Exploring the Valley
Discover the hidden gems, local legends, and can’t-miss experiences in Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley as we dive into the perks of Chamber membership and uncover what makes this mountain town a must-visit destination. Whether you're a local business or just passing through, there's something cool waiting for you!
Exploring the Valley
I Bought An E-Bike And Didn’t Crash, So Now What
Start with a bike, stay for the community. We sit down with Michael of Epic Cycles to explore how a beloved Black Mountain shop became a crossroads for locals, visitors, students, and families who want to ride safely, see more, and feel connected to the Swannanoa Valley.
Michael shares the shop’s journey from its founding under Alan Hightower to a COVID-era ownership handoff, then opens the doors to what makes Epic different: a three-location team, an internship with Owen High School, a welcoming vibe for kids and dogs, and a rotating display of vintage frames alongside modern carbon rockets. If you’re new to riding or dusting off an e‑bike, you’ll get clear, local guidance—flowy Gateway Trails in Old Fort for beginner-friendly mountain biking, the “bicycle highway” loop by the chamber and farmers market, and practical road tips like lights, awareness, and giving yourself room on narrow shoulders.
We celebrate Lake Tomahawk’s surprising “best view in town,” explain why Kitsuma’s switchbacks are a rite of passage, and look ahead to Beacon’s paved bike park—professionally designed, low maintenance, and primed to attract riders and events year-round. The conversation also spotlights Epic’s role in youth cycling, from Montreat College’s growing program to regional middle and high school teams, plus the annual rush of riders preparing for the Assault on Mount Mitchell with new gears, chains, and brakes.
Whether you’re planning a century route, easing into e‑bikes, or seeking that perfect photo at sunset, this episode maps out safe starts, inspiring challenges, and the people who make riding here feel personal. If the valley has a cycling heartbeat, it’s pulsing on Sutton Avenue across from the caboose—where questions are welcome, ideas get tried, and every rider leaves more confident.
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Welcome to Exploring the Valley. This is Cheryl Hyde, the director of the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce and the Black Mountain Visitor Center. On this podcast, I'll be your guide to the people, places, and stories that make our community special. Each episode will share the heart of the Swannanoa Valley, from local businesses and hidden trails to festivals, history, and the voices of our neighbors. Whether you're a longtime resident or a first-time visitor, you'll find the pride of our community and the magic of the mountains right here. You're listening to Exploring the Valley, where local pride meets lasting magic. You're in for a ride, so buckle up. Welcome, Michael. I'm really glad you're here today. You and I be we met each other earlier, but we became like bonded friends for life during Sour Wood.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Yep. Take my parking spots.
SPEAKER_01:You were my hero. And it was perfect. That's right. I did not park in your parking spot. I did not let anybody park in your parking spot.
SPEAKER_00:Anyway, but tell me, tell me a little bit about Epic Cycles. Epic Cycles has been around for 26 years. It was started by Alan Hightower here in town. Alan and I actually met each other in 1995. So I moved up from upstate South Carolina to Indiana to work for him. And then we both, after that company had been bought, we both moved back down to this area. And I was pursuing a master's degree during COVID when he um decided that uh he needed some help. So I came up and helped him. And then at the end of COVID, he decided he didn't want to do this anymore. So uh I bought him out. So I've been the owner for about the last four or five years. So you were doing your master's. Did you live here when you were doing your master's? Yeah, I was okay. We went under contract when Helene hit.
SPEAKER_01:Well, perfect. Perfect. The whole world works around this happened at COVID and then this happened at Helene. So that's good. We're good. Excellent work. That's awesome. Oh my goodness. Okay. So you worked for him and then you bought it. Yes. Okay. I got it now. I'm a little slow, but sometimes I catch on eventually. So you have, I don't know how many guys. There's always a bunch of people in there, maybe four or five guys there with guns there. Or does it just feel like that?
SPEAKER_00:I've got about a staff of about 15 because we've got two other other locations, one in Asheville and one inersonville. So we've got about 15 people. And do they rotate where they are? Not usually. I'm the one that used to float. Black Mountain people. Black Mountain Black Mountain people. Black Mountain people are about, there's about five of us in there right now. We have an internship program with Owen High School. That's cool. They get actually class credit for working for us. So we usually have at least one high school apprentice in there. Uh now I'm jealous for semester.
SPEAKER_01:Now I'm jealous because I've been asking the high school for an intern since I got there in January of last year. And the log is crickets. So apparently I need to know the right people. Maybe it's you.
