Desolate Peas-GAH

Its not very often that mother nature waves her wand in the right manner for snowy conditions in the Appalachian Mountains. Donning all my cold winter gear, including ski goggles, gloves and a slew of other safety equipment I met up with, ZB, Valerie, Clay and Dennis this past Saturday for an all day sloth through the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Even if we don’t like to formulate expectations in our minds, they will still creep into our subconscious and lead us astray. In this same manner, I expected there to be snow on the ground in the higher elevations on Saturday. As I was driving to the trails, the mountains had a very “out west” feel to them as they were gleaming white even with the sullen grey skies that loomed overhead.

Everyone wanted to know what the plan for the day was, I hadn’t thought about it much besides the fact that I wanted to be out all day. So we started traditionally by climbing from N. Mills River up 5000 to Wash Creek Road, up the gravel road to the top of Bear Branch. When we hit the turn to go up to Bear Branch, I knew it was not going to be a normal day. Getting the bike to go up a slope in four inches of frozen snow takes more than twice the effort as normal.

Snow sports have always been my favorite recreational activity. The snow puts off such an energy and that energy turns to synergy when you go out and play in it. Coming down Bear Branch was rad, yes I said rad. The snow made this incredible ripping sound as the crystals that you rode over tore apart from the surface. We were making fresh tracks and loving every minute of it.

After our glee from Bear Branch resided, we decided to take Wash Creek Road all they way to the top of the Parkway since the trails were so hard to go up. Plus I had something EVIL in mind. So up the road we went. The road had snow and ice on it but you could avoid the hard pedaling in the car ruts. I was telling a story to Dennis, Zach and Clay when I hit some ice chunks and promptly fell over going uphill almost taking Dennis out at the same time. I am sure at least one person laughed.

We knew the parkway would be closed and what a wonderful time when it is:

From there we traveled up through the tunnels of the parkway to the top of Trace Ridge. Trace was untracked and ready for our taking. Coming down a steep slope on frozen snow is different than any biking I had ever done. It takes on an entire new learning curve and forces you to forget what you already know about riding dirt. The front brake is virtually useless unless you want your front wheel to breakthrough the top layer of snow and have your bike come to a screeching halt. The back brake only works if you have broken through the top layer or it becomes a “commence rubber skating” lever by your right hand’s fingertips. Therefore, I quickly learned that the only feasible way to slow down was just like skiing. If you want to go slower, get into the deeper snow and let the friction of the snow slow you down.

So this is how we descended Trace, a wicked sliding, riding fiasco that drove everyone to pronounce their love for the outdoors. Unbeknown to us, desolation Pisgah was soon to freeze our smiles in place.

Big Creek was looming and Clay agreed that we should indeed hike up the beast on this day. This is no joke, and in the beginning we surmised how long it would take. Little did we know what lay ahead. I figured we would be able to ride the lower portion. It was slow going and took about four times the power normally necessary but we cut a path through the snow and lumbered our way to the steep section of Big Creek. I took a break and watched everyone (except for Valerie, she was smarter than the rest of us) march their way up the steeps. I had a lot of thoughts while I drug my bike up the snow. I started feeling very lethargic when I looked up and saw Clay. He was struggling to get a glove on a frozen hand so I stopped and helped. I had yet to get cold but some of the guys had taken a small foot plunge in the creeks at the bottom of the trail. I had fallen on the rocks pretty hard but avoided getting wet.

Once we got Clay’s glove back on, the sloth continued. Take a few steps, watch the bike try to slide and slip out of your grasp as the tires wouldn’t even roll on the frozen surface of the snow. Close to the top, the snow was around a ½ foot deep. I made it to the parkway and heard voices coming from the tunnel, it was my frozen comrades. I didn’t realize it at the time but we must have all looked like a bunch of crack heads up there in the tunnel trying to consume some calories and get warm:

My plan had been to descend Lauren Mountain after that incredibly difficult hike up Big Creek and our second ascension of the parkway. As I started to pedal up the parkway to the Pisgah Inn, I heard Zach yell “See ya dude.” So I went back down and talked to Dennis, they all were headed down the parkway back to Wash Creek Road and to the safety and warmth of the cars.

I couldn’t let it slip away, something drove me to want more. After all I was looking for an all day experience and it was only 3:00. I pedaled alone up to the inn. I stopped at one point just to take in the serenity and imagine how different this picture would be on a warm August day:

The last picture of the day was taken as I hiked up Pilot Rock from the Inn. I thought my hiking would be over soon as I would have some steep slopes to slide down soon. The snow continued to get deeper.

When I got to the Laurel Mountain connector I had a reality check. I would knock all the snow off my cleats while sitting on the bike and grasping a tree, clip in and shove off the tree as hard as I could. A couple times this resulted in a uncontrollable slide for ten feet or so, the rest of the time I just didn’t go anywhere. The snow was deep enough and frozen enough that even a 25 degree slope wasn’t steep enough for gravity to win over the snow. I was going to have to hike down now too.

Even though I was still relatively warm, thoughts of loneliness crept into my mind and threatened my ever decreasing will. My once over rambunctious joy of the snow had turned to a hatred. Laurel was hardly ever steep enough to ride and after going through all the necessary steps it took to get back on the bike I felt as though I was losing time every time I tried to ride.

