Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

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...

Went back to Pine Log in search of singletrack and boy did I find it, except it was mostly uphill and unrideable. Out of the 5 hours I spent out there, I estimate 2 hours of it was spent hiking. One would have to be an absolute bike-beast to make these climbs and the climbs just don't end. It's like Pinhoti with rocks. So I began clockwise on Pine Log Gap Rd again and pedaled out to the cornfield again, about 7 miles out. This is a mostly uphill fire road with a sustained 10 minute climb at one point. Then on to the singletrack at the edge of the cornfield and then an insanely steep climb. This was mostly hiking. The topo maps say it's about 1600 feet at the top of this climb. Left onto Pine Log Mountain trail for a brief downhill run then came across acres of rock gardens that went uphill what seemed like forever. This began the climb up to the radio tower and unfortunately, mostly hiking. I think I could've biked some of it but I was in conserve-energy mode. The g...

Pine Log WMA is a wildlife management area between White, GA and Canton, GA open to biking, hunting, and equestrian use. I had heard good things so decided to check it out. The place is really remote and has an almost primordial feel too it with barren landscapes and craggy trees where one could imagine a vulture perched upon. I started out going counter-clockwise following this map I spent about 90% of my ride time on fire roads, which was disappointing. I managed to find all the awful uphill trails where you could only hope to hike your bike. I'm not exactly sure if I even know which route I took. After about a 90 minutes I wound up back at the parking lot so I at least had some bearings. I think I climbed/walked Davis Trail then circled back on Grassy Hollow Rd. I imagine Davis Trail is much fun going the other way! If I had taken a right somewhere I would've gotten on Route 5 but I never saw a gate with a 5 on it. I remember passing 2 cement bridges crossing a creek on ...