I got 2 rides in over Thanksgiving:
We spent Wed, Thur and Friday with my parents and older brother down at Lake Lure. We were staying in a vacation rental at Rumbling Bald Resort. I debated on whether I should take my road bike or my mtn bike. I have my mtn bike set up with a slick on the back for commuting so I decided to take that. I guess it is only a semi slick because it does have some tread.
Wednesday morning I got dressed and ready for a 3-4 hr ride. I was not sure where I was going but the map said that at the back of the resort, there were some 4wd roads. If this were true then I would be hitting some dirt for the day, if not, I would resort to a ride on the pavement.
I found a dirt road after some climbing and decided to follow it. It went up, and kept going up for the next hour. There was actually quite a bit of hike a bike due to the fact that I had the slick on the back. It was impossible for me to get traction on the leaves/roots/dirt/rocks. So, I pushed the bike a lot. After about 45 minutes of up, I could see Chimney Rock on my left, and Rumbling Bald Resort on my right. I was following the ridge line. The road finally dropped, but then went straight up the next mtn. This happened 3 or 4 times.
At times I considered turning back, but I hate going back the same way I came, so I pressed on. I had enough food and water to last 6 hrs so I was not worried, and using the HRM to keep my speed even keeled, I felt like I could go all day!!
After about 1.5 hrs of riding, the dirt road became wider and more traveled. I figured this meant that I was getting closer to somewhere. I was still climbing a lot and knew from looking at maps that the slope would eventually come to the Eastern Continental Divide.
I kept going. After about 2 hrs of riding, I came across a family out for a hike. We greeted and I asked them where the heck I was. They laughed and told me that if I continued on the road, I would come to a gate, then take the paved road down to hwy 9. It was mostly downhill so I tucked in and glided down the windy road. Once I hit hwy 9, I had the choice of going right and trying to find the back way or going left through Bat Cave / Lake Lure. I decided on left, since I knew it would take about one hour and I had 1.5 hrs to get back.
I made good time, dropping down into Lake Lure, following the winding curves of the Rocky Broad, making it back in time for Thanksgiving lunch!!
The ride on Friday was less eventful. I did and out and back for a total of 1 hr of riding. I went the back way to Lake Lure, this time the road took me below Rumbling Bald Mtn, the opposite of Thursday when I was on top of the Mtn.
So, not only did I get to hang out with family for a couple of days, I got to eat some good food, soak in the hot tub, and of course, ride!!!
Have a great day.
4 comments:
Holy cow did you go the wrong way both days. If only you'd asked... hah!
Next time, instead of turning UP where that road split, you could have continued out to your left on flat ground...take it(Boys Camp Rd) and pop out in Chimney Rock, turn right, climb thru Chimney Rock, up Hwy 9, up Shumont Road, then descend all that dirt you climbed and turn left back into the resort at the bottom.
You could have even climbed through the back of the parking lot of the Lake Lure INN (at the beach). It turns to gravel, then dirt if you just follow it you come out at the top of Sugarloaf Mtn Rd where it turns to gravel. Then turn around and descend it all the way back.
Butch
eh, I was please with the way I went, coming down all that stuff would have been pretty sketchy on the slick commuter tire. The way I went, I hit 40mph coming down, that was pretty sweet!!!
The other route would be to ride through the resort and come out on Boys Camp Rd, go over to the beach and climb up behind Lake Lure Inn as an out and back. That descent is super shallow. I've ridden it several times on my hardtail.
Plus, at the top, you can turn left on the pavement and ride out to Edge of the World.
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