badgerbadgerbadgerbadgerbadgermushroomMUSHROOM
ouch. 35.8 miles with 8900' of climbing shouldn't have hurt that bad. Oh yeah... We topped out at 6000' elevation after starting at 2300'... uummmm... and oh yeah...Teamdicky, Josh the Wonderboy, Ian B., and Mike B were riding with me... I guess hurting that bad should have been expected.
We started a few minutes after 7AM at the fish hatchery parking lot. That's not all that early of a start for me but Rich and Josh had a 2.5 hour drive up from Charlotte... Thanks for making it guys. Our route: 475->Davidson River->Caney Bottom->225->Upper Cove Creek Road (Out and back after a lot of f'n around trying to find Sainard Ridge)->225->???->(hike Sainard Ridge 1.9 mile 1300' climb)->BRP->Black Balsam Rd.->Ivestor Gap (out and back to Art Loeb)->Flat Laurel Creek->NC215->BRP->(hike Art Loeb 1.6mile 1250' descent during a monster thunderstorm)->Farlow Gap->Daniel Ridge->475->Davidson River->475 back to the cars.
Photos... of the ride.... before..... my camera spent 3-5 minutes underwater....
That's a dirty, dirty little box. Moments after waking up Rich and Josh in the parking lot:
Morning on Caney. Freakin' awesome.
Josh cleaning the slimy rock-armoring on Caney Bottom. Again, as with all videos, think steeper than it looks:
Then we got lost. Then we found our way. If you don't believe we hiked it.... You've never been there. Hiking is the only option. Here's Mike B ahead:
and Josh behind:
Rich and Ian?.... well.... they were ahead at this point. The group splintered for most of the climbs. Rich, Ian, and Mike were ahead, Josh and I were happy, safe, and lookin' at flowers... and salamanders.... and increasingly HUGE views.
The camera didn't come out again for a while. Here's the group at Ivestor Gap. We had just passed our highest point of the ride:
Wait! Where's Mike B.? Oh... picking blueberries.... mmmmmm blueberries........
Rich seemed to be really liking his new bike. This here is one bad-ass custom 29er. Designed to meet the needs of an endurance racer super-freak. Thylacine titanium frame. I-9 wheels. everything else is subject to change.:
Then.... the final picture.... I wasn't minding my camera soon after this photo and it sat fairly submerged in a creek during a water filter project. Rest in recycled little pieces little camera.... Oh, pretty sweet pic. We found the little green Moab trail. We all agreed, Moab came to mind. Big views, big rock and drops, (east coast)elevation, multiple lines, high speed, and little room for error.... but green... and humid...
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