Rise And Shine

I slept a little better Saturday night, no doubt from spending hours on the trail and drinking moar beer.  We ate like kings too, so the flatulence orchestra continued.  The day started off with a good breakfast, and with someone from a neighboring campsite towing a trailer to the dump station.

Shitter's full! 

Once we packed up our camp, plans started to take shape.  With no organized rides scheduled, everyone was on their own.  Some folks went over to ride Bracken Mountain, some went on an epic Pisgah journey with some Charlotte day trippers, and I planned to take a group on a social tour of Pisgah.

Yes, it can be done.

At first I thought it would just be me and Lunchbox, but others started joining in.  Good Guy Greg, Danielle, Craig W., Little Miss Sunshine, and Eastwood (who only had a full rigid single speed with a 32X20.)

Lovely. Now I would be responsible for multiple deaths...I mean fun.

  

We stopped by The Hub again (this was my fifth trip there that weekend if you're counting) because I needed a new mount for my Garmin. Once I got it installed, we headed to the Pisgah Ranger Station to start the ride.  I explained that this would be a “fun” ride, with a lot of climbing at first.  There would be lots of downhill at the end though.  Everyone seemed good with that, so we took off. 

Down the road, turn into the horse stable area, and up Clawhammer.  And I mean up.  I felt bad for Eastwood pushing such a big gear, and also for Lunchbox pushing 240 pounds plus gear up that stupid climb.  It felt easier for me this time, but since I was”leading” this group, I kept dropping back to make sure everyone was okay.  That wore me out, especially since I kept pushing to get back up towards the front.  Most times I didn't make it all the way up front, and had to yell ahead to let G3 and Eastwood know which direction to go.  Since it was social though, we stopped a lot.  The climb hurt a little, but they were killing it.

Once we got to Black Mountain, we did a little hike a bike up to the top.  I advised everyone to drop their seatposts and to get ready for a good time on the gnar.  Once again, I felt bad for Eastwood since he was on a rigid and I had 140mm of plush travel. 

We took off one by one, with me in the lead.  Riding The Executor made it really fun, and even if I took a bad line (which I did often) I didn't have a problem.  I got really far ahead and pulled over to make sure everyone was coming down, and a little while later G3 and Eastwood came by.  I heard the others too, so I jumped back in line.  We were screaming down the mountain, and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed it.  I hurried to the bottom to get a few photos.

Lunchbox has been here before, and he rode it even better this time.

And the little lady had some fun too.

We stopped to regroup and raise our seatposts (except me since I have a drooper), and made the short climb across to get to the downhill on Thrift Cove.  It was wide open, and we hauled ass.  I was leading again, and I almost hit a lady standing in the middle of the trail watching a guy do “something.”  I rang my bell and she jumped out of the way, but she left a bag of some sort in the way.  Turns out “something” involved the guy baring his shiny white ass to uh, relive himself I guess.  Luckily I didn't see it, but some others in the group did.

Yuck.

Just as before, I hurried to the end to grab a few photos.

There were lots of smiles since that section was so fun, and probably because we didn't have to climb anymore.  We rolled back down to the ranger station and cleaned up.  We got some local Mexican grub, and a few of use went back to The Hub to hang out.  People from other Pisgah rides started rolling in, including Irish Luke.

He's moving out to the Great Northwest soon, so it was good to see him.

More people started rolling in, so I figured I'd hang out a while to wait for Dicky who was also out in the hills.  He never showed up, so just sat out on the back porch trapped in some sort of swing.

Eventually I got out and headed home. I didn't want that day to end, but it did.  It was a great weekend of riding, socializing, and beer drinking.  This was our first camping trip as a club, and I'm pretty sure it won't be our last.

Damn, I love the hills.