SPEAKER_00:One of my one of my employees got it started for me. He just said, Can you not do this? I'm like, go right ahead.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, we'll we'll we'll talk offline because this has got to happen soon. That's awesome. Okay, well, that's good. And I love that you do that just because I mean, I know that you like kids and all of that. So I think it's cool that you have an intern that's not your own child in there working. So that's really cool.
SPEAKER_00:Do any of your kids work for you? Or are they I have little? My youngest son works with me sometimes.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:But he usually doesn't listen as well as the intern. So um yeah. He's he works for me sometimes.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Well, good. Okay, good. All right. So do your so what only one works for you. You have a couple of kids, right? I have seven. Seven. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. That's a lot.
SPEAKER_00:It's it's a soccer team, yeah. The oldest one is twenty-six and the youngest one is sixteen. Okay. Wow. So I've got one at home right now. Okay. And one's at school, but everybody else is out in there.
SPEAKER_01:Everybody else is is grown and flown, as they say. Absolutely. That's awesome. Mine are grown and flown, and I'm super proud of that, but I only have two, which feels really small right now. Anyway. So only is he the only one who's ever worked for you?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. The 16-year-old. Because they're all actually grown and flown. One of them worked for me often on when he came back from school. He did a lot of, he was good at marketing and design and kind of like merchandising and stuff like that. So he would work for me when he came back from from school every once in a while.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Cool, cool.
SPEAKER_01:All right. So they don't work with you, but are you like an outdoorsy family? Yes. Do we do all the hiking and biking and the things?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Love to hike, love to bike. Uh my knees do not permit me to hike as much as I used to, but biking is a lot easier on them than uh than hiking. So the wife is more of a hiker than a biker, so I kind of have to uh submit every once in a while and go on the hike. I get that. I get that.
SPEAKER_01:So so if somebody comes in to your shop and they, let's say they buy an e-bike and they look like people who should not be on a bike.
SPEAKER_00:Know anybody like that? Anyway. There's one guy that we actually have the the demo waiver. It was for him because he loved to get out there and uh run the uh red light there at Sutton and Bronway and scared us to death. And about the fifth time he did it, we saw him do it because he would come in from different times and keep running the red light. And uh we're like, no, we we we just can't have this anymore.
SPEAKER_01:No. So we don't no.
unknown:No.
SPEAKER_01:I was really talking about myself because I bought an e-bike this summer. And so where does one go when they're here? Where where would somebody if somebody's brand new, they have no idea what they're doing, where would you tell them to go try it out? Be sure that they're in a decent, safe place that they weren't gonna get squished.
SPEAKER_00:If they're going mountain biking, I send them to the gateway trails and old for it.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Because they're they're wide open and they're flowy, so they don't have a lot of the rocks and the roots and the technical stuff that this area is famous for. So it's kind of like a almost like a smooth path, but it's challenging. And it's also extremely well marked. So you kind of go up Jarrett Creek Road and then everything kind of branches off, kind of like your your lungs, and everything branches off from the front and it comes down. And as long as you're heading back down, you're gonna hit the parking lot.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So you can So I can't get lost. Can't get lost, and if you get in over your head, you can get out easy. And it's well patrolled, so it's it's very safe out there.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. And what if you also are too old and shouldn't be mountain biking? You should just be riding a bike.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that'll be you can get away with it out there if bicycle highway and go out there and go through the neighborhoods over there by Lake Tomahawk. Bicycle highway, what is that? That's the bike went out in front of the shop. It goes down Sutton, you take a left, go up by the post office, then go across the street right past the chamber. You'll see the little markings in there. And it goes out past where the farmer's market is behind the church, and then it'll curl curl you back around in the neighborhoods over there by Lake Tomahawk or hands. And that's pretty nice.
SPEAKER_01:A lot of people would relatively flat, not completely. It's hard to find a flat spot around here, except for 70, and you don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_00:No, right. Flat is not an option around here, but it's it's got one decent little hill in it. But most of the people that are going out there are use their e-bikes, so it really doesn't matter a whole lot to do.
SPEAKER_01:That would be me. I'm gonna be an e-bike girl. Okay, but I live on the one flat street in my little town. I live in Montre. And there's one flat street, and it's in front of my house. So I have ridden my bike back and forth down that street, and that's it. That's as far as I've gone because I'm scared. Montre's scary. It's it's a little steep. It's steep, yes.
