Last Day, One last ride.

For our last day we decided to go back to Dupont and ride the same area we did the first day since Miles had never ridden there before. It was a beautiful day and since it was raining the first day I was looking forward to getting some pictures of the stuff I missed the first time out.

We parked and rode out and down Corn Mill Shoals Trail. This is a flat/slightly downhill section with a lot of dirt mounds good for jumping. I followed Jay and Joe and watched them jump off of everything in sight. I was following doing my best to hit everything also. We rode on down to the water just to see it before heading back up the trail.

We came to the Burnt Mountain trail and it was still closed. Jay had told us about how fun the downhill section was on this part of the trail, but I guess that is a good reason to come back later.

We climbed up and around Cedar Rock trail to the top of Cedar rock. Somehow I had already forgotten the trail, because lots of the parts looked different. Maybe it was because it was raining on our first day and I was just staring at the ground trying to pick a good line and this trip I was looking around more enjoying the scenery. The view from the top was great and we stopped to grab a snack before heading on.

We decided to descend Cedar rock and turn around and climb back up the steep side. We didn’t get to ride down this last time only up it. The descent was a lot of fun. I took the lead so I could stop near the bottom on the technical part to get a few pictures of everyone coming down. It was a lot more fun than I thought as I was trying to stay on the trail (which is marked by little piles of rocks) through the lichen on the rocks. Somehow the rocks were a lot rougher (with numerous indentions and cracks) than I remembered from climbing. It was an excellent technical descent and I was glad we decided to come this way. When I neared the bottom, I scoped out a rough section and snapped a few pictures of everyone coming down. I think Jim surprised himself and rode down this rock also.

At the bottom we turned around to do this “little” climb. I didn’t do as well as the first time and ended up putting a foot down in a couple places. I grabbed the camera and got some pictures of those who were chugging along. It was an excellent climb really only limited by my legs and my brain. Unfortunately the bike had plenty of traction (even in granny gear) so there was no excuse other than pure exhaustion (which means I need to ride more) to put a foot down.

We rode down big rock trail which was an excellent downhill with more rocks and jumps to play on while heading down. There was a rock at the bottom (3’ or so) that I was able to jump off of. It was so much fun, I did it a few times and I think someone got a picture, so I will add it if I can get a copy.

I don’t think anyone really wanted to leave yet, so we rode up around Longview, Rock Quary, Micajah, and Wilke trails before coming back out at the parking lot.

My bike definitely did well, but near the end started developing slight shifting problems. I know all the mud and gunk is all in the shifters and cable housings so a through cleaning is in order when I get home. I managed to get through the trip with no real problems (no flats, or broken parts). We went back to camp to clean up before we headed home. I got a few pictures of the cabins we stayed in. It was a great location and worked very well. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to stay close to Dupont/Pisgah.

Here is the link to the place we stayed:
http://www.blackforestcampground.com/

We headed home and I am really not looking forward to leaving yet. Looking at the maps, I realized we had only ridden a small part of Dupont, and the same could be said for Pisgah. I am really looking forward to returning in the future to ride more of this incredible trail.

Here is the link to all the Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/DupontNC2008_2_24

Pisgah ride and can't stop grinning

After a lot of discussion, we decided to ride Laurel mountain in Pisgah today instead of Squirrel gap. Squirrel gap said it would take about 6 hours and we were worried about having enough daylight. We stopped at Grammey’s restaurant for breakfast (just like every morning) and since it was a drive to get there I got a huge breakfast with French toast, eggs, and bacon. We drove down and parked at the base of the climb. After getting ready we headed up the road. It was a nice climb just to get to the beginning of the singletrack trail. I am not use to starting riding hard right off so this trip has been a shock to my system. It has been really good for me and I need to start off hard more often to improve this part of my riding.

After reaching the trailhead we took off into the woods. We knew this was going to be quite a climb to the top, and it started off pretty flat. The trail had lots of trees down all the way up so there was a lot of stopping to carry the bike over this stuff. At one point there were some branches that we rode through that almost tossed me from the bike. I was not expecting them to be so strong but did not think much of it. Right up the trail I stopped to take some pictures of a rocky section and everyone going over it and I looked back and Jim was pushed off his bike by the branches and started tumbling down the side of the mountain. He flipped twice and landed upside down against a tree. I was scared and me, Miles and Jay ran down to help him. We had to climb down a short way and get him upright so he could even get back up to the trail. It was amazing that the tree was there or he would have rolled for quite a way before stopping. After accessing the damage and realizing he was only slightly scratched and bruised we headed on our way. I really wish I had thought to take a picture after we found out he was OK, but at the time it was not really what I was thinking about.

