Pisgah Stage Race- Day 5
Land of Waterfalls Loop
September 21, 2013
25 miles, 3186 feet climbing
Written by Jess
Video and photos by Joël
Transylvania County is called the Land of
Waterfalls. There are over 250 falls of varying size throughout the county, and
during the ride today we passed a few and were around water for most of the
route. And not only was there water from the rivers we rode by there was water
from the sky all day- it rained the entire time we were riding. At times we
were surrounded by fog, guess that is the side effect of riding in a rainforest
at a high elevation.
Today’s stage was a point to point- meaning we
started at a different spot that we ended. As riders gathered in the morning to
load our bikes onto the trailers for transport and load ourselves into the
school bus the mood was jovial; everyone seemed in good spirits and happy that
today was the last day of racing.
The ride on the bus was an interesting one. A
school bus seemed much roomier and more fun when in elementary school. It was a tight squeeze for most people,
especially the taller guys. Joël and I
were sitting over the back wheel; which as a kid was the best spot; as an adult
riding a bus up a bumpy, gravel forest service road it’s not the best
spot. By the time we arrived at the race
start all the racers were ready to get off the bus- our legs were cramped and butts
hurt from the bumping and tight quarters.
The race started with a four mile gravel climb
that then turned into about a mile of single track before the top. Joël and I pushed hard up the climb. We only had about 20 minutes over the 6th
place duo and we wanted to make sure we solidified our spot. 20 minutes may seem like enough but with our
history of making wrong turns we didn’t want to take any chances.
The major downhill of today’s route was called Farlow Gap. It’s known to
the locals as the scariest downhill in Pisgah.
At the racer meeting the director told us that everyone would have to
walk sections of this descent- and he was right. Joël and I attempted to ride as much of it as
possible, but we spent a good portion running with our bikes. On our way down
we stopped to check in on our friends from Curacao- Hans had broken his nose!
(FYI- he did finish today).
As Farlow Gap came to an end, the next few miles included single track with
loose, chattery rocks and rooty drops, gravel roads, and even some pavement
which took us by the Pisgah Fish Hatchery.
These fast sections soon came to an end when the next climb began.
Miles 13 to 20 were the last climb of the Pisgah Stage Race. Whoo-hoo! Up
until mile 19 was on an old logging road, some gravel but mostly grassy or dirt
trail. At mile 19 the route turned into
single track that meandered to the top of the mountain.
This is where the fun began. Six miles to the finish- pretty much all
downhill. This section of trail is all
newly made machine built trails. These
trails were built with a mini-bulldozer and resemble a roller coaster in their
shape- quick, punchy little hills with swoopy banked turns. For those of you that know Allegrippis
Trails- very much like this. Time to go fast.
Joël and I, along with Thom Parsons, hooted and hollered all the way
down. Because of the rain the trail as a bit slick at places, so we had to use
some caution, especially in the corners.
Even with our reduced speed, it was still an awesome descent.
The trail ended directly at the Brevard Music
Center. A quick loop of the center
grounds and through the finish chute we went.
Joël and I put in a time of 3:24 putting us 5th for the day and solidifying our 5th overall team placing.
And so that's it. A few mishaps here and there but we made it through. Both Joël and I feel good about our race and will be back again.
Finishers mugs and T-shirt
Stage 5 video recap