Eric's Ride Log

A big 'ole group of us went for an epic ride yesterday. It was a beautiful late fall day. Highs in the low 60's, and not a cloud in the sky. Before I say anything I have to show this picture from up on the parkway just under Mt. Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi:

The ride was arranged on the mtbr.com nc forum by Jonathan and the route was picked by yours truely. We met up at 9:30 at the Kitsuma trailhead and were riding by 10 am. We had to be on the trail no later than 10 because one flat, one bad wreck, one wrong turn, anything would put us back at the cars at sundown or later. Just about everyone had hiking lights along, just in case, but getting back before dark was in everyone's best interest.

The ride started with the climb up the Kitsuma switchbacks. There were a total of 10 riders along so a few paces were started right away. The fast warm-up guys were way out front and Erinna and I, being slow warm-up types, kept up the rear. It was cool watching riders snake up the switchbacks. We made it to the interstate overlook and on up to the Kitsuma peak pretty quickly. The first bit of wicked fast singletrack descending of the day was next. Jessie 'The Dude' led the way and I took up second in line. I had a pretty hard 'crotch-meet-back-of-saddle' hit along the way and let a few folks slide on by. It took a moment to refocus after that but after some more rutted out descending we were at the Old Fort picnic area. We hit our first pavement section of the day and that went by very quickly. Here's a shot of half of the group as we head down the pavement to the bottom of Heartbreak Ridge:

and a pretty shot of the guyser:

We got to the bottom of Heartbreak, took a little breather, ate some gel, and started the hike/ride up the switchbacks up Heartbreak Ridge. Once again the group get pretty spread-out with some folks feeling really good, and some feeling really bad. Once we made it to Star Gap Jody had had enough, decided it wasn't his day to do an epic, and turned back. Oh well, better safe than sorry, right Jody? Or is it Pain is temporary, Pussin'-out is forever? Just kidding, if I felt like this I would have turned back, too.

The descent down from Star Gap is a ton-of-fun. Switchbacks galore, high-speed benchcut, and a remote, 'where the hell are we' aura to it. The was a great place to take photos of folks coming into the grassy road of death, Here are two of the shots I took:

Bill Fehr:

and Erinna:

The grassy road of death was the place where I felt the worst during the ride. I was the ride leader but my knowledge of that area was a bit fuzzy. Jody was my backup knowledge base, and he was gone so I had to make a couple decisions that I wish I had had a map to verify. The grassy road of death climbs and descends and climbs and descends for a mile or three of grassy (duh) doubletrack. Along the way Jonathan had two good crashes, one that split his knee wide open. Just because it was wide open doesn't mean you could not pay attention, that's for sure. We crested the top and found a couple equestrians having a picnic. We regrouped, dismounted, and walked around them. It was a cool sight but my camera decided that out-of-focus would be the best way to preserve the moment:

Why was an easy doubletrack section my low-point? Well, as Rich pointed out, it was my first time back there on a SS and the next bit, miles and miles and miles of doubletrack downhill went by so much slower than I had remembered that I though I had taken everyone down a wrong turn. I had visions of a mutany hungry mob waiting for me at a dead-end deep in no mans land. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. We arrived at the bottom of Curtis Creek Road, the gravel road of death, and everyone was in good spirits.

Curtis Creek starts out with a slight rise, nothing that would alert you to the fact that a climb that will imitate the lowest depths of hell is about to commence. There was even this pretty scene that I had to take a photo of:

Here are a few photos from the rest of the day for now.

Jessie near the top of Curtis Creek Road. Notice the walker behind him. Is Curtis Creek Road an easy climb? HELL NO.

Once we were at the parkway we were treated to some magnificent views:

and even though we were on the parkway for only 5 miles, everyone was happy to be getting back onto singletrack

and finally, a group shot:

Bill, Drew, Rich, me(in shadow form), Ben, Dennis, Erinna, Jessie, and Jonathan.

more later