A couple weeks ago mudhunny and I spent the weekend camping and riding at Bent Creek in Pisgah National Forest just outside Asheville, NC and we had a blast! Although we had ridden other Pisgah trails like Dupont State Forest and Thrift Cove, neither of us had ever ridden Bent Creek and we were stoked to check it out with our friends Amy and Rob from Decatur and Sean and Katie from Greensboro.

The 30-mile mountain bike trail network within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest features trails ranging from mellow, wide paths to fast, swoopy singletrack. In general Pisgah has a reputation for techy, gnarly trails but the Bent Creek trails are relatively root- and rock-free and typically follow ancient roadbeds carved into the sides of the surrounding mountains. The upshot: scenic, enjoyable climbs and fast, flowy, no-brake descents. All the trails are well marked and there are maps available at most of the trailheads.

A few helmet-cam clips from Bent Creek.

The weather was perfect in mid-October – blue skies and warm temperatures during the day with clear, brisk nights. October is “leaf season” in western North Carolina and we got quite a show as you can see from the pics. Fortunately all the leaves were still on the trees and not on the trail which meant fast conditions.

All the trailheads within Bent Creek were packed on Saturday and Sunday with mountain bikers from all over. Perhaps the most popular trail, Green’s Lick, is listed at 2.2 miles long and is one of the fastest descents you’ll find in Pisgah. Green’s Lick isn’t the steepest trail in Pisgah by a long shot but it is one of the smoothest, allowing mountain bikers to really open up on the downhill. Our run took about 8 minutes (including a minute or two recovering from a minor crash) and by the end of the trail my ears were ringing from the howl of the wind rushing by. Check your tire pressure before you head down this one – we saw two separate groups trailside with flats on the way down!

On Saturday I went out for a solo night ride which normally isn’t a safe idea but the trails are all so easy to follow I had to give it a shot. Without a map I fumbled my way around an impromptu circuit with the Pine Tree and Explorer loops. After a few miles the trail dumped me at a forest road which I thought I recognized from earlier in the day so I followed it for miles, hoping to link up with more singletrack. I eventually gave up after climbing for more than half an hour and descended down the gravel road from Ledford Gap. Still, it was one of the best night rides I’ve been on in a while with black mountains silhouetted against deep purple skies.

The campground at Bent Creek lies within the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area and offers nearly 100 campsites. On this October weekend the place was full but you wouldn’t have known it – the campsites are spaced out nicely with plenty of privacy and room to stretch out. There are even hot showers and flush toilets, not to mention a sand beach down at the lake.

If you end up staying at Lake Powhatan and somehow get tired of riding the Bent Creek trails, you can also ride up FS road 479 to the Blue Ridge Parkway and link up to other Pisgah trails within the Mills River area.

Pisgah National Forest is legendary among mountain bikers and Bent Creek is a great spot to touch down and explore the trails. Get Bent this fall!

This is my third and final post covering the first ever Southern Mountain Bike Summit.  In case you missed the first two posts, part one can be found here and part two can be found here.

The Take Away

I’ve been involved in MTB advocacy on the local level pretty much since I started riding a few years ago so I know that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes and that mountain biking is a lot more than just riding your bike in the woods.  But I didn’t realize just how much work happens, and how hard people have fought for access to land and trails.  It was really cool hearing the success stories from the people largely responsible for those successes.  All great trails take a lot of work, and a lot of time, to become reality.  Take the Coldwater Mountain project for example – people have been working on that for over a decade and not even a single foot of trail has been built yet!!

