing his malfunctioning fork a rider came up with this cool tattoo:

…. it probably looks a lot like today’s ride. Heartbreaker with Ian B. and Mike B. We started by heading a new (for me) way up, the Adventure trail through Ridgecrest then Rattlesnake->Old Toll->Heartbreak->Old 70 back to the vehicles.

I just got in from yet another great ride in Pisgah. DjD, Mike B., Matt F., and I met up a little after 11am at NMRC and rode the classic Big Creek Loop: 1206->Laurel->*walk* Mountains to Sea->Blue Ridge Parkway->Big Creek->Reservoir Road->Lower Trace->Fisherman’s back to the vehicles.