Hi!

I live in the UK with my American wife and have two trips to visit my inlaws this year, one at Easter and one around Thanksgiving.

My inlaws have just moved to Charlotte from Tampa, FL. I've never bothered bringing a bike to Tampa but NC looks far more interesting. My mother-in-law visited Charlotte Cycles yesterday and they suggested getting in touch with you about routes and some advice on what bike to bring.

In terms of rides, I'd like to do one ride out near Ashville, something with a good bit of elevation and a technical descent. I ride a lot of our biggest "mountains" over here (we have only a few above 3,000ft, which I guess barely registers over there) and my preference is for rocky trails. I can live with exposure. Has anyone got any advice about a good route over there? Is any of it even rideable in March?

I'd also like to do one or two rides locally in the evening. Do you guys have a regular evening ride I could join? If not where's best to get around 15 miles in? The shop recommended the White Water Centre trails. 

I could also do with some advice on what bike to bring - I have a choice of two really. I've got a Transition Patrol Carbon (160mm front and rear, big brakes, 27.5, 63 degree head angle) which is my "big mountain" bike and a Transition Smuggler (140mm front, 110mm rear,  29er, 66.5 degree head angle) which I use for my local trails and the occasional 24 hour race. 

Thanks in advance for any help.

I agree on the Smuggler and definitely check out the Whitewater Center.  I would ride South Main and East Main trails out there before the North section.  For Asheville, the Black Mountain Trail near Davidson River Campground is one of my favorites and you are close enough to classic DuPont rides where you can go from "rocky" terrain to just plain "rock" (google cedar rock trail).   

Also, if in DuPont = Oskar Blues Brewery
Asheville = Burial Brewery

Boom

If Momma Nature is not playing nice around those dates there is always Uwharrie.

LukeB wrote on 02/23/18 at 5:49pm:


I'd bring the Smuggler.
Locally, I'd recommend Rocky River trail and Sherman.
Can't go wrong.
Plenty of others worth doing as well, if you've got the time.

If you like rocks, hit Uwharrie National Forest about an hour from Charlotte on a non mountain day. It's one of our smaller "mountains". Lots of rocks and fast downhill sections. Also super easy to navigate. 2 big loops essentially. Also hit Rocky River trail. About 35 min from Charlotte. I'll be happy to ride along for either or both.

I'll be the odd man out here.

I'd bring the patrol if you are going to ride in Asheville on some bigger trails. It won't be ideal around Charlotte but it will work fine. I ride my Slash around here regularly and while its not my top fuel it gets the job done and there are a few hidden jumps and what not you can find esp if you end up at Rocky River Trail or Back Yard Trail.

As far as Pisgah/Asheville area I think Laurel Pilot is a great loop. Consider adding in Pilot cove/Slate rock to the ride. It'll bring the total up to about 18miles. The decent flat out will take you about 13-15min and most people take about 20-30. It's rocky fast and has some sweet exposure. 

You also can't go wrong with Farlow Gap if your looking for something on the more tech side. It's considered one of the most tech trails in the country. Though if you go this route I would bring a friend with you. 

Both of these take a good bit of climbing so give yourself around 4 hours to do them. You may end up finishing way quicker but just some advise since you have never ridden around these parts. 

As for Charlotte pick whatever is closest to where your staying and have some fun. Also the WWC is cool cause you can pedal over for a beer when your done.

The bike choice is a tough call. The Smuggler would be ideal for all the Charlotte area trails (as well as Dupont), and would be perfectly capable on Pisgah trails, but you wouldn't be able to go flat out like you could on the Patrol. The Partrol would be perfectly suited to the steeper and gnarlier trails in Pisgah, just keep in mind Pisgah forces you to "earn your turns" so there is a lot of long exhausting climbing involved (some on fire roads), but the descents are totally worth it. Partol would be a little overkill for Charlotte area trails, and might numb the trail and require a little extra effort to maneuver on the tighter singletrack (thinking BYT). 

Either bike would be a tradeoff, just depends on where you plan on spending most of your time riding, and what you value more in a ride. There is always the option to rent/demo a bigger travel bike in the Brevard area for riding some of the Pisgah stuff.

