Thursday Night Group Rides at Bent Creek

BioWheels has several group rides that gather on a weekly basis, but by far my favorite is the Thursday night ride at Bent Creek. Bent Creek is an experimental forest that contains many miles of trails aimed mostly at the beginner and intermediate level rider, but expert riders in the area still seem to ride here on a weekly basis. Being only 15 minutes from downtown Asheville makes it the premier spot for after work rides.

The BioWheels Thurs ride meets in the Rice Pinacle parking lot at 6 and we really like to be rolling by 6:15. It’s always a relaxed group and we regroup at most major intersections and summits. Technically it’s a ride for the women’s race team, but the mix is usually 50/50.

Bent Creek is also a ideal testing ground for new bikes and demos. Most of us have ridden the trails so much that they become a great controlled environment for testing. Once you know a trail really well you can focus on testing a bike and not so much on riding the trail.

If you like rocks, check out Laurel Mountain, PA.

Once you leave your car behind, the PA woods start singing to you. Be careful, because the rocks are never ending and will throw your ass right off the bike if you are not mindful.

Covered in snow 4 months out of the year, the cross country ski trails represent some of the finest trail riding I have ever seen. Every time I go up there to ride, there are more trails. Rock gardens abound, with thousands of technical trail features.

These fern laden trails seem to go on forever…

Please enjoy these pics.

Black Mountain Trail in Pisgah just might kill you.

Nothing short of serious fitness can prepare you for the 2 hours of climbing found on Clawhammer and Black Mountain. Moreover, nothing but confidence in your skills can prepare you for the Black Mountain Trail. Although these trails are well documented as biking trails, they need to be coveted and used sparingly. Much of the climb is shared with horses. Once you turn up the super-steep Black Mtn Trail, it is foot and bike travel only. Incidentally, there are no circulating stories of anybody ever making the climb without a dab or two.

The trail get’s its first descent after the Turkey Pen Gap trail comes in from the East. At this point, you have climbed almost 2000 v/ft and crested Black Mountain. Major switchbacks, rock drops and off camber roots attempt to toss you off of big-ass cliffs. The ridgeline sections consists of views normally found in wilderness hiking-only trails. Prepare to roll up and down for miles. There are numerous opportunities to cut the loop short, but the folks we ride in would feel gypped if they didn’t get to pass through Buckhorn-, Club-, Bennett, Coontree- and Saddle Gaps.
Like much of riding in Western North Carolina, the Black Mountain trail is not for the meek. We rank it as an advanced trail that requires at least 3-hours for expert riders. We have heard stories of 7+ hour days, many broken bikes and bones, as well as unintentional overnights. If you are a whiner, go to Tsali. Yes, you could die on this trail but you’d probably be smiling when we found you.

enjoy a few pics.

Pisgah National Forest, NC is the eastern US MTB Mecca.

The Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina are home to the Pisgah National Forest. This area has consistently been rated among the best mountain bike destinations in the country. Here you will find everything from rolling gravel roads to twisting singletrack with creek crossings, open-air meadows and lush forest.

The area known as Pisgah today was once part of George Vanderbilt’s private Biltmore Estate. He started Biltmore Forest School in 1898 on this land. This school was the first institute for scientific forestry in America. After his death in 1914, his wife Edith, honoring her husbands wish to preserve the land for public use, sold 87,000 acres to the federal government as a park. This land became the nucleus of Pisgah National Forest, which now contains 504,181 acres of land.

Pisgah is predominantly a hardwood forest of yellow-poplar, northern red oak, black oak and scarlet oak, although red spruce and Fraser fir grow at the higher elevations. Due to the moderate climate and varied elevation, Western North Carolina is one of the most botanically diverse regions on the planet.

We have spent years learning this area and the hundreds of miles of local trails and roads. Pisgah beckons one to take time & experience grand vistas, waterfalls, diverse foliage and scenic trails.

BioWheels is the SE’ largest reseller of waterproof Pisgah Trail Maps

Here is a great old shot of MJ & Joe Moore in 1996

Enjoy your ride!

Here are a few more Pisgah Pics’

Dupont State Forest, NC

On October 23, 2000, the North Carolina Council of State voted unanimously to condemn and purchase the 2200 acres of land owned by developer Jim Anthony and landlocked by 8000+ acres of land called the DuPont State Forest. The Anthony property, located in Henderson and Transylvania counties is the heart of a 10,000-acre tract formerly owned and managed by DuPont Corporation. For many years, DuPont employees and guests used the area for a variety of outdoors recreational pursuits. The sale divided the original property and the primary trail connectors along with the world-class waterfalls went to private development interests.

