Hi All,

Has anyone done a weekend bike trip to Bervard, NC? Looking to go soon and wanted to get some feed back about the area / trails there?

Thanks

Half the riders in Charlotte are up there every weekend.

People either love it, or hate it.

What area trails do you normally ride and how do you do?

asuprice wrote on 06/09/15 at 9:37pm:


If you don't like long sustained climbs, I would say DuPont or Bent Creek.  A mellow starter route in the Ranger District would be Cove Creek to Daniel's Ridge (left).  Not a long ride, but would be a fairly mid-level rider friendly starter.  From there if you're feeling good, you could do Thrift Cove to Grassy Road, down the lower part of Black Mountain.  Not enough, then climb up lower Black->Grassy Rd->Thrift->Sycamore.

I've  been to DuPont  3 times this year and I  love it. Take a map, plenty of  water and enjoy your ride.
BTY I consider myself a  intermediate rider and usually ride 20 to 25 miles when I ride there.

On average 1 Pisgah mile = 3 Charlotte miles.

The climbs are longer and steeper, the descents are longer and steeper, the beer is better and colder.

I love climbs and jumps, still getting used to rock gardens lol. I ride all Lake Norman trails, Sherman Branch, Rocky River and BYT. I've only been riding for 6 months but I love it! Still getting used to my full suspension! However I'm really up for anything and if I cant do it, I'm not afraid to walk it out.

nicedart wrote on 06/11/15 at 7:33pm:


I don't get that feedback at all.  I am a very competent rider with less than average fitness.  It usually takes me about 70 minutes to make it around Sherman Branch and all of the WWC is not a problem, but I slowly make my way up some of those steep climbs, and you'd have to really incent me to do multiple laps of a 20 mile trail system like the WWC.

With that being said descending Black is one of the better rides in Pisgah.  The climb (for me) sucks, the long fire road followed by the steeper single track and topped off with the insulting hike a bike is totally worth the descent.  It really has everything from the gnarly technical top part to the really fast and flowy lower section.

Now that I have that off my chest if you are going there for your FIRST time in the "mountains" I'd recommend you ride Bent Creek and Dupont.  If you are looking for more the typical "Clawhammer to Black Mountain" is doable for an intermediate rider(I wouldnt do it by myself), if you still have some legs when you reach the bottom of Black take the grassy road back up and veer right to Sycamore.

LittleL1986 wrote on 06/11/15 at 5:34pm:



You sound like the type of person who would really enjoy it.  Like Rob said, if you have never been to the "mountains" before you might want to try Dupont (ride ridgeline)  or Bent Creek ( ride Greens lick) first.  Groups from Charlotte go up there every weekend.  Would be good to go with someone who has been before.  Keep an eye on Trailblazer Facebook and the forum for group rides.  Maps can be purchased from all the local bike shops up there, but I would recommend THE HUB in Brevard.  They can get you pointed in the right direction as well.

ChosenOne wrote on 06/11/15 at 10:40pm:


When I was training for the race I would ride from my house to the thread trail ~2.5 miles. I'd ride thread in and do two laps (all sections except slalom), then ride home. These rides were what I was basing speed off of honestly.

I have done 3 laps a couple different times in the past. It's not something I do regularly. It's on a weekend and I do not ride green on the weekends (I feel like it should be left to family's). So no it wasn't completely full laps. And while I'm not sharing fish tales, it was probably closer to 8 mph than 10.

It's not that I love WWC, it's just sooo close to my house it makes it easy to run out blaze through an hour ride and get home. Which is what a normal ride is for me 1-2 hours.

As far as the Pisgah black mountain trail. There must be another way to the top other than what they had us ride/hike. All I know is the start was pretty bad and by the end I spent most my time screaming obscenities. The climb up laurel wouldn't have been to bad if I had fresh legs, and the descent down Pilot rock was awesome.

It was my first time to Pisgah. My only other trips to the mountains for rides have been to Rocky Knob (love this place). So it was mostly my fault for not going up a few weeks in advance and thinking riding our local trails could prepare me for something like that.

Here is a map of the 55.5k race route. I'm not familiar with the area like I said I have only been there once.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Quote:


Please go back and do it again with a fun group of folks before you write it off completely. I had a great time at the 55K (yes including all the hike a bike lol) but I will say that it would be a brutal way to experience the Pisgah for the very first time. Don't let that race break you of the awesome experience of Black Mountain. That would be a shame.