pisgah - day 3
Happy New Year! What a better way to ring in the new year than an epic mountain bike ride in Pisgah National Forest down here in North Carolina?
Ohio Robb and I met up with a whole slew of locals that included the likes of Bruce, the man behind Pisgah Works, as well Justin and many others. I met these guys back at the SSWC08 out in California.
There were eleven (11) of us in all ready to embark on an epic journey. Seven of us were on singlespeeds. Six of those seven were fully rigid. My last jaunt through Pisgah on this trip. ETA for a re-arrival is yet to be determined but I can guarantee that I'll be back. I have had so much fun, ridden some amazing terrain and met some great and super cool people that I can not just disappear. Besides, I've always loved Asheville and the surrounding area(s).
The pedals started turning around 12:30 and it was a bit chilly. Probably upper 30s but the wind was nonexistent unlike yesterday. Not even 15minutes into the ride and we're climbing. I knew we'd be climbing for a while but did not realize 'a while' meant a few hours. Regardless, I was ready for an epic ride and stoked to be out riding Pisgah for the third day in a row.
Here is a zoom-out showing the neighboring towns and such..
total elevation gain: 7,448ft
total distance traveled: 25miles
ride time: around 4.5hrs including stops
temperature: 39F
gearing: 32x21
Maybe halfway up the first climb. I'm following Bruce.
Robb rocking the T6 jersey.
Three quarters of the way up Old Toll we caught a nice vista.
looking southwest I believe
That ridge behind Robb... That was our descent: Heartbreak. Took another 20-30minutes after this photo to climb up to the top before we dropped in Heartbreak.
biiiikes
That is Chris on the left and Marshall on the right.
The TOP!
2.5hrs of rocky doubletrack climbing up Old Toll. I think this is around 5200ft above sea level. We started around 2300ft. It was COLD up there and my feet were beginning to freeze. I layered just ride to keep my clothes from getting completely wet from perspiration so as long as I as moving I was warm.
Dunno how those campers got up there but I've been told they are used for the hunters.
about 30ft down Old Toll from the previous photo. Bruce is getting some water.
Time to drop down into Heartbreak. I aired down my tires to give me some form of suspension seeing as I was riding fully rigid. I think my tubeless tires went from 30psi at the start down to around 15psi for this descent. It was weird riding with such little air pressure but the Stan's sealant held and the bike felt good.
After some descending I stopped to snap some shots of where we came from:
Waay up there on that ridge.
break time. Turns out Chris double flatted so Robb was helping him while we were hanging out in the shade (and I was pretty damn cold).
A few turns later we're on the west side of the ridge and the sun is helping warm us up.
Chris
The bottom...
From here we had a gentle climb up a fire road to the tune of about 2500 vertical feet. A few left turns later we're back at the cars. Time is around 5pm-ish.
Awesome! I had so much fun today. Thank You everyone! I had so much fun the past two weeks. Thank you Robb and everyone else for their hospitality. Gonna have to do it again soon.
Ohio Robb and I met up with a whole slew of locals that included the likes of Bruce, the man behind Pisgah Works, as well Justin and many others. I met these guys back at the SSWC08 out in California.
There were eleven (11) of us in all ready to embark on an epic journey. Seven of us were on singlespeeds. Six of those seven were fully rigid. My last jaunt through Pisgah on this trip. ETA for a re-arrival is yet to be determined but I can guarantee that I'll be back. I have had so much fun, ridden some amazing terrain and met some great and super cool people that I can not just disappear. Besides, I've always loved Asheville and the surrounding area(s).
The pedals started turning around 12:30 and it was a bit chilly. Probably upper 30s but the wind was nonexistent unlike yesterday. Not even 15minutes into the ride and we're climbing. I knew we'd be climbing for a while but did not realize 'a while' meant a few hours. Regardless, I was ready for an epic ride and stoked to be out riding Pisgah for the third day in a row.
Here is a zoom-out showing the neighboring towns and such..
total elevation gain: 7,448ft
total distance traveled: 25miles
ride time: around 4.5hrs including stops
temperature: 39F
gearing: 32x21
Maybe halfway up the first climb. I'm following Bruce.
Robb rocking the T6 jersey.
Three quarters of the way up Old Toll we caught a nice vista.
looking southwest I believe
That ridge behind Robb... That was our descent: Heartbreak. Took another 20-30minutes after this photo to climb up to the top before we dropped in Heartbreak.
biiiikes
That is Chris on the left and Marshall on the right.
The TOP!
2.5hrs of rocky doubletrack climbing up Old Toll. I think this is around 5200ft above sea level. We started around 2300ft. It was COLD up there and my feet were beginning to freeze. I layered just ride to keep my clothes from getting completely wet from perspiration so as long as I as moving I was warm.
Dunno how those campers got up there but I've been told they are used for the hunters.
about 30ft down Old Toll from the previous photo. Bruce is getting some water.
Time to drop down into Heartbreak. I aired down my tires to give me some form of suspension seeing as I was riding fully rigid. I think my tubeless tires went from 30psi at the start down to around 15psi for this descent. It was weird riding with such little air pressure but the Stan's sealant held and the bike felt good.
After some descending I stopped to snap some shots of where we came from:
Waay up there on that ridge.
break time. Turns out Chris double flatted so Robb was helping him while we were hanging out in the shade (and I was pretty damn cold).
A few turns later we're on the west side of the ridge and the sun is helping warm us up.
Chris
The bottom...
From here we had a gentle climb up a fire road to the tune of about 2500 vertical feet. A few left turns later we're back at the cars. Time is around 5pm-ish.
Awesome! I had so much fun today. Thank You everyone! I had so much fun the past two weeks. Thank you Robb and everyone else for their hospitality. Gonna have to do it again soon.
posted by dougyfresh at 7:20 PM
3 Comments:
Damn Dougy... had a good time reading about your little adventure. I've heard Pigsah is an amazing place, and by the looks of those photos I think it holds true.
Heartbreak, one of my favorite descents! Nice write-up
Oh, I'm so jealous!!! Definitely feeling the homesick now! Heartbreak.....Slowhio ......Mr. Hance and Bruce. The people and places of Pisgah- unbeatable.
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