It's just what I do.

So i just got this email from Specialized saying that they are looking for a "few" new Trail Crew members for the next year...all you have to do is write a blog and "tweet" to them the address and if chosen, you win a 2010 S-Works FSR and a bunch of other swag. So....let me get this straight?.....blog about bikes,check....write about new trails and blog about them weekly,check.....get all your friends excited about mountain biking(especially on Specialized bikes),check.....this seems oddly familiar? Almost like what I am already doing? Maybe it's just me, but this seems like a perfect match, almost a match made in heaven? Who knows, maybe it's just me? For those that know me...they are certain of two things...1)Dude has a hot wife who also rides...and 2)Dude is passionate about some biking. For better or worse this is me.

I thought about what to write so that hopefully I would be chosen as a 2010 Trail Crew member....but nothing inspiring came to mind. Maybe jot down a few lines about all the places mtn biking has taken me over the years and how most of the good things that have happened to me are as a result of friends that I've made on the trail while either riding, racing or doing a little trail maintenance....but then i thought that would be too lame. So what to write? How my first 4 mtn bikes were Specialized bikes and how they were for a very long time the stick by which every other bike was measured? No, that's even lamer. So finally i just said screw it, I'm gonna blog like it's any other day and just tell you, my faithful readers, about the latest and greatest trail that i hit up last week, and for better or worse, let the excess lube drip off my chain and fall where it may....so que sera, sera.

Since returning from Leadville I've had ZERO desire to ride...much less ride SS. Not sure if it's the culmination of the big "A" race of the year finally coming to an end or just late season blues....not sure. Whatever the reason there are still two more races left on the calender, actually three but i punted one, so knowing this, training must still go on. JeffP and I decided to head up to Pisgah last week and meet up with some other "guest" riders and give them a taste of true Pisgah Forrest mtn biking. I guess it was actually my first time to hit up the "classics" that make Pisgah what it is...Mulinax, Squirrel Gap, Burnt Mtn...and Turkey Pen trails were all on the agenda for the day. After a way too long detour at Sycamore Cycles(Specialized dealer...see them for all the Specialized HI-ZOOT needs)in Pisgah Forrest we made our way to Turkey Pen trail head and quickly hit the trail.

Some of the guys were, pretty green to mtn biking...no worries, we were all there at one point...just nice to get more folks out on the dirt. We finally crossed one of two suspension bridges of the day, headed up Mulinax and made our way to Squirrel Gap through some absolutely amazing single track, some of the crown jewels of Pisgah....rhododendrons provided the canopy, and yellow jackets provided the need speed. One of the dudes, we'll call him Popeye, had a avery bad day....he amassed 8+ bites, on his head and back....for me, I'd be done...but he's a military man and to Popeye...this was nothing. We forged on. Twenty minutes later his front wheel goes one way, handlebars the other....curses...that Cannondale Lefty fork is so finicky. Needless to say his day was over. Popeye and his three musketeers headed back down to their car while JeffP and I rambled on.

Barring a wreck, or a mechanical it's incredibly difficult to have a bad day up in Pisgah...gorgeous views and amazing vegetation woven together with some of the sweetest single track found on the east coast make for very good days. We rode for hours without seeing a soul...just the sound of the 29er crunching up the trail....all the way up to Burnt Mtn which somehow actually seems to overlook Ceasers Head....awesome. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of STEEP hike-a-bike sections that require some desire/tenacity to want to summit...but for those that do...it's worth it. The single track off the other side is a white knuckled, rear wheel locked kinda good. I fancy myself a solid rider, but when the trail is damp(as it always is in Pisgah, evidently it's classified as a rain forest)and the terrain is stooopid steep...i loose some nerve. Somehow when both wheels are locked and your still flying down the hill, you tend to loose some of your swagger! Fun nonetheless. 35 miles, 4500ft, 5ish hours....all in all it was another great day just North of the border.

Not sure if this is what the big red "S" is looking for, but it's what i do....weekly, for swag or not. Lord willing...I will continue to ride trails, both old and new, till the day i die...white knuckled, encouraging newbs and hopefully gaining some fitness along the way for another Leadville attempt next year. See you on the trail.