Wyoish

Good ride today with E. Wyo, Williams, Conrad, Grapevine, Conrad Sawmill were some of the key players for the day.



There was a breakaway at one point, and E and I had a tough time reeling them in, but eventually success.


A post ride chocolate milk and kit kat were brought out in short order.



Wind-blown mullet in full effect

Pilot

Erich, Cisco and I and Pilot made good friends today. Mad Alchemy Embrocation is amazing. E and I rode without kneewarmers in 30ish degree conditions and were comfortable. Amazing stuff, I wholeheartedly suggest you try some!

Tie One On

After this mornings GRE, I had to retreat to a stream to get some mental clarity action going. I loaded up the trustworthy copilot and headed out the door...westward! Slow fishing at first, due mostly to rusty casting and trying to figure out the right pattern for the day, but did catch 4 or so in the first hour and a half. Further upstream, I saw some trout hitting the surface, so I tried on a dry fly. The fourth fly was the ticket and just about every third cast I had a fish on. After another thirty or forty minutes of fishing, I had managed to catch ten more fish. I called it quits at this point, basking in the satisfaction of having matched what the fish were eating.


The dog had been great in the car the whole time, but when I got back, she was amped and ready for a hike. Off we headed into the woods, to the falls and beyond off trail exploration. She's not too keen on water though:

Back to Reality

So after a short ride in Pisgah on Sunday, I had to head home and back to reality. This week brings long days at work/class and just altogether business. With class on Monday and Thursday, parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, and the GRE on Friday, I'm not going to be on the bike much. But, the end is in sight; a good ride is being planned for Saturday, and a rendevouz with E is in the near future with a ride planned for Sunday.

The GRE and applications to some universities in the area are going out; I've been having the sinking feeling of mediocrity of late. Though the path ahead of me isn't set in stone and I'm not sure where it leads, I do know that it likely leads me away from my comfort zone that I have established over the last five years at my current job. I find my life seems to be increasingly tied to a metaphor of cycling, or at least through cycling painted glasses. The path I am headed on is a new trail yet unexplored, or a new road not ridden.

Pisgah Day 2

As a side note: More pictures were added to yesterday's post...



Brad and I had some lofty plans for the day. Only a mere 23ish miles, but with over 4k feet of climbing. The route: Ranger Station>276>477>Clawhammer>Black Mountain>Buckwheat>Bennett Gap>477>Clawhammer>Maxwell>Black Mountain>Ranger Station. Holy smokes what a fun loop with some great trail. This was my first time on Bennett, and the rock moves at the top can only be accomplished by superhumans, it's amazing to me that people are able to actually ride it, I struggled just carrying my bike down. Props. Buckwheat was super fun as well, and of course, the lower part of Black Mountain is incredibly grin inducing.

Pisgah; Day One

Eggs in a sandwich maker? Definitely awesome.


The standard Fish Hatchery Loop was on the docket for the day. After hearing the bear dogs and trucks all night, we weren't extremely energetic to get out of the sleeping bags, but the trails were beckoning. After the requisite breakfast, Brad and I got the bikes ready to go and decided for certain on the route. The route for the day: Campsite>475>Long Branch>Cat Gap>475>475B>Cove Creek>Daniel Ridge Connector>225>Daniel Ridge>Campsite

Long Branch mountain laurel tunnel


Cove Creek berm


Daniel Ridge rocks


Highlight of the day: riding all but one section of Daniel Ridge, then wrecking on the gravel road at the end of the trail. Brilliant.

Highlight of the day part deux: Three paninis for dinner.

Calling My Name...

A weekend in Pisgah is calling my name. I'll be meeting my bro up there Thursday evening at the good ol' spot and riding all the rocks and roots that are entailed in the ethereal word "PISGAH"



Photo nabbed from Eric's Ride Log

BRP

Lisa and I and her ma decided to spend the day with eighteen million others today and hit the parkway. Beautiful fall colors are beginning to pop, should be a great next two weeks in the mountains!

Warrior Creek

Beer bottles and double flats today. So, about halfway through a lap today at Warrior Creek I rode over a broken beer bottle by the lake. I wonder what beer gutted "sportsman" threw this from his boat while fishing? Cheers to you Mr. Nascar and cheap beer, I double flatted. I crawled around for a while trying to pick up all the glass and get it out of the trail. Normally, I don't ride with more than one tube, but today (thanks to the Breakdown) I had left an extra tube (making two) in the pack. But alas, no CO2...so, out comes the mini pump. After about ten minutes of shoulder and arm pandemonium, I got both tires reinflated and ready to go.

Brown County Breakdown 2010

First off, the weather this year was way more cooperative than last year. Last year was significantly wetter, especially the few days leading up to the breakdown which made the horse trails the consistency of peanut butter. It was nearly the end of me to finish the 60 miler last year in a decent time. This year, 70's all week and dry leading up to the event, and close to 90 yesterday, perfection. I likened the conditions to riding out west, it was that dusty. Knowing the conditions were going to be better, I set my sights on the 75 (and to a much lesser extent the 100).