Some of the people responsible for the summit, from left to right: Karen Into (President, Pisgah Area SORBA), Liz McNamara (Vice President, Upstate SORBA), Tom Soret (IMBA Southeastern Regional Director), Robin Allen (SORBA Communications Director), and Walt Bready (SORBA Promotions Director)

Several presenters gave some really interesting statistics that local clubs can use as ammunition when fighting for access.  Here are a few examples:

• Over 50% of children in the US are obese
• There are 1.5 times more mountain bikers than golfers in the US
• 1 in 5 Americans over the age of 16 ride a mountain bike
• Mountain bikers have 30% more voting power than voters aged 65 and above
• For every $1 spent on trails, $4 is saved on medical expenses
• 55% of trail users exercise more than before they had access to trails
• More useful statistics can be found from the Outdoor Industry Foundation and the Rails and Trails Conservancy

If you’re not involved in advocacy on at least some level you should be!  Trails don’t build or maintain themselves you know.   Head over to the IMBA website to find out if there’s an IMBA club near you, or how to start one if there isn’t a club in your area.  And if you’re not already a member of either a local club or IMBA, what are you waiting for?  A basic membership with IMBA is only $30 - it’s the least you can do to give back to the sport you love so much.

Ride Report: Black Mountain

After the final session on Friday afternoon everyone headed over to Poppie’s Market and Cafe.  From there we rode 2.3 miles on a scenic greenway trail, and then split into three groups.  There was a 4-mile ride for the beginners, the intermediate ride was 4.3 miles, and the expert ride was 9.3 miles.  I did the expert ride, and we rode an old Pisgah classic: Black Mountain.  After we split off from the intermediate ride we regrouped at some horse stables before starting the big gravel road climb up Clawhammer Rd to get to the trail.  Todd Branham, owner of Blue Ridge Adventures, was our ride leader, and he told us “You’re about to do most of your climbing right here.  Once you get over this steep pitch the rest is easy.  This will gain about 1200 ft in 3 miles.”   He wasn’t kidding, we were about to go up, up, and away!

Lucky for me, a friend let me borrow his Yeti 575 for the weekend.  On this climb I was extremely thankful for gears!  Even with the lowest gear ratio I can set up on my singlespeed I’d have been walking that whole climb.  It was steep, and it never seemed to end.  I got dropped pretty quickly by all the locals and people used to doing those big climbs.  Thankfully, I wasn’t the slowest person – several others were way behind me.

After the first few miles of stupid-steep climbing the road leveled out some.  We kept going up for a few more miles but it was a much more mellow grade.  One of the redeeming values of the climb is the great view on the way up.  Once we got to the top of the road there was a little more climbing to do, but now on technical singletrack.  I walked it all.  I probably could have ridden it, but I was exhausted after more than an hour of climbing and once the people in front of me stalled and stopped, so did I.  After a minute or so of walking we were at the top – it’s all downhill from here!

Photo: Goo

The downhill was intense.  The top section was steep, with tons of roots, rocks, and water bars.  Drop after drop after drop.  I stopped after a few minutes and lowered the seat on the Yeti.  The rest of the downhill was a lot more fun without the seat in the way.  Part of the way down the trail changes from steep and technical to mellow and fast.  Big sight lines and huge 6 ft tall berms meant you could stay off the brakes and absolutely fly!  This is mountain biking at its finest.

At the bottom we regrouped and then rode back to Poppie’s on the greenway.  At Poppies there was something mountain bikers love, maybe even more than trails: good food!  I got a bison burger and downed it faster than I knew I even could.  It was the perfect way to end a great ride.

The End

This wraps up my coverage of the first ever Southern Mountain Bike Summit.  I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope it encourages you to get involved with your local club, and to attend events like this.  It’s pretty cool being in the same room as all the people responsible for the great riding spots in your part of the country, hearing how they made it happen, and how you can do the same in your town.

Big “Thank You!” and “Job Well Done!” to all the organizers and presenters.  Everything went off without a hitch, and all of the presentations were really well done.

Regrouping at the bottom of the downhill.  Everyone had a great time.

I plan on attending the first ever Southern Mountain Bike Summit will be held in Brevard, NC March 25-27.  The SMBS will bring riders, land managers, industry leaders, and politicians together to “teach, learn, meet, greet, ride, and grow the sport of mountain biking in the Southeast.”

