Burn Baby, Burn!

With the Boone Roubaix on the very near horizon, as in tomorrow, I wanted to get out and do an easy spin just to get the legs loosened up. I also had it in mind that I wanted to hit some gravel again as well. Perfect solution: hit some gravel forest service roads in Pisgah. I rode for about in the National Forest between the parkway and Mt. Mitchell. The roads that I spent much of my time on are included in the Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell mountain bike race held in July. The roads were dicey, but fun, on road tires. 25-30 mph on gravel that hasn't been driven on since October made for some hairy cornering, but it was all in good fun.

1 hour in the saddle on gravel with no flats makes me confident for my tires holding up for tomorrow's race.


Along the way, some views up towards the parkway would open up. On the way out, riding in the truck, I noticed that it seemed to be pretty hazy and smelled like smoke. On FS477, with a view up towards Green Knob, I discovered the source. Smoke was pouring from the ridge. I don't know if this was a prescribed burn, but with the helicopters flying around, I would guess that it was not intentionally set by the forest service. The whole area up around the parkway looks like a bomb went off with all of the limbs down. Hopefully this isn't a sign of the fire season to come.

Untitled from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.