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Post by marshall on Jun 24, 2009 16:39:49 GMT -5
So Kat and I will be gone this next week and trust me you will ALL be jealous as we are heading out Thursday night (June 25, 2009) and will be heading to North Carolina. When we get there it will be about 2 am and we are gonna crash for a while then get up and head to Tsali. We will be riding in NC for Friday, Saturday and probably Sunday. We will then pack up the tent and head up to West Virgina to ride Gauley Headwater and the XC portion of SnowShoe on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Then when we are nice and broken and battered we will head home to good ole chandler for the 4th of July and we will hopefully have lots of pictures...we just need to find a digi point and shoot to borrow from someone so we can get said pictures.
wish us luck.
Marshall
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Post by Tim on Jun 24, 2009 17:40:14 GMT -5
That sounds like fun. I will be jealous for sure. Only because I would have to find a baby sitter and they would probably kill each other anyway. I have an old sony cybershot that you are welcome to borrow. I have the camera bag and charger also. I just don't have the AA rechargeable batteries, it takes 2 of those. normal batteries won't work (for very long anyway). I always had about 6 with me when I used it. Anyway, your more than welcome to use it. here's what it looks like www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/p32.html |
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Post by kylekirkman on Jun 24, 2009 21:57:59 GMT -5
ok kids.... Here's Ben's site..... benblitch.blogspot.com/ I can't view the page from work, but if you get to look at it tonight- call or message me back the names of the parks on the right hand side of the screen and I can help locate all of them and get you maps and give them to you tomorrow before you leave..... At work till 6am so call if you'd like. Sorry to make it sound like "You have to ride a pump track for me or else" , but you really need to ride a pump track for me or else.  |
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Eric
Full Member
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Post by Eric on Jun 24, 2009 22:40:10 GMT -5
If you get board of Tsali, then head a little south and check out Bent Creek or Dupont. They are not that far south. Bent Creek is probably the closest and has some good trails.
I would recommend Pisgah, but probably not with the wife. That place is very back woods and rugged. Only is you plan on a 6,000 ft elevation gain ride and taking 5-6 hours to ride 25 miles.
Oh I can't wait to go back.
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Post by Tim on Jun 25, 2009 6:21:08 GMT -5
I would recommend Pisgah, but probably not with the wife. That place is very back woods and rugged. what if she's a better rider than him ?  |
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katshipp
New Member
Kickin' it old school
Posts: 35
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Post by katshipp on Jun 25, 2009 10:57:17 GMT -5
I would recommend Pisgah, but probably not with the wife. That place is very back woods and rugged. what if she's a better rider than him ? I'm wiry  |
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Eric
Full Member
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Post by Eric on Jun 25, 2009 11:52:02 GMT -5
Go right ahead, but it is way, way more then anything around here.
Sorry Kat, I didn't mean anything by it. Actually I didn't even realize that it was you that was going LOL. Too many beers I guess.
All I know is the guy that I did the PMBAR with has road Tsali several times and also several of the IMBA epics and had never rode anything near that difficult. It is not the casual ride in the park. I have been on loops that took 5 hours to ride 15 miles and that is not because I was slow.
