Eric’s Ride Log

The new Pisgah Ranger has arrived. the Smoke  guys conceived it. Walt nailed it. 29″ wheels, 5.3″ of front travel, clearance for a huge rear tire, sub 17″ chainstays, 2×9….

and seriously Gabe and Thad, if it wasn’t for you guys and the Pisgah Ranger I don’t think Walt would have taken this on. Thanks for taking me seriously.

The frame arrived Friday at 3pm and I had it built by 6pm. Saturday I went on a 25 minute ride, discovered a build issue, and landed on my head on my way back down the hill. I knew the SORBA trail crew was out there so when I ran across them I decide to hang out and put in a few hours of trail work. Afterwards I stopped by Pro-Bikes, fixed the build issue, then Erinna and I went to Dennis ‘Race Nazi’ H.’s 41st birthday party. babiesbabiesbabiesbabiesbeerbabiesbabiesbeaniesbabiesbabiesbeerbabiesbabiesbabies
I awoke this morning with one thing on my mind: Getting the Pisgah Ranger version 2.0 out on the trail. Sophiedog came with me so I started at 9am with the two mile gravel road climb from Bradley Creek to Laurel Mountain trail. Gravel early=No cars= No leash= Happy Sophie. Our route for the rest of the day: Laurel Mountain->Pilot Connector->Pilot Rock->down to 1206 to get water->NoName->Slate Rock/Pilot Cove Loop clockwise back to the Jeep.

In my opinion Bradley Creek is a great place to start the Laurel Mountain+ loop. The climb back up to Yellow Gap is 2 miles. I’d rather do that first thing rather than at the end of a 15 mile ride. I was nice and warmed up by the time I hit Laurel Mountain trail. I’ve been on that trail probably more times than any other, anywhere. Perfect for testing the new sled. 

Speaking of the new bike, it was running great on it’s first ride over 25 minutes long. The wide bb took a little getting used to but as I had hoped the wider stance had no ill effect over the course of the ride and actually, I didn’t think about it once after the meeting log. South Mills River CP John and his friend Eric came riding up the trail as I was taking a breather so I hopped onto their wheels through the next few gaps.

The PR2.0 climbs great. I was still in SS mode and was looking at steep ups with skepticism. After getting off the bike a couple of times I rediscovered this clever little gadget attached to my handlebars…. a front shifter! The big fork makes SS style ’stand and hammer’ efforts tough so having the granny gear for the opposite style of climbing… sit and spin, is a necessity.
Before John and Eric took off for Big Creek they were nice enough to share some water with me and Sophie. I swear I looked in my camlebak and it looked like I had enough water before the ride !

Anyway, Pilot Rock was next. Pilot drops about 2000 feet in about 2 miles. It’s covered in rocks and filled with switchbacks. The PR2.0 was designed with trails like this in mind and it performed beyond expectations. The shorter chainstays seem to help with picking up the front end and maintaining speed through switchbacks. I was also able to ‘pump’ the bike through corners and over little here to there lips better than the previous Waltworks.
more later.