Pisgah National Forest from a distance looks inviting on a clear day like steep ridges with ripples like a giant potatoes chip covered with green carpet few peaks dotting the skyline. When weather rolls in the mountains take their real form a closer look reveals enchanting wisps of clouds like smoking plums. Vapor swirls up and turns back to rain and pockets where the air flows in strange spirals. Pisgah is a seasonal rain forest The patchwork quilt of the most divers temperate forest in the World is revealed. Cascades of water fall down headwalls and carve thru the sandy clay sediment revealing ancient sand stone and granite and roots like toes of a 400-year-old tribesman. The rhododendron thickets make the steep side hill trails feel like a tunnel into the mountain kingdom.
Pisgah makes a legendary backdrop for a race. A true test of endurance, perseverance, bicycle integrity and nerve. Blind corners lead to 3-foot drops and staircases of gnarly shit that will make a downhiller pucker.
Respect for the difficulty and danger of riding here comes quick. I always am a little nervous at the ramifications of riders racing down evil rock drops caved-in trails and root clusters as steep as a ski slope. It’s amazing that there are so few major injuries at this race. Of course this is super fun stuff to ride and forest gremlins conjure up some amazing trails of unique character only describable as Pisgah.
Sam Koerber was in rare form, blazing the first stage to win by several minutes, winning the third stage, and he fought like a caged tiger the last day! I couldn’t help but wonder if it was his turn to win this one? I could imagine, while chasing him, that he had every square inch of the jungle memorized while I sprinted and slowed cautiously for each blind turn… It made for awesome racing!
Highlights of the week:
Come from behind WIN at the third Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race despite an epic battle with Sam “the White Squirrel” Korber and being exhausted from the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo.
Getting to, as Adam Craig says, “rodeo down Black Mountain Trail" at the end of several stages. Wicked drops berms wall rides log stairs and chutes. Yeah! Real mountain biking.
Not crashing too hard. It's not IF you crash but how hard and how many times. Just two for me and some banged up shins and ego. ;)
Having a great time at Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race happy hours and spending evenings at the mountain cabin with Conrad, Erin and her Mom. Everyone hung out, had free beer and appetizers and talked story about the day's adventure.
Seeing Sam almost hit a bear while we were at full speed racing, we looked at each other and reflected on how awesome what we where doing really is, then we went back at it trying to smash each other.
In a nutshell Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race was very hard - maybe harder than La Ruta - but more fun than any stage race course I have ever done! The magic forest brings me back every year to challenge the Lion.
