The boys from Gastonia have been putting the trails at Wilson’s in heavy rotation on their play list lately. A few weeks ago they gave us gave a shout and asked us if we wanted to join them for a good ol’ fashioned all day trail ride. An all day group ride at Wilson’s? Of course the answer to that was a resounding “hell yeah!” Plans were finalized in a flurry of e-mails and text messages. Before we knew it Sunday’s big ride had arrived.
Roll call for this outing was as follows: Wes, Jake, Nick, Glen, Guido, Morris, OG, Steve-O, Little Carlos, Ronnie and yours truly were all in attendance. It was the first time some of the fellas had made it up to sample the healthy selection of killer single track that Wilson’s has to offer. The parking lot at the dirt mounds was slam full with the buzz of folks loading gear and fine tuning bikes before the ride. The excitement was straight up contagious and all of us were feeling the vibe.
We settled upon a warm up shuttle run down Headly Ridge to start things off. Usually we tack Headly on to the end of the day if we have spare time but it actually felt good to hit this trail with a fresh set of legs for once. Having the energy to throw the bike around and hit some of the larger gaps was a great way to start the day. Little Carlos caught a bad one and wrecked pretty hard on the way down. A severely twisted knee meant the day had to end early for him. Luckily he was in good enough shape to drive home for a doctor’s visit and some rest. It was a reminder to us all that even if you’ve ridden a trail a hundred times you still need to keep your head in the game.
Stoked off a nice long drop in elevation we loaded up the trucks and headed back up for the main event: Raspberry to Greentown to Beehive. It’s a nice mix of screaming fast downhill and extended climbs topped of with a shot of Beehive’s deliciously gnarly rock gardens at the end. We couldn’t have picked a better weekend in terms of trail conditions. Everything was fast and in good shape. The Gastonia boys showed off their great trail riding skills and dialed in a few trailside repairs throughout the day. When everything was said and done I couldn’t decide if we had more fun riding or talking s#!t the whole time! Major props go out to everyone for hooking it up and making this an awesome ride. The day ended with several serious cases of single track perma-grin and rounds of exhausted high fives. Below are some pictures of the crew in action.

This year spring came on the heels of one tough ass winter here in North Carolina. What Mother Nature denied us with snow and ice she paid back in full with near perfect riding conditions the last couple of months. We’ve been ripping the local trails in Wilson’s every chance we get but with summer fast approaching we knew it was time to break out and hit up one of our favorite spots before things got too toasty. It was Kraigory’s last weekend on the East Coast so OG, C-Los, Steve-O and I decided to send that boy off in style with a trip to Windrock.
I-40 was open this time around so making our way to Oliver Springs was easy going. We figured we would ditch the tents this round and opt out for the comfort of a hotel room. I like camping but for a quick trip like this one it was nice not to worry about a bunch of gear or finding a decent camp spot. Being the responsible adult influences that we are, we took Kraigory out for his first underage beer in an actual restaurant / bar and cashed in early to rest up for tomorrow’s ride.
We woke up early and hit the free continental breakfast. The hotel was in the middle of some extensive renovations so what was supposed to be a breakfast of champions ended up being a breakfast of losers. The selection was slim and after our fill of stale bagels, nutra-grain bars, and room temperature orange juice it was time to get down to business. Most of us had hooked up with some new components for our bikes this spring so we were all anxious to give our new forks, brakes, protective gear, etc. a proper break in. If your rig can survive an all day session at Windrock you pretty much know that you’ve purchased something that will last for the long haul.
The trails were absolutely dialed in this trip. The dirt was on the moderately tacky side with predictable cornering and solid braking. This inspired a bit of confidence which was reflected in everyone’s riding. We all stepped up our personal limits and left the mountain better riders on this trip. Coal Creek Company has resumed mining operations on the upper part of the mountain so we were forced to session the lower half for the whole day. It was kind of a lucky break in the sense that we ended up exploring some older and less ridden trails, most of which were loaded with signature Windrock terrain. Super steep tech-gnar and natural rock drops had us all grinning ear to ear on an afternoon full of short but sweet runs. In usual fashion the end of the day came far too quickly and before we knew it we were packing up the bikes to head back to NC. A quick stop at Captain Tom’s BBQ was the icing on top of what was without a doubt a killer day of riding.

On a side note: if you’re planning a trip to Windrock soon remember there are no signs on Upper Windmill stating that the trail is closed. We gave it a try once and ended up popping out of trail about 3o feet away from a 200 foot cliff created from the blast mining. It’s pretty dangerous up there with all of the blasting and heavy equipment. We were pretty sketched out and obviously had no business that far up the mountain. If possible, try and hook up with a local rider if you want to hit anything above the Snakerock access trail.

No big secret …it’s been a tough winter for riding in these parts. Most of us, including myself, have spent the last couple of months going through some serious downhill withdrawals. A few weeks ago the weather finally got above freezing and the crew decided to make a break for it. We settled upon spending the day riding what some affectionately call the “Hickory Loop”.
This fabled ride starts at the top of Headley Ridge and snakes its way down a mix of tight woodsy single track and wide open double track that allows riders to clock some serious speed. A couple of nice berms and jumps are also thrown in the mix for good measure. Once you reach the bottom you load as many people and bikes as possible into a truck and head back to the top. Then you go back down. Then you load back up. Then you go back down. Then…well I think you get the idea.
We had a great crew show up take part in this mid-winter shuttle fest. Tosh, Craigory, Nate Dogg, OG, C-Los, Steve-O and I were all ready to ride. We also ended up meeting with a few other local riders during the day to make for a killer group ride. To be honest it reminded me of the old days when ten or fifteen folks would show up to rip the trails. Everybody was super stoked to be shredding and it defiantly showed through in everyone’s riding.
As the afternoon approached the ground began to thaw and we all agreed upon one last sloppy run down the hill to finish things off. By the end of the day hands, lower backs and legs were all toasted from being a tad out of shape and a hot meal was certainly at the top of everyone’s list. It’s a good thing we rode that day because the next three weekends were full of more snow and ice! My sincere apologies go out to Mother Nature for the excessive use of giant shuttle vehicles all day. I promise we’ll park the trucks make it up to you with a nice long grinder of a ride in the spring. Below are a few pictures of the ride.