One busy weekend... and this is just the Friday part.

Friday started early and went all night. I had to make Pisgah Brewing to pick up a regulation sized keg of fine Ale for my b-day party on Saturday and then make it to school to do carpool back to Brevard. The evening started with kids basketball practice until 8:30 and then a mad dash back to the house to throw on the bike gear and head to Coontree for my birthday present to myself - a night ride in Pisgah with company. Some old faces (Randy and Sam) and some new faces (Clay and Jonathon) came along for a fine time. I was late, and forgot my moon pies which I hate to do, especially when I promise them.

The route was up the pavement on 276, then 475 to Davidson River, then back on 475 to Daniel Ridge. The group was three at the start and we met two more on Daniel Ridge. Nothing like an unplanned rendezvous in the dark in the middle of woods... The pace around Daniel was great, I like to ride with faster people who don't mind me on the back a few minutes every hour or so. We made it down the rocky side of Daniel Ridge and rode back to Cove Creek where we found a huge throw-down party in full swing at close to midnight. The woods just swallows up people - you couldn't hear a thing until you were right up on the camp and then it was a few hundred people, party tents, bonfires, jams, and lots of crowd noise. We powered through up on the trail and soon enough the woods were still and quiet again. The stars were shining bright at this point and I was alternating between working hard and sweating or coasting and freezing. Towards the top of Cove Creek two turned back to Coontree and three were left to ride on to Bennett Gap.

At the top of Cove Creek we hit 225 and the ground was beginning to show frost and the fog rolled in. You could see only the small circle of space where your lights pointed. As usual the ride up 475B was long... and seemed even longer without any landmarks to note along the way. Clay and Jonathon were up in front of me by a few minutes and I could occasionally see their lights on road ahead and above me. We stopped for break or two and regrouped, then off again to 477 and the next climb to Bennett Gap. There were some small patches of black ice on 276 but no cars and no other life. A right turn onto 477 and then up and up and up. There are only a few places where the road levels out and the sticky road surface made for a hard ride. I walked a bit, rode a bit, and finally made the last section where it eases up and you feel the wind blowing through the gap.

All of Bennett Gap trail was in a thick fog, and it took a lot of mental energy to focus on the small world around you. In the daylight your brain processes an amazing amount of information from your peripheral vision, but in the dark and the fog it seemed impossible to process the details of the trail right in front of you at all... the whole world shrank to a small 6ft circle around me and it felt incredible to focus so fully. The overlook on Bennett is a place I always stop and tonight I got there to find Jonathon and Clay lost in space. You can see for miles from there, down into the coves below where 276 runs past Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock, out across to Looking Glass Rock, up to Black Balsam, off in the distance is John ROck and Cedar Rock and even Pilot Mtn. But tonight - N O T H I N G A T A L L. The tree 1 ft away was as invisible as Mt Hardy five miles away across the long valley of the Davidson River headwaters.

The decent down Bennett was still great fun, I walked the rocks and stairs and the very rooty parts but still rode a fair bit. The hike a bike up Coontree was surreal, so many details I fail to notice in the light were painted in my light for just a moment as I passed. Finally, Bennett splits to the left and we took Coontree straight down back to the parking lot. That section of Coontree is really pretty steep and loads of fun. I was close to busting it a few times and had to slow down as fatigue was definitely starting to impact my minimal downhill skills....

What a great ride, with fine company. I was glad nobody knew it was my birthday ride (except Sam), I had some good time alone in my thoughts and had a chance to think about my mom and thank her for bringing me here to Pisgah so long ago and starting this fire inside me that burns for the woods.

Dark

This was taken at 5:57PM from the overlook on Bennett.
Note to self, if this is the sun @ the overlook on Bennett it will be very dark before you can ride to the bottom. Patrick rode and walked the whole 18 miles in good spirits. It's the darkest I've been in the woods in quite awhile, darkness in the woods is fun.