For the last two weekends I have been doing training rides in Black Mountain to prepare for the Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell. Unfortunately, last week my riding mates ended up with more training than I did. My plan was to park at the end of old 70 and ride Kitzuma with an old riding partner Jeff and then do the Heartbreak loop with an old friend from Charlotte. This would add up to about 37 miles of riding with approx. 21 to 22 miles of climbing. For those of you who have done either part of this ride you know that it's backwoods and bailing out to walk back to the car is not an option. Here's how it went...
Jeff and I started climbing the Kitzuma switchbacks around 8am. This part of the ride is usually the hardest of the 37 miles, simply b/c I've always done it on a SS and there's no warm up from the lot. You immediately go straight up. However, this week I decided to ride my Bandersnatch which is set up as a 1X9. An extra 10 teeth in the rear almost make the climb pleasurable. We climbed to the top and then completed the downhill with out a hitch. As we headed out of the park at Old Fort I realized my seat had dropped about a quarter of an inch. Just enough to be annoying. So I stopped to raise my seat. My seat clamp bolt broke during this process leaving me with a 5 mile climb up old 70 without a seat. Jeff and I proceeded to climb up to meet Charles with me rotating b/w riding on the top tube of my bike, standing and getting frequent pulls from Jeff. We managed to get back to the car about 15 minutes later than scheduled, put in a new bolt from an old clamp and then started the Heartbreak loop with Charles, Kyle and Mike. Jeff went home exhausted and sore. Pulling an extra 180 lbs up a 5 mile climb seemed to take a little out of him. THANKS JEFF!!!!
The four of us made it through Montreat and up Toll Rd at a great pace. This loop with a group always adds up to ride and wait ride and wait, but today everyone stayed on and 14 miles later we were at the top. This is usually where we would eat a quick bite and start the 7 miles of singletrack that points down. However, Mike took a hard fall approx 20 yards from the top which postponed the downward spiral for a few minutes. Ten minutes later we were on our way. About 10 seconds later a stick jumped into my chain and snapped my rear deraileur (I immediately forgot about the benefits of the gears that I had enjoyed earlier on Kitzuma). After approx 45 minutes of "repairs" we realized that I was going home without a chain.
We ate a bite and started to ride some of the best single track in Western NC. single track in Western NC. It's just as fun wihtout a chain as it with one. In fact I made more of the switchback at the bottom than I had ever made before (Maybe I'll take my chain off before the descent during the ORAMM)? Once at the bottom My smile quickly vanished with the thought of pushing back up that 5 miles of dirt road. After a little thought I CAME UP WITH A BRILLIANT PLAN!!!! We could ride the road over to the bottom of Kitzuma and everyone could take turns pulling me back to the car on Old 70. HELL, JEFF DID IT BY HIMSELF. That's all I really needed to say to persuade the group. Charles, Kyle and Mike took turns pulling me for the next 7 miles or so and approx 2 hours later we were at the top. It's good to have friends who are in shape...
This week I ventured back to the top of Old 70 to redeem myself. Once again I met up with Jeff at 8am to do Kitzuma and then with Shaun Boyd to do the Heartbreak loop. My Bandersnatch is still out of commission until I can get some parts from George at Bike29 so I had to ride my old Rig. This ride went without a hitch. SS are great. My only complaint is that I wasn't riding a steel SS. I felt like I was taking a beating on the downhill and on the rocky Toll Rd. climb. ALUMINUM BIKES SUCK!!! Can't wait to get my Jabberwocky from Vassago. SEE YOU AT THE ORAMM....
Jeff and I started climbing the Kitzuma switchbacks around 8am. This part of the ride is usually the hardest of the 37 miles, simply b/c I've always done it on a SS and there's no warm up from the lot. You immediately go straight up. However, this week I decided to ride my Bandersnatch which is set up as a 1X9. An extra 10 teeth in the rear almost make the climb pleasurable. We climbed to the top and then completed the downhill with out a hitch. As we headed out of the park at Old Fort I realized my seat had dropped about a quarter of an inch. Just enough to be annoying. So I stopped to raise my seat. My seat clamp bolt broke during this process leaving me with a 5 mile climb up old 70 without a seat. Jeff and I proceeded to climb up to meet Charles with me rotating b/w riding on the top tube of my bike, standing and getting frequent pulls from Jeff. We managed to get back to the car about 15 minutes later than scheduled, put in a new bolt from an old clamp and then started the Heartbreak loop with Charles, Kyle and Mike. Jeff went home exhausted and sore. Pulling an extra 180 lbs up a 5 mile climb seemed to take a little out of him. THANKS JEFF!!!!
The four of us made it through Montreat and up Toll Rd at a great pace. This loop with a group always adds up to ride and wait ride and wait, but today everyone stayed on and 14 miles later we were at the top. This is usually where we would eat a quick bite and start the 7 miles of singletrack that points down. However, Mike took a hard fall approx 20 yards from the top which postponed the downward spiral for a few minutes. Ten minutes later we were on our way. About 10 seconds later a stick jumped into my chain and snapped my rear deraileur (I immediately forgot about the benefits of the gears that I had enjoyed earlier on Kitzuma). After approx 45 minutes of "repairs" we realized that I was going home without a chain.
We ate a bite and started to ride some of the best single track in Western NC. single track in Western NC. It's just as fun wihtout a chain as it with one. In fact I made more of the switchback at the bottom than I had ever made before (Maybe I'll take my chain off before the descent during the ORAMM)? Once at the bottom My smile quickly vanished with the thought of pushing back up that 5 miles of dirt road. After a little thought I CAME UP WITH A BRILLIANT PLAN!!!! We could ride the road over to the bottom of Kitzuma and everyone could take turns pulling me back to the car on Old 70. HELL, JEFF DID IT BY HIMSELF. That's all I really needed to say to persuade the group. Charles, Kyle and Mike took turns pulling me for the next 7 miles or so and approx 2 hours later we were at the top. It's good to have friends who are in shape...
This week I ventured back to the top of Old 70 to redeem myself. Once again I met up with Jeff at 8am to do Kitzuma and then with Shaun Boyd to do the Heartbreak loop. My Bandersnatch is still out of commission until I can get some parts from George at Bike29 so I had to ride my old Rig. This ride went without a hitch. SS are great. My only complaint is that I wasn't riding a steel SS. I felt like I was taking a beating on the downhill and on the rocky Toll Rd. climb. ALUMINUM BIKES SUCK!!! Can't wait to get my Jabberwocky from Vassago. SEE YOU AT THE ORAMM....
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