SPEAKER_00:And when the students are up there, there's not a whole lot of clearance in the roads. And uh I have a tendency not to send a whole lot of bikers or e-bikers up towards Montreal because I'm not really sure the trails up there. I don't want them to end up in somebody's backyard and somebody get upset. So I send them, you know, the the trails around here. They're beautiful up there. It's absolutely gorgeous. I've ridden my bike up there for for years and love it. But some of them when they're especially when they don't know where they're going or they're new, I'm like, eh, let's keep you a little closer to home.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. But when I first moved here, I I'm not a hiker, I'm not a biker. I am a, if you want to know if I'm outdoorsy, I will sit on a porch and drink a glass of wine. That's outdoorsy for me. So I'm not really all that good at it. I'm trying to get better at it. But when I first got here, I decided I was gonna walk every street in Montreat to try and learn all the road names because I didn't have a job, I didn't have anything going on, so why not? The other thing is I get lost everywhere I go. So the good part about Montreat is if you get lost, you just go down the hill and you're gonna either be at the gate or the lake. And I know how to get home from those one way in the other way out. That's it, I can do it. So, but I keep thinking I'm gonna do the same thing with the bike, but no. It's all right. I don't know. I I don't know. Anyway, we'll see. But you can ride over near Lake Tomahawk. Can you ride on Lake Tomahawk? Like not the lake, the path. Are you allowed to have a bike out there? Or is it just walking? Okay, just walking.
SPEAKER_00:So you can't ride it on the path, but you can ride it on the roads around it.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, and those are pretty good. That's perfect.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, they're they're not bad. I mean, you get a nice view of the lake, you can see everything. Except the only time you lose view of the lake is when you go down past the dam. But that loses the spill over. But um you can see everything, and uh, it's absolutely gorgeous out there. And then when you come around the other side of the lake over towards where the swimming pool and the pavilion are, you've got this gorgeous view over the golf course where the mountains are, and it's just stunning. I can't tell you how many times I stopped there on the way home or way to work and just taking pictures or just soaked it in because it's probably one of the prettiest places around here in Black Mountain, it's gorgeous.
SPEAKER_01:We we send people from the visitor center all the time. They're like, Well, what's the best view? I want a really good scenic view. And I'm like, I know you're thinking the top of some mountain, but let me tell you where it is.
SPEAKER_00:And we send them to Lake Tomack because it's the best view. If they want a challenge, I send them up Kitsuma.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:And Kitsuma, I think you can see all three valleys from up there. It's got some rock overlooks.
SPEAKER_01:I've actually hiked that. Thank you very much. Yes, I have.
SPEAKER_00:Well, then you've done something because we usually tell people when they go up there, there's about 14 switchbacks that are gonna make gonna make them throw up. And then it's about a four and a half, five mile downhill. Well, that's if you do the whole thing. I just went to the top and then turned around and came back. So it's notorious. We've been riding that since we were kids.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So it's uh it's fine. They've got t-shirts made about it, videos made about it. It's it's really popular.
SPEAKER_01:I'm feeling kind of cool right now. Okay. I'm one of the cool kids, exactly. All right, so what do we know about the new bike park that's coming to Beacon?
SPEAKER_00:Well, that is gonna be it's I've seen some plans for it. It's really kind of neat because you don't have anything like that really around here. There's a few pump tracks that are kind of springing up, but this one is is paved, and they've got some professionals that are uh, I can't remember who was designing that thing, but it's all paved, it's really well done and well thought out. And I think you're really gonna have a feature that people are gonna come to see. I wouldn't be surprised if there's not some bigger races uh drawn for there. I mean, like Rock Hill over in South Carolina has some big races in BMX. That track out there is gonna be one of the nicest ones around, and I think you're gonna see a lot of people come in for it because we've got a few dirt plumb tracks that are kind of popping up, but you can't really ride those in the rain or if they're wet, and if it's freezing or it's fall, you have to be careful because you'll tear them up. There's a lot more maintenance. This is all blacktopped, it is gorgeous, and they got it set up really, really well. They put a lot of good thought into that. So I'm excited to see how that what that brings to the area.
SPEAKER_01:That's exciting. Have you been talking to Casey over there?
SPEAKER_00:Casey, yeah, Casey down at the watershed. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:No, the other Casey. Casey at Beacon. Yeah, there's two there's just two bike bike parky things, and they're both Casey's. I'm like, okay.
SPEAKER_00:I have not talked to them, but some of my guys are into trail building.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And they're they're involved in a lot of different things around. So uh they're all the time. Wait, did you know this? Did you know? No, I didn't.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know that yet, but now I do. They tell me to keep me informed. That's why we keep you guys around. That's right. Well, I'm pretty excited about that. I of where I came from in Georgia. Look it up. Lake Point is a sporting complex that's down in Martyrsville, Georgia. And I was there at their chamber building when they were building that, and just seeing the excitement was awesome. And it's I don't see it being a whole lot different. I think they're gonna be very similar. Different scale, but pretty much the same draw for tourism and and just people coming to do something that's cheesy word, but it's wholesome. You know, it's like they're coming here to do more cool things that that we've always been famous for. So it's it's just one adds to it.
