This week the Freehub crew is rolling from Colorado to North Carolina and they are getting their ride on everywhere they stop! This is a trip that we all wish we were on.This week the Freehub crew is rolling from Colorado to North Carolina and they are getting their ride on everywhere they stop! This is a trip that we all wish we were on.
The "44 days and Rolling" crew has rolled up onto their fourth week of the trek across the country and back. With a whole country still ahead of us.
Check out this week's GoPro Friday #4 Recap Video:Ryan's Bangers Week #4 Photo Dump: Week 4 kicked off with a short trek up to Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins is a really awesome little city in the mountains north of Denver. The first thing we noticed as we rolled into town were the amount of bikers. We were all excited to get out and explore the town, so the obvious first stop was the New Belgium Brewery.
This place is huge, but it maintains a small company feel.
New Belgium is a truly amazing brewery with some awesome employees and tasty beer. Everyone there is all about bicycles which means we had a great time tasting beer and talkin' bikes. Before we left, New Belgium was kind enough to stock us up with a few cases of our favorite brews. We ended up spending the whole day there checking out all the bike shops and making sure there were enough bars to support that kind of a riding scene.
Now for the part we've been dreading...the Colorado to North Carolina drive. This pretty much equals twenty-seven hours of hell and cornfields for the better part of the day. We drove all day and all night; as the sun started to rise there they were, the Appalachians. For me the Appalachians are home and I was stoked to get the crew out on some of the rocky and rooty terrain that I love so much.
First up, Brevard, NC home of the Pisgah Ranger District and endless miles of prime technical singletrack. So what's the best thing to do after being stuck in a truck for 27 hours? Get on a bike and ride it, so that's what happened. After a quick recovery beverage at the Hub bike shop we met up my buddy Jacob and headed into Pisgah.
Daniel Ridge Trail
Jacob shredding some Daniel Ridge
Ahh..Good to be back
After a good night's sleep in Brevard, we headed up to Boone, NC to ride, then ride some more and then maybe build a bit. On our way we stopped in at Industry Nine where we got to tour their factory and see what goes into these amazing wheels. We also picked up our roommate Rowan who flew out to ride some bikes.
Industry Nine hard at work
Rowan
Boone is an emerging mountain bike destination that has a ton of great riding and some awesome projects in the works. We cruised the windy roads up into the "High Country" where we met up with some locals in the 'Wilsons' area and got to ridin'. This area is known for its technical rocky sections mixed with some wide open descents that go for days.
Ethan and Brandon in the midst of the High Country tech
We finished our ride up with a good ole southeast thunderstorm and headed to a cabin up in the hills to kick back and relax. Wakin' up to some cold snowy weather we headed over to Sugar Mountain to ride the DH track. We spent most of the day lapping it, filming and shooting photos.
Cold morning at the bottom of the hill
Sun decided come out and dry out the rock for Brandon
Big bike train through the woods
Local Boone ripper Steven gap'n in
Throwin' some mud
From Sugar we headed up to Rocky Knob Bike area right outside of downtown Boone to do a little building. This park is a huge step in the right direction for the Boone area, marking their first public trail area built with bikes in mind. With Appalachian State just down the hill there are tons of people looking to get after it and build some trail.
Rowan and local volunteers shaping a new berm at Rocky Knob Mtn Bike Park
Boone local trail builders Eric, Christian, and Craig dialing in the new trail
We're now back down in Brevard playin' in the woods for a few days then heading north to Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Stay tuned for more updates and good times on the open road.
Ride Bikes!,
Freehub Crew
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Hope you had a blast!
Anyway, awesome to see that course still rideable. Now if you guys could talk them into races again, it would be awesome.