Glen Alpine
I got home from work and dropped dead on the couch. Fast asleep in a matter of minutes. After about an hour some noise in the kitchen woke me up grumpy. I should have awakened saying "thanks, I owe you for getting me up in time to get in a sweet 19 mile figure 8 loop". Instead I stormed out of the house and headed up hwy 181.
I made it to "lower"Upper Creek and started riding up the FS road by 5:45 p.m. I forgot the camera in my haste so I decided to burn through the climb. I still couldnt help but stop at "the Knob" for my daily view. Yes, it was clear enough to see Table Rock this evening.
When I got off of work it was 92 degrees in Glen Alpine. I think it had dropped at least 10 degrees by the time I got to Upper Creek. By the time I got home at about 9 p.m. it was 75 degrees. It was a nice evening, even the humiditiy seemed lower than usual.
My plan: hit the same trails as I rode on Sunday and attempt to "clean" the spots where I was feeling sloppy. I rerode the steep uphill climb on the "Big O" a few times, attempting to start lower on the hike a bike section. The steepest Sinkhole climb took me 3 times but I finally made it all the way to the top (only my 2nd time ever!) starting from in front of the big downed tree and behind the tree with the blaze. I think I paid for it by riding the log jump in the preceeding down hill clean and then by going back up and cribbing the log with rocks and reriding it a few more times. In other words, it became practice night / trail clean up, one of the benefits of riding solo.
I walked the slippery slope on Sunday but was feeling pretty good about it today so I just remembered not to touch the brakes and rolled through it. I am sure it was the slipperiest I have ever ridden the slippery slope but I was glad I tried it when I made it to the bottom. Instead of being grumpy when I got home, like I was when I left, I was thanking the girls for making enough noise to wake me up in time to get in such a sweet 19 mile ride.