Eric's Ride Log

Erinna and I just got in from yet another excellent ride. We met up with Bill 'Big Worm' F. and Josh 'the Wonderboy' N. at 10AM. We started at Yellow Gap and our route for the day: 1206->S.Mills River Rd.->5018->Horse Cove->Squirrel Gap->S.Mills River trail->Buckhorn Gap->Black Mountain->Club Gap->276->1206 back to the Jeep. Erinna and I picked up the last CP out there from last weekend along the way. We ended up having to take 6 of 7 checkpoints in and 3 of 7 checkpoints out. whew.

30 miles, 6000' climbing



FS1206 in the morning:


So, what happened today? Erinna and I were running late so rather than buying gas we trudged-on, met up with Bill and Josh, and made it to the top of the hill. We decided to park at the top... no reason to get further from the gas station. The plan was to pick up the PMBAR CP and climb Pilot/ descend Laurel. Rain and temps in the 50's greeted us for the first descent... and the first climb.... and the next descent.... We made it to SMR Road and turned onto 5018. 5018, by the way, is a definitely a road you want to know about. i.e. the grassy gravely road of never ending death....
Anyway, the climb wasn't full of death and we made it to Horse Cove in no time. Next was Squirrel to S. Mills. Bill took the lead and soon had the most spectacular crash that I've seen in a long time. His front wheel washed off the side and his body’s first impact site was 10+ feet down the hill. It was almost like he was laughing along the way as he bounced once, accelerated, and flipped again down the hill. When he came to a sudden stop I knew he was OK. Sometimes you just know when it's bad, and when it's not. After that Josh and Bill took the lead while Erinna and I wallowed in our lack of fitness behind. Squirrel Gap is one of the best sections of singletrack around and big smiles were all around after the big descent into Wolf Ford. S.Mills to Buckhorn was next, 3.5 miles of eroded sandy doubletrack then 2.5 miles of hardpack old roadbed (with the greenest views ever) to Buckhorn Gap. Bill accessed the morale and condition of the troops along the way: Me: Moving slow after yesterday's ride, but in it for the duration. Erinna: She mentioned that, well, she was bonking. We stopped at the shelter and took a long breather. Forward to Club Gap where we packed up the PMBAR CP.
More later.

I just got in from a great ride with a crew of folks. Dennis K, Jeremy A, Valorie N, Jonathon L, Steven J, David G, Jody F, and I met up at the Kitsuma trailhead at around 8AM and rode Heartbreak Ridge via Montreat. I took the video camera along so I'll try to get some footage up here soon. For now, a few photos...

You can always tell when I'm getting my ass handed to me on a ride: when I don't have a chance to pull out the camera. Here's the first shot of the day, at the 2/3 of the way up the climb overlook:



Puffy flowers and Pinacle at the overlook:



Hey guys! Wait up! Old Toll Road.... Long. Not Impossible. Relentless. (to quote an Old Toll virgin today)



More flowers.... The woods were beautiful today. At the top Valorie mentioned how at was still winter up there. There were no leaves, no flowers, a cold wind..... but as we descended it got warmer, and greener, and the flowers were everywhere! Mid-Spring in the mountains:



Thanks for the photo Jeremy! Yours truely, on Heartbreak Ridge.



and finally, a shot of Tomato (w/ David G behind) rockin' at the bottom of Heartbreak Ridge:




Look! It's a flying Goat!

I got my rebuilt fork back from White Brothers late Friday afternoon an today was my first chance to ride it. It was converted from the magic to the fluid.... and it feels like butta.

Erinna and I picked up 2 PMBAR CPs this afternoon. The route: 66 jumps-> Mullinax->Squirrel to Cantrell->Back on Squirrel to Laurel Creek->Bradley Creek->66 jumps back to the Jeep.

