Hardest Ride Ever?

Let me first say that I clearly suck at keeping a blog.  I think I secretly knew this all along, but somehow convinced myself that I would put in some effort to record my riding habits.  Ha!

Bringing us up to speed from May:  Lots of rides on the nimble9 = awesome!  Four mechanicals four rides in a row = not awesome.  Short rides with beer = awesome.  Hitting a 16" high dirt wall and tacoing a wheel at Tsali = not awesome.  Getting I9's/Flows as a replacement = awesome.

Now that we're up to speed... Saturday proved to be the most difficult (at least mentally) ride I've ever done.  I hadn't had a big Pisgah ride since PMBAR, and after some friends and I rode Laurel/Pilot I was feeling ok enough to trudge on and piece together a loop.  Given the fact that I had wrecked on Laurel, struggled on almost every Pilot switchback, and didn't clean the rock garden for the first time ever, I should have probably tossed in the towel.  Oh, and my chain was in such bad shape that it was liable to break at any second.  Plus, I forgot my map and was trying to link together a new route (kinda).

From 1206 the plan was to get over to Squirrel.  I had heard that you could turn off of 476 and connect with Horse Cove.  I ran through the area in my mind and could only think of one left turn option after the horse campground.  Found 5018, gotta be it.  Rode for what seemed like entirely too long, beginning to wonder if I made a wrong turn.  Blasted down Horse Cove, finally getting in a groove.  Couple minutes later on Squirrel I catch a sapling with my bar end.  Down before I even have time to process the fact that I'm wrecking.  Left arm hurts pretty good.  This worries me because this is the arm with metal and screws in it.  Lots of humidity, lots of Squirrel kicking my ass because I have no bike handling skills that day.  A nice big briar catches my lips and leaves me spitting blood everywhere.  Gotta spit, don't swallow or I'll be sick in no time.  Can't seem to get the taste of iron out of my mouth.  About two minutes later I find myself being attacked by ground hornets after slowing down to get around a fallen log.  Squirrel is so tight that there is nothing to do but ride and let them sting me.  Little fuckers get me all around both ankles and my Achilles tendons.  Most painful stings I've ever had and my legs feel like bricks.  I'm still a long ways from the truck.  Getting low on water.  Don't feel like pulling out the iodine.  I hit Laurel Creek and have a few minutes of ecstasy!  I stand in the creek and the cool water makes my ankles feel better.  Head up 5015.  Mentally I'm drained, few minutes later I bonk or get heat exhaustion or both.  Even walking feels hard.  I sit in the road for 15 or 30 minutes and laugh aloud at my misfortune.  Gotta love even the shittiest days in Pisgah, plus my chain was still in one piece despite it popping and carrying on like a wild west gun fight.  Somehow I keep myself moving, taking a break every ten minutes or so.  I feel like I'm climbing up to Farlow.  This road is never going to end.  Saw the gate, saw the truck, and felt like I was being rescued off of the Titanic.  Once behind the wheel, desiring nothing more than ibuprofen and frosty beverages,  I thought to myself, in agreement with Mr. Ice Cube, "today was a good day."

First ride on the Nimble9

On Sunday I dropped off the frame and fork to have the headset pressed in and have the Reba adjusted to 120mm.

Monday night I built it up on Mark's living room rug using a free (used) blackbox ceramic bearing GXP bottom bracket.  Hopefully this one will last longer than the 4 that I've destroyed over the past 1.5 years.

Last night I got a quick ride in at Bent Creek (really wanted Laurel/Pilot but the weather looked horrendous).  This bike hauls ass!  I don't even have it dialed in yet, but it is so eager to take on any turn, berm, jump, or rocky section.  The rear end has a touch more compliance than the ti frame, although I might be feeling a touch more chatter from the shorter wheelbase when going over long root balls.  One ride is not really enough to make that call though.  I am not kidding when I say that the nimble 9 is already the best mountain bike I've owned.  I now have a new standard as to how a bike should feel on the trail.  On one steeper section the front did try to wander a bit while climbing, but moving my hands to the bar ends and shifting my weight around almost immediately made the feeling go away.

Today it rains... Thursday through Sunday look promising, but sweet baby Jesus it is going to be 88 on Saturday? 

http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Mills+River+NC+28759:4:US

Looks like I'll have to get out early...

Laurel>Pilot and a new frame

Rode last Thursday afternoon, so as I write this it has been almost a week since my last ride... and I feel it!  Riding relieves stress and gives me more optimism and energy; hopefully I can get out tomorrow afternoon.