It felt as though my tiredness was increasing at an exponential rate and I wondered if I would make it to 1206 before dark. That’s when I saw two other madmen out in the forest. I was about a 1/3 of the way down Laurel Mountain when I came across them. I can’t imagine how I looked to them but one said “Hey what’s the best way to North Mill’s River from here?” This confused me, I responded with “Where did you come from?” as they were obviously headed up the trail. They said “N. Mills River.” So I asked them if they had only come up Laurel, they said yes and wanted to know the quickest way back to the car. I wanted to laugh as I truly wanted a quicker way back to the car too. But instead I pushed on and told them the only way down was back the way they came.

This was inspiring, I had two fellow crack heads behind me wanting warmth just as bad as me. With a little luck, I was able to ride some of the bottom sections, when I went passed the meeting log I started to hold onto the hope that I might make it to the car before dark.

The guys passed me and told me they were in “survival mode.” I eventually made it to 1206, pedaled the very short distance to the top and then I knew all I had to survive was the 15 minute descent down the frozen gravel road to the car. I looked up at one of the switchbacks and saw the two guys loading their car. I thought about how nice warmth would be when I hit an ice patch and went sliding down the road. I just laughed at myself and re-mounted the bike. A few yards later I saw headlights coming up the road. It was Zach and Dennis about to form a beer party, oops I mean search party. I am grateful to have friends that are concerned.

Yes, I am labeling this one as, epic.

Peace

SCS Monkey

Do you hear something?

As most of you know my late bicycle’s name that my buddy donned her with was Drunken Monkey. I had an epiphany last night and figured that she broke because her hand was too close to the narcotics.

Therefore I have named my new Monkey, Stone Cold Sober Monkey.

I had some fun with pictures yesterday. I will caption them.



I wish I could carve turns like this!
Chillin'
My neighbor really knows how to let the kids have fun. When the sled would get to the corner Kenny would yell Hiyah Hiyah, the horse would take off and the sled would come whipping around the corner like a slalom skier.

SC Snow

I really do love it when it snows in South Carolina. Somehow it just doesn’t seem right and even “other worldish.” Once while living in Charleston I saw snow on a palm tree, which was freaky.

The forecast was snow in the mountains starting around 6, so I figured we could still get a ride in, enjoy the sights and make it back in time to enjoy ourselves in the white stuff.

Dennis, Shade and I headed out with no particular plan in mind. Dennis had spoke with one of the rangers and another biker, they thought we were nuts but in all actuality it was the best time to be out as the ground was frozen and the trails were flying.

We ultimately completed the following loop:

Reasonover -> Lake Julia Road -> Shelter Rock -> Airstrip -> Laurel Mountain -> Corn Mill Shoals -> Shoals -> Laurel Ridge -> Airstrip -> Lake Julia Road -> Reasonover

It was Shade’s first full night ride and he had no problem keeping up in the dark. Dennis and I would stop for a second and there he would be trotting up after a few seconds. We both commented on how quickly he as gained strength and speed.

As the ride wore on I was concerned we wouldn’t get to see any snow. I had noticed my back tire going flat the day before and had pumped it up in the lot but tubeless was to no longer hold on my older Nevegal. Coming to the airstrip the second time my back wheel was too squishy so I stopped to put a tube in it.

As we came back up Reasonover it started precipitating a tiny bit, by the time we got to the top of the trail it was snowing. It was hard enough to make me squint to keep the flakes out of my eyes. I let Shade run in front of me and he was loving it. He was jumping up grabbing the flakes out of the air with his mouth. As always it created a Star Wars feel to the night.

When we got home there was a couple inches of powdery snow on the ground and Shade stayed outside frolicking in it for a couple hours before he wanted in. This morning the temps had warmed and the snow was too wet for fun. When I took Shade out he stepped in the snow as though his little princess feet couldn’t handle the slush. Its good to know he is a powder hound too!

Peace

Let It Snow

What is it about bike riding that decreases distances in our eyes? Four years ago, if I were to go and stand where my house now is, look at Paris the only mountain looming in the south and then tell myself I was going to ride a bike to the top, I would have laughed at myself.

Now as I pedal closer and closer to that rising plateau in the distance it seems so short by endurance cycling standards. That’s why I don’t mind pedaling with only one gear the entire way to the top.

Watching the sunset in the west, seeing the water tower loom close to my house where I was 40 minutes ago, I can see my shadow bouncing against the pink rays as I pound the pedals toward the pavement in a rhythmic dance with the black asphault. When you ride to the trails, it makes you appreciate the dirt ten fold once you lay your treads down in it.

I had corresponded with Rick earlier in the day and I knew that he would be headed up the mountain around 6. When I dropped in on Fire Tower, I saw somebody climbing the trail and asked them the time, five till six, perfect. I descended Firetower, rode up and down the techy section of Sulphur Springs and saw two riders coming up. It was Andrew and Rick, amazing timing.

It had been awhile since I rode in Paris and there is no doubt that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I missed the carved turns, rock outcroppings and roots so I made sure to say hello to all of them last night.

From there we rode down to the lake, around the lake loop twice, back up to Brissy Ridge, down to the backside, up the back road and up Firetower. This is where we broke off as Andrew and Rick headed back down the mountain to their cars and I sat and ate my trail mix, chatting with the misfit group (That’s your group’s name until you all start coming to SORBA meetings) about where I was headed. They thought I was crazy for riding from the house but in all actuality it only takes me 10 minutes longer going back by bike than car.

As I was headed out of the neighborhood, a young lady headed out for a run had a good laugh at me. I think she probably wondered why I would be out on the cold night riding with lights on top of my head. We exchanged pleasantries though, which was nice as it doesn’t happen often these days.

Flying down the backside of Paris was cold and pleasant at the same time. I could see all the lights down below and I knew I was headed back to a warm house and an excited dog.

