Hotel Maintenance

In preparing for this trip I tried to think of everything I would need for multiple days of riding.  The past two days in North Carolina I've had everything I needed.  Today, however, I realized I needed to wash two days of trail residue off my bike and I didn't bring anything for such a task.

After work today I went to Walmart to buy a roll of heavy, shop paper towels.  The bike went in the bath tub and I used about a dozen paper towels, soaked in water from the sink, to wipe down the bike.

Can't say I've ever washed a bike in a bath tub before.

The next challenge was lubricating the chain.  If I had brought my seatpost and saddle in with me it would have been easy to turn the bike upside down.  To put the bike in the back of the Jeep I removed the saddle and I didn't want to go back out and get it.  So, I found the ol' hotel ice bucket worked well to prop up the bike.  I could pedal by hand and apply lube.

Ice bucket work stand.

Now the bike is ready to go again for tomorrow.  After work I'm going to head 30 minutes north to Paris Mounctain State Park.  It's supposed to be a pretty good network of about 20 miles of single track and is very close to Greenville.

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.

Back in Asheville... but with wider tires!

The short story is I'm on a business trip in South Carolina.  I need to be here over the weekend as I had business last week and all next week.  So... I brought my mountain bike with me!

This morning I woke up at a hotel in Greeneville, SC and after stuffing myself with the Hampton complimentary breakfast, I drove north towards Asheville.  Last night I studied the maps and decided Bent Creek, SW corner of Asheville, would be my destination.

Map work before turning in for the night.

I left the hotel before 8am and was on the road for Asheville.  My hydration pack was full of energy drink, I had a banana in the pack as well, and I knew exactly where I was headed thanks to map work the night before.

 Hydrapak fill mixin' and fillin'.

It was about 9:15 when I pulled into the Rice Pinnacle parking lot at Bent Creek.  I found it funny how many sights I recognized from the times Ryan and traveled to and camped in the Bent Creek area.  

For whatever reason it took me a little while to change clothes and get my gear ready to go.  I kept debating whether or not to try to find some other guys to ride with.  There were plenty of cars in the parking lot and every 10 minutes a group was hitting the trail.  I wasn't liking the idea of crashing someone's party, so I reviewed a route I had printed from the Pisgah Area Sorba web site and head out on my own.

There were a good number of intersections and I was stopping to check the map at each one.  After what must have been 45 minutes of riding, including some good climbing to get up on a ridge, I came to an intersection and met up with another solo rider.  Greg and I decided to ride together.  He is from Birmingham and was also playing the frequent map check game.  We both had a similar route planned for the day and figured two clueless mountain bikers checking each other on directions would have a better chance of staying on track.

We were both headed for the Green's Lick trail, a notorious downhill reputed to have a huge fun factor.  The trail is 2 miles long, almost all downhill, with a bunch of bumps and banks.  Google it, check out the YouTube videos.

Greg checking the map before we drop down Green's Lick.

From everything I read Green's Lick was supposed to be "doable" for the average cross country mountain biker, provided you keep your speed in check.  I called for Greg to go first, as his descending skills were certainly better than mine, and we got to it.

The next couple miles were a blur, a ridiculously fun, grin while you ride blur.  I've never spent so much time in the air while riding a bike. I was really getting into pushing off the bumps to get the bike off the ground.  My brakes were my friends as I scrubbed off speed as needed.  There were some rocky, bumpy stretches that sort of beat on me but it was an enjoyable trail and I kept it within my limits.

As Greg and I laughed and smiled at the bottom of the trial we meet some other rides.  One of the othe riders offered to show us through some more trails.  Brent, a local to Asheville, directed us around for the next couple hours.  It turns out, before getting a "real" job, Brent was a mountain bike guide.  He took us on some great trails.  Uphill, downhill, curvy but nothing too technical.  I guess I'd say there were no trails too technical for my current ability at Bent Creek.  Mohican has been good training for me.

  Getting ready to climb.

I'd say we made for a good complimentary group of three.  Greg could light up the downhills, I often lead the way on climbs, and Brent knew where we were without looking at a map.  It was really great to meet up with these guys.

It was sometime after 1pm when Greg and I returned to our vehicles.  Brent had headed back to his car, which was parked at a different trail head.  After some food and map studying, Greg and I headed out for some more fun.  I was glad he was going back out as my legs still felt pretty good.

Of course it was different without Brent's guidance.  We were checking the map at most intersections and thought we had a good plan to climb back atop the ridge we had been on in the morning to come down a trail we had gone up.  Unfortunately one of the forest service roads on the map didn't so much exist.  We tried, I've got brier scrapes on my arms and legs to prove it.  Oh well, we modified course and were still able to get up the ridge an fly back down.

By the time we were back to parking lot it was pushing 4pm.  It was a good time to be back as I think my legs would've started a protest had I made them work too much longer.

Back to the Jeep for the second and final time today.

Wow, what a great day out in the woods!  The trails were great and I'm thankful for the company I met up with.  This will definitely be a place to come back to in the future.

The next stop for me was a shower at Lake Powhatan campground, where Ryan and I have camped in our trips to Asheville, and dinner.  Being that I didn't really eat lunch, I ate a big steak dinner and enjoyed every single bite.

What trails did we ride today?

Tomorrow I plan to head down to Dupont State Forest and check out the trails there.  I hope to have as good a day there as I did at Bent Creek today!

To Holmes County and Back

This morning I pulled in the drive at Ryan's house a little after 8am.  KT and Daniel were out of town for the day so a longer road ride was on the schedule.  We picked another route into Holmes County, similar to the one we rode last Sunday but today's route took us south and then east instead of west.

Take the time to ask the questions.

From Apple Creek we rode down to Winesburg.  An early start was a good idea because the cooler temperature and slightly overcast skies were quite enjoyable.  We continued on through Trail and ended up in Charm.  By this time it was feeling warmer and we had both drained our two water bottles.  Ryan took our bottles into Keim lumber for refills from their drinking fountain.

The windows are clean at Keim Lumber.

From Charm we rode north through Mount Hope and on back to Apple Creek.  This part of the ride was hot, the clouds broke and the sun beat down.  For the past couple months it's hardly worth looking at the weather forecast.  It's always the same, hot with a chance of scattered thunderstorms.

Glad to have tinted glasses for the second half of the ride.

DD's Triway Ride

This morning Daniel, or "DD" as he refers to himself, and I went over to Triway HS so he could ride his new bike.  Daniel had fun riding the sidewalks around the junior high.  Stopping near the bus garage to see all the school buses was a point of enjoyment too.

Unloading Daniels new bike from

the back of the truck.

Remount after stopping to watch a

skid steer drive by.

Towards the end of the ride Daniel was starting

to stride along with the bike, especially

on a slight downhill grade.

Post ride refuel in the back of the truck.

Daniel likes fruit snacks!

Riding Past Sunset

Last night I went out for a ride of unplanned direction and length.  I didn't leave until about 7pm and I knew sunset was about 8:50.  With the camera in my jersey pocket I road west and enjoyed views of the setting sun. 

 Riding westward in the evening made for nice views.

Several times I came to a route decision and opted to not begin the route back home.  Eventually I realized the sun was plummeting and I needed to aim for home.  My blinky light was flashing as I road home in the last bits of light.  It was a nice ride.

The sun dropped out of the sky as I turned for home.