Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

Last week's adventure was up in Dawson Forest, the site of the Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory. They have about 20 miles of trails up there that are singletrack and doubletrack.  Renee and I took our bikes and loaded up the trail map using MTB Project .  It was a really hot day and we went in the early afternoon, so it was scorching.   I will say that the place, given its history, has a weird vibe. They could've filmed an X-files episode here. Also, a woman was also abducted and murdered out there. Yikes! Renee decided to go on foot and leave the bike behind so I went ahead on recon on the Red trail. It was wide-open powerline riding for about a half-mile then Renee decided to turn around because it was too exposed.  The sun was beating down on us so we headed back to the parking lot and did the Orange trail, heading west.  It was a good sustained climb out and plenty of equestrian "evidence" was about.  Trail treasures?  Jungle-like conditions a...

I have finally ventured back out to Pine Log WMA after about 6 years away and getting horribly lost and dehydrated my last time out. It's funny what 6 years of biking will do for your confidence and skill development! Today was the 2nd official group ride for HPEDXC , the name I've given my work cycling club.  I like that the name has Ped(Pedal) and XC(Cross-country). We were originally going to Blanket's Creek but it was closed due to wet conditions. Tom showed up but had a flat tire after about 4 miles so he had to hike it out. I kept on and did 2 clockwise loops on Grassy Hollow Rd, which I dubbed the Circle of Doom route. Not sure why, just like the sound of it.  This is a great place to work on climbing and get some mileage in and is frankly a refreshing break from the local trail systems. It was a relatively cool start at 9:15 and immediately we were greeted with uphill climbs.  I decided to do all jeep-road on this ride and save the singletrack exploration for an...