Peace

Quickie

If you didn't know, most of the time when I post pictures you can click the picture to see the enlarged picture. The first picture I posted yesterday actually has a bike rider in it. Betcha all of you faithful readers didn't even realize that.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are back on for night riding!! I will be trying to ride from the house on most Tuesdays and expect to be at the top of the mountain around 6:00 if you want to catch me.

Wednesdays meet @ 5:30, Fawn Lake for the best night ride eva eva eva!

Peace

Singletrack Hound

Saturday morning Shade and I headed to Dupont to check out some of the more sustainable trails there and to ride a bunch of gravel. I always knew I was partial to singletrack but I never figured I would find a dog that felt the same way.

Shade and I took off on the following loop:

Reasonover -> Turkey Gap -> Pinnacle Mountain Road -> Johanna Road -> Grassy Meadow -> Johanna Road -> Grassy Creek -> Sandy Trail -> Tarklin Branch -> Thomas Cemetery -> Buck Forest -> Sheep Mountain -> Pine Tree -> Longside -> Corn Mill Shoals -> Shoals -> Laurel Ridge -> Mine Mountain

The pack was frozen even with a 9:00 start and I tried to hit roads and trails that would be un-effected by all the rain we have seen.

I wasn’t sure if taking Shade that far was a good idea but after a little discussion we decided to try it. Shade kept up pretty well in the woods but out on the gravel he has no desire to run fast. When we came off of Pinnacle Mountain Road (an actual state road) onto Johanna Road (a rocky beast of a trail) I stopped and waited for Shade to catch up. I was going to let him make the decision of whether we were turning. As soon as he saw that we were headed back into the woods he took off on a beeline in front of me. I took off after him and as I caught him he took off into the woods and was running parallel to the trail in the woods dodging trees. It was great to be back on the bike.

As far as the new bike goes, it rides exactly like the Drunken Monkey and that means it is perfect. You can see in the following picture that Surly beefed up the downtube steer tube connection. This is exactly where my old one broke.

I was slightly worried about the river crossing on Corn Mill Shoals as I knew the water would be higher than I had seen it recently and I wasn’t sure if Shade would be reluctant to cross. I took off my shoes and walked in the frigid waters. When I got to the other side I called Shade and he started a little swim against the current. I wondered if he was alright until I realized he was lapping the water as he ice skated his way across the slippery rocks. Drinking on the go like a true cyclist.

I heard the call of my bike again early Sunday morning and rallied with David George at Fawn Lake. We set out for a 3 ½ hour ride similar to Saturday’s ride. I won’t name all the trails since I have uploaded the profiles. However, now that David has been “running the numbers” for awhile with his GPS. We found that we average about 1,000 feet of ascending for every hour on the bike in Dupont. Numbers are fun aren’t they?

Jim Branch isn’t even in my vocabulary these days as I have a new unsurpassed love for Ridgeline! Once again we stayed on the more sustainable trails and gravel roads since it was still a little soggy. Can we get a frozen pack please. . .

We stopped at the Sky Valley parking area for a quick tour of the kids loop and to grab a bite. There was only one van in the lot when we started eating. A horse trailer and truck pulled up into the lot and drove over every piece of gravel in the lot before they started backing into position. I was about to comment on how much they were driving around when we heard BOOM! They backed up right into the 50 foot telephone pole that is behind them in this picture. I had to walk into the woods I was laughing so hard.

I have lots of thoughts on TMHTE and Hypothermia. I will see if I can put them on paper sometime in the next few weeks.

Peace

Undaunted Running

I have to take advantage of the forest no matter what way I am to enjoy it. So last night I gathered up Shade and my running shoes. Shade is starting to get used to my erratic driving and he knows when to sit up take a look and when it is best to lay down and hold on. The dog cracks me up all the time, I am sure he is telling me jokes sometimes.

When I arrived at Fawn Lake parking lot, BrouSSard was there prepping to ride his bike. Apparently he didn’t understand that it was a cross training night. I mean who wouldn’t want to run this route:

Fawn Lake -> Mine Mountain (Foot traffic only sections) -> Cart Trail -> Laurel Ridge -> Corn Mill Shoals (to Bridal Veil falls) -> Bridal Veil Road -> Barn Trail -> Shelter Rock -> Airstrip -> Fawn Lake Loop (counterclockwise)

Starting up Mine Mountain was tough and got my heart racing too quickly. Since I was on foot, I took the foot traffic only section of Mine Mountain. Before this trail was re-routed alongside of the peaks it was one of the most grueling trails in Dupont. It would take you up and over all the peaks instead of alongside them as the bike path now does. The foot traffic only trail is what it used to be and it is steep.

As I came to the top of Mine, the sun was setting and I knew I had made the right choice on my routes. I didn’t take a head lamp as I was pretty sure I could make it out by the light of whatever stars would be out and normally I am not too frightened of the dark especially when Shade Monster is on my side.

The cruise down to Bridal Veil was nice and my legs were warming nicely. It was nice to run at a brisk pace and not feel like my lungs were on fire. The funny part about it all is that I pick almost the same lines running as I do biking.

We stopped for a short break at Bridal Veil and Shade wanted to go swimming but I had to stop him. The falls had more water coming down it than I have seen in awhile, it was nice.

After the rest I started to get ambitious and wondered if I should just run all of Reasonover back to the car but after I ascended Airstrip I thought better of that. The last few inclines on Fawn Lake made me want to walk but I pushed through.

