Shortened Heartbreak

I met up with a few guys from the MTBR NC forum to do a nice long Heartbreak Ridge ride. My ride ended up being not quite as long as theirs...more on that in a minute. We met up at the Geyser, which by the way is very cool, at about 8:30.

We got changed up and headed up Mill Creek road to the trail over to Star Gap. We made our way up the bazillion switchbacks that is lower heartbreak. 820ft of climbing in 1.2 miles, holy crap. We took a short break at the top before descending off the other side of the gap.

The trails were extremely slick since they were covered with wet leaves. The already rough trails of Pisgah are made even more brutal this time of year. Every leaf hides a sharp rock or slick root, just lying in wait. We made it to the bottom after a few more switchbacks and made our turn onto the neverending grassy road of death. Some call this Jarrets Creek Road.

The four of us were on the doubletrack for about two miles when I hit the ground, hard. I had a momentary lapse of concentration. I was distracted by all the pretty leaves and my desire for a sip of water...unfortunate timing. My pedal struck a rock which sent me flying. I barely had time to get my hands in front of me to stop my face from smacking the trail. The wind was knocked out of me for a good 30 seconds before I was finally able to breathe properly. Matt was the man, he stopped with me, got my hands patched back up and helped me get the bike straightened back out. My hands were bleeding pretty good, and my ribs were throbbing. We continued on our way and I had already made my judgement call of retreating back on the road. We got to the gate at Curtis Creek where I snapped a few photos and headed back on the pavement.

I had about 11 miles or so to get back to the truck. Along the way, all the aching was amplified once the adrenaline of riding on the trails wore off. I got back to the truck and while changing realized that my right leg and right hip were torn up as well. This one is going to take some time to heal up from...I LOVE MOUNTAIN BIKING! So much fun to ride in the woods, even when you wreck!

I snapped a few photos on the road on the way back:

Cool colors in front of a little cabin


Mill Creek