Riding Pisgah

I've been in Brevard, N.C. for the weekend. This little town is located right on the edge of Pisgah National Forest, and I was able to get in a couple of good rides. The weather when I got in on Friday was less than stellar (raining off and on in the mid 40's), but my legs needed a little rest anyway. The weekend forecast was excellent, and for once the weather people were right on the mark. Sunny and 70 degree temps. saturday and yesterday. Saturday I did a ride from the book Angie got for Sarah and I when we were down this way for our honeymoon a couple of years ago. I believe the name of the ride was The Mountain Town Loop. It consisted of an hour climb on old FS roads to the tune of about 2,200 ft. From there it was a straight drop down a really technical, somewhat sketchy singletrack. My hands were cramping up by the time I got to the bottom from squeezing the grips really hard and braking, but I made it back to the truck without crashing.

Yesterday I wanted to do a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway with my road bike. From looking at the maps I had on hand, I was guessing the ride up to the parkway from the hotel would be a moderate five to ten mile climb. I was a little off the mark there. It turned out to be a sixteen mile uber difficult climb with a maximum gradient of 21%. By the time I got up to the parkway after about an hour and a half in the saddle, my legs were pretty well toasted and twitching. I wolfed down a banana, and turned around for the descent. That was worth all the climbing and then some. I got passed by countless cars, trucks, and motorcycles on the way up. On the way down, I got passed by two cars and three motorcycles. There was even a brief stretch where the two cars that passed me were holding me up in the corners. That was fun. After doing all my rides so far on the dirt with my hydration pack, getting on the road bike yesterday with nothing but a banana, some gels, and a vest in my pockets felt awesome. Below is the data from yesterdays adventure:



I'm heading back over to Georgia today hoping to get in two or three more rides before I have to head back north. I was planning on heading north to visit friends in NYC this week, but the weather up and down the east coast for the next couple of days sounds pretty awful (especially for driving ten or twelve hours). I'm also really having a good time on the bike(s). Sorry boys, we'll have to catch up with you another time. Thanks for reading.