Midnight Rider

In case anyone hasn't heard there is a little race coming up, so when a Friday night ride was proposed on mtbr I figured it was the perfect opportunity to get some Pisgah night miles in. I met Jonathon and Broussard at Coontree three hours early so we could get in a warm up loop on Farlow.

Pilot Mtn. Rd. was a spongy mess and with all night left to ride I played it safe and walked the steep sections. Past the gate on the flat stretch to Farlow Gap the trail was covered in dead fall as well as knee deep snow drifts. If Farlow was like that it was going to be slow going.



Farlow was clear of snow and dead fall but was a muddy and very slippery and as much fun as ever to ride. We all fell many times but the night was clear and warm and we were having a blast in Pisgah. We made it to Daniel Ridge with plenty of time to meet the rest of the group but couldn't figure out what the best way to find them was. We knew they were riding Daniel but didn't know what direction. I stalled for time while Zach formulated his bail out plan and eventually we headed left of Daniel. We gave it all we could on the climb to the top and then blasted down the other side. We met the others near the bottom, turned around and went right back up again. I fell on one of the bridges as we tried to see who could run up the mountain the fastest.

From Daniel we headed up Cove Creek where an enormous party was taking place. As much fun as partying around a camp fire is I was having a blast playing in the woods and was happy to just be pedaling past. Cove Creek was cold and we could see the ground freezing as we rode.

By the time we hit Bennett Gap it was 1:30 am and I was tired and ready to be done:



Somewhere along the way the clear skies and bright stars gave way to a deep fog making it impossible to see past the beam of our lights. Seeing that far was even challenging:



I hadn't been on Bennett in awhile and it was too much fun. The dark and fog coupled with my exhausted state really gave the trail a different feeling. Our group had been reduced to three and we had Pisgah to ourselves and nothing could have been better. Nick on Bennett:



I was the training type I would have gotten up early on Saturday and gotten right back on the bike but I'm not so I slept in, ate a huge breakfast and lounged around. Later in the day on Saturday the best I could manage was to take the dog for a trail run on the Mountains to Sea. We went from the Arboretum to 26 and it was swell: