Dupont Riding

After a decent, but not spectacular, night of sleep in the back of the Jeep I headed south.  It was probably about an hour and a half drive from Asheville to Dupont State Forest.  The drive was pretty straight forward but upon reaching the northern end of the forest I wasn't sure where I would ride.  The Guion Farm trail head was the first one I came to so I pulled in to park there.

My morning view straight ahead...

... and to my side.

A pretty good arrangement for flying solo.

There was one guy getting ready to head out for a ride and I asked if he minded some company.  He invited me along and said his two sons were already out riding around.  We headed out, met Doug's sons, and hit the trails.

Unfortunately I really have no idea where we rode.  I never got out the map and the frequent trail intersections, all with signage, were somewhat of a blur.  Gravel roads were frequent and allowed us to connect together some long climbs that were followed by long, flowing descents.  

Doug and his sons were flying along and my legs, tired from yesterday I suppose, were challenged to keep up.  They were very considerate and sat up a couple times to make sure I didn't get off track.  I'll have to try to get in touch with Doug to find out what loops we made, they were great fun.

At an abandoned runway, from back in the day when Dupont execs would fly in and out of the formerly private land, the guys were at the end of their ride and headed back.  Doug left me with directions for another good loop.

I found my way to the start of the loop and met up with Matt and Ellen.  There were making the same loop and welcomed me along.  Wow, what a cool loop.  Climbing, some descending, more climbing, and a stream crossing or two.  This one loop seemed to have it all.

Matt coming through a switchback, Ellen just behind.

The loop brought us back to the runway and peeled off from Matt and Ellen, once again thankful to have found such friendly people to ride with.  I refilled my hydration pack at a spigot on what must have been a former small plane hanger and Matt gave me some advice on how to get back to where I parked.

Ellen passing by.

On the way back to the start of my ride I made a detour to see some waterfalls Doug had told me about.  I dropped down some gravel roads and was quite impressed to see a really large waterfall.  A couple hikers, Mike and Cheryl, told me how to get down to the falls, so I stashed my bike in the woods and walked down to the pools at the bottom of the falls.

 Above the falls.

Back on the gravel road I caught up with Mike and Cheryl.  By this time it was probably 2:30pm and the only thing provided to my stomach since breakfast, besides water, was two Gu packs.  I was hungry and starting to feel weak.  It must have showed because Cheryl offered me an extra PB&J sandwich they had packed.  I didn't even consider turning the offer down and was thankful for their generosity.

The falls from the pools below.  Lots of water!

It was 3pm when I made it back to the Jeep.  Yet another nice couple gave me directions to Brevard where I hit a Mexican restaurant to fill up.  It was good food and I definitely filled up.  From there it was less than a couple hours down to the Greenville, SC area.  I'll be here, at a training class for work this next week.  There are two nearby state parks with some trail, hopefully I can check them out later this week.

I met this fella while filling my hydration pack.

As good as the trails I've ridden these past couple days were the people I have met.  Everyone has been so friendly and helpful.  It has really made the experience memorable.