Pisgah

The riding is off to a good start so far. Sweet road ride on Tuesday. It was supposed to be the weekly shop ride. But the remnants of Hurricane Fay seemed to scare people away. Methinks an HTFU is in order. So it was just me and my buddy Alex riding some twisty, undulating forest roads for an hour and a half.

Yesterday was even better. The two of us spent the day out in Pisgah, just south of Asheville (4 hours from Durham). Best riding in the state, or so they say. We rode a loop that usually figures prominently in the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race. 6 hours and 50 km, almost entirely singletrack. Not super technical for the most part, but more climbing and descending than I've done in a long time. It starts with a bang too. The first 8 km is an 80 minute slog up to the top of Black Mountain (4286 ft). Yes, it hurt. But happily the payoff was immediate and more than gratifying, with a long, twisty singletrack descent for another 8 km or so. The rest of it was mostly ridge riding, including the Squirrel Gap trail, which was narrow, technical and rather scary at times. At least for me. A few more kms of gradual climbing before a screaming fire road descent back into town. Super sweet. Will be back there for sure. Maybe for this, if only for the good times. And hopefully for this, in solidarity with those who will be doing 24 Hours of Sedition.

You only need 27.

5.5 in. of rear travel doesn't hurt either

Sweet bridges.

Water purification procedure.

5.5 inches of travel makes for some real fast descending.

It did not, however, seem to make me any faster on the climbs.