We all die at some point... might as well ride till then

Prolly the tamest La Vida Bachelor weekend ever.  All the time in the world to get into something, but I stuck with bikes and not much else.

A late start on Saturday and I headed out to Lake Norman with the bike I wouldn't wanna take there.  No reason to have a fork with moving parts for the flowing, mostly non-technical trails, but I did have a plan.

Ride all of Lake Norman (@30 miles), and then head over to Cedar Valley Bike Park to check out the new flow lines trails, despite hearing that most of the jumpy bits would be over my head.

I'll be honest.  I'm a bag of shit.  I was less than fifteen minutes into my long drive up I77 when I realized I'd left my Shuffle at home.  Meh.  Hours alone in my own head on trails that sometimes seem as if they're on repeat, especially shortly after I listened to a podcast that Eric PMBAR Honcho Wever recommended to me... about existential crisis and the meaninglessness of life.

Started with Laurel Loop (which has multiple extensions coming off from it)... got bored way too quickly.  The two or three small things I need to address on the Vassago Meatplow V.8... their nuisance amplified with the company of others or music in my one good ear.  My desire to pump out miles for the sake of miles themselves dwindled.  Get to the first extension... skip it.

Get outta Laurel and head to Monbo and remember why I used to like riding here.  Monbo is a treat.  Plenty of moments approaching or exceeding 20mph.  Hard not to smile a little bit, despite the whole meaninglessness of life.

But that was enough for me for now. 

It's getting late, in terms of the last time I ate and my evening plans, so I bail and head to CVBP, hoping to hit some fast food on the way there. 

Of course my google routed me through the bumble country north of Charlotte, and this spoiled city person (who grew up in a trailer) had to settle for a gas station purchase of a bag of chips.

But then, CVBP.

Fortunately, they measure stems and not total apples tall.

All I can say is that CVBP is truly a gem.  Everything (except one, mebbe two drops) was rollable.  Obvs, I wasn't capable of gapping the gaps and make the most of it, but still it's dope AF.

That said, I only had time for a couple loops.  I needed to get home, repack, mebbe get a nap, grab the Vertigo Meatplow V.7, and head to the Rampton Lodge in Saluda.  I got it all done, except the nap... still running on the fumes left form the bag of Doritos.

Drive to Saluda, catching up on some of the non-Tour de France podcasts I've missed over the last three weeks.  Get there, fine trout dinner with Kurdt, Gwen, and Phil, washed down with a pre-planned limited amount of beer.

I'm glad I didn't overdo my Saturday ride or evening beers because Kurdt's good idea for a ride was to do a loop with the often overlooked Turkey Pen Trail.

South Mills > Mullinax > Squirrel > Wheelchair Ramp > Black Mountain > Turkey Pen

I didn't feel 100% at the start of the ride, and had to get back into the rigid Pisgah groove.  I fumbled on Squirrel multiple times.  Once I got the Wheelchair Ramp, my legs were back under me, and life was more bueno.  Over Black and then down Turkey Pen.

When I say often overlooked, I mean it.  This trail is so close to all the ones you read about on the internet, but it can only be done out and back (a huge chunk of up and down) or in a rather large loop.  Despite the fact that we were coming down after 2:00PM on a Sunday, Kurdt was out front clearing spider webs. 

Anyhoo, IMHOMO Turkey Pen is one of the best (mostly) descents in Pisgah.  Straight out speed and incredible lines of sight with a dash of technical bits here and there. 

If you don't take the time to throw it in the mix at some point, you're doing Pisgah wrong.  Gather some pals, pack a sammich, and just go do it.

Not sure if that was a good weekend's worth of prep for the Breck Epic in two weeks... where I'll ride much further than I did on Sunday... for six days in a row... at elevation.

Whatever.  I rode Turkey Pen and I can confidently say, you did not.