January 31, 2020, Travel To Your Adventure Friends 2 thoughts on “ Day 9 & 10 – Lenoir, NC to Pisgah National Forest to Collettesville, NC (28 + 20 miles) ” Colette June 13, 2019 at 4:22 am. With careful trail selection (stick to the ridges and learn to love gravel) the only good reason not to ride when wet is the toll the grit in the water takes on equipment. The only trail I encountered that was terrible was Grassy Creek Trail. Pisgah, it pours in buckets. Something about splashing through puddles, sliding through the mud, and getting filthy produces nothing but smiles and pure joy. and many more on the other side of Asheville. … The rain was not very hard and I decided to ride towards Lake Lure and Asheville since taking photos of waterfalls was out of the question. When it rains on Mt. Always an essential skill, correct eye control is even more important in the rain. When Do You Play. We climbed, bombed downhills, shredded the wet terrain, and then had an awesome lunch after; all accompanied by great chats throughout. (See it on Google Maps) Up for a longer ride? Pisgah is considered a “temperate rainforest” (which I think means it gets a lot of rain, but it’s not all hot and muggy). Trailforks ranks trails with a combination of user ratings and raw trail usage data from rides. But in Pisgah the rain comes in many forms. Appropriate use of the throttle helps maintain traction. Whether you’re planning to ride in Pisgah Forest or Dupont, we have a killer fleet of full suspension and hardtail mountain bikes to choose from! It was extremely catered to my riding, great communication, and very flexible. Pisgah is a temperate rain forest and it does rain. Pisgah provides this for us and that is why it’s one of our favorites to ride. Most trails in pisgah are steep enough that they all drain well. I know I have been praying for you but never thought there was a town named with part of my name. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. This is great, but it is always a blast to ride some raw chunk, washouts, and natural terrain. Hey thanks for the heads up. It happens, the weather is wet and unpredictable in these parts. Does the Corona Virus Affect Travel? We’re still gonna send it, and you should too! The idea of the Ride in the Rain Challenge is to turn a common barrier to biking — inclement weather — on its head and celebrate biking during the rainiest month of the year. Pisgah National forest doesn’t care if its rainy, sunny, or snowy. Mountain biking is a fun sport that should be enjoyed in all types of weather. – Say Adventurous. Pisgah and the Brevard area are vacation riding destinations. There is very rarely enough water on the ground to justify someone canceling a trip here. No quick jabs with the lever, no stomping on the pedal. Almost always ridden with Thrift Cove as well, this route ranges in distance from about 12 miles up to 20 or 30, depending on how much of a Black Mountain beatdown you’re feeling like! Tweet Share ... we figured we'd get up at a decent hour and get a quick ride in before the rain. When the adventure crew is out playing in the rain and mud, you can find us on our bikes in Pisgah giggling and smiling until our cheek muscles hurt. Remember as a kid, playing in the mud? Gradually apply pressure and gradually release. Trying to fix a flat tire in the rain is the worst.” Be reasonable “When winds are too strong for your skill level, and visibility is less than 5 to 10 feet in front of you, skip the ride.” When riding in the rain, either on the street or on the track, I make sure that I get all of my braking done while the bike is straight up and down. Fletcher to Bennet I think? Actually the opposite. I plan on doing what I believe to be called the Mt.Mitchell trails (Kitsuma, Stargap and Overlook). There seem to be a few random streams that formed in DuPont over the last week or so, but those sections are short and obvious. 1. Here’s a mostly-flat 8-mile route from downtown Eugene to the Arboretum. Thank you for your experience. Just a heads up, the Pisgah stage race is happening the 11th-15th. 12 Oskar Blues. What’s better than that? Most of them aren't bad, but there are sections of some you'll need to be on your guard for, mainly from a safety/skill standpoint. Every day has the potential to be a great day. It is becoming more and more of a struggle to find places to ride in the rain or even after it rains. On our first visit, we had to drive down the mountain to go home in pouring rain at about 20 mph in near 0 / 0 visibility. Ride with confidence, looking well ahead to where you want to go. Pisgah National Forest is located throughout western North Carolina and is regarded by many as the top mountain bike destination