Pisgah Friday Mountain Biking!

OVERVIEW

So you heard pisgah has super cool mountain biking… let’s explore it together! As the guy I met on a ride at Carvins Cove said about trekking down to North Carolina to ride, make it happen, it’s worth it!!

For this ride, I’m tentatively planning to ride in the southern part of Pisgah National Forest near where we’ll be camping (subject to change, but will keep everyone updated). This is the riding Pisgah is known for: tough, steep, and wet, both up and down. There are lots of technical features and some might be mandatory. We’ll probably ride 30-50 miles with 5-8000 feet of climbing. Here’s a sampling of some ideas, we won’t ride all of it but will likely end up on at least some of these trails:
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/7062729/clawhammer-crawl
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/5771119/black-mountain-loop
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/7011346/bennett-gap-loop
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/3346216/pisgah-long-tour
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/7040537/the-great-eight
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/7042877/gravel-grind-to-farlow-gap-loop

This trail will cover challenging terrain and we’ll be doing a lot of miles and vert so this is an advanced trip. Additionally, the route for this trip is not set in stone and might still change, so you should be prepared for some last minute changes to the trails we’re riding. Reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns about the ride.

This trip is part of the large Pisgah trip. We will not be starting in cville. Rather, we will start at camp and drive to the trails for the day. If you are added to this trip, please join the main Pisgah carpool (https://outdoorsatuva.org/adventure/pisgah-pisgah-main-trip/). You will not be let off the waitlist for this trip if you do not join the main Pisgah trip.

You should bring:
– Phone with MTBProject downloaded, with the North Carolina region downloaded within the app
– Water: 2-3L capacity (we can put a bottle cage on each bike; let us know if you want this)
– Food: lunch, snacks (obviously all the other food you’ll need for the weekend, but you don’t have to bring it with you on this specific trip)
– Appropriate clothing and footwear: it can be cold this time of year, dress in layers suitable for riding — you should at absolute minimum have a raincoat, a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt or jacket with you in case we’re out past sunset, and also a jacket you can leave in the car
– gloves are recommended for keeping the fingers working in chilly temps and protecting your hands from scrapes if you fall – $10 Mechanix work gloves are great
– sunscreen?
– a bag to carry your water and food: the club has some daypacks and hip packs if you need one (let me know in the questionnaire)
– everything else you need for the weekend (again, you don’t need to bring it on this specific trip as we’ll be back in camp in the evening)

I’ll bring:
– Bikes/helmets
– Bike rack(s)
– Pumps, tools, etc

Driver(s) needed! I don’t have a car, so this trip can’t happen without a driver – drivers get priority off the waitlist and gas reimbursement + 50% tip! Please let me know about your bike carrying abilities if you have a car.