FALL BREAK 2010 II

FALL BREAK PART II -

After arriving at Tsali in the dark I looked for the one and only spot that I know of that has a electric supply pole coming from the ground from where a RV used to be set up for a long time many moons ago. I pulled in and quickly put an extension cord in from the bottom of the locked box (you can connect a 110V plug easily but not a big RV 220V plug). It got quite chilly but my small ceramic heater was more than enough to keep me warm and toasty all night.


I managed to get some sweet NC singletrack mileage in and also took some very beautiful pictures as well. It was very cool when I started but after about 3 hours I was shedding almost every extra stitch I had.




The color was odd though. All the north side ridge faces had brighter colors than the southern ones. The southern facing trees had a brownish golden colors while the northern ones had the deep red and yellows.

There has been rumors about Tsali getting some much needed repair work done due to a big reclamation govt. grant they received. The bad part they are using peeps that don't ride. They may know how to operate equipment but they don't understand the other part......RIDING A BIKE! Below is some of the work that had been performed..............






It usually looks like this below. Tight overgrown brush and trees. They did do a good job clearing the trail, it will take awhile for this to grow back.

Here's the guy that got the contract. He told me his company name but I can't remember fully. It was his name though, I can remember that much...........something something Henderson? Here he moves a small downed tree in about 15 seconds. He can operate a trail machine but doesn't understand the riding aspect of it.

After the left loop and a ride around the right loop I headed over to Thompson's loop. Now it closed on alternating days and I shouldn't had went over there but I did. Passing through the metal gate I passed a hunter in blaze orange and thought that was strange. Strange?? Yes because I have NEVER seen any hunters there while riding any of Tsali...EVER. I kept on and when I got to the intersection of Mouse and Thompsons I encountered three more blaze orange beasts. Upon my better judgement I decided to turn around and head back to the hoopty. I'm not a fan of "stray" bullets. I'm not judging anybody here but I'm thinking that most hunters don't concern themselves with where that bullet goes if they miss what they are shooting at??!! U-Turn to the hoopty for me!

I hopped into the shower at the campground and headed to the N.O.C. since I cut the ride a bit short. Not much there but a bunch of tourists it seemed so I headed down the road contemplating whether or not to go to Dupont with all this hunting going on and such. I passed the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway and thought I would turn around and get some more fall pics. I could make my decision up there. Wow it was beautiful. I stopped and made some PBJ sammys and took in the beauty that God has made. It was wonderful and so peaceful. There's something liberating about just wandering aimlessly around looking for more trails to ride! I know what I'm going to try to plan for spring break! Another road trip with the mountain bike. The FS02 looks good looking out over the Cowee Mountain.




I knew that somewhere the BRP crosses a road near Bent Creek. I just drove and drove looking for some gravel road to take me to Bent Creek, I knew it's up there somewhere. Well I don't think I found it but I did manage to find some gravel road that took me all over the peaks up there. I only rode about 5 miles because I worried about getting lost and dark would visit me soon, it was late in the day.

I actually don't think I was ever to far from the road but I definitely would not want to spend the night up there alone. I arrived home last night totally stress free and ready for more projects and HW from classes. If this is what it takes to relax and unwind..............heck yea!

BMC FOURSTROKE UPDATE:

For those that know me know how I don't keep bikes very long. Note: I am one of the biggest supporters of the 2X10 mountain drivetrains. After riding a 3X9 again on this new ride I'm totally not for it. Thanks to MTBR.com's classifieds I stripped down the FS02's drivetrain, sold it in less than 3 hours and have opted for another XT Dyna-Sys 10 spd group but this time I'm going with the cheaper ($550 cheaper!!) Truvativ X7 2X10 crankset until..... (still waiting on Shimano's XTR 2X10 - I have seen the price of the 3X10 XTR......$699.99 OUCH!)

LAter G...............................