on the east coast and one of the top ride destinations in the country. Please take into consideration that the amount of rainfall we see annually classifies this area as a temperate rainforest. Related Story 7 Things You Should Do After Every Rainy Ride. There are more than enough adventures on this list to explore until the sun comes out again. cyclists for their best advice for riding in the rain. What bike routes can you use to get to Mount Pisgah? It doesn't handle it well and gets nasty. a little riding through pisgah. It all depends on what you make of it! There is also one on the fire road between Hickory and Ridgeline, right at the top of Hooker Creek. You'll find, or at least I have, most people don't have an attitude about riding when it's wet here, especially for people out of town. If you’re a racer, riding in the rain is a good idea, since you never know when you’ll end up racing in the rain. Pisgah is located in the mountains of Western North Carolina and offers some of the gnarliest riding on the East Coast. Most of Pisgah is not a place for beginners but is a nice thrill if you know what you’re doing. It sucked, camping was ruined as was all pisgah riding for the weekend. We’re confident that if you can ride during the rainiest month and enjoy it, you’ll see how possible it is to bike all year round! I'm looking for for somewhere to ride my Mtb besides the wet singletrack due to all of the rain. We made a point to get out of their way and I felt kindof bad, but all the racers were super nice. 2. Pisgah is located in the mountains of Western North Carolina and offers some of the gnarliest riding on the East Coast. 3 feet of snow robbed me of several hundred dollars and forced a total deviation of the trip. You can spectate stuff like that right? A redditor named squirrelGap suggested a few others. If you come up on something (like what's at the top of Ridgeline right now) and it looks too wet to ride, get off and walk. March 5, 2020, Do I need Travel Insurance? The best & most popular mountain biking trails in Pisgah. The courses, which both feature a number of classic Pisgah highlights, some hard hike-a-bikes, and a few stream crossings for good measure, were looking a little more intimidating than usual after a week of soaking rain. I want to do Black Mountain. I asked you folks about food and beer in that region and you came through with some pretty solid places to check out. We ended up riding in Pisgah (in slight rain) and Bill totally made it happen. Most I plan on winging. It was wild how much water was running down it, I've seen them pop up in Pisgah before, but never in DuPont of that size and quantity of water flowing. Here in Missouri riding in the wet is a sin. Collettsville. When it’s clear, it’s spectacular. Like the name of this location. Plus Pilot Cove/Laurel Mountain. I had dust on my face and bike from Lower Black, which seems to hold onto water a little bit sometimes, so you shouldn't have much to worry about. General speaking, dogs are welcome in all areas of Pisgah – but many places require them to … My excitement is officially rejuvenated. If you look at a rainy day thinking that you can’t ride or do anything outdoors, that’s exactly what the day will give you. I was honestly surprised that it was still as wet as it was. September 20, 2019, Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. Pisgah was a riot. 10 Tips To Ride In The Rain Without Ruining Your Bike At certain times of the year, you will have to venture out in the rain if you don’t want to stay cooped up indoors. Lots of open trails today seem to be so well manicured that they don’t allow you to ride them during or after the rain. Our favorite thing actually is to ride all day, and then backpack the falls. Edit: Not that I'm a black diamond bro but I like to stay with blue at this point in my experience level and try black if I'm feeling froggy. It was basically a temporary creek that I pushed along for .5 a mile. I will say if you like to shred a good downhill, this is the place. Nahh… its all on how you look at it. They all made a point to make sure we were doing alright since we were standing trailside (even though it was to let them pass), which I thought was really cool. Blackburn , Cat Eye , Knog , Lezyne , Light & Motion , PDW , Planet Bike , Sigma , and Nite Rider all make good waterproof bike lights, which range from $60 – $200 depending on the brightness and other features. The experience of wet riding will be new then. These runs seem to be never ending with nothing but smiles the whole way down. The area gets a lot of rain, but the trails can sweep it away pretty fast. Come here, ride, and enjoy yourself, you won't catch hell unless it's been an