Ski err bike Cannonsburg

To begin with, the weather we're having is a total joke. It was in the mid 80's this past Monday, and not even a week later there's a fresh white blanket of snow covering the state of Michigan. I guess it's still April, so you've got to expect some weather craziness. But man, cut that weather dude off! End winter NOW!!!

Anyway, waking up at the crack of dawn this morning and seeing the conditions outside did not stir motivational thoughts at the prospect of racing bikes in the snow. The long drive to the venue was a constant internal battle of wills, of whether to turn around and go to sleep in a warm house, or suffer in the cold December-esque conditions. The latter somehow won.

The west side of the state was actually in much better conditions than the east. There was a definite front line just west of Lansing. Things looked promising, even though it was freezing cold. I just got adjusted to those 80s earlier in the week, man. The trail was surprisingly in good conditions and traction was pretty good. The one downside was that the snow and ice being kicked up was jamming up in my cassette - and this was already happening on my short "warm-up" ride to recon the start and finish. Yeah, that's not going to get better once racing begins. Not surprisingly, a good number of guys toed to the line on single speeds. Not a bad idea with the conditions.

The race went pretty well, although I sorta blew up on the first lap. It took about another lap to get back in the rhythm. The ride went clean, no incidents, pretty much all alone for a majority of the race. Well, I was the first geared bike across the line - with a little less than half those gears actually working. First four spots went to those sicko's on single speeds mashing some mad tall gear ratio and flying around that course.

See y'all at the Fort.
Pete

Yankee Springs - Season Opener

I have to say. This was the best Yankee TT I've done yet. The weather was near perfect with similar course conditions. The team as a whole did fantastic and hopefully it's a sign of things to come this season. I have to say that our new team seemed to be pretty well received. We had a lot of compliments on the uniforms and as always on our conduct. It's nice to ride with a group of guys who are competitive but remember that we're all friends when it's all said and done. Any doubts that I had about riding the new King frame are gone. This bike takes every ounce of effort you put into it and uses it to tear over the terrain. Climbing was fantastic and the way you could just carve through the corners was amazing. Hopefully I will be able to get out to Cannonsburg to give it a good XC workout before the Fort.
-Justin

Downhill Pisgah style!

Ok today was a weird but fun day! This is the short version. The day started out rainy and wet so Justin decided not to ride because of the weather and his knee was sore from Crispy running him over on Thursday (another story for later), he did go for a run though. So justin shuttled Crispy and me with our big bikes. The first run was down Little Pisgah Ridge. Fast and very wet. Then the sun came out so he drove us back up to the Blue Ridge Parkway so we could hike in and ride down Laural Mountain. When we got on top you could see a thunderstorm rolling in. We hurried to get started down the mountain before it hit, we didn't make it. So we bombed this downhill in a thunderstorm. There was a real close lightning strike at one point and I don't know if I was more stoked about the ride or more scared about the storm. Oh I forgot, we saw these totaly unprepared people at the top of the mountain 9 miles from their camp. Low end bikes, no helmets, very little clothing, no water, no food, no map and a thunderstorm coming. We tried to help with directions and suggestions but the guy was a jerk, maybe not wanting to ask for help in front of his girl. So I told them they were almost to the top and they better go to the lodge for help because we were getting off this exposed ridge before the storm hit. STUPID people! Ok so the storm passes and we are bombing down the hill when Crispy pinch flats. So we go to change it but can't get his rear D-Max wheel off because we don't have the correct wrench. So we cut a tube, put super glue in the ends, tied it in two knots, stuffed it in the tire, pumped it up and the damn thing held the rest of the way down including a 45 plus mph run for 4 miles down a forest road! There is more but maybe later. Just another one of Crispy and Bryan's great adventures!

I have my Stinky!!!!

Nothing like taking a new Kona Stinky for its first ride on a wet and slippery DH in the Pisgah mountains. Thanks to Dale at Kona for getting it to me here in NC. I had a big fat smile on my face. -Bryan

Dan is here!

Dan and Crispy climbing the ridge along Black Mountain Trail on the way up to Buckwheat Knob. I didn't choose the best angle for this shot to show steepness which can be tricky to show in photos and video. Trust me, it is steep up and down. Below Justing climbs in the fog and clouds above 4000 feet. -Bryan

Buckwheat Knob Loop

Wet and foggy ride today but the thunderstorms we though might come never did. This loop includes a section called Satan's Staircase. What a sweet tec DH run that makes you pay in blood if you make a mistake. This is the first year I cleaned it all! Made me feel good to nail this section for how crappy I have felt most the week. If you ever ride down here this is a MUST ride! -Bryan

