Pisgah - Looking Glass Rock

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snapshot / pisgah

pisgah: smokers cove->north slope->276->(up)coon tree->(down)bennett gap->(up)475->(down)bennett gap->(down) coon tree->276->smokers cove->black mtn-> drift cove->papas and beer. great day in the woods.

Fiendishly Difficult: TMHTE 2009

Valiance in the melting snow

Pisgah Natioanl Forest is an unforgiving playground. Nothing is easy about riding in these mountains. But the reward is huge. As some say, "There's gold in them thar hills."
The crowning race of these woods goes by the name "The Most Horrible Thing Ever." A 36-hour mountain bike race; wich requires navigating 100+ miles of trail, starting at midnight; Friday. The potentail for disaster is near 100%. Racers are guaranteed to break down several times over the weekend.
In my strongest hours, this race was beyond the scope of my interest and fitness. Right now, I am trying to build on some fitness to complete an 7-8 hour version of this race in Spring, and I am a ways off.

Race report: Shawn was blown up, Jon was in the tent hoping someone would come spoon him, to help keep warm.


Jon and Shawn set out to race this thing, and lucked out on weather, with a warm February weekend. Brian, Eric and myself made the trip down to Pisgah for a big ride (small in comparison) and to hang out and check on the race reports.
We did a fun ride from Cove Creek Campground (race central): -> Daniels Ridge-> Cat Gap-> Long Branch-> Cove Creek-> back to the cooler-> Cat Gap-> Long Branch -> more cooler and campfire.
Jon and Shawn showed up at the race headquarters, completing the third stage. It was getting dark, and the temperatures had dropped quickly from the sunny 60 degree high. They were in first place, but Jon had gotten very cold and would have to take a rest and try to warm-up. I'll look forward to hearing the results of the finish.
That's my race report. Here's some pics.

EDIT: word on the streets is they finished second! word. Thats huge = Respect. 8:15pm 2-8-09

The Road to Recovery Starts Here:

Eric and I are signed up.


Past PMBAR:
2007
2008

Breaking Away

PMBAD
Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Derby
Team Gaines/Nelson finished 8:20 (8:00am to 4:20pm) 25th place of 76
We beat last years time by 3:00 hours.

We nabbed 4 check points: Turkey Pen, Laurel Creek, Cantrell Creek, Club Gap-> Beer!
After riding most the day with Drew and Forrest's team, we broke away heading up to Black Mountain and finished in a heated race down the mountain.

Ripe for the Picking

Dodging a Dogwood Winter couldn't have been more sweet. The forecast likely scared away many would-be travelers. Leaving the forest seemingly unattended for the harvest-of-a-lifetime. Bold words, but I can back it up.

Saturdays blissful weather put everyone in a mellow mood. Making good time into Asheville, Eric and I made a stop at Bruisin' Ales and loaded up on frothy goodness.
We met up with Brian and Jeff in Pisgah Forest and set up camp in a sweet spot across a big creek.
We hooked up with DJ and his wife Kate for a mellow-ride and fun-descent on Long Branch -> Cat Gap. Some of the group continued on for a loop on North Slope ( a seasonal trail closing after Tuesday, this week.)

The temperatures dropped throughout the evening, but I never got cold. Big fire and big beers = great sleep in my new 20 degree sleeping bag. I only woke up slightly groggy before the most awesome route in Pisgah... eva'.

And so, without further ado; The most awesome route in Pisgah is: Point to Point: Laurel Mountain -> Pilot Rock -> 476 -> The Pink Beds -> Club Gap -> Avery Creek -> Clawhammer -> Presley Cove -> Black Mountain.
Three of the best descents in Pisgah. For my money, you can't beat that route.

We had a great group on a beautiful day! Jon, Shawn, John the Britt, Jay, Jen, Chris, Eric, Brian, Jeff and Myself. John is from the UK and this was his first ride ever in the USA. He said it was alot like Scotland, except you didn't ever have to push/hike your bike in Scotland. The trails were graded so that it flowed better. I'm going to Scotland.


Saturday:




















Sunday:






We got a shuttle ride from Fred Sanford. Dyno-Mite!!!






The perfect weekend could have been made entirely too sweet had this arrived a day earlier.

1speed Brian had this to say.

Deeds done cheap

Recently, I have let the pictures tell the story of the ride, without much commentary. But, I'll take a minute during the Colts v Ravens game (which is just background noise and a reason to have a beer), to tell you about our recent uneventful trip to the mountains.
After last weeks ride at Franklin County State Forrest, Eric was determined to stay on the trail and and avoid getting lost (last weeks mis-hap could have been worse but worked out fine for all).
So after setting up camp we began the rally up the mountain, and Eric took off killing it! He kept going clear to the top, about 30 minutes past the turn we planned to take (although that plan was not well verbalized.) I tried to real him in, but his I-pod was shuffling through the hits. By the time I cought up, he was waiting at the gap.
After the chase, we (Me, Eric and Hank) made the call to continue on over the mountain to Avery Creek and meet up with Jeff and Brian back at camp, which left them waiting at the trail for far too long. Sorry, but I didn't know the trail they were heading into (we had no map), and I figured they would have gone on by the time we made it back.
We met back at camp, and found out that they waited for a while, yet continued on eventually having some bike trouble. So Brian, with a trashed rear wheel, offered a shuttle to the top of Bennet Gap. It was a fun run with a few casualties. Jeff's big crash on the devils staircase left him bruised for the rest of the weekend, and eventually would be the reason they bagged Dupont.
Sunday morning we broke down camp swiftly, and headed into town about the time the rain started. Taking our time in town, we eventually got on the way to the trail, when Jeff and Brian used the rain as a reason to call-it, and head back to Knoxville. Eric, Hank and myself kept on driving through the rain to Dupont.
We parked at Fawn Lake, starting right into the good stuff, with Reasonover Creek. The rain eased off, and the day was beautiful! We had a great ride, at a great pace, hitting all the high points.


Pisgah Forest

Bennet Gap

Jeff Murray






Dupont State Forest








We had to change our route upon realizing Hank was not gonna cross the scary creek.

The Great Escape

View from Black Mountain, Pisgah Forest

Headlong into the Final Furlong

Finished 22nd out of 75 teams
Acording to my Eric's GPS, we rode nearly 18,000 ft. vertical in approximately 42 miles.
Ride time: 11 hours and 5 minutes.
Black Mtn->Club Gap->Cantrell Creek->Laurel Creek->Turkeypen->Black Mtn