Asheville, NC

It seems that several of my friends that previously rode BMX are now getting into mountain biking. Maybe age has something to do with it ;-)

When my friend Puck invited me to Asheville to join a group of six guys staying just outside Pisgah National Forest, I jumped at the opportunity.

One in our group had never ridden and didn't own a bike, so we chose to start our trip at Ride Rock Creek, where he could rent one. The park just opened last year, offering shuttle service to the top of the mountain. It's a very similar feel to Windrock - no surprise as it was the brainchild of Neko Mullaly who had a main role in the elevation of Windrock with new trails and race series. In fact, this summer Ride Rock Creek held the second round of the Downhill Southeast series.

We took our first run as a group down the Green River Trail. We expected something mild to start the day, but even that trail was a scorcher!

At the bottom, we assured our new rider Matt that most greens aren't nearly as steep or fast, then we split into separate groups to explore the rest of the trails throughout the day.

Around noon we met back at the vehicles to down some food and a beer, and to check up on everyone's experiences thus far. After that, we headed back up to ride for a few more hours before reconvening for another group ride down one of the blue trails. Evidenced by several of us biffing on that run, we decided that fatigue must have set in and chose to call it a day and head back to the cabin to relax.

The next day five of us met our friend Chris that lives in the area to ride Trace Ridge. It was the perfect mix of technical climbing and blazing descents we were looking for! We finished our ride just as the rain began, which seemed like a perfect time to pack up and head to Mills River Brewing for lunch.



After three days of riding (we shuttled on Friday too), we were pretty exhausted, so our final night was our most tame. The next morning we cleaned the cabin, packed our cars, and headed home.

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VCHSS Peninsula Classic (Windsor, VA)

With a live start scheduled for our "Hamtown" race, I was excited for a promising start without the fear of being left behind by my class, should my Yamaha choose to be reluctant to kickstart.



As expected, my class of ten riders entered the woods at roughly the same time. I began to look for passing opportunities but unfortunately stalled the bike while slowing for a stopped rider. Although my bike has the Rekluse clutch, it usually takes a moment to warm up the engine before it's reliably "stallproof."

While I attempted to restart, those I'd passed quickly got around me. Eventually I was up and running again, but now with no one in my class within sight. I settled in with Lory & Mike from the next class. Passing opportunities were scarce and with Lory & Mike battling for first place within their class, I knew they wouldn't be willing to pull wide to let me by.



After a couple laps, though, I did manage to get by them and set my sights toward catching those in my class. A few had gone down while I was with Lory & Mike, so I knew I wasn't too far from the front. On one of the trips through the start/finish I saw that I was actually in 2nd place! I doubted I'd see Brent Lilly, but to my surprise I did actually catch him on the last lap!



When we reached a stuck rider I took an alternate line, smashing through a couple saplings and eventually emerging from the woods ahead of Brent. For the first time in the race, I let myself go full throttle to ensure that I could keep the position. It worked out - no falls and no sign of Brent nipping at my heels for the remainder of the lap.

I dismounted after passing the finish line to see how the battle between Lory & Mike would end. I saw Mike appear from the trees with Lory right behind him. They both gassed it through the short field before the finish line and Mike was able to hold off Lory by barely a wheel!



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