Video: Roadtripping to Knoxville and Pisgah

If you're from the Northeast like me, you know what mud season is and what it means as a mountain biker. With MTB community folklore spread across local facebook groups saying "Every time you make a rut on a muddy trail an [insert cute tiny animal species here] dies" it seemed a spring trip was to become an annual thing for a few of us. Whether it's wanderlust, our love for hero dirt, or our absolute loathing of riding pavement and muddy roads in bone chilling misty weather, we made it a thing. There are plenty of winter activities in the northeast to occupy time and maintain fitness through the season. But it's always that dreaded in-between season when we need to get away. In the past we've flown our bikes across the country and ridden some of the best trails in the Southwest. This year, though we decided to stay within driving distance (15 hours NH to NC) and visit one of my favorite riding areas in North Carolina, and scope out what Knoxville has to offer as well. We weren't disappointed.


On day 1 we drove over to Kitsuma Trail in Pisgah National Forest outside Asheville, NC. We didn't stop to take many pictures as it was our first ride on dry dirt for quite some time. It felt amazing, and painful all at the same time. It hurt so good.


Day 2 We headed over to "The land of waterfalls" in Brevard. The area doesn't need anymore spotlight. It's rad. The trails are rough and rowdy. I'll continue to go back for years to come, I'm sure. We hit as many trails as we could that day, Black Mountain complete, Buckwheet Knob, and Bennet Gap were on the menu. We finished just as The Hub bike shop was closing up, but never fear. There's a brewery across the street open later and a BBQ joint too!


One of the crux moves on Bennet Gap, it's not the feature, it's the run in, and the run out. Those who know, know.


Day 3 We decided to do the entire Knoxville Urban Wilderness. It was pretty unique compared to anything I've seen. Minutes out of downtown Knoxville you have some world class intermediate jump trails in the Baker Creek Preserve; Barn burner, and the Bell grant built Devil's Racetrack. We found ourselves doing tons of laps on both, especially Devil's Racetrack. Local VT native and master trail-builder Knight Ide and crew were down there building some new armored trails as part of Knoxville's AMBC #yearroundgetdown initiative while we were there. We found out why, as the trails can turn to sticky mud with the hint of rain and everyone stays home. I reached out to Knight to get a ride in but our schedules would not align. There's a fantastic network of xc trails linking everything together with bottle fill stations even along the way.




Down town is a short drive from the trails, and a short drive from downtown are places like this. The dirt in the area just seems perfect for a mtb mecka
Day 4 We got a late start due to rain, and headed over to Sharps Ridge. We'd hoped to get to Windrock bike park while in the area but we just couldn't make it work as we all had to be back Saturday night, and we didn't have a good way to shuttle on a Friday. Sharps didn't disappoint, though. We did a ton of laps on Knightfall another Knight Ide built trail.


Good thing having fun isn't illegal. They like to state the obvious I guess.

Glenn left with his old school racer style on the jumps and Nathan right with the "power frown"

And just like that we were back on the road, heading back to NH.

Thanks to
Team Granite MTB
Highland MTB Park
Red Brick Clothing
Daniels Equipment
Zoic Clothing
Handup Gloves
Ryno Power Sports Suppliments
Cycles Etc.
Vittoria Tires
ODI Grips
Spy Optics
Nox Composites