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Post by marshall on Jun 25, 2009 13:21:14 GMT -5
we're wondering if the stuff around here will be a little less daunting after this trip lol... never the less I love this sport/hobby/obsession and can't wait to ride Tsali, Gauley Headwater, Flint, and the XC section at SnowShoe Mtn
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katshipp
New Member
Kickin' it old school
Posts: 35
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Post by katshipp on Jun 25, 2009 13:45:09 GMT -5
Go right ahead, but it is way, way more then anything around here. Sorry Kat, I didn't mean anything by it. Actually I didn't even realize that it was you that was going LOL. Too many beers I guess. All I know is the guy that I did the PMBAR with has road Tsali several times and also several of the IMBA epics and had never rode anything near that difficult. It is not the casual ride in the park. I have been on loops that took 5 hours to ride 15 miles and that is not because I was slow. No worries, I'm not easily offended, I thought it was funny Yeah, from your description it sounds pretty damn intense. We might, we might not. We'll let you know if we do go though! we're wondering if the stuff around here will be a little less daunting after this trip lol... never the less I love this sport/hobby/obsession and can't wait to ride Tsali, Gauley Headwater, Flint, and the XC section at SnowShoe Mtn And if not less daunting, then our legs will be in better shape and we'll be faster That's my bet. |
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Post by marshall on Jul 1, 2009 1:24:37 GMT -5
We're back...but heading to bed will be posting pictures and reviews tomorrow
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Post by Tim on Jul 1, 2009 19:03:00 GMT -5
Welcome back youngin's !! Looking forward to hearing how it went. hope you got the Gary fisher broke in real good. |
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Post by marshall on Jul 1, 2009 21:24:20 GMT -5
ok so we got the pictures put on disc and uploaded to photobucket ( s152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/zebrasinamerica65/?start=all ). Day 1 was Tsali Right Loop which was a very nice trail but very touristy in the sense that they utilized quite a bit of double track fire roads on the trail. It did have some of the best views out of any trail we road in my opinion. Day 2 we road the Thompson Loop at Tsali and Flint Ridge in the Nantahala National Forest. Thompson was our AM ride and was a very fun loop as it seemed to be used way more by the locals than the tourists. There was a nice winding climb up to the top to put you on a fire road for a short distance before taking you back down the mountain. Probably the overall best bit of downhill we encountered on the whole trip. Flint was our PM ride and I rented a Specialized XC Pro to ride this trail. The first 1.5 miles were brutal as we left the car in the parking lot by the river and headed to the trail that has 800 feet of vertical gain full of switch backs (you probably climb this mountain in 100 yard incriments) and that was after walking up an extremely steep half mile long road that we did not know was there or else we would have driven to the trail head we got on the trail and attempted the climb to the top but we were very unsuccessful. Once we got to the actual trail not just monotonous near impossible switchback climbing it was a pretty fun trail for me (Kat was sore and tired and not having much fun here) but it was very smooth with some descent down hill spots followed by some descent climbs. We decided to do ride the short loop here as we were pretty worn out and kats knee was hurting. Day 3 was Over Mountain Victory in Wilkesboro North Carolina. This was hands down the most fun we had all week. The trails were very well maintained and were incredibly built with lots of thought put into these trails. Lots of berms and even an amazing S turn that looked like it belonged on a BMX track but was oh so fun on a bike with bigger tires that couldn't stab a crank and throw me off the bike lol. This trail had some nice climbs and some rhythm sections that reminded me a lot of Scales but it didn't have the drops that Scales had to offer. Day 4 we took an evening ride that finished at the back of the inn we were staying at that turned out to be no fun at all. We rode a trail called Props Run in SlatyFork WV, the lady that ran the inn drove us up to about 4500ft to a parking lot that was about 4 miles from the trail head and we got on and started pedaling until we just flat out got sick of riding on a loose gravel logging road that was rutted out and had tons of pot holes so we walked about the last mile. We got on the trail and were never really sure if we were on the right thing until we got about half way done and came to a sign letting people that were climbing or at least attempting to climb the trail which way to go. This trail was VERY overgrown and had a surplus of stinging nettles that would just light your legs on fire when you hit them. It also proved to be an extremely slow trail since it was so over grown that you could see where the trail was going just not what the trail had in store, which included about 50 culvert crossings and lots of rocks and a few logs and a fair bit of mud. Needless to say we were EXTREMELY glad to get back to the inn and off of the trail that everyone at the inn was in love with and suggesting whole heartedly. This was hands down our least favorite trail of the trip. Day 4 we went on a tour/lesson with Trevyn Newpher (a pro downhill racer) and road a trail called Lower Beaver Run in SilverCreek (the south side of the SnowShoe Resort). This trail proved to be much like Props with the amount of rocky sections but was a much nicer better maintained trail and was WAY better than Props. It didn't have the views props had but the views Props had were also ruined by the burning sensation that was all over our calves and shins from the friendly nettles. Lower Beaver was a pretty technical trail but was much more fun as it had a better flow and way more choices on how to ride it. Trevyn was a big help with line selection and some set up tips for certain types of obstacles. This was over all a pretty fun trail and wouldn't be afraid of recommending it to someone that was going to be in the area (if they had a full suspension xc bike). We ended up leaving a day and a half before we planned but it was merely due to the fact that we just did not have the equipment it took to ride in west virgina. Over all this was the best vacation of my life. We got a lot of riding in and didn't have too many downs (one each i think) and got to meet a lot of really great people along the way. (pictures to follow) |
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Post by Tim on Jul 1, 2009 22:05:46 GMT -5
looks and sounds awesome. Love the shots of the river.
glad you had a good time and your lucky you guys can share so many common interests.
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