Riding High and Crashing Hard...

Damn, I was just starting to feel good again... It been a while so this one is rather long...

By Wednesday I had made it over the hump with the flu and the hangover from Chattanooga. A call from Matt J on Thursday morning and we were off on the road bikes and up Bear Wallow Mtn. It was a great ride and just getting outside of Asheville made for a relaxing and beautiful day. I felt a little rough and was still coughing up the funk but as we rode up the steep climb I was able to sweat out what I couldn't cough up and by the end of the ride I was starting to remember what it felt like to be healthy again.

Friday Bruce and I rode over to French Broad Brewing Company for a hit of some good bluegrass from The High Windy Band. Sipped a few brews while enjoying some great Bluegrass with the crew. If you have a minute check them out and vote High Windy Band in 08' here, you can actually make a difference in this kind of election. Everything goes to a good cause and you could help out an often overlooked segment of society, the starving musicians of asheville. Take a second and vote, a good party will likely follow the earth day concert at the Crow's Nest the following weekend so help make it happen. Bruce, Chris B and I then hit up some La Paz for some good Mexican with a few ladies and then headed back to the Crow's Nest for the after party. A small crew turned out for some more bluegrass and growlers of French Broads finest and we called it a night. Saturday morning was spent putting the Planet X back together. It has seen better days since Tuesday night polo and being robbed of a few parts here and there. Lately the mtn bike has been the go to urban assault vehicle but after breaking one of the tubes on the Sycip, it's urban adventures should be kept to minimum. So the Planet X got a new handlebar and pedals and I can say has never felt better between my legs. I called up Calaum and we were off exploring North Asheville. He showed me a few of the local spots, a good hip jump and a few gaps. I in turn turned him on to hopping stair gaps on Merimon Ave, a rock wall, and a stair rail gap on UNCA campus. We had a blast jumping everything in sight and finished out the night with beers, Chinese food and then got RAD. Yes! Bruce's roommate Ian has the original VCR copy of RAD and much like thinking back to my pink kuwahara the movie brought back some wonderful memories of my childhood. It pretty amazing how a movie can impact your life when you watch it 200 times. I am 33 years old and still out there doing the same things I was doing when I was 13 only I am much better and faster than I was back then. Guess I am improving at least... There were a few scenes that brought to mind my early mtn biking roots for me. I wish they had more bike races like this one or dances like this one. Even with getting all pumped up with a great movie and beer I called it a fairly early night as Sunday was going to be a long day.

After a few beers on Friday night the ride was called out for Sunday. We were going to ride cyclocross bikes up Town Mtn-Ox Creek-Barnardsville-To the Climb From Hell up the backside of Craggy Gardens via Forest Service Road then back home via the Blueridge Parkway. I was thinking hard about the crew back home on their own gravel grinder as Bruce, Chris B and I headed up towards Town Mtn Road on what would be the first gravel road climb of the day. We quickly hit Town Mtn. and took a first trail opportunity we had that wrapped around the hillside via overgrown jeep roads overlooking North Asheville and the Pisgah Range. We came out at the Town Mtn/Blue Ridge intersection and pressed on towards Ox Creek. After a good climb came an incredible decent that had me pushing the limits of what speed the ole surly should handle. Another good climb came our way that had me struggling to turn over the 32x18 but it was nothing the legs couldn't handle but were they were glad to see the top. Another sweet decent and the major climb of the day grew closer. As we rolled through Barnardsville (?) finally came to base of the money maker, a forest road climb up from the valley that would take us to the Craggy Gardens Lookout. Now, imagine the Curtis Creek climb covered in wet sand but steeper with a frozen sections at the top and a bald rear cyclocross tire. If you know what I am talking about you have a faint idea of the suffering that took place. Way to steep to sit and climb but standing on the 32x18 just pushed my tires that much deeper into peanut buttery fine gravel-dirt combo made that much worse by lots of rain and a month of the freeze thaw effect. The next hour or so was a combination of questioning my choice of rides for the day and enjoying the incredible view to the valley below. Once at the top it was pure satisfaction and some sore legs but we put every article of clothing on that we had with us and started the 10 mile decent back home via the Blue Ridge Parkway that is currently closed to cars. A beautiful day had brought all sorts out and as we got closer to the gate we rode past a pack of long boarders, bmx bikes, and even a dude on roller skates enjoying a gorgeous day on a mountain road with no cars. Ended up riding for 5 hours and covering some serious ground and no telling the elevation. I didn't feel the least bit guilty by picking up some fried chicken and having a few pints and calling it an early night.

I had a great weekend and a bunch of good rides. I woke up Monday feeling refreshed and purified, got some work done in the morning and went to check the mail. At last, my real estate license has arrived. Not that I was too worried but there comes a time when you need to feel somewhat productive in society and I have spent the last few months on quasi vacation. It's beautiful outside so I figure I will milk one more afternoon and play at the skate park. I call up Chris B who is not only a badass on a bike but happens to know his way around a giant concrete bowl as well. We grab our boards and hook up at the Asheville Skate Park. A lot of you know that I lost my sense of smell skate boarding a few years ago, you may not know that there are 5 other bones I have snapped over the years in addition to the major fracture of my skull that caused me to never be able to smell the roses (only literally). However, I just can't seem to get over the trill of what a skateboard and giant concrete bowl can provide. We hit the park and start in the advanced bowl. Of course it all starts coming back, 50x50 grinds on the metal coping riding high in the deep end and starting to carry some serious speed through the bowl. That's when it happened. A bottom turn out of the deep end pushed the limits of my wheels and within a split second I found myself on my ass laying in the bottom of the pool on my back. A few minutes later I was able to climb out of the pool and keep from throwing up from the pain. It's now been well over 24 hours and my lower back and coccyx(?) are still in agony. Don't know if I cracked something but would defiantly not be surprised if I did. If any of you medical types are checking in on this blog send me any suggestions. I have a new hump (not that I have had one prior) just above my ass crack and guess I will get it checked out if the hump doesn't go away soon. Until then it back to pints and pills for ole' Jut Rut. Living the life sometimes has it cruel paybacks. Just glad I didn't loose another one of my senses, I don't have many left. Keep it real.

Jut