- Bad Idea Racing - HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

As soon as I got home from adoption class on Saturday The Wonderboy and I headed out for the mountains. We showed up around 6:00pm and after finding Eric “PMBAR honcho” Wever we headed out for a quick fireroad climb. Our goal was to get in one good singletrack descent before dark. We all had our lights with us, but it was agreed that we would push the pace in the interest of safety. At the top of the climb Eric had a flat, and to make matters worse it was on his front wheel. Eric has the only thru-axle 20mm rigid fork that I have ever seen personally, and it doesn’t exactly make for quick flat repairs. While fixing the flat a couple big bike type guys came to the trail head and questioned our judgement concerning our decision to go down Bennett’s Gap on rigid single speeds. Whatever. Flat fixed and down we go.

The ride down was every bit as rewarding as it could be. Rocks, roots, and trees in the dimming twilight. Josh ended up getting his first ever UST flat, and after his repair we were riding in near dark conditions. None of us felt like it was worth putting on our lights so we descended using a combination of guesswork and “The Force”. The military must have done some bio-engineering on Eric’s eyes during his stint defending our country from evil-doers as he was riding just as fast as he was in broad daylight. The Wonderboy and I weren’t fortunate enough to have military upgraded vision, so we followed along cautiously. We got off the mountain in one piece and headed back to The Gathering.

The usual debauchery that happens at this type of event ensued. Cavorting and imbibing till the wee hours of the night/morning. When it was down to just Eric, Josh, and I we realized MAYBE it was time for bed, but that was only after we found Brado’s camera by the fire. Never ever leave your camera within reach of three irresponsible semi-adults unless you want to see the “darker side of life” the next day recorded as a disturbing digital image. Sorry Brado (not really).

The next morning we scraped ourselves out of the back of the Dirty Little Box and headed out with Eric for a slightly longer ride with the usual Pisgah theme. Long gravel road climb to a piece of sweet DH singletrack. Nothing like a good half hour climb to sweat the poisons out of your body. The Wonderboy ate it pretty hard on the way down Avery, but after some “Family Guy” type rolling around and moaning he was back up and on his bike. I hadn’t ridden down Avery in years, and I don’t know why. It is a real ass-kicker. Steep, rocky, stupid fast… the best kinda trail in the woods.

We got back to Charlotte in a family friendly time frame. I down-geared and even had time to gather all my “new bike” parts just so I could picture how Pisgah rides will be in the near future. Following Eric on his big wheels for two days really got me thinking and I am anxious to give it a whirl.

Five more days till The Quickening.

“I know you don’t want to hear this Connor, but you have time to go out for one more lap before noon.”