Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

30 miles at about 9 mph pace at Blanket's today on the single speed. Chain is now not falling off after I shifted the tensioner back 1/4 inch. Today was my first ride in 6 days after being at the beach all week and it felt great to be back on a bike.

Drove the long way up to Ocoee, TN through Chattanooga which took us about 3 hours to arrive at Ocoee Whitewater Center. Definitely taking 411 next time which was about 45 minutes quicker on the way back. Have another sinus/respiratory thing so I wasn't feeling my strongest plus my legs were begging for a break heading in to my 9th hour on a bike this week. I was so glad I brought my geared bike today. This will be the most hours I've put on a bike in a week, which is about 11 hours. Hit the trail and immediately started climbing on Bear Paw loop. This was a good 10 minute sustained climb. So much for a warmup! The trails are fairly well-groomed and nothing overly technical. Next on to Chestnut loop which reminded me a lot of Tsali with plenty of single and doubletrack mixed in a big,beautiful forest. I couldn't tell it was 95 degrees outside because of the canopy. Everyone had told me to ride Thunder Rock Express and I can see why. It had some of the most fun downhi...

Big Creek Bike Park, Roswell, GA Martha Shatzmeyer and Nancy Brown-Griese interrupted their jog last Tuesday to applaud a mountain biker at Big Creek park for his brilliant downhill descent and jumps. "Normally we're out here doing our jogging thing and don't notice the bikers. You know, what we do out here is pretty important and all. I particularly admired the way he kept his weight back and really crouched down in to attack position. I can't stop clapping! I hope he doesn't case his next run," Martha beamed. Nancy added, "The youngster bombed that one gnarly section and it was so nice to see him catch some sick air on the backside." The two ladies then decided to go home after realizing that nothing beyond this experience could take their day to any loftier height.