The trails were beautiful and there were many sections with the trees (I am guessing Laurels) had grown up over the trail to create a tunnel to ride through. I was told that when they bloom, the tunnel is all white from the blooms.

The trail slowly climbed up the mountain it would seem to come to a flat open space (where we would rest a few minutes and regroup) before getting steep and slowly leveling off to the next open area. Most of these climbs really tested me as they were long, steep, and technical. It was fun to try to make it up them without putting a foot down. Most of the trail was ridable, however there was one steep rocky section that comes to mind that there was no way I could ride so I just hiked up it. Generally if Joe and Lee tried to ride it, I would try to ride it also (Notice my use of the word TRY).

After a few of these climbs with each seeming to get steeper than the last, we came out at the top. We stopped for a snack and lowered our seats for what was ahead. When everyone was rested, we headed off to the downhill. There is definitely a thrill from flying down a steep trail where you have no clue what is coming up. The bike was much more skilled than I as it danced lightly over the rocky ground. I was jumping off of rocks wherever I could and loving every second. The trail went down the side of the mountain pretty quickly with some tight switchbacks. Most of these were right on the edge and as my front wheel was going around the outside of the turn I could glance over the side. It was quite scary and every one I negotiated correctly just added to the huge smile on my face. We stopped to regroup a couple of times and I was amazed at how long we waited. It always made me wonder if I was maybe taking this a little too fast for my own safety. But those thoughts flew from my mind as soon as we started back down the trail and I got another huge shot of adrenalin from the fun.

We came upon a huge rock garden and I tried to ride it. About halfway down one of my feet popped out of the pedals. There was no way I was going to stop or put a foot on the rock (as the guys would say I didn’t make it and I would have to go try again). It was extremely bumpy and I fought staying on a good line as I also fought to get my foot back in the clip. When I finally did, the other foot popped out. I somehow managed to wrestle it back in as I finished up this part. I was so happy I let out a yell of joy when I reached the bottom. I climbed back up to get some pictures of everyone else. I think everyone that decided to try and ride it made it down. It made me realize just how tame blood rock is.

We got to the end and I couldn’t believe how quick we got to the bottom. He had been climbing for hours and it seemed like we got to the bottom in 10 minutes. However it was definitely worth it and I would do it again in an instant.

Jim and Miles headed back down the gravel road to the car and we were going to take a short loop through the woods to add another mile or so. This section was relatively flat and just a fun ride. I started cramping a little on the backs of my legs, so I had to spin it out instead of putting much force on the pedals until it passed. Jay also got a flat tire in this section. I was amazed that we made it this far without a single flat considering everything we had been through. He changed it extremely quickly and we finished up and headed back to the cars.

It was a perfect day for the ride and the views from the mountain were awesome. I really enjoyed this ride.

We hit a Chinese buffet on the way back and it was the biggest buffet I have ever seen. They had sushi on the buffet and it was decently good. I ate till I was stuffed then got a big bowl of ice cream for desert. I generally avoid buffets due to poor quality food (and to keep the backfat at a reasonable level), however whoever had the idea to go here should be awarded a medal it was so good.

I finally got a few pictures of a ride, enjoy:
http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/Pisgah2008_2_23

http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/Pisgah2008_2_23

Dupont + Mud still = FUN

We were worried that today was going to be a nasty day as it was supposed to rain all day according to the weather. We didn’t get a very early start as it was raining when we woke up. We decided to ride some of the other trails at Dupont and wait till tomorrow to go to Pisgah so Joe and Miles would be able to join us. We parked down by Fawn lake and Headed around Reasonover creek trail. This part of the trail was a bit soupy but still a lot of fun. We circled around and rode by Lake Julia. Jay requested a cabin there for anyone looking for a good birthday idea. It was a beautiful spot and there were the remnants of an old lodge that looked like it was pretty nice back in its prime. Next we headed up to the old airstrip on top of the hill. We saw some deer while up there and stopped briefly to look over the end of the runway. Next we headed down Airport trail. This section had a lot of potential, but it was a bit slick so I could not go nearly as fast as I wanted to. It was still a fun little downhill. There was a log at the bottom that was ridable. It took me a couple of tries, but I finally made it across successfully. Next I think we took Shelter Rock Trail over to Corn Mill Shoals trail and went down to the base of the falls. It was an incredible view and I was really wishing I had brought my camera to get some pictures of this. We headed back up Corn Mill Shoals trail to Shoals trail. Next we headed up Laurel Ridge trail and then came down Mine Mountain trail. This was a really fun downhill with a few places to get in the air pretty easily. After this we debated going back to the car, but instead decided to ride a bit more by circling around fawn lake and getting to ride back down min mountain trail again.

