Certified World Wide Website


destination #3



Lake Norman, North Carolina



Lake norman



I visited family, rode my mountain bike, and relaxed.



oN THE lAKEFRONT



A friend graciously offered his lake house and personal watercraft.



things I should have done before leaving home but said Nah, it's all good



U.S. National Whitewater Center



Charlotte, North Carolina



PROBABLY A FUTURE OLYMPIAN



i WAS THERE FOR THE MOUNTAIN BIKING



The Whitewater park included mountain bike trails



About 10 miles of trails in the park grounds.



Just hangin' with my friends.



This trail was called Toilet Bowl.



destination #4



Pisgah National Forest

Asheville, North Carolina



SERIOUS MOUNTAIN BIKING AT PISGAH





I had planned to ride Asheville trails with cousin-by-marriage Jeff Murray, who I'd ridden with in Whistler, British Columbia a few years prior. Tragically, he had to stay home and mow the lawn or something, but one of his trail suggestions was Pilot Rock. What he neglected to mention is Pilot Rock can only be ridden two ways: all uphill or all downhill. There is no in between. If you start at the bottom and a big wet cloud is literally on top of you, be prepared for pain. Every root and rock was slick. In the 3.5-mile uphill climb covering about 1600 feet, I pedaled the bike approximately 100 yards. Three guys I met riding downhill helpfully pointed out that the trail is easier to ride when you start at the top.



DIRTY ROTOR



The downside to carrying a DIRT bike on
the back of a Blazer ON Wet gravel
roads.



PILOT ROCK TRAILHEAD



PILOT ROCK TRAIL



THE UPHILL SECTION.



first there was the faceplant



After 90 minutes of pushing the bike up the mountain, I took a longer route back to the bottom via Laurel Mountain. Somewhere along the way my face met the trail.



eerie woods



then came the bees



This section was too sketchy to ride down, so I walked the bike. Who knew bees would make a home under these rocks? I did, a few stings later. I ran like a slow white guy in bike shoes, turned around and saw the above. Unseen in this blurry image is about 1,000 pissed-off bees swarming under my bike (and how it remained standing upright, I have no idea). The good news is bees can't see the color red in my shirt. The bad news is they see red as black, which to them means "danger". Throw in some black riding shorts and those bees saw me as one scary dude. After a few aborted attempts, I made a run for the bike, grabbed it and got the hell out of there with no further stings.



Pretty much sums up my day



Oh, the aromas



Drying out wet gear in a hotel room.



Epilogue



The last recreational stop on the road trip was Westpoint, Tennessee for Round #7 of the FMF National Enduro Series. It was a short race for me. About 5 miles in, my clutch cable broke. From there, I made one final stop to see a business client in Kentucky and then headed back home to Chicago. That, folks, is how you drive 3500 miles in 12 days.



Copyright 2025