Of particular note is the diverse groundswell of support which came together as Friends of the Falls. FOF’s long-term effort to preserve this natural treasure for the future deserves national recognition. Ably and tirelessly led by JoJo and Woody Keen, this recent conservation effort is an all-to-unusual success story, especially in western North Carolina. Amazingly, Friends of the Falls was able to have a pivotal impact on a piece of property under development. Thanks, also, to the many Bio Wheels web visitors that acted on the article we posted as the battle was heating up.

What to do within DuPont State Forest:
Check out the waterfalls (Triple, High and Bridal Veil) on the Little River. Ride or hike across the granite slabs and outcrops scattered throughout the forest.
The mountain biking is accessible for all riding levels (please remember we share the trails with family hikers, horseback riders, birdwatchers, etc.)

DuPont State Forest is a late addition to the hundreds of miles of mountain bike trails we already enjoy in Western North Carolina. With large expanses of slickrock riding, it is being heralded as the Moab of the East. But slickrock is not the only offering. There are large pine forests and tremendous waterfalls with twisting singletrack in all directions. The 10,000-acre forest boasts over 90 miles of riding trails. There are abundant trails for all ability levels. Beginners can get out and enjoy beautiful scenery, and advanced riders will be amazed at the quality trails and challenges in this diverse terrain.

We can deliver a Dupont Map to your door from our Yahoo store.

A lower resolution .pdf is available here.

Enjoy this slideshow. 

Laurel Mtn -> Pilot Rock

A very popular ride in Pisgah for tourists and locals is the ‘Laurel - Pilot Loop’ , which consists of basically riding up the Laurel Mtn trail and down Pilot Rock trail. Laurel Mtn trail is a great stretch of single track peppered with technical sections and one significant stretch of ‘hike-a-bike’. Pilot Rock is one of the best descents in Pisgah! The trail is a great place to test your technical skills on the many steep rocky switchbacks and major rock garden. Grab yourself a Pisgah map and seek out this route.

“In light of recent regimes, Memorial Day may have lost its meaning to much of America. But to disenfranchised free riders, it means one thing; singletrack.  9 of us met at Yellow Gap to share a few hours on one of our favorite advanced rides, Laurel Mountain Trail to Pilot Rock downhill. From the car, you can climb all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Laurel Mountain is incredible, so it is usually the trail hit by people that live outside the mountains, but dream about them. Over the past few years, the trails condition has declined steadily, because people ride it wet. (Like any trail in WNC, please give it at least 36-hours after rain to let it run off.). Many people ride it out and back, but on this day, the intense descent off the front of Pilot Rock beckoned our group to climb all the way up.  The bikes varied a little bit, with a fleet of Bio Wheels’ Asheville’s Demo Ellsworth’s in the mix.  ‘Chachi’ from Endless Bikes rode the token hardtail. He was also kickin’ it old school saying “I don’t’ need a water bottle. It is in here!” gesturing to his swollen bare belly. (Before we finished our 2-hour ascent, the symptoms of dehydration set in).  Pilot Rock descent is awesome and has plenty of opportunities to die, or get seriously hurt. It is just over 1.5 miles long and full of switchbacks.  If you can locate Yellow Gap on the NG-780 Map, then you deserve to risk your life on one of the harriest still-legal downhills in the area. It’ll take your mind of the State of the Union. Here is the loop.

pics from our old site are here.

Heartbreak Ridge is not for mass consumption.

Ok, the cat is out of the bag (Thanks to Dirt Rag’s recent 1-40 corridor focus). Mountain Bikers who have raced in the annual “Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell” are familiar with Heartbreak Ridge. This is one hard to reach & tremendous trail. Were not going to tell you how to get here, sorry. However, you can find it on this map. The adventurous will find it & earn it. You will likely trespass w/o knowing it. Please be careful.
Be sure, before you intend to find it, you’re all prepared for 3000 ft of climbing (over 8 rugged miles), almost 4000 ft of descending and another 1000 ft up, in a +/- 30 mile loop. This trail is only for experienced riders who have first hand knowledge of the area. (There are many stories of unintentional overnights.)

The most important thing we can say about epic rides in & around Asheville, is every rider needs to earn the right to ride them, by sweat & good karma.

We ride this every season or so. It is our holy grail trail.

Please enjoy the pics!