After a quick packing up of our sag bags, and a quick word from the pres, we were off. Brad and I set out with the mentality of riding as much together as possible, and we stuck together for the first 27 miles. On the Pine Loop, we quickly found ourselves essentially alone, which is nice considering there were about 700 signed up for the ride. Before long, we were at the top of Hesitation Point, having ridden here and there with people that either caught us, or that we caught. More on single serving friends in a moment...

Limekiln/Walnut Junction:


The horse trails this year were in infinitely better shape than last year, after we got to the Hidden Cabin sag, I mentioned to Brad that I felt as though I didn't have to expend much energy between the campground and the cabin.

Untitled from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

After a quick fill up, we headed over to Nebo Ridge. About halfway through, Brad anounced that he was definitely doing the 60, and in the same breath he told me to go do the 75. So, in a situation reminiscent of last year, I grudgingly left my bro knowing that I wouldn't see him again until back at base camp. I hopped in with another single serving friend and we killed the rest of Nebo. At the Maumee sag, I grabbed a banana, some more water, and the contents of my bag and headed into Hickory.

The gravel into Hickory was cool, and made me more interested in the Gravel Grovel. One notable climb on the gravel heated me up with the sun bearing down on me.



Once onto the trails, I was totally alone. About halfway through the loop I caught up with Brad, formerly of Revolution Bike and Bean, and tagged along with him for a couple miles. There was some (brief) discussion between he and I of grabbing a burger and a brat at Maumee and heading back out for the 100, but some quick calculations made us come to the realization that we'd run out of light before we got back. I had been conserving energy to this point, not knowing what to expect from Hickory, but quickly realized that I was nearing the end of the loop, so I picked up the pace a bit knowing what lay ahead between Maumee and the Hidden Cabin.

The stretch between Maumee and the Hidden Cabin is some gravel and double track, then punctuated by a screaming downhill on the tailend of Nebo. I caught up with some more single serving friends that were locals and rode about half of this section with them. This stretch went by incredibly quickly, and I found myself wondering if I could have completed the 100 in time.

We refueled at the Hidden Cabin quickly and headed back on the horse trails. After a few miles with these guys, I wished them luck and picked up the pace again realizing that I was less than 15 miles from base camp. This is where I caught back up with my most memorable single serving friend of the day: Justin from Louisville.

Earlier in the day, we were riding in the same group and I heard him exclaim (about Limekiln) this is the best trail I've ridden, in my life! A few miles later, I caught back up with him after he had wrecked on one of the dusty horse trails. He was fine, just a bit funnyboned. We hadn't seen each other again until we were about 60ish miles into the ride. We chatted it up a bit on the campground road and back onto Limekiln. At this point, I was feeling like a champ knowing that the most fun section lay ahead. We said our goodbyes and I took off on Limekiln then Walnut. I snapped a quick photo at Hesitation Point, and then rocked down to finish off the ride.



I finished up in about 7 hours and 40 minutes, about 20 minutes faster than last year and having done 15 miles more than last year. I was pretty pleased with my performance. I didn't take the GPS, but if the calculations are correct it was about 75 miles with about 7k feet of climbing. A good day in the saddle, hope to see some of my ride buddies again next year! Thanks HMBA and company for putting on such a great event!






On a side note, yes, the post is lacking photos. I would like to beat my computer with a baseball bat...but I don't have one.

French Lick

A pre-ride meal...really? Yes, this is what we ate about fifteen minutes before hitting the trail. It wanted to revisit my orifice a couple of times.


There are places around the world that have eye-opening beauty, that people all have heard about. One of my favorite aspects of cycling is that it has taught me to appreciate, and even expect, unexpected beauty. When making a list of locations of natural beauty, typically, one does not think of southern Indiana. Everytime that I come here though I am taken aback. It's unfortunate that more people, especially those that live here, do not get out to fully enjoy what they have around them. Though, I guess this is true for any number of other places. There are times when I feel as though I become more acutely aware of one of my senses. Today, the scent of the woods was unbelieveable. It had the sweet, musty smell of fallen leaves. When in some of the low-lying areas there was the left behind scent of chalk from the limestone. Also, something in one of the trees would catch my nose. I have no idea why this happens, but it something that has stuck with me many times while in the woods. The sight of a bear at Mount Rogers, the sound of a whippoorwill in Pisgah in the middle of the night, The feel of snow stinging my skin in the Grayson Highlands on the last big hike with Arwen. So many times my senses have made a normal day a day that will always (not quite sure if it is the right word) haunt me. I can chase them around in my mind and try my best to conjure them back to the fore, but it's never quite what it was. So many great experiences that can't be relived, but can always be drawn upon.









Mitch, perhaps a new color combo for next seasons kits?