Oh yeth, the blerhg

Today is the last week day of the last work week that I will have off for COVID-related reasons.  I work all next week (still just B Team, so I'm still wearing the "mustache" all morning), and then the following week, I'll just be a bike messenger again.  It will be strange to just do my job and not all the "other tasks as required" or whatever the business speak is for what I've been doing since March '20.

I'm ready to go back to work.  I've enjoyed my short term semi-retirement, but my normal life is pretty good too.  I've ridden bikes a whole fucking lot, addressed a ton of home issues, and now I'm spending too much time staring at the backyard trying to figure things out.  Not so much as to why did so much grass die while two medium size dogs tore ass all day for two or three months, but how did the remaining grass even survive, what little there is  left.

On the bright side, one of the yard terrorists was a long term foster dog that finally got her heart surgery as was adopted, so there's that.

Squoze in a Pisgah ride... to include new Upper Lower Black Mountain.

I was wondering if they were letting people know that Lower Upper Black was temporarily closed for construction, and now I know.  Signs were everywhere.  Bless and thank.

Hit Bennett before getting our Black on because hot laps on Lower Black we're not gonna fill the need.

Anyhoo, climbing up Maxwell Cove Rd to Hot Dog Gap, I could hear voices as I got closer to the intersection.  Come around that last left hander and...

Haven't seen Brado in a long time.

"What are you doing up here?"

"What's it look like?"

"Looks like you're at a Lego Man cosplay convention."

I guess we rode into the middle of a get together with the Pisgah Forest Rangers, Pisgah Area SORBA, and Shrimper's trail crew, Singletrack Trails.

Shrimper comes over and hands me a beer.  I don't see anyone else drinking...

"Is this a set up... like hand me a beer and yell ARREST THIS MAN... because it will make great blerhg post?"

"No."

Anyways, Brado and Shrimper both gave us directions on how to get onto new Upper Lower Black... which we immediately screwed up before getting straightened out.  Apparently yellow chains across the trail and giant "TRAIL CLOSED" signs mean something.

We rode Upper Lower Black.

Yes, it has "flow."

It also has speed.

It has some occasional rock armored sections for drainage.

Bill Nye and I headed over to the Pisgah Tavern on the way home (Wirun had to git), and we ran into Shrimper (and frands) there.  He asked what I thought and I asked my questions as well.

"Any chance that the new trail is just like Spencer Branch and under all that fresh dirt is a bunch of rocks that will eventually show their beautiful faces once the trail wears in so everyone should hold on to their shitty comments for awhile?"

"Yes."

Am I sad that we're gonna be losing a fall line trail that was built on an old logging road bed long before bikes were ever a thing in the woods that sees way more traffic than ever imagined that dumps tons of sediment into the nearby streams and the Davidson River that is a ditch that would deepen and widen with every strong rain even if we only left it open for the Illuminati to ride from now on?  Sure.  Do I understand why the reroute had to be done?  Of course.  Will I enjoy having a longer more sustainable trail similar to the new (not that new anymore) Spencer Branch which happens to be part of one of my favorite loops in Pisgah?

Haters, go ahead and hate.  Go ride Wilson Creek... you know, before they fix those ditch trails you love (because it's coming)... or climb up to Farlow for a rip if you truly miss that old school gnar gnar  At least you know it won't be crowded up there.