Warrior Creek

Follow me into the woods:


We will ride on berms:




We will ride over bridges:



And at the end a reward:


Our legs will look like this:


And feel like this:

3 laps of Warrior Creek plus some park road action=nearly 40 miles of mtb today. Awesome!

Pisgah

Whirlwind trip to Pisgah yesterday and today. I went to join in on a SORBA group ride sunday (which everyone in the know decided to go to Dupont instead) and hit up a ride with Curtis before he leaves for D.C. later this week. Sunday, I met up with Paul and Tony to ride an area of the forest I have been neglecting...Laurel and Pilot Rock. The 13 mile loop took us a good portion of the day due to mechanical problems, a pretty brutal thunderstorm and, well, the nature of the trails. The climb up Laurel Mountain was (for Pisgah) relatively easy, mostly rideable until the very end hike-a-bike. I knew kind of what to expect from Pilot Rock having seen helmet cam videos and some photos, but nothing can actually prepare you for the trail until you ride it. Here's a few photos:





After the ride, I had some time to kill so I decided to head out to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and get some flyfishing in. Again, no luck, but the stream was beautiful, the mountains earned their name, and I got to see some of the elk that call the park home. Here's a few more photos:



I had intended on camping, but once I got back to the Asheville area, it was late, so I decided to make camp quickly....in a parking lot. Home for the night:


Today, I woke up, made some oatmeal with the Jetboil in the parking lot and headed over to Motion Makers to meet Curtis. We got the bikes set up and made our way to Bent Creek. Having never ridden there, I was excited to check it out. It's like the little, much less hateful brother of Pisgah. Still a lot of elevation change, rocks and roots, but everything seems much less malevolent. Fun in it's own way for sure. AND, ANOTHER photo (and a video):

Untitled from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

Pisgah Bound!

The X is loaded up, cooler is full, and bike is prepped. Now time for some rocks and roots and other trail goodness.



Picking some supplies from my backyard:


As an aside, Chancey and Sirena came over last night to hang out and bring over my cross frame. Now, just waiting until the parts come in and the swap begins in earnest. Gravel crusher for Nebraska/Wyoming:

ADD Post

ADD Post because it's all over the place. I did not heed Dr. E's advice for the day and stay home drinking milkshakes and eating fruit. Lisa and I decided to head to Hanging Rock for a hike/swim sesh. Here is a short video of Lorien's hilarious attempts at swimming. She was swimming in the air before I even put her in the water:

Untitled from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

Wish this trail were open to mountain bikes, a little bit of Pisgah in my backyard.

When I got home, FedEx showed up at almost the exact same time. What could it be?


A Red Rider BB Gun? A fluffy bunny set of pajamas? or.............



Yes, tires to replace the blow out I had a couple of weeks ago, and some big knobby meats I will dub the Pisgah Fatties.

City Loop

E and I went out for a late city loop last night. Lights were charged, and I headed over to his place. We did an extended city loop out to Milhaven and past Mt. Tabor. We made our way to downtown and rolled past Tate's to interrupt book club. The girls were all sitting out on the patio eating and drinking and being merry. Jill did a hand up of a blackberry julep...I declared it to be heaven in a glass. After wreaking havoc downtown, we headed back over to Erich's place to get changed. We remounted the steeds and headed down to First Street to enjoy some nachos, pizza, and an adult beverage...giddyup!

Worthless Fishing/Crazy Idea

If there is one upside to not catching any fish while "fishing" it's that you have an overabundance of time to think. While thinking this morning (read: casting, not catching), I came up with a slightly crazy idea. I'm not going to elaborate on it a whole lot. It is a bike ride/race that will be unsanctioned and unsupported. It involves gravel. It involves trails. It involves roads. It will take place in the cooler months, and it involves these:

Creek Crossings from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

I've still got some formulating to do, but the ride will best be done on either a cross bike, or a 29er with some cross tires. The route I have chosen will be between 60 and 75 miles.

Some photos along the proposed route.

Westwood!

Three or so hour ride this morning at Westwood. Trails were in great shape. Along the way I did some minor trail maintenance in the form of clearing some deadfall and making way through the bazillion spider webs.

MNR

Monday night ride. Chancey did a write up over on the CLM BLOG



Much fun was had by all.


When I got home, apparently Lorien had been stung in the face by a bee or something. Fat Face.

Dark Mountain/OVT with the CLM

Had a great ride today, followed by some champ enchiladas. Nothing crazy out of the ordinary on todays ride aside from roadies on the mountain bikes having fun! Photos:

Chancey berming on Shiner's Run

Sirena, same section

Mitch, coming in hot

Chancey coming out of a creek crossing


Mitch cruising by the lake

Chubfest 2010

The plans for a gravelly ride today went by the wayside when I checked over the bike this morning. After last night's off road adventures with E, the front wheel is crazy out of true. I have no idea how I didn't notice it while riding. So with those plans scrapped, I decided to stick with the first part of the plan and add on hiking. I loaded up Lorien into the X along with all my fishing gear, and headed to Stone Mountain.

On the way out to my favorite little swimming hole, there is this section of the trail that always has me wondering when Magua is going to ambush us.




When we got to the swimming hole, I convinced, through much coaxing, Lorien to get into the water. She swam around a little bit, then decided to go lay down in the sun.


Cool with me, so I broke out the fly rod and got to work...catching chubs and shiners. Not a single trout. However, if I had one trout for every five or six of the throwaways I caught, I'd be grilling right now.



On the way back, we stopped in at the old Hutcinson homestead to take some photos. None turned out worthwhile. I always imagine what it would be like to have lived in that area when the cabins were built. It still feels relatively isolated today, but 150 years ago? It must have felt like the absolute middle of nowhere.