April 22, 2007. During preparation and eating of French toast, sausage, & OJ, it was determined by reviewing earlier printed internet threads that Brian, JP, & Bob's quest to reach the top of Black Mountain yesterday was very close. And despite the hiking sections they endured, it was decided that the goal must be met today. So about 10am we started the bike ride down the street from the campground, turned in to the entrance road to the horse stables, and a few miles later started the approximately 90 minute grind up the steep gravel road called Clawhammer. Harv noticed his speed hovering around 4 mph. Yes, most others were faster but not by a huge amount.
We regathered at the start of Black Mountain trail, took a breather, and, as previously warned by the 3-man group who ventured here the day before, carried our bikes more than rode them. Our efforts were rewarded as we took in the awesome views (see photo above and more to the left side of this screen), rhodedendren tunnels, and a rock ledge that made a sort of cave underneath. Someone had previously made a small campfire in the cave. We weren't sure we would want to camp out in this cave. It probably was not practical for even a raccoon to live in such a cave but we could imagine being visited by snake similar to the one Marc, Eric, & Harv saw yesterday. We took some photos and moved on.
The peak of 4200-foot high Black Mountain was not particularly obvious but we knew we made it as the trail turned downward. We took a rest in an open grassy area. A lone mountain biker soon came up the trail we planned to go down. He said his girlfriend was not far behind him. After we got to know each other, he told of some great places to ride in Virginia, his home state, especially near his girlfriend's house. He said if we visited, his girlfriend would put us up for the day or two. But she still hadn't arrived. He finally decided to ride back to find her. They both returned a few minutes later. In my opinion, she didn't look like she was in the hosting mood. She and her bike seemed OK, just kinda beat up from the trail.
We headed down for some bone jarring riding; more bone jarring for the two hardtail riders, Harv & Bob. It was a blast, especially the last mile or two which was faster, smoother, and offered up some mounds to launch from. It was time to try out our efforts at "Big Air".
After sandwiches for lunch back at the campground, we decided to take the same downhill but take a different way up with less hiking and more biking. It required about the same amount of granny gear pedalling but, again, the downhill was a blast. We put in an estimated 23 miles of hard riding.
After the rides, we cooked brats for dinner, cleaned up ourselves and the dishes, and packed up camp. We headed out of camp around 8:30 pm for the all night ride home. We switched drivers often to stay alert and safe.
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