Saturday May 20th HEARTBREAKER!!!
We had an incredible ride on Saturday. Ian, Sarah, Dicky, Josh, and I rode Heartbreak Ridge.
The night before got late quick and I reminded Ian of our 7:40 a.m. departure time a few times. Sarah and I arrived 10 minutes late without Ian but he got there very quickly afterwards. The word of the day quickly became 'Poop'. More about that later, maybe. We started at the bottom of Kitsuma and had a pretty good pace going up old route 70. Old 70 is a three or four mile broken pavement warmup. I bet that road was abandoned in the 70's sometime. It'll take quite a while for mother nature to cover it totally but she's doing a good and steady job and turning that road into a trail. There's one great overlook there on the way up:
After Old 70 we climbed through Ridgecrest, got harrassed by some construction workers, and Ian stealthily used their loo. He met us at the ballfields and seemed to be doing much better:
Next was Rattlesnake. That ahem... trail... is the best example of an unsustainable unplaned bulldozed overused ultrasteep cut through the woods that somehow stays intact that I could ever imagine using and not feeling bad about it. Ratlesnake climbs and climbs. Here's Sarah finally getting off and walking (right in front of the camera of course) and Ian chasing.
Once we got to the top it was Old Toll next. That place is very cool. The road climbs for an eternity and changes texture every 100 yards or so. Sometimes it's a buff fireroad, sometimes it's a baby head infested hell climb. Somewhere inbetween there is solid rock that resembles pave', two year-round dwellings that are umm, rather primative, and another great overlook in Pisgah. Here's a shot of Dicky and Josh enjoying the view at 2/3 of the way to the top:
I ate a mean veggie burger, turkey, and provolone sandwich with horseradish, mustard, and mayo at this point and for some reason couldn't find my groove again for a while. Rich and Sarah took off like the demons they are and I wallowed behind in my full-bellyness. The last 1/3 of the climb is absolutely brutal. If you have been having a bad time at this point, the next bit is going to be pure hell. If you're on, however, it'd baaaaad as shite. You can see the sky getting lower and lower which means you must be near the top but as you round each corner, the thing that you'd never expext to WANT to see in the woods, a bunch of rickity old trailers, never appears. If you're feeling good, it's just more awesome climbing on loose rock and stream beds with unbelievable views. If you're not feeling it, well, it can get pretty lonely at the back of the group. When we got to the top we saw something that was a first for me: PEOPLE AT THE RICKITY TRAILERS. Holy Crap! This place has held this mystical ideal in my mind as a Erik Roudolph hideout for years and what do we find? A freakin party!:
Well, I wouldn't really call it a party. Anyway, RIGHT HERE we were at the start of the reason for all the torture, the best descent in Pisgah, only compared in my mind to ripping down Porcupine Rim in Moab, Heartbreak Ridge. I led for the first bit but was feeling uncomfortable with how fast Ian was bearing down. I got out of his way and we hammered down that thing like a duo downhill team. It was awesome. The trail is sidehill benchcut with zero room for error. Ian and I were ON. Here's Ian lookin' pretty happy as we wait for the others:
The descent is the reason to do this ride. After that photo we just railed, so, no other action shots. We made it to the church in one piece, Ian, Sarah, and I pacelined back on the 3 miles of real pavement back to the car, and we were done in 5 hours flat.
It was a great day for 'smelling the roses' too. This guy says: Eat me and your stomach will be upset... or maybe you will see God.
Tulip Polplar. A tree with flowers. I love this place.
You may be asking yourself 'What was Erinna doing on a beautiful day like that?' Well she was racin' at the 12 hours of Tsali. She did her part to help the BioWheels women's team clinch the win! Go Erinna! Here's the BioWrite-Up: http://biowheels.com/Home/Article.asp?PostID=1107
and here's the big-ass trophey that went to French Broad Brewery for their help:
