Stuff b4 Braken.

Sat I worked and aid station on a road bike race put on by Todd & Heather. I worked it w/ David and Sissy whom I rode w/ on the Shrimper ride. Our location was way out there and almost on the Blue ridge Highway. It was a 100 mile race. Our location was almost @ the top of the monster climb. The slower racers were showing signs of heat and exhaustion. I need to develop the courage to ride on these roads that have nothing beyond the white lane line. We entertained the racers seeking aid @ our station. Beautiful mountains densely dark green. Very pretty.

I drove from the aid station down to the fish hatchery outside Brevard via the Blue Ridge Parkway. Way up 2 lane 45 mph, non commuting road. Spectacular.

At the hatchery I figured a ride I had done previously years ago. I hung the shower on the van and pedaled out. I found the trail that parallels the road to a gated road. I turned in here believing this was correct. I found Caney Bottom trail taking off under and archway made of rhody trunks. Not where I wanted to be. I had not ridden this trail. Classic Pisgah: rhody thickets, roots, very narrow, rooty, who knows how it was built. I climbed up to the junction w/ Cove creek then turned downhill. Great bike instills confidence.  Back down on the road I returned to take a solar shower hung from a security fence right off the parking lot. Back into town for dinner @ The Phoenix again. Slept @ the Farm again.

Sunday back into town. Found Todd & Heather loading up the last of the race venue  props. Made plans for 3PM Braken mtn shuttle. We met @ Oscar Blues Brewery. Got to ride w/ both.

The ride from the hatchery climbed an old resource extraction road that was in excellent condition tread wise. 7 mile gradual climb. Braken mtn trail system took off, 4.74 miles of incredibly machine built by Todd. Old growth trees. Todd says it is his signature trail which  shows off the caliber of his work. I’d ride it again. Not typical nasty Pisgah.

We finished @ the brewery. One beer each then I drove Todd back to the hatchery to retrieve his wagon then drove to their house for dinner. Heather fixed chicken and i finished sharpening her knife. They are people that we slide into each others lives and it seems like a beat was never missed, let alone 2 years. We wear each other well. Hugged goodbye then drove to the Farm a short distance away.

Today I drove into Brevard early. Shrimper and I had coffee @ the other bike shop in town, kitty corner to the Hub, Sycamore Cycles owned by Wes. More time w/ Shrimper. Drove over to the Hub to pick up I9 axle adapters to fit a 10mm axle. Sam had the axle also. Said good bye to the Hub and headed towards Wilksboro. I picked up the parkway towards Boone. Another wonderful scenery drenched drive. Fog blew over the 5432′ turn out. drive the Parkway.

Goal today was Kerr Scott Lake and camping in an Army Corps of Eng campground. Dropped down to 1161′ and heat along w/ humidity. $12 fee.

Installed the 10 mm axle which will make the rear end really more stiff. Riding in the muddy grit work off both brakes pads.

My bike is so outstanding for me w/ the 5 Spot frame DW suspension, Rockshox Pike 150mm fork, I 9 wheels, KS seat dropper, 2X10 drive train. I am very pleased w/ what I have built and paid for. So much fucking money. It is now insured for $6,000.

Yesterday I drove out to the bottom of Black mtn trail. I picked a place that was full on sun for the hood of the van to heat the solar shower. My route was up the corridor to pick up lower Black @ then back to bottom then back up to Sycamore Cove. Nature threatened w/ black clouds and thunder. I’ve ridden in the rain, no big deal. Part way up skies dumped. I hunkered under protective trees for several minutes. I have a new high tech expensive PI rain jacket that I decided to validate. I was already sweaty wet. I wore the jacket for the rest of the ride; when I finished it seemed that I was only wet from the original sweat, the jacket appeared to breathe. I splattered mud on it. Rain fell for long enough to wet the excavator tracks and spill the excess downhill. I pedaled up and got out of the rain and the track was dry. Amazing, I’ve experienced it w/ snow never rain.

So, how do the new additions affect the ride? Wow. First thing I noticed was the bike was solid: no loose bits vibrating. I am using the 22 chain ring for almost all the climbing because the middle ring is a 36 which gets big. No gear indicator window on new shifter causes me to look between my legs occasionally to see what gears I have to use. The bike pedals so easily uphill, it rockets forward. Phenomenal. The 31″ handlebar is taking getting used to, it’s like bull horns wide. The carbon deadens the vibrations. The first climb my hands fell asleep. The next climb they stayed awake. Leverage from the handlebar and the stiffness of the Industry 9 wheels says the fastest line is straight down and let the bike sort out the roots.

Solar shower in the parking lot. Another rider was gearing up to start up but kept looking at the sky. We struck up a conversation. He knows Shrimper, everybody knows Shrimper. He has known Todd since 4th grade. He finally pedaled away.

I am now riding the warrantied Giro Terraduro shoes, 3 rides so fall and they appear to be in tact.

Back into town. Ate dinner @ the Phoenix again. I left and walked around downtown. I ran into Heather setting up for the road bike race for today. I joined in helping. Today I joined her again as I was a volunteer at an aid station way up just shy of the Parkway. David and Sissy were the rest of the team, i rode w/ them on the Shrimper ride. Long twisty drive up to the location. We set up and waited for our customers. Long time coming. We were @ the top of a brutally long climb. The racers were all so polite and thanking us for helping them.

We tore down the aid station and loaded it all in David’s pick up. I drove up to the parkway for my route home. Just saying that these Blue Ridge mountains are amazing: so much green and mountains. I exited down thru the Pisgah towards Brevard. I remember riding out from the fish hatchery b4 Brevard. I pulled in late in the afternoon and geared up, filling my solar shower b4 pedaling off. Pisgah riding which here is mostly about roots which are like step up rocks. No pics. Another rewarding ride. Solar shower afterwards.

Tomorrow is to be a Todd shuttle. I will be leaving Monday AM for Wilkesboro and Warrior Creek. Going North. So many miles of trails unridden, not willing to dedicate the days and effort needed.

I have spent more than my former mortgage payment to put stuff on my bike. At least I don’t need to mow the grass or patch a leaky roof. I bought the Industry  wheels as I noticed a marked improvement in handling on the first ride and I continue to gain confidence in their capability. I noticed first off that the tires had a wider profile that puts more tread on the ground. Next is the stiffness of the wheel allowing me to put the front wheel more where I want to, I am able to steer the front wheel. The rear wheel is also wider  and stiffer meaning they resist sideways deflection. The rear hub has 3 degrees of engagement which is really great. The bike seems to jet forward when winding up my speed. Worth the pro deal price not the full retail of $1,100. Next I replaced my sort of 2X9 drive train w/ a real 2X10. My former drive train was a 3X9 minus the big chain ring that was replaced by a bash guard. The new X0 grip shifter lacks a view window that displayed the gear I was in. Gonna miss that feature as I liked to know what gears I had available. The 2X10 offers me 1 gear lower and 1 higher. So, new derailleur, shifter, cassette, chain, & bash guard. The icing is a way wider carbon handlebar, I am now at 785mm is 30.9″ width. Pretty spiffy. I rode around in the parking lot digging what my bike has become. I took a rest day today recovering from 2 rides yesterday and a threatening thunderstorm was announcing its presence. Tomorrow will be the test. Going from a 28″ bar to a wider bar  will require resetting my proprioceptive sense I lack whiskers long enough to provide feedback.

Yesterday rain did not fall. I rode from the Bike Farm which is a little ways off the property line of DuPont State Forest. The first part was on a machine built trail leading from the farm up to a road which dropped 300′ vertical right now connecting to a road climb up to chosen 2nd trail into the forest. Just digging the ride. I wandered around in the northern reaches then rode back. 9.56 miles climbing 1405′. Great view site from top of Hickory mtn:

Nice trail construction:

I putzed around allowing time to move to the 6:00 ride lead by Cashion and Eva of the Bike Farm. About 20 riders joined in for the ride that used a multipurpose trail alongside Davidson river to the parking lot for Black Mtn. Big climb up an old wide double track then down the ST back to the bottom. Shrimper spent 70 hours of volunteer labor w/ his mini excavator to reclaim the unsustainable downhill. Nicely done. In essence the trail was a double track that was eroded. He moved the trail from side to side in the narrow confines which spills the h20. It still is a heads up ride, seat dropper wins again. This ride was 10.75 miles climbing 1834″. I was able to ride the entire climbs but again was way off the back. So we rode Lower Black then climbed back up part way to the cutover to Sycamore Cove then down. Rooty. We finished again at the deep spot on the river for a rinse off. Not as much mud this time. My clothes become sweat soaked in a short while, the river didn’t add any more.

Solar shower on the engine hood in the Hub parking lot. The rain dropped the temp a bit and blocked out the sun.

Mon night I enjoyed dinner and evening @ Todd and Heather’s. It was like picking up where we left off like it was just the day b4. I sharpened 2 of Heather’s knives. I am helping Sat @ their road bike race, they are taking me on a shuttle ride on Sunday and having me over for dinner again where I will finish sharpening the really dull knife.

I plan on leaving Monday, I haven’t planned which direction yet. South to Augusta and FATS and Bill and Liz or N to Boone and Warrior creek.

Tuesday I drove to S end of I Dupont to ride Cedar rock etc. I parked @ Corn Mill shoals TH. When I climbed to top of Cedar rock I heard voices, previously I was all by myself. 2 men. I said hello. They saw me then told me about water pouring from my van. HuH? The said said someone else told them about my leaking, they recognized me from a pic on the van. Shit. I was afraid that the water tank burst. I pedaled to the van, sure enough the exiting h20 created a divit. The pump was running pumping air. My h20 system is kinda a Rube Goldberg and a bitch to take apart. Roll up the sleeves. I drove back to The Farm  where I could park under a shade tree to be the shade tree mechanic. I removed items to reveal that a fitting had failed, one that I over tightened w/ a water pump pliers that I broke when I messed w/ it all back in Sedona. The fitting held until then. Camping World is up near Asheville which is where I headed. They had the part. I drove back to The Hub to used a socket to remove 2 bolts. They weren’t metric and the bike shop and me only had metric tools. I drove over to Lowes to buy the socket. I made 3 trips thru customer returns until I settled on the 6″ adjustable wrench to remove said bolts. I removed and replaced and reattached the system and turned on the pump: success. Incredibly hot and humid that litterally drenched me as if I had just run 1/4 mile which was as far as was needed to get sweaty wet. I filled the solar shower and parked in the sun. My plan was for warm water and a shower about 9PM after the heat left the day out @ the Farm. It worked leaving me washed clean and not sweating.

The Farm is on Shoals Creek, there is a house by the creekside:

View up the creek:

Did my wash for 2nd week @ Tony’s where I washed before over the years.

Off to grocery store, Ingles, which is a wonderful grocery store then out to the Farm. You gotta drive these local roads that are so narrow there is nothing to the right after  the white line.