The Year of the Bike — Trail Vagabonds

I have been anticipating my first bikepacking overnight since I committed to buying a mountain bike back in October. Truly, the idea has been bouncing around in my brain since I moved to Winston Salem a year ago and met Greg Hardy, owner of Rockgeist, who first explained to me the concept of lightweight bikepacking and his upcoming trip to the Arizona Trail.

I was intrigued… to say the least.

At that time I was concentrating on trail running/long distance hiking and building mileage in anticipation for the Superior Hiking Trail trip so I didn’t contemplate it too seriously -- but the seed had been planted. Tony gave further encouragement during our SHT trip (see previous post here!) and basically convinced me to sign up for the Lutsen 99er - a 100 mile endurance bike race in Northern Minnesota - during our 120 mile hike. I purchased a mountain bike, somewhat impulsively, in October after returning from the SHT and committed to the Lutsen 99er shortly thereafter.

And so began the Year of the Bike.

Christmas gifts this year from my Dad included a set of packs from Rockgeist that are wonderfully light, and match my bike beautifully. In return I bought him a Bikepacking 101 guidebook! Naturally he has caught the bikepacking bug from me, and I hope to convince him to participate in a multi-day trip with me in the future, like the good daughter I am.

All that was left, was a weather window.

Luckily winter weather in North Carolina is generally pretty mild and I was treated to a window (and coinciding time off!) three weeks ago, February 27th. I decided on a shorter, established sub 24 overnight route that I found on Bikepacking.com and available on RideWithGPS. The route is called the Yancey Ridge S24O and it is a 35.3 mile loop that travels through Wilson’s Creek, just north of Morganton. I anticipate I’m going to be spending a lot of time there in the future.

For this trip, I would be traveling Solo, primarily due to scheduling, but also partially by design, and wanted to be close to home, in a populated area, with easy bail out points. All criteria which this route fulfilled. Truthfully, I really wanted to do my first overnight solo because I was insecure as hell - for numerous reasons.

I am a huge newbie to mountain biking.
The mountains of NC are no joke. The elevation change for this route looked, and proved to be, a challenge.
I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Basically I wanted the freedom to adjust my plan, go as slow as I wanted, and stop if needed - without having the pressure (largely placed on myself) from having partners in this endeavor. Going solo is definitely a means of ego protection for myself. I hate being or perceiving that I am the weakest link of an endeavor. I hate having imposter syndrome. I hate failing or perceiving that I’m failing. It stresses me out. These emotions can end up getting in the way of enjoying the experience and muddy up my decision making. When it's just me, I don’t have to worry about what anyone else is thinking/feeling/doing and I can just concentrate on the task at hand and truly evaluate how I’m doing without the feelings of imposter syndrome convoluting my emotions and decisions. Imposter syndrome and self-deprecating feelings are something I struggle with both in my professional and personal life. They are not uncommon emotions and I know I’m not alone. I do what I can to mitigate them, diminish them and eliminate them. Sometimes it means knowing how I respond emotionally in situations, and taking the necessary steps to avoid those negative feelings (case in point). Sometimes it’s talking about them outloud with someone who can shed some realistic light on a situation or just acknowledging them outloud and hearing how absurd they sound. I’m also starting to journal as another way to recognize and then shed these emotions. So although solo travel presented its own set of challenges and risks, I felt it was important for my mental well being to proceed alone. Sorry dad! (he worries :)).

All week the weather for the day called for morning rain showers, so I decided to stop watching the weather, take the morning slow after a tough weekend of work, and get on the road by 10:00 am. I did have one stop to make in Asheville to pick up some last minute gear ordered from Rockgeist - The Barjam Harness. [Read Bikepacking.com’s interview with Greg about Rockgeist HERE]. Greg walked me through how to install it (so easy!) and wished me luck. Leaving Asheville, the sun began to peak out from behind the clouds and by the time I arrived in Wilson’s Creek it was shining in full force.

