Advanced Mountain Bike Trip Recap
Each year, our mountain bike staff plan an epic multi-day adventure to challenge the most advanced riders, on some of the most fun and technical trails in this area. This trip is a test of the physical strength, technical ability, and mental fortitude of our strongest riders. But don’t let the name fool you - these riders returned on Friday exhausted, but they still had a ton of fun along the way.
They rode nearly 70 miles in just 3 days, tackling trails in Pisgah National Forest and Dupont State Forest! Cricket, Hays, and Andrew Smith led the trip, along with the help of Pete, one our Men of STEEL. Roy R., Jack W., Whit U., Nolan B., Ben K., Banks C., and Max A. were the campers. They had worked hard all session to build up their endurance and skill, and were looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“The first day the downhills were really fun,” said Max, describing how they enjoyed two laps of Kitsuma. The loop at Kitsuma peak is a popular Pisgah route, on the Black Mountain side of the forest. To start, you have to work for your reward, climbing up 14 switchbacks before coming close to the descent. There’s a nice view of Mt. Mitchell after the initial climb though, which is the highest point east of the Mississippi River. After finally reaching the top, nearly 3 miles of fast, steep, downhill await, finishing near the Old Fort picnic area - rocks, berms, roots, and water bars to jump over make this descent impossible to do without smiling the whole way down.
They had a total of 19.5 miles just after the first day, and drove back towards the Brevard side of Pisgah to set up camp and cook dinner. Our trip staff know that good food makes a good mood, and they cook some great meals while camping. Plus, when you’re riding 70 miles in 3 days, you need a lot of calories to fuel your adventure! “We were just shoveling food in our mouths,” recalled Roy, “but we did have really good food,” added Benjamin. He said that the jambalaya for dinner was his favorite, but the dessert was really the showstopper.
“The best part was the churros,” said Roy. I was surprised, and asked them where they got churros in the woods. Cricket explained the recipe - “You take tin foil and wrap it around a stick, then you take pancake dough, add a little water to it, and make it into a snake that you wrap around the foil. You cook it over the fire, then put some melted butter on it and roll it in cinnamon sugar.” While they’re not quite fried churros, they have the same comforting taste of warm, sugary, doughy goodness, and the campers loved them.
They needed all the extra energy they could get for the 2nd day though, which was a real test of endurance in Pisgah Forest. Their route had them riding along the gravel Yellow Gap road to reach the Laurel Mountain trailhead, and following that climb up to the top of Pilot Mountain. The climb up Laurel Mountain is long, steep, and rocky. Towards the top when you think you’re nearly there, the grade gets even steeper, to where you have to push your bike up since it’s too difficult to climb. To make matters even more challenging, a summer rainstorm was pouring on them the whole way up, making the trail muddy and the roots even slipperier! “That day was all uphill,” said Jack, and I’m sure it felt that way. The tricky conditions made for a very memorable day. Once they finally crested the top of the trail, the rain had thankfully stopped. The descent down Pilot Mountain is exciting and technical, full of exposed rock face at the top and a huge rock garden you have to navigate carefully towards the bottom. Also during their second day, there was an unexpected road closure, adding 5 miles onto their route. They muscled through 19 miles of Pisgah, bringing the total to 38.5 miles.
By the third day, everyone was feeling the fatigue of two back-to-back long days on the trail, but they had one final adventure awaiting them. This time, they would be riding in Dupont. The trails in Dupont are more groomed than the rugged environment of Pisgah. In Dupont, the trails are fast and flowy, with less elevation and fewer technical sections, allowing riders to cover ground more quickly. Because of the wide variety of skill levels that can enjoy Dupont’s trails, we often take day trips to ride our four set Dupont routes. Each starts in a different parking lot at Dupont, and rides a loop around the network of trails in that area. To cap off the trip, our riders didn’t just ride one or two of these routes - they rode all 4! Combining Dupont 1, 2, 3, & 4, they called their route the “Dupont 10,” since it was a marathon of all the trails together.
The “Dupont 10” route on the third day added 23 miles of trail to their total, but they weren’t finished yet. They attempted to ride from the Fawn Lake parking lot at Dupont, down Green River road on the gravel, all the way back to camp. They made it to the church at the intersection of Green River Road and Bobs Creek Road, right before dinnertime. The van took them the rest of the way up to camp, since we didn’t want them to be late for dinner, but this added an additional 7 or so miles to their total! After 30 miles on their mega third day of riding, they had reached nearly 70 miles, accomplishing their goal and having a great time. Cricket, the head of mountain biking, said “It was a crazy tough (but fun!) trip, and the kids crushed it.”
Back at camp yesterday, we enjoyed another relaxed Sunday with church, ice cream sundaes, and special signups. Boys could chose from an array of activities, including chess tournaments, tennis matches, hanging out in hammocks, taking a boxing tutorial, playing cornhole, fishing, “brisk walking,” working in the woodshop, playing basketball, ultimate frisbee progressions, playing Magic, practicing music and skits for Campfire, paddling preps and kayak roll clinics, dodgeball tournaments, free draw in the art room, swimming at the docks, shooting at archery, riding the Ironman mountain bike course, or playing the card game “Bang!” There was plenty to choose from, and we wrapped up a fun afternoon with cookout supper and campfire. Today begins our final week of Main Camp and we’ll be packing in as much as we can!