Day Five: April 25 - Mountain Biking Pisgah National Forest, NC

After a cold night that hovered around 0 degrees Celsius - I managed to warm up with breakfast and from the thought of not paddling but cycling up a mountain. Excellent decision!!! We decided to cycle an area known as Turkey Pen which seemed to have a good variety of trails in a loop system - allowing us to adapt for time, fitness levels, and trail conditions.

We left around 11:30 following a winding creek known as South Mills Creek. We began a steep descent from the parking lot which was perhaps midway up the mountain and rode hard pack trails slightly wider than what I would term single track. The numerous water crossings required dismounts through rather frigid waters making me second guess my decision of not taking a full body wetsuit along on the trip for paddling. Hopefully the rivers we paddle are warmer!

The trail system was simply incredible - subtle but significant climbs and these amazing never ending descents complete with great lips to gain air off of, along with some tight turns and the occasional switchback. We eventually ended up on an amazing mountain which forced us to walk our bikes up due to the steepness & number of switchbacks - but the rewards for going up are going down and I would have to say it was one of the best descents of my life - truly epic! If only I had my Giant NRS - Pisgah National Forest definitely is worth visiting again!

Highlights clearly were the many interesting descents, especially down some winding and well-exposed ridgelines that clearly would result in serious injury or death if you rode off them. One of the water crossings allowed us to make use of a two cables strung across as a high ropes element. Balancing on a wire while holding a bike and a wire just above your shoulders is definitely a workout and challenge!

Mandy using a cable crossing @ Turkey Pen Trail

My legs definitely were chewed up having no SPD pedals or cages but I survived. We experienced one navigation error due to some bad trail marking in one section and one failure of a Specialized dérailleur drop out on Tyson's bike.

All in all - an amazing afternoon of riding & exploring!