Anyways, the scenery while riding Laurel>Pilot last week was some of the most beautiful I've ever seen in the mountains.  At those higher elevations everything feels like its a month behind the valleys and flat land.  All of the foliage still had that "bright green look" and lots of little flowers were blooming.  And the weather was perfect!!!  I still have only ridden Laurel>Pilot less than half a dozen times, which is a real shame.  The first time I rode it was about a year ago with Keith.  I think it took us about 3.5 hours to get from N.M.R. campground to the connector trail that leads to Pilot Rock.  I was struggling and was like what the hell with the hike-a-bike?

When I rode it last Thursday I started at Yellow Gap and did the whole loop back to the car in 1:50!  This included a couple of wrecks on the switchbacks, cleaning the rock garden, and about a 10 minute stop to fix a loose cleat on my shoe.  I'm sure there are plenty of guys that can do it faster but I was pretty proud by how much time I've dropped in a year.  Just for kicks and giggles I'm going to aim for doing the loop in 1:30 in the near future.

Also, I have a Canfield Nimble 9 frame awaiting assembly!  It should be super fun with its super short chain stays (16.25") and slack head angle.  Hopefully it will eliminate that awkwardness and monster truck handling that I sometimes feel with my current 29er.  I'll put up some pictures when its ready to ride.

Super nice guys, check them out:

Canfield Brothers

PMBAR 2012 Race Report

Yesterday was Caleb and I's first PMBAR.  We waited a few minutes at the starting line for most of the pack to start up Black Mtn.  Perhaps we should have waited a little longer, because we didn't even make it to the singletrack before the traffic jam started.  It kinda felt like a long trip to Pressley Gap with the hiking and the stop and go pace.  Once at Pressley, we got our Passport and planned most of the day in a span of about 15 minutes.  We took a red Sharpie with us, turns out the off limits trails were marked in red.  Doh!  Luckily it didn't mess us up.  From there we went:

Black Mtn>Turkey Pen>S. Mills>Bradley Creek (CP #1 was at the start of Bradley)>1206 (5015 was off limits)>Yellow Gap (snacked and drank Cokes)>Yellow Gap trail>Bottom of lower Trace (CP #2)>Trace>FS5000>water at N. Mills campground>1206>more cokes at Yellow Gap.

When we got back up to Yellow Gap we had pretty much ruled out going up Laurel to get CP #5 at Sassafrass Gap.  As enticing as a 3 hour time bonus was, I don't think either of us had the will power or energy to head up Laurel.

So, continuing from Yellow Gap:

1206>276>477>Club Gap (what a sucky hike)>Avery Creek (CP #3 was maybe a mile down Avery from Club Gap)>Back up Avery>Club Gap>477>276>475B>225 (CP #4 was on Cove Creek Rd.  I ate two energy bars and a GU at this CP so its a wonder that I didn't get sick)>Cove Creek (By far the most fun trail of the day!)>Fish Hatchery Rd.>276>477>Clawhammer>Maxwell>Black>Finish!!!

Rode about 75 miles over 11.5 hours.  I'm stoked with how things turned out given that we didn't really train that hard and our longest day prior was something like 48 miles.  I'm sure we would have been faster on geared bikes but that's just not how we roll.

Riding in Pisgah

I guess I may as well log some of my rides here:

Last Saturday Caleb and I decided to ride the 2011 PMBAR course for a training ride.  It was an epic day on the bike and other than a bad chamois choice, things went pretty well.  We got a bit of a late start and bailed kinda early to go eat some Hot Dog World.  I guess we rode a swankBAR or something.  By the way I hate and love Bradley Creek all at the same time, but mostly hate:

Black Mtn>Buckhorn Gap>S. Mills River>Squirrel (checkpoint #1)>Cantrell>S. Mills>Bradley Creek (checkpoint #2)>5015>Yellow gap (bailed on the Trace ridge checkpoint)>Laurel>Pilot (checkpoint #3)>1206>476>S. Mills>Buckhorn Gap>Clawhammer (bailed on the Black finish).  9:45 and change.  So, I definitely think we can pick up 4 cp's in 14 hours.

Last night I made myself get on the bike after eating a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a pint.  Got home about 12:15.  I took the SS cross bike out to Mills River for the second time ever.  I just assumed I couldn't push it's gear on gravel but it turns out its not that bad!  Rode from the house up to yellow gap:

191>McDowell rd.>Pennsylvania rd.>N. Mills River rd.>1206>yellow gap.  The moon was nice last night and the skies were clear.  I did see a few bolts of lighting coming from somewhere deep in Pisgah.  1:37 round trip.