mid week blues

So these two guys from Canada, Terry and Brian, found this blog and emailed me last week to say they were coming into town and wouldn't mind having a guide for a ride while here so I said sure. They got into town Monday night but it was raining all day Tuesday so we rode Wednesday. Since there had been so much rain I decided riding somewhere reasonable like Dupont was unreasonable and they said they trusted my judgment so Pisgah proper it was of course. I gave them their choice between Spencer > Trace or Laurel > Pilot and of course being wise Canadians they decided riding up a road is not fun so Laurel Mountain it was.

I went easy on them and we skipped the prologue climb up 1206 and drove all the way up to Yellow Gap. As we started the climb up Laurel we starting talking for the first time and they remarked that this was their first ride of the season. I guess when I picked Laurel I wasn't really thinking that they live in a snow bound country and hadn't touched a bike since October. D'oh! Nobody saw that coming, right?

But here's the thing, they kept right up with me all day. There was a very heavy fog but it was a great morning and they were great company. These were big, burly Canadian wrestlers, real men and keeping up with me on my silly single speed didn't seem to be a problem. I realized right away maybe Dupont or Bent Creek or Sycamore Cove might really be a better choice for a first Pisgah area ride but I like the big stuff so that is what they got. They were great sports and we had a lot of fun walking up, and then back down, the mountain.

Terry:



Brian:



We even hit Slate Rock on the way back. Once we finally got back to Yellow Gap Rd. Brian remarked that gravel roads weren't so bad after all.



After the ride there was only one place to head: The Hub. Thanks for being such good sports, guys! It was a great ride!

Yesterday I took Duma out for a walk that got rather interesting. I didn't want to drive too far but wanted to do something interesting so I picked a little mountain I've never climbed and bushwhacked to the top of it. While out there I found all types of interesting stuff and because of the nature of the area I am not going to tell you what all I found or where it is. If you want to find this stuff you'll have to find it on your own. The only hints I'll give is that at least part of it is on a mountain in Pisgah and I didn't drive too far to get there. The most interesting stuff I found is not pictured. Amateur archeologists and free riders alike would enjoy the surprises found in this hidden corner.

Pristine single track:



The summit:



In the middle of the bushwhack, which was very dense, I caught a glimpse of something a little out of place way out there. It took me a good ten minutes to work my way to it after first seeing it:





I'm going to dismantle it and sell it for scrap, piece by piece!