Hopefully my next story will be about bike riding as the new Monkey is almost ready. I am struggling with what I will call this new bike as it can’t have “Drunken Monkey.” Maybe Plastered Monkey, one too many Monkey . . . who knows but I will let the bike decide not me.

So I actually have some geeky bike stuff for everyone too look at too. I am changing a couple things on the bike just for funsies. I am getting a 34 tooth ring for the front so I calculated some ratios for comparison sakes last night:

These calculated ratios come from here.

Instead of giving you all the numbers I will explain it on non-single speeder’s terms. I mean everyone should understand Gear Inches anyway right?

So if I were using my normal mountain gear of 32X22 I would have the following techy numbers and remember this is calculated for 29” wheels (technically my wheels would be bigger than 29” because of the volume of the tire but we are only doing this for comparison sake):

32X22:

42.18 Gear Inches
132.52 inches of travel per pedal revolution

Now if I were to run 34X22 I would have:

44.82 Gear Inches
The increase percentage from 32 would be 6.25%
140.8 inches per pedal revolution

So if I were to only change the front ring I would travel 8 inches further with each pedal stroke and I would have to push 6.25% harder.

However, I ordered a 23 and a 24 from Marshall yesterday so let’s look at those numbers:

34X23:

42.87 Gear Inches (we see this is the closest I will get to my old mountain gear)
134.68 inches per pedal revolution

34X24:

41.08 Gear Inches
129.07 inches per pedal revolution

So this will be an even easier gear to push than what I currently have. Can you say supreme mountain climbing BABY!!!

So now that I have a plethora of cogs at my disposal 24 – 19, I can be ready for anything!! Except a track race of course. . .

Peace

Really, I don't Swing That Way

Check it out, yah that fine picture of Rich's @$$, I took it at Fool's Gold this past year whilst volunteering. I was actually running at the time of the picture as Rich was on a mission.

I have made millions on the picture and can now retire.

Peace

Another Weekend, Not Another Bike

Just because I don’t have a bike doesn’t mean that my preparation for TMHTE stops. Saturday I was able to rile David George and BrouSSard into going hiking with me. I wanted to make a long one and Zach had the idea of making a big loop from Jones Gap to Caesar’s Head. I had often wondered how long this would take as we would basically be covering the same elevation as 276 does on the way up to the park.

We headed out on Rim of The Gap and just past the connector trail (#22) we met up with two hikers coming down the direction we were headed up. The warned us that our dog better be “sure footed” as we had some pretty big ice patches to cross. I looked at some pictures they had and was admittedly a little scared for Shade but I figured we could turn back if it was too much.

Once you actually get on the ridgeline that gives “Rim of The Gap” trail its proper name, the trail turns into a rocky wonderland with wooden ladders, cable crossings and tight rock squeezes. We were literally surrounded by ice for a mile or more. You could see some spots where the water literally froze as it was moving and had created a hardened “bubble wrap” texture. Some of the icicles hanging from the upper region were as big around as my body and they loomed above us dripping. I wondered what the chances were that we could be impaled by Mother Nature. . .

It definitely did not feel like we were in South Carolina anymore. There were some tricky slick spots but for the most part I felt very safe having Shade with us. There was one wooden ladder that had a rung missing making impossible for Shade to scamper up the ladder on his own so I climbed to the top and David George and Zach lifted Shade up to the first un-broken rung and after I had him secured he climbed the rest of the ladder himself. From there on, all the ladders were intact and Shade would just scoot right up them after some encouragement by me.

We came within a mile of the Caesars’ Head visitors center before we descended back to Jones Gap. The easy walk back down Jones Gap Trial a.k.a. Jones Gap Highway was welcomed after our initial 2,000 foot ascension.

Profiles from Saturday’s Hike:

I figured I better shake the legs out on Sunday so I geared up for a minimalist trail run/hike at Jones Gap. Kristin took off toward the Jones Gap waterfall while I made an attempt to best my time to the overlook on Pinnacle Mountain. I started off with a brisk jogging pace up the mountain that quickly turned into a fast walk/hike. Then when the trail would level out just enough to run, I would run. I didn’t stop until I made it to the overlook and rested for five minutes before attempted to run back down. Coming down I was all over the place, lacking proper trail running shoes I was attempting the trail with my running shoes and when it got steep I could only stop by grabbing onto trees. Luckily I had brought my gloves with me. At one point I heard a large crash that I figured was ice breaking off of the steeps.

I made it around the 5 mile loop in just under two hours. It was the most physically demanding effort I have put down in long time.

Peace

Blog Stats for 2007

16,694 visits

28,114 page views

4,660 unique visitors

Top 10 referral sites:

FORUMS.MTBR.COM = 3,919

Direct (no referral) = 3,281

TEAMDICKY.BLOG.COM = 2,361

GOOGLE (Search Engine) = 913

ELWEVER.BLOG.COM = 634

PALMETTOSOLO.BLOGSPOT.COM = 563

BLOGGER.COM = 542

WWW2.BLOGGER.COM = 496

HARRELLSBICYCLEWORLD.BLOGSPOT.COM = 460

MTNGOATEPICS.COM = 418

Top referral search engine key words:

Extrmtao = 282

Riding in a zen manner extreme tomato = 122

Extrmtao fats = 41

Greenville mtbr = 27

Biking in a zen manner = 26

Most bizarre keywords that brought a referral:

Kwinky = 11

Counterfeit Pen Marks = 1

I have no muscles = 1

Nice rack Karate Monkey = 1 (I hope this isn’t what I think it is. . . )

Biking feels awesome = 1

Congaree Swamp Strange Animal sightings = 1

Drunken Monkey with feet for hands = 1 (This #$%& really is amazing to me)

Fat neighbor upstairs keeping me awake at night = 1

A total of 438 different search words brought people to this Blog in 2007.

