We had been trying all year to make it to ride the trails at Windrock. Every time we made plans something always came up at the last minute to keep us from ripping that little slice of downhill heaven in Eastern Tennessee. It was the beginning of November and we decided that if we didn’t make our way now the next opportunity to ride would be next spring. Steve-O, C-Los and I took an early out from work on Friday and loaded up the trucks to hit the road.
A landslide had blocked I-40 into Tennessee so we were forced to take a detour. A trip that usually takes three hours turned into a five and a half hour odyssey. We finally made it to the camp site and set up our tents around 11:00pm. After a rather chilly night in the Tennessee mountains we drove into town and fueled up for the day. By the time the first shuttle was set up the sun had come out and the air had lost its chill. It seemed as if trail conditions were going to be prime but Windrock has a funny way of changing things up in a hurry.
Windrock is pretty well known for its seriously demanding terrain. It’s a good idea to feel confident in your ability to hit 6+ drops, 15+ foot gaps and near vertical roll ins before you get into some of the advanced trails. They’re steep and technical with little room for error. This reputation has inspired many of the sport’s top riders such as Shaums March, Robbie Bourdon, Eric Porter and Kirt Voreis to stop and sample the trails while touring the east coast. On this particular day the fall leaves were over six inches deep making for some super sketchy conditions. This was a subtle detail we overlooked when planning this trip. Besides the lack of traction, it became near impossible to pick a good line where the leaves were really deep. It was pretty weird to be riding behind someone who has both the front and back brakes locked while still gaining speed down the hill. Needless to say we spent a lot of time clearing out the run ins and run outs of drops and gaps before hitting anything.
On a riding day with good conditions Windrock has always been a test of my personal limits. Things were going great and I was actually able to push myself past what I thought I could do until the last fifty yards of the last run of the day. While pedaling into the final gap the bike got loose on me and I ended up getting close and personal with the trail. Once I finally got out of my post wreck daze and took a look at the bike I noticed the crank set was bent. After further inspection we were all surprised to find out that the weld holding the bottom bracket to the frame had failed. This caused my crank arm to lock up on my swing arm sending me into my stem and front fork…ouch. Nothing like a five and a half hour car ride with a hipper the size of a soft ball. The best I can figure is that somewhere up the hill I had cracked the weld and the force of standing on the pedals while sprinting toward the gap finally caused it to fail.
No regrets though…even with the wreck this still ended up being one of my best trips to Windrock in a long time. On a side note, major props to Haro Bikes. They had a new warranty frame out to me within two weeks at no charge! Not too many photos from this trip. I was too busy just trying to keep my s#!t together down the mountain all day to take pictures!

As most of you know this fall has been spectacular in terms of riding. I myself have been tied up most of the time with work, family, etc. However the rest of the crew has spent the last month killing it around the Wilson’s Creek area. Rumor has it there have even been a few Nate Dog, Ronnie Denny, Craig and BBA sightings up in them there woods! Before the summer ended C-Los, OG, Steve-O, Rose, Sukie and I decided to head to Snowshoe to take in one last weekend of runs at the bike park.

Snowshoe is arguably one of the most well equipped bike parks on the East Coast. It is a great mix of full on downhill trails, stunt filled free ride trails, and slope style trails complete with wall rides and fun boxes. The best part is that all of this killer terrain has quad lift access. There’s even a healthy dose of cross country single track if you feel the urge to get your pedal on.

We usually roll up a day early to take advantage of riding the bike park on Friday. The crowds are always light and at times it almost feels like you’ve got the park to yourself. Most of us were recovering from a bout with the beginning of cold and flu season so we took it easy this first day. To be quite honest riding conditions could not have been better. The dirt was dry, not dusty, with bluebird skies and temperatures in the low 70’s. Friday’s riding centered around the free ride side of the mountain and most of us spent our time sessioning the stunts and slope style features. I spent most of the day riding with Sukie. It’s always a blast to watch someone’s riding progress and to see them start to really flow down trails that were once too intimidating to try. It was an awesome low key day of classic park riding capped off with some of Rose’s home made chili and cookies.

Saturday was a different story. The lift on the Western Territory was running all day and we were not going to miss a single minute of ride time. The Western side of the mountain is characterized by a mix of full on World Cup style down hill runs complete with natural rock drops and long rock gardens that leave your back and forearms toasted along with blazing fast smooth trails consisting of huge berms and table tops. No time was wasted flip-flopping between the two styles of trails and we tried our best to get as many runs as possible. The highlight of the day was a top to bottom run that ended with OG’s back and legs so cramped he couldn’t get of his bike. As his bike slowed down he just kind of fell on his side and laid there for a while moaning. That had us cracking up the whole chairlift ride back up the mountain. Most of us were in no better shape and by the end of the day my hands were so toasted I could barely stand to grab my brake levers. For me this ranks as one of my most enjoyable days of riding at the bike park. The conditions were so good that it was truly tough to call it day.