The summit will have sessions about a wide range of topics, including some specifically for land managers.  The topics include:

-Leadership Training
-Working with the USDA Forest Service
-Creating Great Trails and Trail Communities
-National Mountain Bike Patrol Training
-Growing Healthy Chapters and Clubs
-Success Stories: Model Trail Systems in the South

There will also be a movie screening, silent auction, the SORBA Board of Directors meeting, and awards for volunteers.  And of course, there will be riding!  Friday the ride will leave from Poppies Gourmet Farmers Market, Saturday’s ride will be somewhere in Pisgah National Forest (home to some of the gnarliest singletrack in the country), and Sunday’s rides will be at DuPont State Forest (home to the most slickrock riding this side of Moab).  There will also be bike demos available for Sunday.

I’m stoked for the summit and will post a summary afterward.  It’ll be a good chance to learn some new things about advocacy, and it’ll be my first time riding Pisgah and DuPont.

Head over the Pisgah Area SORBA webpage for more details and registration information.  At only $65 for the whole weekend registration is very reasonable and one and two day passes are also available.  The price does go up if you register after March 10th, so sign up early!

photo courtesy BlueRidgeAdventures.net.

Over on the Facebook fan page we asked for 2010 mountain bike goals and many of the responses had to do with long format racing (anything over 6 hours) and endurance racing. Along those same lines I’m hoping to try a multi-day stage race in 2010 or 2011 so I started doing a little research. Mountain bike stage racing seems to be growing with new races popping up each year and in 2010 you can find races pretty much everywhere.

Here is a list of the 2010 MTB stage races I was able to find online. Feel free to fill in any I may have missed via the comment form at the bottom of the page.

Arizona Trail 300 (starts April 23): The AZT 300 isn’t technically a stage race (there are no checkpoints) and it’s probably the most low key event on this list with zero official support. Still, the 300 mile race covers the scenic and rugged Arizona Trail starting at Parker Canyon Lake. Last year’s winner took just over 2 and a half days to complete the race.

Trans-Sylvania Epic (May 30 – June 5): This is the first annual Trans-Sylvania Epic and the race will take place in Central Pennsylvania in the area around State College, PA. Over 7 days riders will complete stages from 10-60 miles in length.

Tour Divide (starts June 11): Tour Divide is the world’s longest mountain bike race and covers 2,745 miles in a single stage. Racers start in the Canadian Rockies and ends in badlands of the Mexican plateau. All riders must be completely self-supported.

BC Bike Race (June 27 – July 3): This is the mack daddy of mountain bike stage races and covers some of the best mountain bike trails British Columbia has to offer from Vancouver to Whistler.

Trans Rockies (August 8-14): Trans Rockies is easily one of the most well-supported mountain bike stage races and like the BC Bike Race, this one takes place in British Columbia (Canada). Solo riders may compete in the 3-day race while teams of 2 are welcome to compete in the 7-day event.

Trans Wales (August 14-21): Sponsored by Gore Bike Wear, this is the fourth annual event and is limited to 300 riders. If you’ve never been to the UK this could be a great opportunity to explore.

Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race (September 14-18): This is just the second annual event but if the 2009 race is any indication, this will be a quality race. Pro riders Jeremiah Bishop and Sue Haywood competed last year so get your entry in early to secure your spot!

The first ever Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race is happening next month and from what we’ve read this could be a very cool race. Riders will compete over 4 days, riding 145 miles of technical, gnarly singletrack inside the Pisgah National Forest near Asheville, NC. Averaging 36 miles a day doesn’t sound like much until you realize the total includes 38,000 feet of climbing (that’s nearly 10,000 feet per day)!

There are already some big names signed up to compete this year including Jeremiah Bishop and teammate Ben Sonntag. BikeRumor reports some other well known riders are planning to race as well, though we can’t confirm. Registration is still open but there are only 150 spots available.

Race organizers claim the cash prize purse ($15,000) is the largest for any American (mountain bike) stage race which appears to be true. Of course more well known MTB stage races like La Ruta take pride in the fact that they don’t offer big cash prizes for the winners. I guess sometimes glory alone isn’t enough to lure top riders