Dobovedo's Journal of Journeys

The original plan for Day 3 of the trip was to do the same loop as Day 2 but in reverse. The difference is that ya leave off Brasstown and just go over Jack’s Gap. That makes it a bit lighter day but after the previous two is still quite a hard ride. But after we had gone up Hogpen we started to reconsider. The descent of the backside of Hogpen would be sketchy on the sandy surface and nobody really likes climbing Jack’s from the west. The road surface is chip ‘n seal and just ain’t very fun. We definitely wanted to do the front side of Hogpen climb and also the fun, hard ride descent of Unicoi into Helen where Big Tim had apparently been a force to be reckoned with the year before. As Craig and I were tossing alternate ideas around and we managed to come up with the same idea at the same time.

It was too funny..  he said “You know what we could do?” And I just said “Yes”.

Read more on To Helen Back: Day 3…

The second day of riding in Helen is the big day. The two hardest climbs anywhere in this part of the country – Brasstown Bald and Hogpen Gap – back to back. But before we get to them, we gotta go up and over Unicoi Gap for a three climb day. This is what I would call our “traditional” Helen loop. Other than the first year running the route in a clockwise direction, we’ve done it counterclockwise ever since. A) because it’s harder and B) because it’s also “nicer” in regard to road and riding conditions.

Note to self: just because it’s called The Mountain Climber, that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to choose for a pre-ride breakfast.

Read more on To Helen Back: Day 2…

It was the last weekend in April. Er… it was the three days after the last weekend in April. What does this mean? The annual trip to the little town of Helen for a few days of riding in the mountains of Northern Georgia. Gaps with names like Hogpen and Wolfpen, and a little climb called Brasstown Bald. Every year the trip is a little different even though the core riding each day doesn’t change much. There are two basic routes, each with a trilogy of gaps. But this year there was one significant difference.

I didn’t have to sit in a car for eight hours to get there.

Read more on To Helen Back: Day 1…

Last week was an extended business trip to the main office in Troy and naturally I took my bike with me. Sylva to Troy is kinda stupid. It takes about seven hours to drive and if I fly, it takes about… seven hours. No matter if I fly from Asheville or if I drive all the way to Atlanta and then fly it still takes… seven hours. So I figure I may as well drive.

That way I can ride.

Read more on Ohio Week Summary…

OK, this is getting ridiculous. Haven’t posted a blog in two whole weeks. So to catch up, I gotta resort to summing up an entire week in one short post. Luckily I have all my Garmin data to remind me what I actually did. And just as luckily… there wasn’t all that much of interest.

(yeah.. I know.. same as every other week) Read more on Two Weeks Ago Recap…

Going back a week for this one… I just can’t keep up with the blog these days. I still have (make) plenty of time for riding, but having a social life kinda cuts in on the writing time. Good problem to have though. Anyway… last weekend was pretty much perfect spring weather and I was in Asheville with a bike, so I opted to do a ride up Town Mountain Rd. to the Parkway and on up past Craggy Gardens to Mt. Mitchell. First time in three years I’ve done this particular ride and I sure don’t remember it being so easy.

Guess I’m skinnier now. And stronger.

Read more on Mt. Mitchell Ride…

Sometimes you come up with a grand ride plan and then it falls apart and you have to improvise. And sometimes when you do that it turns out to be quite interesting and spectacular. Today was one of those days, though it started out quite depressingly. I thought I was going to have to purchase my third camera in less than a year.

But I got lucky.

Read more on Lost & Found & Found & Lost…

To follow up my Ring of W[h]ee I decided to do a loop that incorporated the other half of the Ring of Fire: the Elijay climb and descent of Tilly Creek back into Cullowhee/WCU. To do this, I basically reversed the Cowee part of the other loop and headed south to Franklin first, rather than come north last. This does two things: it hits Cowee from the easier (less steep and less climbing) direction and it shortens the ride from 50 to 40 miles. Perfect for a followup.

Except for having a headwind on 35 of 40 miles.

Read more on Ring Of WeeJay(?) And Some Stupidity…

On Wednesday I was feeling pretty good after my decent Tuesday night ride and figured I’d do the same 50 mile Cullowhee/Cowee loop I’ve done the prior two weeks. I felt pretty good right away but there was a strong wind and my speeds didn’t seem so good. As I started up the early part of Cullowhee I noticed that I was ticking over the pedals with a higher than normal cadence.

That’s usually a very good sign.

Read more on Ring of W[h]ee Number Three…

I’ve been having some troubles with the Roubaix lately, and wouldn’t ya know it – the troubles is a creaking bottom bracket. No big surprise there. Every bike I’ve ever owned has had annoying creaks related to bottom brackets. They are the bane of cyclists and bike mechanics alike. The previous week I had taken the Roubaix in to be looked at and the creaking was unfortunately not showing up on a test ride, and other than a light tuneup and adjustment, they returned it to me in more or less the same condition. Over the weekend the creaking worsened significantly, bad enough to nearly ruin my ride up to Waterrock. The only reason it didn’t was that all other conditions were spectacular and I simply decided to not let it get the best of me. On Tuesday I took it back in and explained that any creaking was gonna take more than a couple block test ride and significant torque (a la climbing mountains) to show up. That was enough of an explanation to make further test rides unnecessary. They simply pulled the whole thing apart and inspected it closely. Turns out I had a small crack in some part of the drive side crank arm where the “spider” connects to the BB. (or something to that effect). It was replaced and the BB all cleaned up and reassembled.

Creak gone.

Read more on Lucky Number Not Seven…

Ride day seven of seven arrived on Sunday and the weather could not have been more perfect. Temps in the 70s climbing towards 80, blue skies, no clouds, and even the wind was perfect. Tailwind uphill, headwind downhill. It was time to do a ride up to Waterrock Knob, and this time there wouldn’t be any snow.

Well, almost no snow.

Read more on Waterrock’n Roll…

On Saturday I figured I’d just keep the streak alive and do another ride. This one wouldn’t be much of an effort, just a spin around the Sylva area at lower elevations. While looking at maps I noticed there are a couple roads I have not yet been on that actually go “thru” from one place to another. The question was whether they are actually paved or if they disintegrate into gravel. I concocted a 30 mile loop and proceeded to head out into another overly warm day.

Winter directly to Summer – I swear; I thought I left this nonsense behind in Ohio.

Read more on If A Tree Falls In The Woods And Lands On A Dobo……