Pisgah National Forest

Why, why did we ever have to come back. The riding is just so good and the views of the mountains and waterfalls/streams were magnificent. To bad reality has struck and so has Michigan weather. Give me a break, low 30's and 29 degrees on Friday. WTF? Why can't we just have 80 degree temps like the last few weekends down south? Okay, so this is how it went.

-Drove down to NC on Friday and got to the campground around 8 pm. Put the tent up, moved it, moved it again, and then took it down. All thanks to Ranger "stormin' Normin'" Somehow, he had a problem with all of our tents and decided to change his mind in the 15 minutes that he was gone. Oh well, it all worked out...except for the zipper on the other tent!!!

-Rode some dirt road to Candy Bottom, then hit up Daniel's Ridge. Some good techy climbing and some good efforts thrown in. We rode by a really neat waterfall and it seemed like we were riding through the jungle. Leaves were on the trees and the rivers were flowing at full stream.

-Finished up the day with some screaming fast downhill sections that were super fast and flowy. It sure did get the adrenaline flowing. Temps were in the high 70's and it was a picture perfect day. Cleaned up and then went shopping before hanging out at everyone's favorite store(Sprawl-mart.)

-Day 2 had a nice long ride in store. It poured on us the night before, but seemed to stop in order for us to get some time in the saddle. We rode up Laurel Mt and had lunch at the top. It turned into an epic ride with a good solid rain after a long hike-a-bike section. It cooled off and the wind set in. The rain made it for some fun times cruzin' down the downhills with wet roots and rocks. The downhill section was a blast. Some tough switchbacks and then narly rock gardens and some drops.

-Rode up to Pilot Rock and saw the view. It was much better than the 10ft view of haze from Laurel Mt. The weather had turned around and the trail was in good shape. Closed off the ride with a fast and fun downhill then a road climb back.

-Day 3 turned into a beautiful day. Around 80F and sunny skies. The ride of choice was Black Mt. It was a really fun fire-road climb to the top at a good clip. It then turned into singletrack and some hike-a-bike sections. We stopped at a great view of the mountain valley with a scope on the road that we had climbed. Once we got the the top, the fun notch was kicked up. The downhill was the best I have ever ridden. We screamed down it and rolled off water bars that seemed to never end. Flying over rocks and roots and flowing through the corners made the entire trip worth it. We descened for a while until we hit some other trail that flew down the rest of the Mt. with whoop type jumps and fast wide corners. It was my favorite ride of the weekend and I wish we had that stuff around here.

-Then...we had to leave. Randy, Amanda, and I took the 10hr trip back to poor old Michigan. It was a great trip and well worth the time and money invested. I only wish I had an entire week to ride there. The trails really seem to help the technical skills and overall handling of the bike. I was home about 2am this morning and had to get up just past 6 for school. Time to make up that lost sleep.

Now, what shall the weather do? I hope it stays dry tomorrow so I can ride down to the Poto and get a quick lap in and back home. I am assuming it will take somehwere around 3.5hrs for the loop. We shall see...