I started my ride around 3:30 pm after installing the bar jam harness and getting everything situated on my bike. First lesson - my dry bag is too big, and I packed too much, albeit (seemingly) necessary, stuff. The warm clothes required for this time of year definitely take up more room than ideal. Half of the fun of endurance travel is parsing down to the necessities and I definitely have some more fine tuning to do still!

My plan for the afternoon was to complete the first 10 miles of the route and camp at the Little Lost Cove Trail Campsite - which I read has an incredible view! The first five miles of the route travel along Wilson Creek and are relatively flat. These first few miles were a great warm up, test of the RideWithGPS “Ride This” function - dictating directions, and test of the balance of the loaded up and weighted down bike. This section of the ride was pure joy, sunshine and the sounds of running water. I could not erase the smile on my face for anything.

The next six miles nicely contrasted the beginning section and were pure Type 2 fun. The route climbed 2000 feet in these six miles on mountain dirt road loaded with switchbacks. I alternated between biking 400 meters with stopping to suck wind. My thighs burned and my lungs burned. Sweat poured down from under my helmet and down my neck. I could hear my heart beating loudly in my ears. These mountains are no joke. One section was so steep I hiked my bike up the next half of a mile until I finally reached a down hill reprieve. I even was out of breath from hiking my bike, and just traded burning legs for burning arms. The Little Lost Cove Trail is well marked, and uphill all the way to the campsite. I hiked that too. Hauling my bike over roots and rocks at an impossible angle. I almost lost the bike a few times down the hill. But the campsite was well worth it. I stumbled into the campsite as the sun was starting to dip below the ridges and a chill started to hang in the air. I set up camp and quickly realized that I forgot some essentials.

Second Lesson - Don’t forget shit. I forgot my lighter AND my tampons….

This meant that not only would I not have a fire, warm meal for dinner or hot coffee for breakfast, but I also DIDN’T HAVE TAMPONS. Now this may be TMI for some of you, but this is reality for those of us who menstruate and spend time adventuring in the wilderness. This is considered an “essential item”. *face palm* oops!

I changed out of my wet clothes, set up camp, and ate a dinner of cold “bare burritos” by Mary Janes Farm. Not as good as WARM bare burritos. As the sun went down I crawled into my tent for an early bedtime, some reflection and journaling. ((I also realized at that I forgot my headphones adapter for my iphone 8, so no podcast or books on tape- ugh)). Solo camping is no longer absolutely terrifying to me and I think this has simply come with time and experience. Don’t get me wrong, I still spend time every trip, straining my ears for sounds of wildlife and unknown humans. But the amount of time spent on these endeavors is usually outweighed by pure exhaustion. I do sleep with either a small container of mace or a knife of some sort. I’m not convinced either of these would actually be helpful, but their presence eases my worries and sometimes that’s all thats necessary to catch some Z’s. The wind blowing through the mountains this night helped significantly with drowning out any visiting wildlife.

I stayed safely in my tent, tucked away from the cold in my quilt, until the sun had risen in the sky the next morning. As I greeted the day I started contemplating my plans and after much deliberation, decided to bail on the completing the whole route and head back the way I came. I could not fathom another climb that would double the distance and elevation that I had already traversed. I decided I was content with this first outing and wanted it to be a positive experience. I was ok with adjusting my plans (read: I was ok with “failing”). Being flexible is key when you are someone who tends to break off more than you can chew!!

It was a beautiful, sunny and relaxing morning. I took my time drinking cold coffee, journaling and packing up before heading on my way. My bike bombed easily down the elevation I had painstakingly climbed the afternoon before and the entire 11 miles took me about 1 hour to complete. The trip totaled 22 miles and ~2000 ft of gain (all in those six miles!). In retrospect I think I could have finished the entire loop. It may have hurt and taken me all day, but I think I can get it done. Already I’m jazzed to get back out there, redeem myself on this trail, adjust my packing list and cover more miles. I am also SO EXCITED to have company the next time around. Matt, Molly and Roya need no convincing!