SPEAKER_00:When when I drive home, you see like the same group of kids now, and they're either on scooters or on their bicycles and are riding around the town and they're just like in a their own little gang pack, you know, and they're always waving and all that. And you stop the truck and and talk to them, and they they come in, their bikes are broken, like, yeah, I can't get hold of my parents, and we'll fix it, don't worry. And we can deal with that later. Give you a ride home if we can, you know, and it's that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01:I I love your connection with kids, and and a lot of the guys or a couple of the guys that work in your shop, they probably aren't kids because I'm old. So I think they're kids. But Jetson. Jetson's super helpful, super kind. And what I'm gonna tell you, I should probably just have told you this offline, but is that he he backs you up and he thinks you're awesome. And he also, like, I was talking to him about things that could help you because you were out of town and and he was it was almost like talking to you. It was really cool. So I I think you're I think you're in good hands when you're not there, and that's always good to know.
SPEAKER_00:Jetson, and I also have his brother working for me. He works in the Asheville store, and those guys are super passionate, they're always wanting to help out, they've got great ideas. And I kind of operate my business as, you know, anybody who's got an idea or any thought is it's an open door policy because you get your best ideas from people who've been there 50 years, but you also get them from people who've been there five days because they have a fresh set of eyes. So they're all the time coming to me and saying, Hey, can we do this? Can we do this? Can we do this? And very rarely do I veto them. So uh that's pretty cool. I if they have if they can contribute to it and make it better and give the customer a better experience or the you know the tourism that comes in a better experience, or even the the local neighborhoods a better experience. I'm all for it. And sometimes, you know, I can't see the forest for the trees, and these guys can, and go for it, do it.
SPEAKER_01:Let's try it. What do we have to lose? Exactly. All right. Are there anything you can think of that's not biking or hiking that's outdoorsy here that I'm missing?
SPEAKER_00:I know that there was a there was fly fishing around here for a while. And I think we had a store in town, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:We still do. We still do. And they're chamber members. Yep.
SPEAKER_00:I th but uh I know that's that's big up here.
SPEAKER_01:That was kind of Captain have to know how to do that. Yeah, I really don't. I I don't either. I mean with a regular old, you know Barbie fishing pole, I can get it all tangled up. I can't imagine flopping that thing around and hoping it doesn't catch something, you know, I'm like other than a fish.
SPEAKER_00:That takes technique, and I have not had time to even even try it yet. And uh there's a sailboat regatta down at Lake Tomahawk for remote control sailboats. Oh, that's cool. And these guys, of course, they also some of them bike and all that. That's how I found out about it. But on Wednesdays and Saturdays, they get out there with these remote control sailboats. All year? Yeah. That's why the buoys are out in Lake Tomahawk. That's their course. And they're part of a larger group out of that meets in Asheville. They'll come up here and go down there and uh but two days a week they they race their remote control sailboats out there on the lake. And it's that's cool. It's fascinating, man. Go watch that. It's neat. It's I mean, you have obviously have to know what you're doing, but uh it's uh kind of peaceful.
SPEAKER_01:Very cool. How do we get more people to come to your store? What is cool about your store that I don't know?
SPEAKER_00:Uh epic cycles, we kind of it's more than just a bike store. We we have to set ourselves up to have in to work on anything from the old vintage bikes that people drug out of their garage after 20 years they rode when they were a kid, all the way up to the latest and greatest and newest geometry and carbon fiber and titanium and all the all the doodle. And so Epic Cycles has to be something for everybody because you never know who's gonna walk in the door. So we have a vintage bike collection that I've been an avid collector for 30, 35 years, I guess. And I've got so much stuff I can't display at all. So we rotate the bikes in and out, and I try and get some of the smaller local brands, like there's Brew, there's Neville, they used to build bikes in this area. Brew still does, Neville doesn't anymore. And some of the small frame builders are across the nation. I try and display those or any bike that was kind of iconic. So I see a lot of you know older guys like me that come in like, I I used to race that. I had that bike. And it's like the twinkle in their eyes come in.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's cool.