Thanks to Jay giving me a copy of this map I was able to retrace what we rode, however if I made a mistake feel free to correct me.

Somewhere during this ride (Possibly around the Corn Mill shoals trail), we found a small drop (2-3’) that I jumped off of. It was not the most graceful landing as I landed more on my front tire, but I did manage to stay on the bike. However a few feet up the trail, there was an off camber rock that we were going to ride down. Jay and Lee rode down first with no incident, but I was a little heavy on the front brakes and the front wheel started sliding to the left on me. It happened too fast for me to correct, so I ended up doing a beautiful over the handlebars dismount and landing on my side and back. They all said it was a pretty good crash, so at least I did a pretty good job. Unfortunately this did make me leery of slick rocks for the rest of the day and slowed me down a little.

There was also a log ride that was about 4’ in the air. The log had a few curves in it and then was cut in half to provide a small drop to a flat section before curving down to the ground. It was pretty intimidating, and after my wreck I was not really looking forward to falling off as it looked very slippery because it was so wet. Jay looked at it for a while and then decided it was not worth it, then Lee decided he was going to ride it. He headed off and around the curve, his rear wheel slipped off the side. Luckily he grabbed a nearby sapling and kept himself from falling to the ground. The second time around the loop when we came to it again he decided to try again. This time we were spotting him so in case he fell, we could break his fall. In the exact same place his rear wheel slipped off the side. Somehow he managed to only scratch his leg a little but we decided it was a little too slick to ride today.

Somewhere along the ride my GPS stopped working. I was hoping it just got a little water in it and it would dry out and be fine, however I was unable to get it to work so I am afraid I will not have maps of my rides to see where we were. I managed to pull the first day’s data, but this whole day was missing.

After this ride our bikes definitely needed some TLC. I believe this was the dirtiest my bike has ever been (even including the ride in the snow) We took them to the bike wash to clean them off. Luckily we were all adults (at least in age), so there was no problem with us using it. I had to clean my shifter cables also as my bike was shifting poorly from all the gunk. I am pretty sure I will need to give it a through cleaning when I get home just to get it back operating correctly.

Tonight we drove to Ashville (I think) to eat at a little Mediterranean/Mexican restaurant. We met Joe and Miles there. I ended up getting the Chicken and Shrimp special and it was pretty good. It had a lot of flavors I have never tasted before. Finally we went back to the cabins for some beer tasting and to head to bed.

I was scared for the camera, so I did not carry it with me and only got pictures of everyone after the ride.

Here are the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/DupontNC2008_2_2122

North Carolina here we come!

I decided to join Jay on his Dupont/Pisgah mounting biking vacation. I woke up early to be at his house by 6:45 because it was about an hour drive from my house to get there. We all (Jay, Joel, Lee, Jim, and I) packed up into two vehicles and hit the road. It was about a 6 hour drive, but we got there in time to get a ride in before dark. Jay decided to take us to a few trails in Dupont including Cedar Rock and Corn Mill Shoals Trail. He tried to take us around Burnt Mountain, but the trail was closed for repairs so we were unable to ride it.

This type of riding is completely different than anything we have here as it was nice and technical through some sections and most of the downhills had humps that could be jumped. The slick rock was also incredible. I was actually able to use granny gear as it was pretty steep in some sections but the granite rock had tremendous traction even though it was wet. It was a great first ride even though we only rode about 5 miles in about an hour. It definitely felt like much more and left a huge smile on my face.

It was slightly raining on us most of the time however the trails were in pretty good shape. These trails being mostly on rock did very well in the wet and were a very pleasant ride even with the rain and the cold.

We hit a Mexican restaurant that evening and I ate a huge serving of fajita nachos. They were excellent and really hit the spot after the ride. We sampled a few beers, watched some south park and went to bed.

A warning to light sleepers, if you room with Jay make sure you bring earplugs.

I didn’t get any pictures of this one as I didn’t want to take the camera in the rain.

