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.
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:
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