Asheville, NC Info Needed

[Superb Man]

Hey gang,

I'm making my first sojourn down to western, NC (Pisgah et al) in July (yeah, I know-It'll be hot). Anyone who's been there-I'd love to get some opinions and advice on:

1. Bike Shop-I'll be sending my bike on ahead-anyone used a good reliablle shop they'd recommend?

2. Places to Stay-There will be 4 of us-all adults-looking for a pretty decent level of comfort (prefer 'house-style' accomodations) conider in and out of town locations.

3. Riding strategies-we'd like to get the most out of time there (5 days of riding)-I'm pretty ambitious so the aggressive lowdown is appreciated.

I'm sure there is other stuff I ought to consider--so send it along!

Thanks
Liam
ginaliam@mac.com

my email, PM's or just posts to this thread are all welcome.

[Jisch]

I know I'm not going to be as much help as you would like, but maybe someone else can give you more details. A few years ago I had a business trip on a Friday to Charlotte. The meeting was over at 12:00, I brought my bike and spent Friday in Pisgah and Saturday at a place called Morganton.

The ride in Pisgah was relatively short - because of darkness (and my tourguides impending race the next day). The trails I rode were ok. Kinda smooth for my tastes, but still pretty good. We started from the Davidson Campground and climbed up dirt roads then flew down some sweet singletrack.

The next day I drove about an hour and a half to a place called Morganton. I found out about it through a guy on MTBR. It ended up we hooked up with the "Hick Huckers" who are somewhat infamous as the guys who built a FR trail without permission in a National Forest - very cool guys despite their obvious lack of judgement. They were featured in Bike a year or so ago, but I digress.

I show up for the ride with my decidely XC Titus RX100 and ALL of the other riders have full body armor, full face helmets and 40+lb hardtail bikes. Ouch. We got shuttled up to the top of the first hill (a freaking monster). We rode 29 miles in an area that I think is called Wilson Creek (could be wrong there). The basic idea was climb dirt roads for a couple of miles, then take singletrack back down. While I definitely could not keep up on the downhills (I'm not very fast going down), I was one of the only ones who pedalled up all the hills. Most of the downhills were relatively tame from a technical perspective, but quite steep and full of water bars. The locals got monster air off those waterbars.

It was a ton of fun... I understand there's a lot of trails in Pisgah and Tsali though I heard that Tsali was really smooth - no rocks or anything.

John

[off piste]

Try sending a PM to Vinnycactus. He used to live in Gardner and moved down that way several years ago. He hasn't been on the forum in a while, but maybe he'll get an email from the software if you PM him. I'm sure he's got tons of beta.

[mtbikerbob]

www.mtbikewnc (http://www.mtbikewnc) has all the info you need for trails, lodging, bike shops etc.

[BigMac]

wow Liam,
look at that, ask and Ye Shall Recieve.

[Slappy]

Sweet - we're thinking of heading down that way this season also.
Thanks fer the link.

[DAVID J]

FWIW the road riding just north of there(Blowing Rock) is mint.Hills like you wouldn't belive.

[peterdbikes]

I have been there for a week in the spring the last two years. Awesome place! Dupont state forest has some good intermedite trails. A ride to the waterfalls is really nice, especially in July. We usually park at the corn mills shoals area. Tougher trails in that area and closest to downtown Brevard.

Pisgah must do trails are.. Pilot Rock (shuttle), Black Mountain, Laurel Mountain, Trace Ridge. Be prepared for climbing!

Tsali is mostly fast, rolling, smooth double track. No rocks, no roots. A nice change to the climbing in Pisgah.

We stayed at the Black Forest Campground, both times.

[GandALF2]

Hey Liam,

All the advice that you've gotten so far is pretty good. Drop either me or Chris a line through the "back channel" and we can give you oodles of info. Chris lived down in that area for a few years and knows it quite well. Asheville even has some pretty good little places to stop for a post ride cool one. They used to have a free concert series right downtown too. I think it was Wednesday night. Fun stuff.

If you are driving down there is some good riding in Harrisonburg, VA which is about at the midpoint between here and there. There's a really helpful shop there (I'll have to dig up their name).

Check out this place for a reasonable place to stay. They have cabins, yurts and campsites. Nice and "rustic". It's just north of town.
http://www.campfirelodgings.com/


Alf

[TheHare]

If you are driving down there is some good riding in Harrisonburg, VA which is about at the midpoint between here and there. There's a really helpful shop there (I'll have to dig up their name). Alf

Shanendoah Bicycle Company

Let me know if you are stopping in that area and I can hook you up.