Hell just froze over

I headed to Cahaba Cycles in Trussville after my ride to look at a potential new toy. I had been tossing around the idea of getting a road bike for a while. I had a set of road wheels and tires for my old bike, but when I got the new one with the thru-axel it would mean at least buying a new front wheel. I really hate swapping out the rubber, especially with the tubeless as I have to remove the valves as well to put road slicks and tubes in the wheels. A road bike seemed to finally make sense. I had been fighting it for a while, but about a month ago started looking.

I spoke with Barbara at Cahaba about it and she mentioned her son and Chris Leven would be selling their road bikes (about a year old). I talked to them and both were a little more than I wanted to spend. Chris let me know about a week ago that he had gotten back one of his old bikes that he would be getting rid of soon. It happened to be a 60cm Independent Fabrications Crown Jewel. He sent me info on the bike and of course I researched it. It is a beautiful bike (steel and carbon fiber) and also is slightly rare. It was still a bit more than I was wanting to spend, but it appeared Chris was selling it very cheaply.

I got to the store and Chris let me look at it and ride it. This is the first time I have ever even ridden a road bike. It felt really strange with the road handles and I couldn’t seem to get my hands in the right place, however it was FAST. It accelerated very quickly and actually felt good over the slightly rough back street. I think I scared Chris as I was coming down the road after the test ride and almost didn’t make the turn into the parking lot.

I decided to go ahead and get the bike and carried it home with me.

I stopped at my parent’s house as they live in Trussville and they were cooking dinner. I at there and watched a movie before heading home. I will have to try out the bike some other time as it is too late to do it tonight.

I will have to get pictures up later.

BUMP February 3rd Saturday club ride

I am quite late in this but wanted to mention the BUMP 3rd Saturday club ride for February. I decided to head out and join in so I could get a lap in this weekend. It was a pretty good turnout of people with a couple new faces in the group. I managed to get there a bit late so the group left a minute or two before I did. Luckily I was not the only late one, so we took off but quickly caught up with the group.

It was a leisurely ride to the North trailhead with a few rest stops to regroup. The weather was so nice that it felt so good to be out in the woods away from the “real world” for a while. We stopped to attempt the log ride at the base of chimney climb as well as stopping to see the new Gnome that showed up in the rock garden. At the beginning of the red road climb, a couple of people decided to turn around and head back instead of continuing on. We took off up the road and Terry decided to take the lead up the hill. I remember me and Larry trying to keep up and when we finally made it to the top, Larry captured the feeling of reaching the top perfectly:

After a short rest we headed on and enjoyed the downhill section of this road. I managed to snap a few of blood rock as everyone was coming down. We cruised on down quarry road and finished up with Johnson’s mountain and Mr. Toads. After the ride I stopped to chat in the parking lot with everyone.

I was debating about riding another lap and Stephanie called me and said she had to work late, so my decision was made. Terry was planning on riding another so I asked if I could tag along. We headed off and I did not carry my camera on this lap as I figured there probably wouldn’t be many stops. Heading Counter clockwise we hit the hard climb right off. He was setting a good pace and it felt good to get the burn in my legs on the climb. It was a good lap and I felt better about getting some mileage in as I knew I wouldn’t be able to ride on Sunday.

We finished up and I ran home to shower and change as I had plans for the evening. We hit McAlisters on the way there (there will be a new blog of where I went)

All the pictures from today:

http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/OakMountain2008_2_16

Broke in my bike at Raccoon

I woke up early (for the weekend) in anticipation of a day at Raccoon Mountain. This has got to be my favorite place to ride this far. Tommy and Moran had ridden yesterday and were already up there waiting on me. I got there about 11:00 eastern time and we hit the trails. It was a little chilly at first, but I quickly warmed up.

Moran kept trying to tell me about a jump that he wanted me to do, and when we finally came to it, I saw what he was talking about. It was a small drop so I decided to be the guinea pig and try it out. This was still early in the ride and I swore I was going to jump off of some things today, but I decided to start off easy. I rode off of it a few times and then jumped a couple more. Tommy decided to hit it also. It was a nice start to a long day of playing.

