Started by climbing a private road off Buck Creek which was far too steep to be even remotely enjoyable up or down, so I came off of that after awhile, climbed up Cold Mountain road which is also ridiculously steep. It has to be one of the steepest public roads in the state. I've been on plenty of others that have high grades but usually not for long. There's really no letup from the beginning in downtown Shookville(where you turn off the pavement on Buck creek road) up to Buck Gap where the road is paved again. The road had recently been graded so it was loose and had a few large rocks lying about. Somehow I caught one just right and it hit my derailleur while I was straining to keep moving on the steep section near the top, and it snapped my hanger. Instantly I realized what happened so I stopped pedaling and stopped quickly and there was no further damage. It took awhile for me to get it going again. I replaced the hanger quickly but I got the chain all twisted up somehow so I had to take apart the derailleur pulley and it took a long time to figure out how to get it back together. At the gap I climbed another private road, this one gated. Surface was well maintained gravel but there didn't appear to be any houses in yet. I climbed it for awhile till the grade got so steep ahead of me that I knew it would be kinda sketchy going down the fairly loose gravel so I turned around. I intended to climb up to the fire tower on Yellow Mountain, however I didn't even notice the turn on my gps and went right by(it turned out to be a good mistake because I went there later in the week to check out the climb and it is blocked by a really elaborate private gate). So I made my way to a little gravel sector that ended in a private community that for some reason wasn't gated, and I made it through and back to Norton without issue. I'll say though, it was kinda a waste, as it was nearly all paved and i could have just continued on Yellow mountain to Norton and saved a ton of miles, but it was nice to see the terrain and surroundings at least once. I was happy to finally ride Laurel knob road which was a delight, had no issues descending 107 to Cashiers and made my way to Whiteside cove without issue and hardly any cars passing by. Whiteside road is pretty but it is almost all paved and is always longer than I think it is. I rode the Big Creek road connector from Walkingstick road to Rich Gap for the first time and it was really really fun. Somehow I still had some energy after climbing up from horse cove and rode up to Sunset rock.