I took two riders with under a year experience out to tackle one of Pisgah's toughest trails: Black Mountain.... and they KILLED IT!!!
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Today was a great day. A couple of local college students from WCU, Ethan and Matthew, reached out to me this weekend and invited me on a weekend trip to ride one of the most classic Pisgah rides: Full Black Mountain.
Full Black Mountain is an all day epic beginning with a brutal climb up Clawhammer (its definitely as bad as it sounds). What begins as a pretty mellow and consistent gravel road climb later turns into a pretty brutal hike a bike in middle black up to some stunning scenic overlooks.
Then comes the fun. I was incredibly impressed with these two dudes that have both been riding mtb for under a year. I don't know if it is the fact that they are so young and still invincible or that they have practiced endlessly for the past year (or maybe both), but they were so much fun to ride with and handled even the gnarliest stuff Pisgah threw at them!
We had an absolute blast blasting down the mountain. In the top section Black Mountain is very rooted and rutted, which makes for some real exciting downs as you have to be on your toes the whole time ready to change your line at the drop of a hat. We got through smoothly aside from one slashed sidewall on Ethan's bike.
By the time we got to lower black, we were all quite tired and the arm pump was real. Lower black has been redone in the past years to be very flowy and bermed out with a couple rock sections in between. Oh, and FAST! I could hardly hold on to my bars come this time...
We capped the amazing day off with, surprise, some Mexican food!
I couldn't have asked for a more fun day with these two dudes. Really awesome when things come together as perfectly as that. We had been messaging for about a month planning to meet up, and man am I happy that we did.
I hope you all enjoy this adventure ride out on the bikes. I know I sure did!
LFRHGS!
Alexander