We continued around and came to a jump in the trail. Everyone had their chance to hit it and we all were jumping pretty well. I was really surprised how much comfortable I had become with leaving the ground. A couple of months ago, I was scared to death to jump anything and now I am just trying to keep up with Tommy. Next we came to the balance log. It is a little higher than the ones at Oak Mountain, but the transitions on and off are so gentle, it is much easier to ride (also that it is about a foot wide). We circled around an hit Lower Chunky (this is considered as difficult, but is just a little more technical with some short steep descents and climbs. The trail also is on the edge of a decent drop, so there is a danger factor if you fall asleep and ride off the trail. We found a rock to ride down and then found a jump right below it. This was my first chance to fly or fail. I spent a little time scoping out the landing area as well as my line across the rock. The landing had a good transition, so even if I was going slow and dropped my front tire I probably would have been ok. After a few deep breaths I headed for it. I was just going to ride off of it the first time and it felt incredible to land smoothly. After doing it once, I must have jumped off of it about 6 or 7 times getting more comfortable each time. I finally had my fill and we rode on.

There is some new trail that is not on the map yet, and I led Tommy and Brian around this and showed them some nice rock riding. It was decently technical with climbs up and down from rocks. I love this part and feel like I really accomplish something when I negotiate it correctly. Moran said it reminded him of Moab, and he has about talked me into a bike trip there for my bachelor party. I rode down a large rock (for some reason they didn’t want to do it) as well as finding another jump. This is a nice drop where the trail just drops about 4 feet. I swore I was going to ride it this time as I was too scared to do it last time. After a few more deep breaths I headed toward it and just went. It felt great and the bike was definitely performing wonderfully. I climbed back up and did it 3 or 4 times before we headed on.

I feel I have to mention this as this is my first wreck. I was hopping a tree and some of the transition on the other side had moved away. When I came down my front tire was against the smaller log and I had to jump over the handlebars. The bike just fell over to the side, but I had to take a moment to mourn the loss of my unwrecked bike.

I could tell Moran was getting tired and Tommy was hungry, so we headed up to the overlook and stopped for a little while to rest and to get something to eat. They decided they were going to skip the last few sections of the trail but the next part was not to be missed. The direction we were going it was a long fast singletrack that was mostly downhill. It had lots of little humps in the trail that could be jumped. The trail flowed extremely well and we could carry a lot of speed. I had forgotten about this, but really enjoyed this part.

After this they cut out on the road and said they would wait for me at the car. I told them not to, as I didn’t know how long it would take me to finish. I continued on and came to a section labeled ONE WAY, do not enter. I thought that was odd, so I kept going and a short way I saw another sign as the entrance. Well I headed my happy self down the trail to check it out. There was a small drop, so I assumed that was what this was about. I kept going expecting a few more drops and soon saw a sign reading “Caution, Jump ahead”. I saw some people down the trail so I asked how high it was. They said it is not high, just long. They told me to just come on down but get some speed. I was a little confused, so I went down to check it out. I can’t believe they told me to just go. They were not going to do it, but I think they wanted to see someone try. It ended up being a gap jump across a small creek. I am not ready for this yet, and it really looked like the take off ramp was not high enough. I decided I would save that for next time and headed on around. Next the same guys were ahead again and told me there was a 3-4 foot drop ahead. I rode up to the edge and decided I would do it. They said they hated the sound of breaking bones and headed off.

Here is where I really made my mistake. Every other jump, I had been checking the landing area and walking my line to make sure I knew exactly where to leave from and what angle I should go. I never even walked to edge to look over before jumping. I headed for it and jumped off. Right before I hit it I noticed there were some rocks to the left. I tried to correct and when I landed I went right and caught the edge of my handlebar on a small (1”) tree. I tried to recover, but hooked it with my thigh and my bike and ended up falling over the tree. All I got was a bruised ego and some small scratches on my thigh, but wrecking my bike again was the worst part. I certainly learned my lesson to look before I leap (that was a poor joke).

I finished up by riding up Megawatt. This part of the trail finished me off. I could tell I should have carried food with me as I had ridden about 5 hours by this point. I also ran out of water about 3 hours ago. I was in granny gear but was determined not to be beaten. I had to put a foot down a couple of times on the rocky climb, but swore I was going to ride it. The last section up to the visitor center is pretty steep and I grannied my way up it. I had a huge smile on my face as I got back to the car from such a great ride. It turned out that they had waited on me and I let them download the pictures I took while I packed up so they could look at them. I even ate at Krystal with them because that is where they wanted to stop. I have not eaten at a Krystal since college (about 10 years ago).

The worst part was the drive home, but I am already looking forward to our next trip.

All my pictures are Here: http://picasaweb.google.com/grundcm/RaccoonMtn2_10_2008

Hopefully I can get a copy of Brian's also and will add them