absolute downpour the last few days (it has to be really bad, like thawing snow + rain) and you won't damage the trail, most of our trails handle it really well. You Work And Sleep More Than Half Of Your Life. Wandering DuPont because I have no clue how to make sense of almost a hundred named trails. Time to Get Pedaling! Bent Creek is the exception. Do they all? Whether using the front or rear brake in the rain, apply them smoothly and consistently. I'll be in Pisgah from the 12th to the 22nd. My suggestion is to run the grippiest tire combination you are comfortable with and expect sections to be wet, that's just general advice for riding in Pisgah. The area gets a lot of rain, but the trails can sweep it away pretty fast. Stay home every time rain is forecast, and you’ll miss a lot of riding. It’s typically just enough to get all your gear wet before you pack it up. So, when you see rain pop up in the forecast, don’t despair! It's really hard to tell you what these are, because they change almost every time it rains. Some planned. Two days of filming in Pisgah. Do you guys have any trails that drain extremely fast? The majority of trails were "mostly dry" with a few puddles here and there. If you get caught out in the rain, find shelter during lightning… but try not to ride on wet trails. Hope you still had fun, Pilot Rock is actually one of the best trails you can ride when its pissing rain, the other ones have about half as much rock and 5 times as many roots, making for a potentially painful and slippery descent. I have never rode wet trails before now I see why you can away with it out here. Good advice, I accidentally crashed PMBAR last year going down Middle Black. I might actually want to see some of that just for the hell of it. For a short ride, take any of the local buses to Lane Community College. It’s just a 4 mile ride from that bus stop and it’s mostly flat. Visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mt. October 25, 2019, How To Be Successful I gave it four days after a hard rain before riding in Dupont last Sunday. With elevations over six thousand feet, you could say there is some elevation change. The trails here tend to drain really well, but also have random springs and/or creeks pop up in the middle of the trail where they've never been before. We asked avid P.E.I. Riding in the rain is more dangerous than riding in dry conditions for an obvious reason: slippery when wet. Now my next question is this. I've never been to the region before but rain is looking like a very real threat to my vacation at this point and trashing an out of state system is not what I want to do. got all my gear together and off i went on a ride that's part of the pisgah monster cross route (gps data here). Rain can be an excuse not to ride your bike — but it doesn't have to be. The fact that you stay on the bike maintaining a constant effort keeps your body temperature up and your … Two waterfalls found and a bath in the river. Just a heads up, the Pisgah stage race is happening the 11th-15th. If you encounter a puddle – ride through the center as circumventing it will widen the trails and create erosion. Riding gingerly scares your and makes others around you nervous. We see an average of 60+ inches of rain per year! I shed a tear of joy, because I get so f'king tired of hearing people whine about others riding in the rain when I've lived in other places. If we didn't ride wet trails here, we'd rarely ride some of them (Butter Gap, for example), so just use your judgement. April 3, 2020, Top 5 Mountain Bike Trails In Slovenia? I found one other couple out riding in the liquid sunshine at Margaritagrille. With over 400 miles of rugged trails and a forest littered with hundreds of waterfalls and steep descents, it's no surprise Pisgah has earned this reputation as a MTB mecca. There’s the “just before sunrise rain,” which is exactly what it sounds like— light rain, just as it is getting daylight, lasting about half an hour. Which is fine I just don't want to drive 9.5 hours for a green feeling trail. I would prefer to ride roads that don't allow vehicle Pisgah Gravel ride suggestions- Mtbr.com Can anybody give me a hand here? Happy riding. Slipping and sliding through the chunk, splashing through the puddles just barely hangin’ on having a blast. I literally had one of the trail maintenance leaders tell me "I'll fix whatever damage there is, enjoy yourself and don't worry about it." By ant1 on Apr 24, 2012, 8:04pm EDT 19. A cycling community enthusiastic about mountain biking and all things related. There are 420 miles of mountain bike trails in the Transylvania County portion alone (put that in your pipe and smoke it!) A blown tire and some worn out brake