This old farm is located in Edneyville, not far from the Slick Rock community. Continue north, and you'll hit the Hickory Nut Gorge on Hwy. 74, but today, I'll keep going east to Hwy. 64 to climb up to the Sugarloaf Mtn. region at Worlds Edge.

Now I'm east of Hwy. 64, on the Bald Rock Road that clmbs up Bald Rock Mtn. to the Sugarloaf Mtn. road. This is another of my favorite bicycle training rides - little traffic, great scenery, and a long, steep climb.

Looking northwest from the Bald Rock Road, across the valley towards Bearwallow Mtn. The weather has finally settled down and it's turning into a golden evening as the late-day sun slants beneath the clouds to light up the mountainsides.

Same direction, but exposing more to capture the show overhead.

One of the exposed granite domes that gives Bald Rock Mtn. its name. This one has a small cascade pouring down from the woods above the road.

I stayed long enough up on the lower slopes of Sugarloaf Mtn. above the Worlds Edge community of apple growers, to watch the sun drop below the Pisgah Ledge, far to the west. It's time to hurry home to get ready for the ride with Jon on Sunday. By the way, the blue peak on the horizon is Tryon Peak, which stands on the other side of Green River Cove, the deep valley on the other side of the green ridges below KawasiMoto.

Sunday, May 3, 2009
Riding the Storms Out with Jon

After some calls back and forth, we decided that we'd brave the day's weather and get in some riding, hoping to dodge the rain as I did on Saturday. We met in Fletcher and cut across the ridges from Fletcher to Fruitland, following much of the same route that I took yesterday for the first part of our ride. We stopped here to don rain gear and for Jon to cover the bags on his Vee. The mountain ahead was wreathed in dark clouds, with rain eminent.

Of course, we stop by Puncheon Creek for the obligatory photo of the bikes with the bulls. The meadows beyond are filled with longhorn cattle. I just missed the BBQ dinner the evening before - had I known that it was planned, I could have eaten here instead of at Hawg Wild - maybe next year I'll be luckier.

If I'm not mistaken, the bulls are relics from some of the old Bilo grocery stores. Puncheon Creek also has some large orchards as part of the operation. We met the owner today, Bub Hyder - one of the most interesting fellows that I've run across in a long time. This is private property and managed, from what I could gather, as a large-scale hobby. A very large scale hobby. It's great to see somebody preserving such a special swath of open land. He's taking great care of the spread. I once thought that Puncheon Creek was a retreat or conference center of some sort, but it's mostly a place where the gentleman maintains a large collection of items of interest that he's collected from all over. All I can figure is that he must have done some very good things at some point in his life, 'cause it sure seems like he's having the time of his life now.

The farm, orchard, and village.