Couldn't even slow down for a picture of the view, had a time limit on the ride. Went gravel up and back on 477. From the stables, 13 miles roundtrip, 1400 ft of climb in 6.5 miles. Not so much as I thought, but the steepest part is at the end. Very clear and still cool.

Spring Camping

 

Had a great time out in the woods for the night with Theo and Abe. We hit our favorite "overlook" off of Cemetery Loop.



We found a geocache right where this picture was taken and we weren't even looking for it. Now we want to find more geocaches in Pisgah.

Here's a bit of peacefulness on the mountain for you.


Looking Glass Rock, Easter Eve, Pisgah Forest NC from Zeb Ridn29s on Vimeo.



There are two large waterfalls across the valley that I would like to see up close.

The second photo is actually a better one I took in the winter and enlarged.



I did get a ride in the late afternoon, so it was a perfect day. Time with the boy and time on the bike....

breakage

Well, I suppose the PMBAR training is going well. How do I know? Things are breaking on my bike, and that means I'm riding hard enough to push the equipment so I must be pushing myself. Today's ride started at the Horse Stables, up Clawhammer in record time for me (42 min.) and then off down Buckhorn. I was riding with Patrick (Asheville YetiRider) and Eric (NC_dirtsurfer) and we had a good pace going all the way over the S. Mills bridge. Then, about a 1/2 mile up Squirrel I lost a crank arm. The threaded end cap was gone and it just wouldn't stay on under load. At first I dismounted and tried to run after Patrick and Eric to let them know I had a mechanical, then when I realized I wasn't going to catch them I stopped to fix it. The fix lasted about 100 ft, it broke again... and I had not picked up the end cap where it fell off. In the middle of all this I encounter the one and only Eric Wever who noted my demise in his blog along with Dennis D. I finally got to Patrick and Eric, we returned to my original break and amazingly I found the end cap. Another fix, and then off. I got about 1/2 mile from Horse Cove Gap and it broke again. This time I noted that the threads of the end cap were stripped pretty bad so I figured my best best to start riding towards the car (now some 10 miles away...). I managed to make it all the way back down Squirrel, back up Buckhorn, and down Clawhammer without further issues.

trail work

I finally had a chance to get out and do some work with the PAS folks today. Met quite a few people who were just funky names in the forums before..... FeloniousDunk, D.F.L, epicrides, CarlosG... to name a few. The work party headed to Squirrel and Cantrell Creek earleir than I could make it so I ended up having to hike up, around, and down little FunnelTop. About 6 miles into the work party but some real great views along the way.

save the trails

Save the trails moved a day - to the tune of MUCH DISCUSSION - and we were all the better for it. Dupont can take a good rain, but a solid week of rain is pushing the limit. Pisgah Area Sorba hosted the event and had marked three courses @ 15, 25, and 45 miles. I took the 45 mile option with Randy, Randy, Patrick, and Wes to use as a long ride for PMBAR training.

These pics show why it's good to have a single speed on a wet day in the woods. No mechanicals related to the mud...

PMBAR Attitude II

And now, a part of the continuing saga of getting a PMBAR attitude.



Somehow the group ride ended up KING SIZED. Big fun though as there was a whole crowd from the Atlanta area up in Pisgah and some locals I didn't know as well to make a group of 12 or so. Started from the Hatchery, debated the route after we started and decided on: up Cove Creek, 229, Daniel Ridge (CCW), 477, 5095, Long Branch, Cemetery, Gloucester. There the main body of the group went 471 to Butter and back to the Hatchery via Cat Gap.

The hard core fools took me up on my plan to ride 5003 (Panther Branch), 140A, 5031 (Kissee), 140. The original plan was to hit Summey Cove but a rash of flats on Kissee ended that, and a massive hunger outbreak took the group home via 140A and from Gloucester straight down 477 to the Hatchery. Still managed 35 miles and 4.5k of climb.

I love Kissee, here's a bog Theo and I found back in December while riding together. Upland bogs are actually rather rare. This one is from a spring coming up out of the ground in a small depression. It makes numerous pools before going underground and emerging on the other side of the old roadbed. There's a cool rock outcropping here too.

Land of Bikes

A recent business trip took me to Germany and the Netherlands. Germany during the week and to a friends family home for the weekend in Enschede, Netherlands. The bike is a huge part of their culture, you see every age riding in any/every condition. The weekend market fills the square, and there are thousands and thousands of bikes.... this is just some of the above ground parking, there is a whole underground bike garage which has even more bikes than you see on the street.


Netherlands Bikes from Zeb Ridn29s on Vimeo.

The markets are great too, so much variety and plenty of cheese!


And of course, plenty of flowers...