I went on a nice easy paced ride on Friday with.... Floyd the dog! Floyd hasn't been on a ride in YEARS and the length was just about perfect for him. From Turkey Pen parking lot->66 jumps->S.Mills River to the mandatory CP->back to Bradley Creek->to the Laurel Creek CP->Bradley Creek back to 66 jumps->back to the Jeep. Floyd did GREAT for an out of shape 5 year old 80 pound dog. He was feeling it by the last river crossing and his pads were in rough shape the next day but.... I think he had a great time.

Got a nice 40 minute RUN in this afternoon with Floyd the dog. We're were both feeling like lazy fat-asses and since it was such a beautiful day.... a run was in order.  I decided to do the basic nighborhood run backwards. Floyd was done at about mile 3 but I figure it was best for me to slow down, too. It was my first run in months. Anyway, maybe we'll do it again tomorrow morning before work.... but maybe not.


Just over 4 mi., 300', 40 min.

Erinna and I just got in from two days of riding. We were dropped off in Blowing Rock, NC and rode back to Asheville, NC. We split it into a two day ride and covered 98 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway with a bit under 19,000 feet of climbing.

Day 1. 44 miles, 7660' climbing. Blowing Rock to Little Switzerland:


Day 2. 54 miles, 11,000' climbing (12,4' descending) Little Switzerland to Asheville:



Erinna, Day 1, before the rain started: (click to see until -> goes away)



On Day 1 we saw many of these signs, but NOT many of the views they advertised:



The Linville Viaduct, a place with Wever family history:


After those photos the day got so intense.... Rain... Fog with less than 100' visibility... traffic... but morale was incredibly high. We were having a great time despite the conditions.
We stayed at the Switzerland Inn, in one of the A frames. I definitely recommend staying here:


Erinna is a badass (She's pretty damn cute, too). She carried a bottle of wine for us from Blowing Rock to Little Switzerland. Wine in styro cups in the A frame:


The new WaltWorks bike she was riding is badass, too.


Day 2 we woke up to a temps in the 40's, blue skies, and ominous clouds. For now, a sampling of the views from Day 2:

It's been a while since my last ride. What? Two weeks? I've got a good exuse at least: My Dr. decided to filet my big toe. It's been two weeks of stitches and gimpin' around for me. Anyway, I decided the 'Two Hour' ride was in order for this beautiful early Spring day. Over to Biltmore->Up to the parkway through Biltmore Forest->BRP to Craven Gap->Town Mountain Road to Downtown->Clingman back to W.A'ville.

Just under 29 miles with 4250 feet of climbing.

The Multibeast, still kickin' after 10 years:



The weather was sunny and in the 50's when I left Asheville. Who would have guessed I'd be descending Town Mountain in a SNOWSHOWER?!?!?



I felt pretty good considering the time off the bike. I did have to stop on the final grunt to the top of Town Mountain to catch my breath and to zip up. In the end the two hour ride took my about 2:10. I'm O.K. with that!

Clawhammer->Maxwell->Black Mountain->Buckwheat Knob->Bennett Gap with Mike R. and Sophiedog.




Mike on Black Mountain. Yes, we saw snow, and 60*, and high winds, and calm clear skies.... Spring in the mountains:


Sophie:



Flowers are on the way:




Here's some raw video from Devil's Staircase. I can't emphasize enough: Think Faster and STEEPER than it looks. I cleaned both the 'S' drop and the 'thread the needle' at the 'Clint Huck/Nathan Rock'. Funk Yeah!

We are so lucky. We get to ride some of the best trails anywhere. period. My beautiful wife and I decided to go on a quick hour or so ride this afternoon and what were our choices... Bent Creek ? mmmm, too crowded. Laurel?... no, we didn't have 4 hours to drive/ride/drive.... TRACE RIDGE? Perfect. Choices choices choices... It's great to have them!

 

Here's some raw footage from my new helmet camera. This was sidemounted to my helmet. I think next time I'll try mounting it on top to see if it gets rid of any of the wiggle. Oh, who out there knows of good (read:easy,free) software to edit .avi files on a pc?

 

OK, a break from my all-ride-all-the-time blog format. Watch this video:




Awareness Test - Watch more free videos

Let the video load first..... don't spoil it!