August 7, 2020 Appalachian Beer Trail- July 27-30, 2020 Hell and back in the Pisgah mountains, and some damn good beer along the way. This trip has been an obvious must-do for quite a while now. For two dudes that were itching to get back in the bike-packing game, what better place could one ask for as the idyllic scenery of Asheville and the surrounding Pisgah national forest. Oh yeah, and there is also deliciously fresh, locally brewed beer around every turn. Well.. except for on the top of mountain peaks after soul crushing hike-a-bikes.. maybe that’s an untapped market? Day 1 (40 mi/3,200 ft): Camped at Ridgecrest after hitting flora and fauna brewery, and dropping a car off in Brevard. Started the first loop. Of course, bike trouble from the get go. As we started out grinding away up steep switch backs, I noticed my karate monkey couldn’t get into the it’s climbing gear. The gear that came along with the brand new, extensively researched, and not too cheap upgraded drivetrain. Needless to say.. I was immediately frustrated from .01 miles into the trip. Welcome back to bike-packing! But it was all good after getting into the groove of pedaling again and seeing the beauty of the northern part of northern Pisgah. Eventually we descended into Asheville, where we were met with a brutal road climb through swanky neighborhoods, and eventually into a sneaky little forest path (where we met the sweaty sisyphus of Asheville- a random dude in the woods attempting to haul giant slabs of stone down a mountain for his friend to build benches out of) that let us out right near into downtown. We spent a good amount of time at Wicked Weed and Burial breweries. Later that evening we biked south of the city to camp in Powhatan Park. Day #2 (30 mi/3,500 ft): The next morning, as Jon was retrieving the food hung up in a tree the night before (bear precautions- does this even work?) a nice german tourist lady asked him if he “worked for the forest??”. Hilarious. She had no idea how often we’d repeat that phrase to make ourselves laugh throughout the next few days, especially in those dire moments where laughter can seem like your only source of much needed sanity. We’d soon find out that the answer to her question was a resounding: YES. The Pisgah forest is relentless, demanding, and downright abusive. It will put you to work in ways you wouldn’t have ever predicted. Only a few miles into the Pisgah that morning, my mind was still on the “beer” part of this ride. Hmmm, I wonder what IPA the next brewery will have. Or should I order a sour? I’ll think about it and decide during my jolly ride up the little hill today. I’d quickly find out that this route is heavy on the trail, and light on the beer. Oh also, I stupidly ate it going down a gravel descent. I was trying to adjust my dropper post by hand (one of the many things not working correctly on this trip), went out of balance, overcorrected and went over the handlebars. Total meat grinder that hurt like hell, but thankfully nothing broken. Day #3 (28 miles/7,000 ft ascent) In 1911 Albert Einstein figured out that time time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else. This fundamental law of physics is true everywhere in the universe.. even in the Pisgah National Forest in eastern North Carolina. We began the day with a four hour climb, it took us 10 total hours to ride 28 miles, and we ended the day with zero food left. Meanwhile, the mountains carried on in right along with us in their own 480 million year journey. Regardless of the proportional relationships of time and space, I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t one of my most difficult, yet also most enjoyable, days of riding. There’s an undeniable ying/yang to mountains riding. You go up.. and up.. and up… eventually you go down.. and then inevitably back up. On those never ending uphills, you eventually reach a point where there’s just nothing left in the tank, and you’re wondering to yourself why the hell you decided to load up 40+ lbs of gear on a steel frame bike and.. NOT EVEN RIDE IT!!! Instead you’ll PUSH IT UP A DAMN MOUNTAIN??!! Why would anyone willingly do that? You’re drenched in sweat, dizzy from exhaustion and bored to death from the monotony. You look up, and the trail just continues going straight up (switchbacks? naaah we’re good). The mountains mock you. The don’t care about you in the least. You’re a speck to them. They’ve been there for eons, and you think your little struggle to push a stupid bike up their scraggly sloped actually somehow matters. But in your mind it’s all that matters. It has to. You have no other options. On those climbs all other trivial concerns fall to the wayside.. the constant pain, your weird stench (am I fermenting?), the bike that never seems to work right, your chafing