NORAMM Version II

This will be the first annual NORAMM (Not Off Road Assault on Mount Mitchell) ride. The first thing you may ask yourself is why all the hate? Well quite simply I am just protesting because I am slow and I will leave it at that. There are many reasons to love or hate this ride as I have completed it twice but I will let you decide for yourself whether you are to love or hate this race.

I started this ride last year as a protest against what is probably the biggest endurance race in the Southeast. I can’t really hate on it too much because this race introduced me into the sport that I now love with all my slow twitch muscle fibers.

This year’s NORAMM event will most likely be celebrated without me as we are headed to Damascus VA. My wrist is not yet fully functional and therefore I will celebrate with a greenway’s ride on the Cross Check that ZB has so delightfully loaned me. Please God don’t let me break a loaner bike! I must say that this bike has me intrigued. To be able to ride to Dupont from the house and then have enough versatility to ride the trails and back home has me extremely interested.

I made my first contacts with Eric and this will begin a new age of biking for me. I am starting to get extremely interested in bike touring as a way of life on the weekends. I envision myself riding from the house and through Dupont’s trail system to ultimately spit out on the North end so that I can continue on to Pisgah for a camp. This would set me up for another big day in Pisgah on Saturday followed by the trek back southward on Sunday. More thoughts on this as I wrap my mind around such possibilities and as always I must say I am very lucky to live where I do.

This weekend was a mild one as the wrist is healing but in no way even close to 100%. Friday was a good day as I powered the Undead Drunken Monkey up to Paris at close to max capacity. It felt good to ride hard up to the top and then cruise back down.

On Saturday, I was having mixed feelings on what I was going to do. I decided a short hike with the dogs was in store and what a great choice. I took a long look at the Jone’s Gap Trail map and realized there are only a couple small sections of trail that I have yet to hit in the park. The upper section of Pinnacle Pass has peaked my interests but it is 10 miles one way so it will take some coordination to hit that one. (Think bike locked to a tree for me to pull this one off)

I also noted a small trail that I had never hit before in the easternmost section of the park that has a falls at the end. I decided this would fit the bill for the day.

As I hiked up the trail I noticed a small dog rounding a corner and thought to myself “I have seen this dog before.” Low and behold it was the same hikers I saw last weekend on my hike in Jone’s Gap. I had been worried about these two ever since I left them on Pinnacle Pass the week before. I told them it was a delight to see them again and I asked how the rest of their day had gone last week. They explained that they were very tired and had missed the first connector trail but they found the second and made it out of the park fine.

This is now my favorite falls in the park. It has some amazing beauty and you can see Paris Mountain and downtown Greenville from the upper section. I also saw this beautiful home from the top, somebody as they say in the south “has the lord on their side.” By “lord” do they mean tons of money? What a crappy house!

Sunday I did not ride 35 miles on the road. However, I will say that Traveler’s Rest has some pretty neat roads even on a 100 degree day. If you find yourself traveling down 276 and see the “BBQ” sign just past River Falls Road, you must stop!!

Peace