853stolen wrote on 10/13/13 at 1:53am:


I think it is the fact that it climbs 100' in 2/10th of a mile, which is a 9.5% grade and is at mile 9 of the lap.

Fun stuff. I took a dirt dive today on the tricky hard left at the end of the "ski run" section.  I'd guess I'm not the first to go down there. 
This trail is nuts!  Go ride it.

I rode RRT for the first time today and found it to be a nice break.  It seems to get more challenging as you ride and not because I tired.  I was tired though and happy to reach my car.  While I'm not a strong climber, I probably would have been fine until after I got to the No Name climb had I not lost momentum in the approach for the Gorge climb.

That steep turn just before the bridge that gives way to Gorge climb snuck up on me, and I rode down much of it on the front wheel.  I was out of the saddle and moving when I came to the turn.  Only the front wheel was grabbing as I braked, and that was pretty crazy.

I think a few sections out there are sloped at about 45 degrees, and these are killer.  A side from these and some tough climbing switchbacks, I'm not sure its all that much harder than some the climbs at WWC like Goat Hill near the bottom and Gas Line.  I'd like to see mile markers or numbered signs and a map.  It would be nice to know where I am relative to the end on such a long loop.

The off-camber sections were never a problem for me.  I suppose they might be when the trail is slick from recent rain or dew.  The Viaduct is pretty cool and must have been quite the project with all that wood and its location.

Steve, thank you for the work and sharing this with us!

Rob I think your elevation numbers are little off. GPS has a way of inflating them.

Enoch wrote on 10/14/13 at 12:05pm:


Strava corrects them to the topo overlay I think.

azcanc wrote on 10/15/13 at 12:01am:



Kangalangamangus,

I don't dislike RRT anymore.

Dicky, glad you enjoyed RRT.

It's the new Enduros stickers....they make everything better. Ps - Did Dicky go over Dicky,s rock this time?

Watcher wrote on 10/13/13 at 1:20am:


OK. OK. after thinking about it for 2 days,  I plead bike terminology ignorance and ask what the H*** is BENCHING?  I'm sure everyone knows except me. (and I'm mentally prepared for any smart ass answer to this)

GeneD wrote on 10/15/13 at 1:33pm:


It's digging into the hillside (on a trail section that goes along the topo line of a hill rather than going up or down) so that you have a somewhat flat surface to ride on. This is as opposed to riding on the left or right side of your tire all the time. Without benching a steep hill, your tire wants to wash out on the downhill side.

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Vasco wrote on 10/15/13 at 6:26pm:

Doug, I personally put in an average of 10 hours of work per week, year round, on the bike trail here in Salisbury....., for the last two years.  I put in over 250 hours three years ago creating the basic trail...the first year (not trying to be smart with this answer, just informative). All work is manual, no motorized machines etc and not one penny of support from the city.  My hours are logged on a spreadsheet weekly.  I have the SORBA BOOK & DVD,  Govt. dvd and big packet of info etc. I do 90% of all maintenance, cleanup etc....so I know about maintenance.   As you know, individuals cannot be expected to work on every trail near Charlotte....most of us have our own primary trails to work on.  No one comes to Salisbury to help on our trail and it's not expected.

  I asked the question because I did not remember the process called "benching".