Countries:

United States = 16,214

Canada = 106

United Kingdom = 65

Australia = 28

S. Korea = 17

New Zealand = 16

China = 16

Germany = 16

Netherlands = 14

Spain = 13

France = 13

Finland = 10

India = 8

Portugal = 7

Hong Kong = 6

Sweden = 6

S. Africa = 5

Italy = 5

Japan = 5

Four hits per country:

Austria

Israel

Ireland

Puerto Rico

Three hits per country:

Chile

Turkey

Thailand

Brazil

Poland

Malaysia

Romania

Philippines

Two hits for each country:

Serbia and Montenegro

Argentina

Russia

Colombia

Greece

All these countries had one hit a piece:

Czech Republic

Costa Rica

Mexico

Bahamas

United Arab Emirates

Singapore

Estonia

Switzerland

Belarus

Iran

Denmark

Croatia

Aruba

Lithuania

Hungary

Belgium

Iceland

Latvia

So there you have it folks. All I can say is that running Google analytics on your site for a year is good fun.

Peace

Jonesin' For A Gap

I really could not have busted my frame at a better point in time. I don’t think too many have been making it out for rides in this winter wonderland we are having. Although I do miss the chance to don my snow gear and go for a ride.

I drug some friends up to the top of the Hospital Rock trail at Jones Gap last Saturday. It was an awesomely cloudy day that would eventually clear up.

New Year’s Eve we made it up to the gap again for a hike to the overlook.

Shade Monster finally poses for a picture!

Some nice clouds filled the valley early in the morning.
The Chapel at Pretty Place.

Chillin' at the overlook.
Frank a.k.a. I can find that ball no matter where you throw it. . .
For some, it was there first hike. Some techy spots out there as I don't like to hike where I could ride.
Steely Cool D.G. chillin' by Hospital Rock.
If you keep your eyes peeled, the forest is a grown man's jungle gym.

Notice the difference in technniques. Photo credit for the vine pictures goes to David George.

Finesse

This is not something I possess out on the trail whilst riding my bike. I often bang my way down a trail as though I am a four year old banging on the flippers of a pinball machine. This has lead to the untimely death of most of my frames.

I often jinx myself but it normally isn’t on the same day. Since things have been relatively slow at work I typed out the “Reflection” post yesterday and I said:

It has been over 15 months now that I have been solely riding a rigid single speed bike in the mountains and I haven’t died or broken the bike yet.

Well yesterday after I took Shade out for a dog loop. David George and I started a loop when a ½ mile into the ride I said “Man that noise coming from my headset is awful, it sounds like a broken frame.” After another ½ mile I felt the frame sag and there she went, down for the count. The down tube broke in half very close to the steer tube but not on the welds.

I called my boy in blue and I will have the new Husker Blue Karate Monkey in my hands in no time at all. I have become indifferent to breaking frames. In all reality, every bike that is ridden hard enough for long enough will fail at some point. In Pisgah, this timeline is shortened exponentially.

So look for some hiking reports in the near future as it will be a week or more before the bike is built and ready.

Here is my current busted list:

4 Sugar 292 Gary Fisher 29’ers
1 Cake Gary Fisher
1 Karate Monkey – Steel

Late Edit:

Since I posted this and sent an email, I have had three offers for bikes to borrow. My friends are fantastic!! However, I will take non of them up on the offer. I am just not into borrowing bikes. More because I am picky than anything else but thank to all of you who offered help!! I really do appreciate it.

Peace

Reflection

It is that time of the year when everything seems to reflect. It doesn’t really matter what direction you reflect, just as long as you do so. Often times we are spending time with the family, friends and loved ones. I separate those three for obvious reasons but hopefully they are all encompassing 8-) Unless your having an “Uncle Earl’s” Christmas.

So in keeping with this and the biking theme I will reflect and prospect in this post. It has been over 15 months now that I have been solely riding a rigid single speed bike in the mountains and I haven’t died or broken the bike yet. I broke one rigid fork from my sweat but that is bound to happen with me as I don’t carry a proper sweat rag. That’s what we simpletons call it anyway.

Last year at this time I was telling myself that I would only ride the single speed until the summer. Well 2007 is almost over and I haven’t used a shifter the entire year. As I looked through January 2007’s posts I can still remember the New Year’s pre-ride to Wilson’s. That was a great day. I had never been there and a big group of us romped it hard in the woods. That was definitely one of my favorites. You just can’t beat the mountains in the winter, summer, spring or fall.

Checking out February makes me sad as I won’t be skiing this year but I will have TMHTE to fill my head with visions of cold, pain and suffering. I will be attending the Icycle again this year and I am looking forward to it! That was one of the best parties all year last year. Some of our good friends won’t be attending but we will keep them in our cogs.

As I look at March I realize that the Wednesday night Dupont rides have almost been going on for a year now. That has been a HUGE success and I now I can officially call those riders my friends. It takes a good group of semi-talented, nut-job, psychopathic, bunch of crazies to want to continue that ride. I hope it lasts for years to come.

Ahhhhhhhhh April, the gathering. . . I remember being on a ride where I fell so hard on Horse Cove that I had the ghost look for the rest of the day. Just as I thought the day might never end Broussard went hopping through the woods screaming BEER BEER. It was unbelievable as he spotted two 24 oz Highland Oatmeal Porter’s in the woods. We drank one and then D-Kuntz rode down Bennett Gap with one in his bottle cage. Is there anything more that needs to be said about April? I think not. Well actually April was the month of the Pisgah contact stealer. I lost three contacts on rides that month.