clothes, your stale thirst, your gnawing hunger, the itch, the thorns scratching you, the annoying nats around your head, and the (worst of all) every present doubt.. that nagging thought of “could it be possible that maybe.. just maybe.. in this one instant.. I am actually the dumbest person in the world ?” In those moments, the mountains, in all their big bad buddha selves, gradually morph into a sort of humid mirror where you can finally see your own pathetic self. Nothing else matters but the here and now, and.. GETTING TO THE TOP. There has to be a top. No mountain goes on forever. But what if this one does? Damn. Did I eat one of those mushrooms on the trail and none of this is even happening? Am I still sitting in my tent? Am I dreaming? I must be. There’s no way this is actually what bike packing is about. No one would buy overpriced outdoors gear just to push it up a mountain. That’s just.. too stupid to comprehend. Eventually you reach the top. But by that point you truly don’t give a fuck anymore. “Oh it’s over?.. good.” Just too tired to care anymore. So.. it.. goes. But wait! There’s no time to ponder the hilarious futility of your current existence because its time for your entire nervous system to get an adrenal shot of ecstatic that is a 4 mile singletrack straight down a mountain side. Take a second to reflect on anything during that.. and you’ll find yourself bouncing off the side of the mountain like a A complete rush unlike no other. But never forget, nothing lasts in the mountains. For every downhill, you simply rack up a debt that you must eventually pay in another grueling climb. Nothing lasts forever. Accept that fact, and maybe, just maybe, you can figure out those mountains.. or just some small size of your own fleeting existence . But “they” still won’t give a damn about you. You’re still just a speck, and sweaty primate with a stupid looking helmet strapped to your oversized cranium. Those stoic mountains have been there for millions of years. You’ve been here for two days, and you’re barely surviving. Just keep pedaling. Try not to think so much. You work for the forest now. Day 4 (30 mi/5,000 ft) Despite being sore as hell we departed the next day to finish out the route with a loop south of Brevard in the Dupont Forest. On our way up to Dupont we were joined by an enthusiasitc friend. Winnie (see pics of small dog) was super stoked! She followed us all the way up a road climb, and all the way down a fire road descent. Needless to say, Winnie was pretty exhausted, but still down to for the cause. We finally got in touch with her owner who picked her up at the bottom of the downhill. I’m fairly confident in saying that this is some of the most fun single track I’ve ever ridden. Flowy downhills for days. Asheville is cool and all, but those trails made me want to live in Brevard. Who knew such a random small town is a total Mountain biking mecca! We were treated with a total downpour on our ride back into town. I got a much needed beard wash from my tires shooting water up into my face (no fenders). One other funny part of the day- when GPS-dependent Jon didn’t even realize we completed the route. Back in Brevard for fresh beers and crashing hard in the parking lot tents. The Appalachian Beer trails is: every type of riding you can think of (gravel/single track/fire road/pavement), soul-crushing hike a bikes, wild descents, tasty beer, friendly folk (shout out to the superb service of Brevard pizza hut and waffle house!), beautiful forest scenery, plenty of wildlife (saw a black bear on day 2), and all around good time. Thank you Pisgah/Brevard/Asheville, I can’t wait to return. Uncategorized
Killer trip, dude!! Just saw your comment on bikepacking.com and I’m hoping to set out on this trip next week. Quick q – what were the logistics of dropping your vehicle off in Brevard and then going to the top of the route? Did you snag a shuttle, or even a miraculous Uber with bikerack?
Hey man, sorry I just saw your comment! Thanks for reading the blog. My bad for being so late in responding. Did you end up doing the route? So my buddy and I took two cars on this trip. We left one in Brevard, and drove up to Black Mountain (just north of Asheville) where we started the route. We had such a blast on that trip, although it totally kicked our asses too. Hope you were able to get out there to give it a shot. Let me know if you still have any questions.
Yes! I ended up doing the route, and definitely an ass-kicking at times haha. I greatly resonate with your words and SUCH a great trip. I ended up parking in Brevard and having a pal drop me off up north. I was on a hardtail, so I nixed the upper section of Black Mountain (and even the middle was rough), but there were so many dreamy parts of the trip that are due for a return ride.