North Carolina - Part Two

Still tired from the sixteen hour long haul we decided to head to Dupont State Forest on Friday for a 'flatter' day of riding ('flat' is relative when speaking of riding in NC) and save the legs for the higher elevation gains we'd find in Psigah. This was my third trip to Dupont. In the past we've had the Goat towing us around the labrynth of trails. However, us being as un-local as we could possibly get, found it a difficult task navigating ourselves to the best'est route one could find. The map, as Curvy Butt wrote over on the big ring racing blog, can be compared to "two plates of spaghetti dumped into one bowl" . . . mmmm, spaghetti.

So to make the most out of our limited time in Dupont we figured we do the IMBA Epic loop. We found the route on line and we eagerly marked it on our map the night before thinking we were going to get 'the best of Dupont' . . . . I mean come on, this is IMBA, they should set us right . . . right?

If you look hard you can see Big Foot lurking in the trees.

The only thing epic about the first third or so of the loop was epic failure. Wide, soft, loose double track seemingly unused. Joanna Trail confirmed the un-used'ness and instead of riding we pretty much hiked the entire trail, lifting our bikes over downed trees and swearing lots.

Eventually we started to make our way to better trails, some we recognized from previous years.



I believe that this is on Reasonover Creek Trail.

Bridal Falls . . . funny, no one was getting married there nor did I feel like tying the knot with Curvy Butt.

A stream crossing or two. Curvy Butt didn't want to get his feet wet, so he took his shoes off and tossed them over to the other side.

I nearly fell over into the stream laughing so hard when one of his shoes didn't make the trip . . . in the water it went, by the bank.
Sploosh.
"Fuggg!" said he.

Despite numerous map checks and not completing the total route that we had intended burritos the size of our heads were in order. Was so hungry that I didn't think to take a photo until after I inhaled it. Nothing is better than good cheap Mexian food after a day on the bike. Coming back to the same place year after year you find some good food joints. Most of ours seemed to be Mexican - it's hard to find good Mexican in Ottawa . . . something about being so damn cold here keeps the Mexicans away . . .pfffft. I ate five meals in-a-row that were Mexican. My lower gastronomical intestinal system was doing a sombrero hat dance for most of the trip.