Early May was PMBAR, the greatest mountain bike race on earth. It was the second year for Team Trippin’ on Lactic Acid and we had a great time. We will be looking forward to it again this year.

June always consists of National Trails day and to keep with the theme of prospecting, I think we need to get on the ball with UpState SORBA and either join another group or organize our own trails day. We worked on Wolf Branch in Bent Creek last year and that was the last time I was in Bent Creek. June also brought on my second solo 12 hour race of my lengthy career. The good ole HotBell, ooops I mean Cowbell. I dedicated the race to my late Grandfather and tried my best. Ultimately I was 13/44. Some day I am going to hit the 100 mile mark in 12 hours. . . Maybe I should try a flatter course on a day with temps below 100 degrees.

Its getting hot now as I reflect on July. I really am not a good hot weather rider. I sweat slightly more than the average rider so fluid and electrolyte consumption is my number one goal at this point in the season. July also brought our second big work day of the year at Dupont. This was when we rock armored Big Rock. July also brought the NORAMM tradition along with our initial push to create an UpState SORBA chapter.

August was momentous for multiple reasons. Our chapter of SORBA was accepted at the BOD meeting and we officially became a chapter! We introduced a lot of new people to mountain biking through our advertising of an advocacy group and I think it has changed their lives for the better. That’s something to be proud of. August is emotional in my mind as well because I had the best race of my life to date at the Fool’s Gold. I was able to unveil my X-treme tomato logo, attack of the kilter hornets started in Pisgah and we had another couple trail work days.

September was huge on a personal level as I struggled to find a house and succeeded. This year was a great one on the personal level for me as well. I struggled through some of life’s decisions and came out on top, which was tough at times. In September, I moved into a new house, rode the Old Toll road for the first time and I took my second longest road bike ride. I missed my goal to complete the SM-100 but I can deal. . .

October was the double dare after moving into my house while I was sick as a dog. The double dare ended up being insane even though we didn’t “complete” the race. October also brought our happy little Pup Shade into our lives. It has only been a little over two months but man I love the guy. A better dog couldn’t have fallen out of the sky.

November was just another one in the books. One of the funniest stories on the blog this year is in November entitled “Have you laughed at me lately?” as I describe some house training incidents. Good birthday mojo with rides and Pops helping with much needed chores on the house.

As I look back through the posts I have made in 2007, I realize how much I love this little online diary I have created for myself. I try to keep it light and entertaining for the most part. This is more for me than anyone else anyway. It is great to go back and read all the adventures I have had over the past year. Now is always a good time to say where I am headed in 2008 but I am not really concerned with things like that as always. If there is anything that 2007 has taught me it is that life changes and you must change and adapt along with it. I hope everyone is ready for 2008’s changes, I am sure it is bound to be a great year!

Peace

The Story of Tomato

I wasn’t going to write until after Christmas but I have had such good rides lately I thought I would share a story .

While we were adopting Shade from the center, a stray dog was brought in by a lady that worked at the center. The dog was very afraid and had obviously suffered some serious abuse in his life. The lady asked if I would mind going in the holding room to console him and name him, I obliged. As I walked into the room, I heard Kristin laughing.

He was very scared and after a few minutes of me sitting on the floor, he ventured a smell of my arm. We greeted each other and his gentle frightened nature pulled so hard at my soul that I forgot my mission.

When I walked out of the room Kristin said “Guess what they named him?” I said “What?” Kristin proceeded to tell me that they named the dog “Tomato” right as I walked into the room with him.

Tomato is still at the adoption center in Columbia and my thoughts go out to him on this day.

Tuesday night I needed something different, something fresh. I loaded the car up with shade and my bike, drove downtown and let Shade wander in the dog park. Well, Shade really doesn’t like the dog park so after a few minutes I leashed him up and ran him beside the bike up and down the paths at Cleveland Park.

Then Andrew, Chuck and I all went out for an urban assault. It was fantastic, we hit some steps, I tried to screw up some stone wall rides and we just generally bs’d around town.

Last night was the weekly edition of the Wednesday night ride at Dupont. Dennis, Jeremy and I went pretty hard and pretty big for a cold December night. If you haven’t ridden the newly re-routed Ridgeline, go hit it. If you are disappointed, please don’t ever read this Blog again. The ride stats are pretty impressive considering the Goat bonked and Dennis hit the ground pretty hard. We were hauling up and down.

So that’s it folks until after Christmas. Everyone travel safe and if you are down for “The Most Horrible Thing Ever, Training ride # 2” show up at the Black Mountain Trailhead on December 29th 8:00am. Plan to ride into the wee hours of the evening.

Peace

Happy Holidays

The F Factor Part Two

Sunday morning was planned to be “The Most Horrible Thing Ever” training phase number one. That would explain why I was driving in the dark to meet Dennis, Eric and Mike by 7:00am at the Fish Hatchery.

Mike needed to be back to ride with his other half by 10:30 so Eric and Mike made the executive decision to do a Farlow lap, however my idea of a start was still utilized. We started straight up the single track on Cat Gap -> Long Branch -> 475 -> Pilot Mountain Road -> Hiking Art Loeb (for a quick rain stop in a shelter) -> Farlow -> Daniel -> 475 -> Davidson River.