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) for your up to date trail maps.  Any local shop in Brevard will have them.  The shops are literally at the entrance to the forest on highway 276 and if you stop in they will mark one up for you with routes to make it even easier to follow.

LukeB wrote on 02/26/18 at 3:35pm:


This is just the basic rule of thumb for the relatively flat clay based Charlotte area MTB trails to keep the trails from getting rutted out and destroyed. Trail status is ultimately decided by the trail coordinator. The clay does not drain well and becomes a super slick and squishy mess when it is saturated, anywhere from play-doh to peanut butter consistency. Then it dries to be almost rock hard, making it very difficult to go back and level out rutted sections after they dry out. 

Rocky River Trail has very little flat and has a slightly different soil so it drains better and is usually the first to open after rain.  I believe Uwharrie is always open, as is Pisgah, regardless of rain. Pisgah is technically a rain forest and it pretty much rains somewhere in the forest every day, so you can always expect it to be a bit damp there. But the soil is more organic and loamy there so it holds up better when wet. 

Are you looking for adventure riding where there is a good chance you will be walking a decent bit?  We have two commonly ridden national forests that are completely different.  We have Dupont which is less technical (not really technical except 2-3 trails) but is fast and a blast, and we have pisgah that has trails from easy to double black diamond.  As others have said, we have some very technical riding in pisgah; its really more so what you like - I highly recommend the 160mm if you are wanting to ride the big stuff in pisgah; you'll be happier dealing with the 160 in charlotte than dealing with the 140 in pisgah.   

If you want shorter trails with big ups and downs that have some flow as well as decent downhills that can be looped to make an epic ride then dupont, if you want a climb up a long ass fireroad followed by a super technical single long downhill then you want a pisgah loop.

As far as local (<30 mins center city) trails go - that if I only had a week here:

USNWC: 30+ miles of all trail levels (No true real black diamonds here but a range of difficulty)

Lake Norman State Park: 30~ miles of flow; easy trail but still fun

Rocky River Trail: 15~ miles of flow & a little technical ability; most climbing in area and steepest downhills in area

Sherman Branch: 12~ miles similar to a smoother Lake Norman State Park - this trail is probably the fastest trail in the area; a few small jumps and a ton of flow.

BYT: 15~ miles, the most technical trail in charlotte from a jump, skinny, bridge, etc standpoint.  This trail is really close to center city and will you will be amazed that a trail of its nature is right near downtown

I'm not going to speak in regards to pisgah as I do not enjoy the walk a bike / 4-5+ drops every 2 feet type of riding.... I'm going to leave that to others here and MTBman as he is arguable one of the best skilled riders around (not to make his head any bigger) and loves riding all the hard pisgah stuff

Flow in the mountains

Dupont (80+ miles of trail - my favorite route is about 30-35): One of the most fun trail systems I have ever been on

Kerr Scott (~40 miles of trail - I always at minimum do Warrior Creek and OVT): One of IMBA's epic rides, this trail is pretty much a flow trail on steroids.  This trail is FAST; most of the ups and downs throughout the trail you are going so fast down that you make it up 90% of the next climb without even pedaling (Don't get me wrong this trail is NOT flat - there is just as much elevation change here as there is at other mountain trails like Dupont).  Warrior and OVT are both like this; Dark Mountain is a little different as it feels like its mostly climbing and more technical (rooty) and IMO the downhill really isn't worth the climbing.

Don't go to Uwharrie unless its been raining; it is a great trail but there are so much better options that are the same amount of travel

Honorable mentions that I have no clue about but have heard are fun:

TSALI
Fire Mountain

You say you'd like a 15 mile local during week ride; a lot of the group rides aren't going to do that as we have a ton of trails, a ton of bikers, and a ton of recreational riders in the area.  CLT-MTB is going to be same story if not even more beginner friendly.  I ride USNWC routinely during the week with a couple guys and usually do 15-20 miles which takes about 1.5-2hrs if you are interested.  We aren't crazy fast; but we keep it moving as we all have families to get home to.