Autodrop is coming...

Over the past few weeks, planning the Autodrop Invititational has been foremost in my mind. As such, my riding has been a bit on the backburner. I did, however, make it a point to log a CLM Hauser Road TT attempt. This attempt was met with a dismal time of 6 minutes 9 seconds, 17 seconds behind the leader. Something tells me that no one will topple Whit off of the leaderboard on this challenge.

If any of the racers choose to tackle Crissman Road, they will face a challenge.


Everything is falling into place for a great day on Saturday. The weather is cooperating, perfect fall weather to get in a big day on the bike. Racers are to be treated to baked goods and coffee in the morning by Bob's Big Gas Subs and Pub. Upon their return, they will be handed a pint glass to enjoy one of the many great beers Bob has on tap. Rumors are reaching my ears of some pretty wild plans that some of the teams have planned, and it should make for a great apres-velo story time!

Stone Mountain

Original plans were to head to Virginia to get in some camping/hiking/off-roading time. Plans flew out the window when I got invited to a friends place last night...his wife was making her famous vegetable beef soup, and I couldnt pass up that offer. So this morning, I still had intentions of heading to Virginia for the same antics minus the camping. Once on 21 though, it started to drizzle, and it looked like the Blue Ridge was seriously enveloped in the clouds. I conferred with my four-legged copilot and we settled on Stone Mountain. Our hike took us up and over the parks' namesake mountain and over to the falls.

Bethabara Apple Festival

With conditions bordering on undesirable, I found myself alone for today's ride into Bethabara. Last year, Mitch and I made this ride in the mid-80 degree heat, but today I rolled out at 50 degrees. I decided it wisdom to don the embrocation and armwarmers.

Molly Cameron blend to keep my legs warm and dry today:



I was glad to have had the embro on towards the end of the ride, because I was definitely riding into the rain on the way home.

Some autodroppers will be seeing a similar scene here in a couple of weeks





Throughout today's ride I found myself reminiscing about my days last winter training for the Tour of the Battenkill. With the temperatures cool, and having to wear extra clothing, I couldn't help but harken back to those hard solo rides during the week. Once to Bethabara, I really began to notice the crispness of the air. The first hints of fall really are upon us, there were even some fallen leaves. These rides definitely establish a certain element of joie de vivre in my heart, in that I was able to stop mid-ride, relax and enjoy some hot cider and a slice of apple pie. Though it had the feel of the weather of the training rides from last winter, the mindset was entirely different. I was simply out on two wheels enjoying the time that has been given me.

It's coming....

Come out October 1st and race or hang out. It should be a great day in the saddle!

SECCA CX#1

These men deliver pain:



This man delivers babies (really!):



And this man delivers entertainment:

Autodrop Promo Sneak Peak

Erich, Brad, and I snuck out yesterday morning to get in some filming for the Autodrop Invitational promo video. Should be a great day of riding and camaraderie!

I managed to get in a quadruple hump on my way to meet up with Lisa for a hike at Hanging Rock. Needless to say, the hike was short and to the point.

Pisgah Photo Dump

My brother, who is significantly more talented with a camera than I, shared these photos with me. I only wish that he had a more deserving subject. I thought I would relay them for your enjoyment!

Pisgah Weekend Pt. 3

Brad and I had planned to stay until today, but with the tropical storm coming in and the promise of rain all night and all day, we decided to call it quits a day early. We wanted to get in a ride Sunday morning, but with Brad still sore from his wreck on Avery, we needed to find something a bit more tame...Bent Creek!

Definitely evidence of our black-furred friends of the forest



To be honest, I have no idea what all trails we rode, but we ended up with about a three hour loop. I know I catered the loop as much as possible to what Curtis had taken me on before he moved to DC, so of course we hit Greenslick. Aside from that descent, another highlight was the hardtimes connector...who knew such a short trail could have so many berms...sick!





AND, for those that are interested...the flyfishing portion of this trip resulted in zero fish to hand. Perhaps it has to do something with the fact that I haven't been since the last time Brad and I went to Pisgah. It's been too long, and don't be surprised now if you see some trout over the next few weeks!

Pisgah Weekend Pt. 2

After Friday's ride, Brad and I headed into town to hit up the Barbecue joint at the entrance to the forest. My buddy, Billy, made plans to meet up with us and camp for the night and ride on Saturday. Our traditional loop of Long Branch, Cove Creek and Daniel Ridge were in effect. We took off up 475 to get to Long Branch, and tore off towards the Hatchery.



Long Branch is one of my favorite trails simply because you can get into a rhythm, and the mountain laurel trails definitely don't hurt.


After the rest of the descent we were at the Hatchery and were onto the climb of the day; 475B up to the top of Cove Creek.




On our way down, we were greeted by a couple of people riding up the trail without helmets. After seeing how Brad's helmet was dented in a couple of places after Friday's ride, I was in awe of how incomprehensibly stupid people can be...baffling! When we got to the bottom of Cove Creek Brad's hip was starting to tighten up, and Billy was feeling pretty beat up, so we decided to just ride the gravel back to the campsite and skip Daniel Ridge.





Up the gravel road a little ways and I saw someone at the parking area waving frantically...lo and behold it was none other than EEEEEEEEEEEEEE. He had come all the way, and missed us by only about 30 minutes. He had instead opted to ride Daniel Ridge a couple of times and hope to eventually run into us. Billy and Brad headed back into camp, while Erich and I decided to get some short rumbling in on Daniel Ridge. We tore off up the trail as fast as possible since Erich had a limited amount of time to be out in the woods. I felt bad, because I would have loved it had he been able to join us for the ride, but with no cell reception it was hard to get into contact with one another. Even so, like one of the wise men, Erich came bearing gifts for the post-ride; libations...

Pisgah Weekend pt. 1

My brother Brad and I met up this past weekend for our yearly camping/mountain biking/flyfishing trip to Pisgah. Plans fell into place to meet up Thursday night which would allow us to have three full days of riding instead of the typical two. On Friday, made the decision to ride up to the Buckhorn/Black Mountain intersection and continue over towards Buckwheat past the shelter.




We made relatively quick work of the climb and stopped in at the shelter for a snack. The descent off of the ridge to Club Gap is a great one, interspersed with enough rocks and roots to make you focus, but still chill enough to be able to charge through everything.




Our goal for the day was the descent of Avery Creek. The top of Avery is pretty technical and requires some decent moves, but we stayed upright until it opened up a bit more. I was chasing Brad down one of the fast sections and saw him have a massive high speed wreck. Bike and limbs were everywhere tumbling and I thought for sure that he was going to be pretty badly hurt. In mid wreck he catapulted his bike, and the only thing to show for this spectacular crash was a bit of a scratch on his forearm. He laid there laughing on the ground for a bit while I checked on the bike, everything was golden.



We got back on and I was following him again and witnessed what seemed to be a simple over the bars wreck. When I got there, though, I realized it was not. Right alongside the trail where he wrecked was a downed tree and his hip took the full brunt of his weight. When I got to him, he was in pretty bad shape and I had the fear that he may have broken his hip. After a few minutes of panic trying to decide what to do, he convinced me he was okay by standing up. The rest of the descent was a smattering of walking and coasting the smoother sections. We finally made it to the gravel road by the stables and I took off back to the visitor's center to grab the truck. I thought for sure that he was done riding for the weekend when I saw the hematoma on his hip, it looked like someone hit him with a baseball bat. BUT, he rode again on Saturday...and Sunday!