Had an awesome little ride last Thursday evening. MALOMUNDO!
Started at the new parking area, went up Ledford Gap Rd., Sidehill Road, Ingles Field Connector, Ingles Field Gap, N. Boundary Rd., Green's Lick
Very Very Very fast (for me) solo ride. Never caught my breath. Hammer Hammer Hammer! Stopped once to take off a layer, that's it. Less than 90 minutes total but very intense.
Sunday March 19, 2006
Where? starting at Bradley Creek->1206->476 (Guaging Station, Wolf Ford, S. Mills River) gaddamit let's start calling it by it's number, shall we?->5018->Horse Cove Connector->Squirril Gap to Wolf Ford -> S. Mills River/Buckhorn Gap?->476->1206->back to the car.
With who? Erinna and Wode
Weather? High 40's and clear. Humidity at -20. Dust, Dry lips, feeling dehydrated now but didn't sweat.
21 miles 3350 climbing
You know, I've just got to say, first and foremost, I love this place. I decided to go do a quick ride at the very local riding spot and what did I get? More fun than a barrel of monkeys, that's what.
Place: Bent Creek
With who? Solo!
Weather: 40's and sunny
Route: The first route I ever learned there, modified by the logging and the new road to trail conversion. Up Ledford Gap? -> Sidehill? Which is all gravel road now (RIP nice piece of trail) -> Ingles Field Gap ->North Boundary Road-> Mega Betty, Green Slick, Jack D... whatever it's called.
The ride up Ledford was uneventful except for the dude on the electric orange/pink hardtail that passed me like I was standing still. It was the first time I'd seen the logging/trail to road conversion up to Ingles Field Gap Connector. Too bad the trail is gone, but whatever, it's an express route now. The IFG Connector is where the singletrack starts now. Up to IFG Trail, I was definately warmed up by that point. Next was North Boundary Road and I put it in high gear there. Standing, sitting, huffing and puffing I was at the downhill lickity split. Mike R has gone down hard on this trail. Joel B. broke his collerbone on this trail just last week. I said a little prayer, put it in big ring, and pedeled hard. There is soooo much opportunity for air on this new trail but I kept it 'two wheels on the ground' the whole way. It was a ton of fun. Woody has done an excellent job with the ROAD TO TRAIL conversion. Awesome. The rock armoring 1/3 of the way down looks like forest art. Very cool. Anyway, I carved every berm and felt that weightless-at-the-top feeling going over the rollers, and most importantly, kept the rubber on the dirt. Finally a fast fireroad descent, a short singletrack, a short fireroad climb, and I was back at the car. 90 minutes of riding. Maybe 6-8 miles. A fun fun fun ride 15 minutes away from my front door.
??? Trace from Bent Creek Gap with Erinna, SSWW
Feb 25th NMRC->1206->Pilot->BRP->Big Creek->5000->NMRC with Mike Brown
Feb 26th Turkey Pen Parking Lot->Bradley->Laurel Creek->5015->1206->Guaging Station Rd.->5018->Horse Cove Connector->Squirril Gap->Mullinax->S.Mills River-> Turkey Pen Parking lot with Mike, Kassi, Wode, Matt Rice
27 miles 6350 climbing
March 12 Heartbreak Ridge starting at Kitsuma Parking Lot w/ Mike, Kassi, Kraus, Johnson, Amber, Kristi, Wes, Corey, Ian, Leah, Kurt, and Erinna
Here's a picture of the Hope disc brake rotor burn I got during the Heartbreak ride.
Wednesday March 15th, 7pm start
Rode with: Wode
Route: From Bent Creek Gap -> down 479-> Lower Sidehill-> Up 479 ->BRP -> Trace Ridge ->Spencer Gap-> 5000 -> Bent Creek Gap
Started cold with the descent into Bent Creek. Cardiac changed that pretty quickly. Careful descent down Lower Sidehill, my glasses were screwing with my vision a little. We turned off the lights for the ascent back to the parkway and man am I glad we did. We caught the best Moon Rise I can remember. Moonlight flooded the valley and actually cast shadows of trees and us on the road. The climb went by very quickly. Stopped for some food at the parkway and then made our way to Trace. The moon was so bright at that point that I could see the red in my jersey and at the overlooks I could pick out features on the mountains. Quick descent down Trace to Spencer Gap. First descent of Spencer for me and Wode both. There was more pedaling than I had imagined at the top but down towards the field the trail really gets rippin'. Left at the gate, back up 5000. Again, the moon was so bright that we turned off our lights. I didn't put much effort into climbing the road fast, I was too busy being awed by my surroundings. Towards the top I did put it into high gear and pushed a bit, but then it was done.
Great ride. 2 hours. 13.5 miles 4217' of climbing. Spring is almost here!