I was pleasantly surprised how much we could ride up Cat Gap and for the first time ever I had fresh legs going up Long Branch so it seemed like a snap. Past the forest road on Long Branch the climbing gets tough and then there is a short downhill. This was the best part of the day for me. I had Mike in front of me and Eric behind me with Dennis pulling the lead on the downhill. I was able to keep a really fast speed and stayed right in behind Mike and getting a “nice ride” from Eric after I pulled out of some sketchy moves.

The weather had been forecasted to reach 60 in mid December so Dennis and I had both left copious amounts of clothing in the car. 3000 feet later in elevation with a little rain left us feeling pretty stupid about our choice and at the top of Farlow Mike directed us to a shelter so we could take in some rest out of the rain.

The climb up to Farlow brings the “F-factor” to an all time high. It is not a normal climb even by Pisgah standards. You climb hard, lung busting, wishing for more gears (even if you have gears), wanting the top, and cussing the switchbacks that turns into more miles of climbing right before your eyes. Add in some cold rain and you have some “epic” conditions on your hands. I have to admit, at one point, I had the thought “why are we climbing this road in the rain when all we are going to do is hike down this trail…” Hike down the trail you ask? Well, if you have ever experienced Farlow you know why I say this. It is a treacherous trail when it is a dry summer day with no leaves.

After our brief break, and a chat with some hikers from Greenville that were packing up and headed to their car, we were headed down the beast. The “F-factor” was in full force. I let everyone go in front and then casually made my way down the top of Farlow. I had to walk a steep section before the rock wall but then I was motivated to ride the wall after I watched Eric expertly bash his way through the waterfall of rocks. I got on the bike, pulled a two second track stand in the wet rocks and then bounced my way down to where Eric stood. This was the first time I had ever ridden that much of the rock wall. Sometimes it just helps to watch.

Eric was feeling good and cleaned some more sections that the rest of us walked. After some of the more treacherous sections were behind us I found myself in behind Dennis with Eric and Mike eating the trail up behind me. We were all railing and hitting moves that were probably beyond the conditions when the “F-factor” switched over to “your *&^%$ factor.

I was flying along and really watching what I was doing when I saw Dennis pull up his front wheel up and huck a long section of rooty rockiness. I pulled the same move as I have done before and thought in the air “I wonder what is under those leaves.” I tried to stay as light as possible but just could not hold onto it. I was catapulted into the air and before I even knew it, the bike was no longer under me. I hit the ground pretty hard but continued a fireman’s roll and started to come up with a huge smile when my bike caught up to me and smacked me good in the knees. Luckily I got my arms up in time. Mike and Eric later called it an “Explosion.” I imagined it more like a fancy snow skiing yard sale.

I really don’t feel like I was pushing beyond my limits. I still felt great on the bike when I got back on. I just think I hit something that caused me to lose control.

In conjunction, I believe everyone went down at one point. I saw Mike go down twice and they both looked like pain. I took it easy down Daniel and then we headed back to the Hatchery. We made it back down from Farlow before noon.

Eric bid us adieu and Mike, Cassie, the dog Max, myself and Dennis all went back up for some more fun. Back up Davidson River Trail -> 475 -> Gravel road to the middle of Long Branch -> Long Branch -> 475 -> Butter Gap -> Cat Gap

The rest of the ride was tiring for me but coming down Butter and Cat Gaps were as wonderful as always and I kept the rubber side down.

Thanks for a great ride everybody!

The F Factor

It is 8:30am on Sunday, raining and I am pedaling up Pilot Mountain Road headed to the top of Farlow. Just a few minutes ago the rain was only like heavy dew but now it seems as though Mother Nature is out to get us while we plow up one of the hardest climbs in Pisgah. Eric is somewhere behind me while Dennis and Mike pedal in front of me. I just stand up and crank. . .

Saturday morning Kristin and I had some breakfast and headed out to the Greenville Christmas Cross. I don’t think you have to celebrate Christmas to race but I could be wrong. The scene was small but not painfully so.

I greeted those I knew and then watched the masters take off for their race. The course was awesome and set up really well. Not hard to follow unless you’re an idiot like me. There were even a couple tricky spots that could put you on your butt if you stopped paying attention.

The barriers were much higher than I expected and there would be no bunny hopping these beasts. I had never even practice jumped a barrier before so what the hell let’s go race cross. After the masters, we were allowed a course warm-up where I almost killed Seth the race organizer and Land Rover Coach. Whooops!

After I realizing that I am about as graceful as a giraffe trying to limbo jumping the barriers, I was ready to race. As soon as I saw which way the course started I knew I was in a heap of trouble. I wasn’t the only person on a mountain bike but I was the only person with one gear. So when we heard “go” I just watched everyone big ring it away from me. Coming to the first hill I had pulled my way into sixth place about 20 yards behind Mr. Buffington who was racing his first cross race as well.

I can’t remember everything that went on but I felt like crap the first couple laps and just tried to hold my position as I was having a hard time closing the gap up to Ed. At some point a fellow Bo who I had not previously met passed me on the steep run up about ¾ of the way through the course. We were doing five laps and I believe we were on lap two or three.

I thought Bo was going to leave me for good but I pedaled hard on the first climb and held his wheel all the way to the steep run up again. I realized on lap four that I could not let that happen on the last lap or I would lose a place. After the flat section on the final lap, I put the pedal down hard and tried to go by Bo as fast as I could. I pulled a pretty good gap and just prayed that I could hold it in the run up. I held the lead throughout the lap and finished 6th. That was awesome and I really enjoyed it! Thanks for making it a race Bo!!

As to why I would be climbing Farlow 19 hours later, well that will have to wait for another story time.

