Mike's BRP Ride

My friends Mike and Jason road the entire BRP.  Here is their write up: http://parkwaybybike.blogspot.com/

I rode up to meet them at Little Swizterland, spend the night and ride back to Asheville with them the next day.  I couldn't help but take the scenic route though. 

I got a late start and asked Rhonda to drop me off at Ridgecrest.  I got on my fully loaded bike and dropped down Mill Creek Rd,  up Star Gap, down lower HBR, and out Jarret's Creek Rd.

 Some hike a bike occurred, but that is par for the course in these parts.  A person can't expect to ride the good trails and not get off and push. 

 I can't go anywhere in this town without someone spying  on me and trying to steal the secrets to my success.  Out in the middle of the woods where the singletrack turns to double,  I heard voices and came upon a group including Steve Owens and Randall Tuttle.  I threw some trail mix into the woods, and took off as soon as they started fighting over it!  

The climb up Curtis Creek was, of course, long.  I enjoyed it more than riding the pavement and fighting traffic though.   Once I got to the top,  I wanted to drop down the gravel on the other side, but decided to head for "The Cheese"  on the BRP. 

Once I arrived and got cleaned up,  I was hoping to take a nap and prop my feet up, but Mike was having none of it.  He made us go down the road and pick wild apples.  It worked out well, because his wife, also a Rhonda,  baked apple pie,  whipped up a huge meal, and had pancakes ready for breakfast the next morning! 

The next day,  I was a bit tired, and Mike and Jason were pedaling a little bit faster than me.  They had farther to go, so I encouraged them to leave me behind.  They were having none of it, so we ground up and over the hills to Craggy, where Ton and John Paksoy met us.  This created a train and we bombed down the grade all the way to Asheville,  making quick work of the miles. 

I peeled off and went home and the guys rode on to finish their day at Mt Pisgah.  Big ride.

Congrats to Jason, Mike and Rhonda (Mike's Rhonda) for completing the entire parkway!  Mike has talked about that ride for a long time and finally went for it!