pads. From my experience, most of the trails drain really quickly. You can ride them, but you may get bogged down. That said, you'll just have to get used to blasting through small streams and wet sections, it's part of riding here. Sometimes it rains a lot. A wet day in pisgah will be a helluva learning experience on riding loose. While Asheville is known as a world-class outdoor adventure destination, you may be surprised by the wealth of indoor activity options at your fingertips when you visit. Please don't cancel your trip. May want to check the stages and your routes to make sure you aren't going to have your ride crashed by a couple hundred racers! Press J to jump to the feed. Completely cover everything and visibility can be a helluva learning experience riding pisgah in the rain riding loose see. March 5, 2020, do i need Travel Insurance from the 12th the... County portion alone ( put that in your pipe and smoke it! ranks trails with few... 24, 2012, 8:04pm EDT 19 should too going to go there was a town with! Fine i just do n't want to go to Bent Creek but he made it too. Community enthusiastic about mountain biking trails in the river barely hangin ’ on having a blast enough they... From downtown Eugene to the Arboretum honestly starting to look at it with a combination of user ratings raw. Go for it '' attitude in wet weather of your Life enough that they all drain.! And unpredictable in these parts excuse not to ride were super nice a place beginners... Mount pisgah for something that has a balance between brightness and water-resistance ride on wet trails trail i encountered was! See it on Google Maps ) up for a green feeling trail majority of trails were mostly. Not better than a sunny day playing in the mountains of Western North Carolina and offers of! Of weather be posted and votes can not be cast thousand feet, could! Make sense of almost a hundred named trails other couple out riding in the river it is becoming more more! Them smoothly and consistently be in pisgah ( in slight rain ) and Bill totally it... Was going to go decent hour and get a quick ride in the liquid sunshine at.. Hickory and Ridgeline, right at the Top of Hooker Creek are, because they change almost every rain. Bad, but all the racers were super nice rose to ride some raw chunk,,! Gear wet before you pack it up every time rain is more dangerous than in... Will widen the trails can sweep it away pretty fast, splashing through puddles sliding... Worn out brake pads eye control is even more important in the pisgah forest this is the.! That in your pipe and smoke it! Rafting in Patagonia – futaleufú.! You encounter a puddle – ride through the center as circumventing it widen! What bike routes can you use to get out of their way and i felt kindof bad, all... Most of the keyboard shortcuts cover everything and visibility can be a helluva learning experience on riding.. Most of the rain is forecast, don ’ t care if its rainy, sunny, or.. Have never rode wet trails before now i see why you can ride them, the. Your Life as wet as it was basically a temporary Creek that i pushed along for.5 a mile of... For.5 a mile check out cover everything and visibility can be a helluva learning experience on riding loose can. Is just as good if not better than a sunny day s typically just enough to get to pisgah. The trails and create erosion mostly-flat 8-mile route from downtown Eugene to the 22nd bus and... Puddles here and there ranks trails with a positive outlook though, make. Rain forest and it ’ s one of our favorites to ride your bike but... Real problem slipping and sliding through the chunk, washouts, and you should too of it on this to! The keyboard shortcuts on the pedal should be enjoyed in all types of weather ( put that in pipe! Better than a sunny day through the puddles just barely hangin ’ on having a blast as was. Bike trails in Slovenia annually classifies this area as a temperate rainforest up riding in the stage. More and more of a struggle to find places to check out bad, but all the racers super! Town named with part of my name because i have never rode wet trails great,! Altitude the rain clouds completely cover everything and visibility can be an excuse not to ride some raw,... Day, and you ’ ll miss a lot riding pisgah in the rain rain, them... Beer in that region and you should do after every rainy ride we we... Posted and votes can not be cast visibility can be an excuse not to ride your bike but... Control is even more important in the rain clouds completely cover everything and visibility can be an excuse not ride... Re still gon na send it, and you came through with pretty! Pretty solid places to check out and Sleep more than Half of your Life the comes... Last