Thanks to everyone who came out and cheered me on!! All the yelling sure is motivating. I hope we get the chance to do this again in G-vegas.

Photo credits go to Brado, thanks!

Baby Cross

Its the busy season again and last night I had to cancel on the Dupont ride. Stinks, but it is the way of life right?

First I would like to say CONGRATS to my best friends back at home Shana and Michael for giving birth to Wyatt (man I hope that is spelled right) yesterday morning!!! Soon I will be making the trip back home for Christmas and I will get to meet the little tike, I can’t wait.

Ok so back to business here. I figured that since I didn’t make the normal night ride last night I would go try and see if any of the Cross freaks were out and about. I rolled up at dusk and found Mark loading up his gear. As soon as he saw me, he put his Camel Bak back on to show me the course, thanks Mark.

The course is going to be much better than I ever thought. I have never been to a cross race but it seems kind of long. The west side Aquatic center has a lot of land and a lot of steeeeeep hills. The course runs sideways along the hills to create some pretty sketchy off camber downhills. If it were raining, it would be awesome for spectators. However it looks like those ideal conditions will have to wait for next time.

If you don’t want to race, you should still come out and spectate. I hear cross is a great spectator sport as you will see a lot of carnage and action without having to run around like a normal mountain bike race. Plus the pain in people’s faces should be worth the trip.

I think it will suit a mountain bike just fine. I am going to stick a 32X19 on the bike and just pedal as hard as I can. If I can’t make it up a hill I am going to get off and hoof it. There are some flats and I don't want to be spinnign my ass off watching everyone take off without me. We will see how many gearie crossers I can beat! I have not raced since Fool's Gold. . .

See you all on Saturday.

A Second Home

Most of my riding time has been spent at Dupont lately. It is just the best option for me right now as it is close to my house. Saturday we had a good group of Andrew, Pisgah Pro, Chuck and myself. Jamie was out and about on the ride but he told us he was out for a short loop.

Kristin was out on a hike with Shade so that meant I had a time schedule to keep. I am not very good at keeping time schedules lately. Our ultimate route:

Fawn Lake, Reasonover, Lake Julia, Camp Summit Road, Airstrip, Mine Mountain, Laurel Ridge, Corn Mill Shoals, Burnt Mountain, Nooks, Burnt Mountain, Corn Mill Shoals, Longside, Rock Quarry Road, Buckhorn Creek Road, Cannon Creek Trail (out and back) Buckhorn Creek Road, Buck Ridge Road, Micajah, Wilkie, Corn Mill Shoals, Shoals, Laurel Ridge, Airstrip, Fawn Lake

About halfway through the ride Eric asks me “What route have we gone so far?” After I rattled off the first five intersections he said “Ok, you are going to have to email that to me.” Just because I like tooting my own kazoo, I never had to look at a map.

It was another great day in the woods and we got to ride the newly re-routed Burnt Mountain. This trail is one of the most highly regarded in all of Dupont.

It is always a treat having people who don’t know where they are going ride along with you in Dupont. The intersections come by so fast that if you keep things moving most people won’t have a clue where they are after a few turns even though you are only a few miles into the ride.

I always seem to forget how much there is to play on at Dupont too. I always recognize it more when I am riding with somebody on my tail. Here is a list of the technical features we passed on Saturday:

Log ride on Reasonover
Log Step up on Reasonover
Bridge steps on Reasonover
Cruised right by the big tree at the intersection of Mine Mountain and Laurel Ridge
I noticed another obscure log ride on Laurel that I have yet to ride.
Two Rock steps on Laurel Ridge
Rock Huck on Corn Mill Shoals (didn’t hit this one either)
Wall Ride on Corn Mill shoals, Nailed it!
Creek crossing both ways!
Rock Huck on Burnt Mountain (too high for me)

There are probably some that I missed as well. If you make it a point to master these moves, it will improve your riding.

Most of the ride on Saturday was typical with big smiles and some out of breath moments. Andrew was hammering it up the climbs and Eric was flying on the rocky downhills. Andrew had a “confession of the big wheels” coming down the top of Micajah. It is always great to see another soul enjoy the 29’er lifestyle. You are definitely “out of the norm” if you ride 26 inches in our group. Not that there is anything wrong with 3 less inches. . .

Burnt Mountain and Nooks trails have recently been re-routed. Nooks is nothing but a flowing lollipop loop now. Burnt has changed flavors quite a bit but it is better than ever. The first downhill leading to the climb now has a bunch of optional table tops and doubles that just plain rock. Eric and I both exclained that it was the first time we had “cleaned” a jump like that in a long time, they are set up absolutely perfect. There were also some wall rides and banks that were added. Right before the initial climb there is another banked corner that is not finished yet but when it is, it will be a strong kick to the beginning of the climb.

The climb is now extended and rolling instead of rutted. The downhill starts in the same spot but extends out to the riders left and weaves around some awesome rock formations. Just when you think it is ending the new section sends you soaring back toward the triple huck water bar, water bar, rock drop. Eric went flying off the hucks as I negotiated them as step downs. The bottom section after that is all the same.

After everyone exclaimed their excitement about Burnt we headed all the way up to Rich Mountain Road for some true single track. I knew no one knew where we were when we were standing there. When I told them all it was the furthest point from the car and we were headed back now. . . It was great.

Sunday’s ride was painful as I had not recovered well from Saturday at all. We had a big group and a big time. Ridgeline now goes on forever and is a fantastic downhill with a sweet skinny log ride and plenty of alternate lines.

Peace