Mt. Mitchell

So Jim, Jon and I attempted to ride to the top of Mt. Mitchell today. We drove to a location that looked good for parking. Busted out the road bikes and began our ascet. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a beautiful ride this time of year. We had sunny skies with a cool breeze and about 70+ degrees. The Parkway runs along the side of the mountains out here allowing for all kinds of views of the landscape and there are great tunnels to ride though. Some are so long that you loose almost all light. That is a bit creepy. So after ascending about 3000 ft. or so we saw a sign that said Mt. Pisgah. Now I didn't want to say anything while we were climbing but I could have sworn that the mountain was on the left side last year when I attempted to do this climb. Then I hit a spot I know we didn't come across the last year. The Mt. Pisgah resort. I head into the shop and ask where I might find Mt. Mitchell. The nice man behind the counter points in the direction I just came from and says about 65 miles that way. Doh! Well not much we can do about that. So we rode up the wrong mountain. We still got a good ride in with a summet of 5721 ft. (Mt. Mitchell is only 6681). We could have easily made the climb but not with the time we had left. Supposedly there is a storm so bad headed our way that it's been on CNN. Well see how well that pans out tonight and tomorrow.

Ridge Riding

The ridge on the left is what we rode Tuesday, the peak on the left is Clawhammer Mountain. The Ridge in the middle and right we will ride Friday. It has a DH section called Satan's Staircase. Sweeeeeeet!

Steep DH

This run would have been more fun with big bikes and if there was not so many downed trees.

Training Food!

Not really but when down south you have to have Krystal burgers!

Pisgah Day 3 Clawhammer Mountain

Day 3 Kona Midwest in Pisgah.


Whoa, everyone is moving a little slow today after yesterdays epic ride up, down, & around Laural Mountain. The only people that wanted to head out today were Jim, Justin, Eric, Bryan, & myself. We started up the fire road past the horse stables and then headed up Buckhorn Gap Trail. This trail crosses a small river a few times and has these log bridges that Bryan and I kept trying to ride. We did more then in years past, but still did not get all of them. Then we stopped for photos at the Root ball. Which is basically a 5 foot wall of roots that is almost vertical it is surprising we all made it. Then it was up a very steep and loose dry creek to the fire road and all the way up to Buck Horn Gap. From there it was a Hike a Bike to the Lunch spot on top of Clawhammer Mountain. We ate a good lunch of Turkey Roll ups and lounged on the rocks like Lizards. Then came the rippin fast downhill to sycamore cove. The down hill is so fast and gnarly that once we were at the bottom everyone was just screaming!! That descent is one of the best in the park. Then just a little more climbing and down sycamore cove over all these jumps Justin and I ripped down the hill with Bryan quickly closing the gap. Short day today just 3 and a half hours. A trip to the icecream store and now it is almost time for dinner. Bryan is going to post some pictures later.

-C-

Laraul Mt

Its 9:30 PM and everyone is fed after a good ride on Laural Mt here in Pisgah NC. We climbed from the parking lot at the bottom and up, up we went. Of course we did what Crispy calles the "Nome Trail" at the top. An out and back of the most tec trail you might ride anywhere. We almost killed Craig Rice on this last year. Tough climb up rocks and roots and then you come bombing back down as fast as you dare! Everyone except me is climbing real well and riding well. Crispy is climbing like a madman. Justin is climbing like, well a semi-pro. And both Jim and Eric are real strong. Me, I'm glad I am surviving the climbs so I can bomb the downhills with Crispy. Like the super fast and rocky DH along the spine of Laural Mt. Big shity grin on my face the whole time. We did the Pilots Cove loop as well with a detour on the middle trail to check out the view from Pilots Rock. Not sure what we are riding in the morning yet? Oh BTW the photo is Crispy coming down Butter Gap on Sunday. I would like to write more but I'm just to Damn tired. But Pisgah still rocks! And our Kona Kings are a blast to ride. -Bryan

Pisgah Rules!

Ok so the rest of the team is in Pisgah National Forest North Carolinanow, well Dan will be here Wednesday. It was very windy and rainy the whole drive down. So windy last night we lost power. There was snow up high and a little chilly. We all got to bed late so we were slow to get riding today. But before we left to ride the power came back on, the sun was out, the wind slowed and it hit the mid 60's! Yes! We rode the fish Hatchery area including butter gap which was an out and back. Danails Ridge and Farlows gap are still closed because of last years hurricane damage. Steep climb and siper fun and fast back down. We then hit sycamore (sp?) cove. Rode for almost 5 hours today. I am even more out of shape then I thought. My trail skills are down as well but as the day went on they improved as did everyones. Crispy and Justin are both riding, climbing and decending very strong. Eric and Jim seem to be enjoying their first taste of Pisgah. We head over to probably the best trail down here in the morning, Laural Mountain. Why wait? Four mile road climb then and 8 mile singlwtrack climb with a super fun downhill along the ridge of the mountain, check your brakes. I hope to have photos up soon. See you soon Dan!
Bryan