Spent the weekend in the Pisgah National Forest, Davidson River area. Biking and hanging out with the fellas and drinking some beers. Gary, Paul and a few other fellas that I've known for a few long years now. Matt was planning to go also, but he's having some health issues right now that limit his ability to get off his butt. I did take him an orange SDG saddle for his new EWR, though.
Anyway, Thursday I drove up to ATL and stayed with Matt. Gary had flown in from out west and was already at Matt's house, so we dumped my bike off in Matt's basement, hid the valuables from prying eyes, and hit the town for some grub. OK...so first, before we left, both Gary and I drank 5 beers each from Matt's Beer-of-the-Month subscription and THEN we went out to eat! At Fox Brother's BBQ in Decatur, I had a montser full slab of baby back ribs and two more beers. Hey, the car keys were in somebody elses hands, what can I say! Ribs were amazing too, and it was a beautiful night siting out in the cool air and watching the activity in the train yard across the street from the restaurant.
The next morning after breakfast at Crescent Moon, Gary and I kicked Matt's ass and left him for dead for bailing on the weekend, and headed on up I-85 to meet up with Paul, who was pantless in his Saab in the Lowe's parking lot...don't ask. The three of us caravaned up to Davidson River and dropped off my car at the campsites that Brian and his family had snagged for us, picked up Brian and his crew and headed into town for burritos at a local joint in Brevard across from the college there. Pascudo's I think? Good grub anyway, and then we headed back to the camp site after a quick stop off at Backcountry Outdoors, a bike shop near Davidson River that offers full service and support, and sells their own line of bikes under the Harvey Cycles brand. At the site we met up the rest of the group for a quick spin on one of the shorter trails, then after cleaning up we all hit the folding chairs for a few more beers before retiring to our tents.
Morning was cruddy, rainy and gross as it tends to be in Pisgah in the spring, so we drove into Ashville for some food, and of course more beers. We also did a little bike shop tourism, stopping off for a peek at Carolina Fatz and another little hole in the wall shop too sad to remember. Fatz was a hopping joint and had good stock and smart folks, but the other place was a mess, one of those shops that looks like its in business in spite of itself! Ashville is a funky, Boulder-esque town filled with light-hearted trustafarians and other pott-puffing nutty folks who all seem to drive VW Westys, so its a cool place to people watch. After three pitchers of Smithwick's at the Bier Garten, and a club sandwich, we returned to Davidson River and hit the bikes for a few more quick laps.
Anyway, Thursday I drove up to ATL and stayed with Matt. Gary had flown in from out west and was already at Matt's house, so we dumped my bike off in Matt's basement, hid the valuables from prying eyes, and hit the town for some grub. OK...so first, before we left, both Gary and I drank 5 beers each from Matt's Beer-of-the-Month subscription and THEN we went out to eat! At Fox Brother's BBQ in Decatur, I had a montser full slab of baby back ribs and two more beers. Hey, the car keys were in somebody elses hands, what can I say! Ribs were amazing too, and it was a beautiful night siting out in the cool air and watching the activity in the train yard across the street from the restaurant.
The next morning after breakfast at Crescent Moon, Gary and I kicked Matt's ass and left him for dead for bailing on the weekend, and headed on up I-85 to meet up with Paul, who was pantless in his Saab in the Lowe's parking lot...don't ask. The three of us caravaned up to Davidson River and dropped off my car at the campsites that Brian and his family had snagged for us, picked up Brian and his crew and headed into town for burritos at a local joint in Brevard across from the college there. Pascudo's I think? Good grub anyway, and then we headed back to the camp site after a quick stop off at Backcountry Outdoors, a bike shop near Davidson River that offers full service and support, and sells their own line of bikes under the Harvey Cycles brand. At the site we met up the rest of the group for a quick spin on one of the shorter trails, then after cleaning up we all hit the folding chairs for a few more beers before retiring to our tents.
Morning was cruddy, rainy and gross as it tends to be in Pisgah in the spring, so we drove into Ashville for some food, and of course more beers. We also did a little bike shop tourism, stopping off for a peek at Carolina Fatz and another little hole in the wall shop too sad to remember. Fatz was a hopping joint and had good stock and smart folks, but the other place was a mess, one of those shops that looks like its in business in spite of itself! Ashville is a funky, Boulder-esque town filled with light-hearted trustafarians and other pott-puffing nutty folks who all seem to drive VW Westys, so its a cool place to people watch. After three pitchers of Smithwick's at the Bier Garten, and a club sandwich, we returned to Davidson River and hit the bikes for a few more quick laps.
Sunday was a riding day. Bennett Gap was up first, an amazing trail that I think I've done before, back in 1995 when I went with the crew from USF. Lots of great views of Looking Glass and the surrounding area. Then we hit the trails again after lunch and a quick beer for one more lap before we had to return to camp to get all cleaned up and loaded for the drive back to the ATL. We were pretty wiped out from the weekend so it was an early nigh of grub and Guiness and then to bed.
Breakfast at another local joint, mushroom omelette's, fried potatoes and about 4 cups of coffee, and I was rumbling on the highway back to my family. A good weekend in the books. It was nice to see all the guys again and put aside our usual stresses and junk and just enjoy each others beer...er, I mean company!
And Beer.
Funny thing though, when I schedule these types of outings away from the usual grind, I always look forward to it until I'm on the road, and then I miss the family and wonder why they didn't come along. We will need to get the baby involved in camping and see how she behaves locally so the next time I head to the mountains she and momma can come along too.
Funny thing though, when I schedule these types of outings away from the usual grind, I always look forward to it until I'm on the road, and then I miss the family and wonder why they didn't come along. We will need to get the baby involved in camping and see how she behaves locally so the next time I head to the mountains she and momma can come along too.
4 comments:
Sounds like a fun weekend. I gotta get back to Asheville. Fun place to visit, though a little too pot-smokey to live in.
Whose van is that?
Is there such a thing as BWI?
It took me a moment to figure out what BWI was! Must be the booze!
Van was just one of the many Westy VWs floating around Ashville. They are averywhere! Jeff Spicolli would be pleased!
I could live in Ashville I think. I've lived in J-ville for 10 years so I can tolerate anything at this point!
(Actually, when I reread this, I couldn't remember what BWI was either!)
I love those National Park Service signs. They're kind of retro cool, aren't they??
yup...very cool. I like to snap them whenever I see them. My favorite so far is "Hardtimes Trailhead"
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