SPEAKER_00:And they're like, oh, this this is awesome. And sometimes we'll take their old bikes because that's what they liked, and we'll just refurbish them into something they can ride now. Because now we've got better climbing ears and better brakes. And the kids that come in, we everything's got bright colors and they're just looking around like they're starstruck. And I love it. And the parents sometimes like, no, no, no, don't be don't be loud. Don't be like, listen, let'll have fun. I have seven children. I don't hear this, you know. She's ruined my day. It's just kind of this is kind of um relaxing to me. I said, you know, bring your kids in, bring your dog in. I don't we don't care. We'll probably sit on the floor and play with the dog. And in some cases, sit in the floor and play with the kids. And it's just you, the amount of people that you meet, because I'd say probably half the people that come through our doors don't live around here. They're from they're from tourism. So you always get to meet somebody different. They're always asking for advice, like, where do I eat, where do I go for this, where do I go for that? I'm like, Chamber ought to put a an office right there in our thing because everybody asks us. Careful, I'll move in. And it's just when those when the kids come in or when the person with that older bike, you know, wants wants it to be refurbished and we can do it, or even if they want the uh the latest and greatest and we can put them on it, it's that's really satisfying. You can give them what they want. And but it doesn't mean you have to be kind of a jack of all trades in there.
SPEAKER_01:So very cool. What am I missing? What else do you uh what other what other exciting things do you have to share with me?
SPEAKER_00:Um we sponsor Montreat Cycling. And is that a team or a club? Yeah, Montreet College. They're a cycling. Yes, but that I didn't know they had a team. They have a team. It's uh just started here. I think they've been out for about two seasons now. And we got them set up on bikes and they're uh actually doing real well. They're kind of in the recruiting's way. We sponsor a couple of the NYCA teams that are around here. There's a lot of it's students from like middle school and high school teams. And some of them are like from like Owen would have one. I mean, Owen doesn't, but uh you've also got teams like the Pisgah Rage, and they're like a conglomerate of all the other schools that don't have teams. So we're uh involved in the youth racing. We sponsor two of those teams to a great deal, and then Montreat's team as well. So it's that kind of keeps us on our toes a little bit because you know, kids coming in from college and they break something, then yeah, I have to race this weekend. Yeah, we'll fix it. Of course you do.
SPEAKER_01:Of course you do.
SPEAKER_00:We get a lot of a lot of business when Oram comes into town, the offer to salt on Mount Mitchell, that we know that we need to clear our schedule, and that's a huge race. We get a lot of people from out of state coming to that. And we there is a large contingent from Florida that comes up, and they have no idea what a hill is. That's right. So we put bigger gears and chains on their bikes all day and put new brakes on them just about all day, and that's all we do for about two or three days before that race and on that race. And we know they're coming, they know we'll be ready for them, and they come back year after year.
SPEAKER_01:So would you help me if I wanted to do a century ride here? Figure out how to do that. That's pretty basic, isn't it? Yeah. Like you go out a hundred miles or fifty and you come back or do a loop or something. There are plenty of figure that out?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there's plenty of routes around here. We've got 'em. We've actually got a file of road routes around here. And the people are actually pretty nice. I like I like them. Yeah. You don't see a lot of people that are against road bikers or anything, or don't give them space. Probably the only thing I could say is there's not a lot of shoulders on some of these roads. Right. And there's a turn. There's a turn. And there's sometimes there is so much pretty things to see around here that people might not pay attention, so you might get surprised or you might surprise somebody else. But as long as you're ready for that, have a you know, a light on the back, a light on the front seems to work out well, you're you're usually okay. We don't hear of too many road rage incidents or anything.
SPEAKER_01:Not too many. Good. Cool, cool. Well, all right. So epic cycles, where where are you located?
SPEAKER_00:We're down on 102 Sutton Avenue, we're right across from the caboose down there. Well, just up from the caboose, right across from the railroad tracks.
SPEAKER_01:Across from the Eagle.
SPEAKER_00:The Eagle, yes, the Eagle is.
SPEAKER_01:Which I found out recently is a basically a family tree. Really? Oh, good. I'm so glad you didn't know each other. I learned about it from uh Fred McCormick Valley Echo, the Valley Echo, and he was telling me about it. I've said, you know, we need to have a family tree here. He said, go to that eagle. It's got the list of the founding families, and you'll see names that are still here. And I'm like, okay, so that's where you are.
SPEAKER_00:I had no idea.
SPEAKER_01:I know, so we'll both go check it out. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Very cool. They told me, I think the guys that were working over there restoring that um thing were telling me about the loading docks and how how that used to be where the eagle is. That used to be how they unloaded and loaded. Oh, that's cool. A lot of the train cars were right there. And it's so I knew there's a lot of history there, but I wasn't sure. Oh, that's cool. Why I just figured it's an or America, it's an evil. It's evil. Yeah. It's America.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Thank you, sir. I appreciate you and appreciate your time and uh your friendship. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for joining us on Exploring the Valley. Until next time, keep celebrating the pride of our community and discovering the magic of the mountains. In the meantime, you're free to move about the valley.