Fun, Fast, 75 minute, ride with Wode
Wode and I did a quick little Pisgah ride yesterday. The DOUBLE DARE race was this past weekend and as the director I had zero chance to get out on the trails myself. Wode and I arrived on Monday morning at White Pines to finish the last of the tear down from the race, took care of that rather quickly, then headed up 477 to Bennett Gap trail.
It wasn't an easy start but that was to be expected considering the lack of sleep I had gotten the nights before. Even the flat ride from the campground to the horse stables seeed to take forever. Well, once we hit the climb we both put the hammer down a bit. It took a while to warm up but once the blood was flowing I was feeling good. I started to push the single gear over and over and found myself standing up and moving prettty fast. Wode was right there until about the gated road. I looked back over my shoulder and he had disappeared. I continued on up the hill and waited at Bennett for him. Up the false climb and down Bennett. While going downhill the first time I nearly crashed due soley to the beauty of my surroundings. The leaves are in full color right now. There are still a couple green trees and sthere are even some with no leaves at all. The understory at one point was so fantasticly green that I had to come to a stop to take it all in. If you've ever ridden with me you know it usually takes some serious sh!t to make me stop on a downhill and the color out there yesterday was serious. I realized at one point that I wasn't focusing on the task at hand (riding my bike down one of the more tech descents in Pisgah) and was just taking in the beauty of it all. We made it to Coontree and on back down to 477 rather quickly and wrapped up the ride in 1 hour 15 minutes. Super fun. Thanks Wode!
