I parked on the side of the road about a mile before the horse stables. To change it up a little I started climbing Avery Creek Rd instead of the FS rd behind the stable. I took a right onto the Buckhorn Gap single track which entailed a lot of creek crossings and then some significant uphill with some heavy erosion in places. It was worth it when I rolled up to the Black Mtn trailhead at Buckhorn Gap where I met up with Scott. Scott gave me a lot of good beta on some other trail options. We commenced up 127 to Clawhammer; Black Mtn. After a little hike-a-bike and incredible views, we finally hit paydirt with some off the hook downhill. I followed Scott down the Black Mtn trail to the intersection with Thrift Cove, trail #603 and took the left to connect this over to Grassy Road Trail and onto Sycamore Cove - thanks to Scott for the tour of that stuff, it has a little bit of everything. I then headed back to the car, and fueled up for round 2. This time I climbed up behind the horse stables and took 5058 up to 5099, Turkey Creek Rd
aka 5022 on the map that drops back onto #127 at Pressley Gap. A little climb up Hickory Knob and then it is more screaming downhill all the way down to the Ranger Station this time. I then crossed over hwy 276 and crossed the Davidson River and into the Davidson River campground where I picked up North Slope Ridge trail #359. I was able to check out some ruins on Turkey Creek Rd and a historic graveyard near the Davidson River campgrounds. 
Ride stats:
Total Distance: 33.4 miles
Total time: 7:37
Moving time: 5:19
Elevation gain: 10,607'
Avg speed: 6.3 mph
Amos' Epics
Amos' Epics