A huge spaghetti dinner back at the pad and some time hanging out at the village made for a nice chill end of the trip. Amped off of a couple days of great riding all of us left looking forward to spending the next few months riding the local trails back home. Below are a few pictures from the trip!
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It’s Friday morning.  I’ve got the seats folded down in my SUV and she’s loaded with all the essentials for a weekend of camping and downhill mountain biking.  We’ve been planning a return trip to Windrock for about three weeks now.

The thought of skipping an afternoon of work to hit some prime downhill trails makes it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand.  Between helping customers and fielding phone orders I periodically check my cell phone to make sure I haven’t missed any urgent messages.  Then a flurry of voice mail and text messages begins.  By the time lunch rolls around most of the crew has dropped out due to work conflicts, equipment failures, bad cash flow, etc., etc.  Facing my own difficulties trying to leave work early, I finally meet up with the remaining riders around mid afternoon.  The line up now consists of OG, C-Los. Steve-O and myself.

Plan A: Windrock.  Bad vibes abound so this plan is history.  Plan B: Drive all night to Snowshoe.  As tempting as it sounded, most of us needed an extra pay day and more than 30 minutes notice to pull off a trip to West Virginia for the weekend.  Plan B is out.  OG graciously offers the use of his cabin for the weekend and this is where the next 24 hours begins.  Plan C: keep it local.

We all agree we’re going to try our best to hit as much downhill riding as possible so we immediately roll out and make our way toward the mountains.  After unloading our gear at the cabin we decide to get a taste of Windrock a little closer to home. We set up the shuttle and saddle up for a late afternoon ride on the local downhill rip near Boone.  We veer on to the new alternate lines and are rewarded with some seriously technical and steep singletrack.  It’s the kind of stuff BBA and Brad Walton used to call “tech-gnar” back in the day.  A few short climbs to keep us honest and its back to the goods.  The trail eventually gives way to a well built, tight and twisty ribbon of dirt filled with berms and nice gaps at the bottom.  As I pass up a few of the drops and gaps I’m reminded that my riding skills still have a long way to go.  While the sun begins to set we load up the shuttle vehicle and its back to the top of the mountain for post ride burgers and brews.  Later we return to the cabin to chill by the campfire and enjoy an extra beer…day one was officially in the books.

Day two I woke up early to take in some of the views surrounding OG’s cabin.  All of us have our own reasons for riding.  One of mine is the amazing scenery that only mountain biking can deliver.  Gear and rigs are quickly loaded and we’re off to the Tartan restaurant in Linville for a proper Scottish breakfast.  Fueled up for a day of ripping it’s onward to Sugar Mountain to enjoy a day of lift accessed downhill action.

While it’s not the biggest mountain or the fastest chairlift ride, Sugar never disappoints with its mix of rocky technical sections, natural features, and blazing fast double track.  Fast and loose was the order of the day and most of us paid the price of testing our limits with a few dirt naps and wash outs. Nothing, however, compared to what we were about to witness. On the way back to the chairlift for another run we noticed some professional camera equipment set up.  We turned our heads to take a look and saw two guys racing each other down the middle of the ski slope.  No lie, these dudes must have been going around 35 mph or more down the middle of the grassy field.  All of the sudden, in a cloud of dust, one of the riders goes down hard and rag dolls for about 20 feet.  Before we have time to take in what just happened the remaining racer flies past us on a pink children’s bike complete with streamers and white tires.  He’s got his feet on the ground Fred Flintstone style trying to stop with little success.  It was all I could do to breathe I was laughing so hard.

We come to find out that these guys are BMX riders from Florida traveling across the US filming footage for an upcoming Jack-Ass style BMX video to be released.  The bikes were purchased the evening before at Wal-Mart and had already been put to the test with a late night urban session involving 360’s and modest drops.  They tell us that this was a piece of cake compared to an earlier stop which centered around alligator wrestling.  Believe it or not the next stop on the trip was Pee-Wee’s to hit the dirt jumps.  We gave them directions and wished them good luck for the rest of their journey.

After a few more runs down the hill the whole group was toast.  Some post ride BBQ at Sledgehammer Charlie’s sealed the deal and it was back to Hickory until the next ride.  Below are a few pictures from the trip…enjoy!