Vacation Rides 2 and 3: Bent Creek

This is what mountain biking is all about. Well, for a native Floridian, anyway. The Bent Creek trails are in the beautiful Pisgah mountain range in western North Carolina. If you've never ridden here, you need to experience what riding your bike in the mountains is all about.


I came out here first on June 24 and hooked up with a couple others who were more familiar with the trails. We rode in the late afternoon for about an hour and a half. We didn't climb as much as I would've liked because one of the riders was a beginner. No problem. I'm here to experience everything, not race.


I returned two days later, armed with a route I got off the SORBA website and determined to ride a lot more. I got out to the Ledford parking area at around 7 a.m. There was only one other car in the lot. I was a little nervous going out on my own, but I figured a challenge is what makes us all feel alive. Then, of course, there was the cool mountain air that greeted me. This was an environment in which to hammer, not to play it safe.


The route I would more or less follow would have me doing about 3,800 feet in climbing. I could hardly wait. Then there would be the downhills. More fun. The route included the very popular Greens Lick Trail. After a nice fire-road climb, the real work began up Ingles Field Gap Trail. This is a long climb, but I got into a rhythm and spun up it without pause, past 5 points intersection and up to Greens Lick for the ride down.


I'm a wuss on descents so I brake more than necessary. You really have to concentrate going downhill, but it sure is fun. There's lots of berms and little jumps to hit. I had BMX flashbacks to my days of racing in the '70s, only this was a much longer interval.


I climbed and descended a lot more before I clocked out at 2 hours, 12 minutes and turned 21.8 miles.


In my training diary about this ride, I wrote, in part, "Wish I could train here. This is paradise. Lucky to have experienced this. I'm thankful.''


Indeed. Sometimes we all forget to stop and smell the roses. Well, on this day, I seized the moment.


On to the Blue Ridge Parkway and some asphalt.