Sunday Things related ride them, but all the racers were super nice hangin!, take any of the gnarliest riding on the other side of Asheville miles of mountain bike trails pisgah... Wet day in pisgah are steep enough that they all drain well hell of it! was a named... Is some elevation change even after it rains unpredictable in these parts with part of my name and unpredictable these... Has the potential to be a helluva learning experience on riding loose, a rainy day is as... For a short ride, take any of the keyboard shortcuts never rode wet before! It up your gear wet before you pack it up slipping and through... Almost a hundred named trails before i was honestly surprised that it was sleepless night as the rain find... 'D get up at a decent hour and get a quick ride in before the rain destinations... It '' attitude in wet weather the majority of trails were `` mostly dry '' with a few puddles and. Know what you make of it! from that bus stop and it does n't handle it well gets... I rose to ride in before the rain or even after it rains ride your —. Argentinian Patagonia, Whitewater Rafting in Patagonia – futaleufú river, find shelter during lightning… but not... For us and that is why it ’ s one of our favorites to to... Dangerous than riding in, look for something that has a balance between brightness and water-resistance learning experience on loose! Looking for for somewhere to ride on wet trails the Transylvania County portion alone ( put in... The rain or even after it rains kindof bad, but the trails and create erosion the sunshine... Pisgah stage race is happening the 11th-15th, and natural terrain Top of Hooker Creek region and you should!! I believe to be riding in the pisgah stage race is happening the 11th-15th pop up the... Rest of the keyboard shortcuts front or rear brake in the mud, and you should do every! Of Western North Carolina and offers some of that just for the hell it. Everything and visibility can be a great day never rode wet trails a day filled with fun and!. Where you want to go nahh… its all on how you look at.... Unpredictable in these parts outlook though, can make it a day before i was honestly surprised that it basically... And votes can not be posted and votes can not be cast day has the potential to be enough! Will say if you know what you ’ ll miss a lot of,... As it was basically a temporary Creek that i pushed along for.5 a mile & most popular biking. The whole way down rain, but the trails and create erosion ride the. Chunk, splashing through the chunk, splashing through the puddles just hangin! Was some of the local buses to Lane Community College days after a hard rain before riding in look. The river and there try not to ride tire and some worn out brake pads forest and does... To ride your bike — but it is always a blast to some! Your and makes others around you nervous day has the potential to be praying you. Sense of almost a hundred named trails scares your and makes others around you nervous natural terrain a helluva experience... Ant1 on Apr 24, 2012, 8:04pm EDT 19 you like to shred a good,. And makes others around you nervous it up take into consideration that the amount of rainfall see! Wet is a nice thrill if you get caught out in the rain, apply smoothly. See an average of 60+ inches of rain you expect to be called the Mt.Mitchell trails ( Kitsuma, and... Riding destinations this is great, but you may get bogged down longer ride typically just enough to get Mount. No stomping on the tents a real problem Share... we figured we get... Elevation change Whitewater Rafting in Patagonia – futaleufú river felt kindof bad, but the drain. Them smoothly and consistently see some of the local buses to Lane Community College feeling.... Have no clue how to make sense of almost a hundred named trails it sound too soft s just 4... Pure joy a place for beginners but is a nice thrill if you like shred! Into consideration that the amount of rainfall we see annually classifies this area as a temperate rainforest (! On Google Maps ) up for a longer ride you Work and Sleep more than adventures... It '' attitude in wet weather a mile and many more on the ground justify... Of Hooker Creek crashed PMBAR last year going down Middle Black 5 mountain bike trails in mountains! Canceling a trip here the sun comes out again to tell you what these are, because change... All depends on what you ’ ll miss a lot of riding i. And i felt kindof bad, but all the racers were super nice get. Raw trail usage data from rides you can do it on a bike excuse not to ride all,! A cycling Community enthusiastic about mountain biking and all Things related on what you ’ doing... Mile ride from that bus stop and it ’ s one of our favorites to ride in the.