Slept well knowing again that I would ride from camp, except I started counting rigs going by about 6:00AM getting into hunting position. During ride yesterday I did not see 1 deer. Lot of empty tags about.

After washing mud off bike yesterday I spun the cranks backwards and noticed a less than effortless spin. Damn, fried another bottom bracket. I convinced myself that it spun freely enough for a ride with the promise at ride’s end I would seek professional help.

Several cars were parked @ horse stable where ride starts. Didn’t catch up to them. I am now just a rabbit for other riders, I don’t reel in riders ahead of me.

Passed father / son deer hunters dressed in full camo with a fire going right on the road track. Learned that it is rifle season for deer. I suspected such. Oh well, I have a right to be outside also. I never heard a shot during the ride.

Rode up same as yesterday and joined the Black Mtn trail and turned South instead. Old hiking trail: log h2o bars & steep fall line climbs and decents. A bit of serious hike a bike sections: hiking itself was interesting but toting along a bike was even more exciting. Several vista outlooks, rough mountains albeit short. Rhody thickets with trail cut thru them. Finally crested last of Black Mtn massive & headed down. Some switchbacks and traverse trail but mostly hard squeeze on hydraulic brake levers. I ride Formula K24 brakes with an 8″ rotor front and a 6″ on back. With 1 finger I have good modulation but not enough power to lock up wheels. 2 fingers has modulation but the ability to lock up wheels which I need sometimes. Front brake announces my presences w/ squeal.

Solitary ride again.

Cold today. Gloves are essentially long fingered summer gloves, not very warm. Wear PI booties that ride up over my toes, these are not made for hike a bike but keep my feet from freezing. Temp is below freezing each night which is unusual here or maybe at this time of year.

Back into town. Tried Sycamore bikes for bottom bracket, no dice . Went across street to The Hub to do business. No Shimano but a Race Face that has not treated me well in past, but a spinning crank is more important than me being pissed @ Race Face. Got a discount on BB as it was installed & deinstalled from a bike but never ridden on. Pretty gold color clashed with Sangria color of Turner. But hey, the crank spins freely.

Groceries at IGLES a big well stocked chain store. Shower @ laundromat again. Parked in town for inyernet access. time to head to woods for dinner.

Riding here again tomorrow on a suggested route.

Off again.

Check Ride data page for ride graphic.

Zags won again, ranked number 5.

Camped out of internet access last 2 days. Came into Brevard, NC to do a wash and found a $3.00 shower also. Clean clothes, clean body. And washed the KY & TN mud off the Turner.

Rode Haw Ridge near Oak Ridge, TN on Wed for a counter. I will swing back into TN for another ride. Rode w/ 2 college students taking a break b4 finals: Allan and drew who was a summer interin w/ Bike Magazine, the one with the article about the typical rides in each state. They are guilty of Jim Thorpe.

Allan invited me to shower @ his mom’s house. Don’t pass up those offers. Clean again.

Grocery shop and headed towards Asheville, NC. Parked in empty shopping center parking lot. Fixed dinner. Turned stove on to heat h2o for clean up. No propane. Just ran out. Used gps to find gas station w/ plan to ask location for propane @ 8:0PM. Found Flying J seveal miles away. GPS routes over some interesting roads, some of which, my druthers would be to not drive: narrow, gravel, 1 lane bridges & underpass. But I always arrived in 1 piece.

Filled 5.5 gal of propane in 7 gal tank. Didn’t think I was such a fuel pig. Attendant said pump shuts off @ 80% to allow for expansion.

Picked up I40 for Asheville in the dark. Plan was to drive to E outskirts of town & hunt for a motel parking lot because it would be the most dependable sleeping spot to find in the dark.  Checked out 2 locations before settling on suitable spot.

Up early & drove to a more public spot in Burger King parking lot to fix bfast in the rain.

Drove I-40 into Asheville, NC. Over time I have read articles that laist Asheville as a top spot to live. Good bagel bakery right off I-40. Found credit union to deposit checks. Found Liberty Bike to inquire of Pisgah NF rides. Out of maps, drove down to Diamond Brand, bought maps, & drove back to Liberty to mark up newly purchased maps. Got some skinny.

Drove dfown to Brevard, NC right in the Pisgah. Walked into a backpacking shop & flirted w/ a cute clerk w/ a N Georgia accent. I asked about camping and she steered me right. I found a spot that was right on today’s ride. So happy to sleep in the dead quiet and legal also. Back there again tonight.

Today I slept in waiting out the rising sun & burning off the frost. Camped in a creek bottom so it took a while for the sun to crest the ridge.

Headed out on severely muddy bike. Gravel road frozen & ice in puddles. Rode passed the horse stables & climbed on gated sledom used logging road. Back to the Western rides of big road climbs. Climbed for 54 mins to Black Mtn trail intersection. ST but all trails here are hiking trails. Some sections were almost treacherous to walk down. trail dropped down onto road. I mis interpretted map to say the next trail was a short distance down road. Made several false startes before I realized that map scale was small & trail junction was almost right  where I entered road. Corrected my blunder. This is where the trail turned walking challenging sliding a bike on dry oak leaves that are slippery in their own medium. I will post the ride on the rides page using GOGGLE earth from the Garmin EDGE 305.

Again, wash completed & wool & synthetic material clothes are drying in the back of van. It will take several days for all to dry because it is too cold inside van.

Draw back to heater: it produces h2o vapor. Wet clothes produce more when drying. Need to open vents more to let vapor escape but so does heat.

Off to camp & no internet. No proof reading. Just bang on keys & click publish

Sleep interrupted about 4:30AM by tractor trailer doing trailer switches like right outside my fender. Slept late to make up for the interruption.

Plan was to drive to Cave Run Bicycle & pick shop brains for local ride. Arrived b4 10:00 AM opening & sat in parking lot waiting. casual winter time opening. Chatted with owner John about rides and conditions of trails & USFS involvement or lack thereof. Short of it was: wet spring, 3 month drought & 100 of horses mixed in damages the trails. Biker community participated in trail use meetings with their recommendation of separate trails for user groups to protect trail quality. FS lacks funds & perhaps where with all to make separate trails. John offered more of same trail systems and I bailed making a generalization of horse affected trails & snotty clay.

Took advantage of cold & windy weather to drive South towards Tennessee.

Last night I bought an eastern US map and am marking on the map the potential rides I have found. This presents a graphic picture of networking locations to maximize ride time and reduce drive miles. Plan is to drive tomorrow into Knoxville and do a local ride then over to NC down into SC, back to TN, and then down to N Georgia. Still quite a bit of wandering seeking out desirable rides.

Stopped in Williamsburg, KY for night. Diesel $2.54 / gal. Found bank parking lot @ edge of town. Cleaning up after dinner and looked out front window across a field from me and saw about 10 police cruisers w/ lights & sirens flashing plus 3 meat wagons bracket in a house right on the corner. In dark i was unable to view activity. Shortly a helicopter with a search light joined the action. I am parked in the next accessible road. At first I thought they were coming across the field for me and that something happened at the bank but there were no flashers in the bank parking lot. And the police rigs turned to face the house on the corner. Shortly a meat wagon left with flashers on. A while later the helicopter left; it might have been an evac flight and i couldn’t see if it flew a victim away or left empty. And then the cops turned off their flashers and drove away. I am still here in the parking lot and there are some people somewhere that they did not plan on being. Story might be in newspaper tomorrow.

So, scoot to Knoxville for ride and then over to Asheville, NC area for a longer visit.