Teaching in the environmental
education field has allowed this former State College “local” to ride and race
in some pretty spectacular sections of the country over the past year and a
half. Last spring, I was surprised by all the good riding in the Hill Country
around Austin, Texas. That summer I acclimated to the altitude of Colorado and
was blown away by all the legendary singletrack. Now I’m in the North Georgia
mountains, finding great riding, but with TSE on the horizon, instead of GA, I
have Rothrock on my mind.
I’m here in Toccoa, which in
Cherokee means “beautiful”, and sure, if you head to the hills outside of town
where I live and work, this can still be considered true. A regular
day involves leading 5th graders through the woods for
most of the day and regularly into the night. Endurance training of a different
sort. Afterwards, while my coworkers head back to our shared house, crack
some cold ones, and decompress like sane, hardworking people do, I grab my
cygolite, throw on some riding clothes and hit the trails we teach on and the
nearby, gated forest service road.
As I climb up the steep pitches
of Lee Mtn road, kicking up crepuscular critters here and there, I imagine that
I’m climbing Kettle road, the soul crushing wall early on in the Cooper’s Gap
Stage 2. Taking the secret trail back down, I picture myself dropping Pig Pile,
later in that stage, enjoying the speed and trying not the think of the slog of
the imminent, deceptively named Flat Road.
On my days off I get out to
nearby Lake Russell WMA for
some gravel grinders on its beehive network of dirt roads and multi-use trails.
The roads are reminiscent of Rothrock but the trails lack all the glorious rock
of stretches like John Wert or Tussey Ridge (sweet, sweet Stage 6…). A little
further South lies Paynes Creek, a
lake-side loop designed and built in conjunction with IMBA. As I look out over
Lake Hartwell, across to neighboring South Carolina, I pretend I’m looking at
Raystown Lake, ripping it up on the Allegrippis trails. And though revenge is
best served cold, I’m sure Rays Revenge will be flowing just fine in the heat
of May during Stage 4.
Yea, there’s been some racing
to get ready for TSE too. Early on in my move to Georgia, I took on Iron
Cross’s confederate, trail-less cousin: Southern Cross. It more or
less served as a long winter training ride and a reminder that hey, there’s
some elevation ‘round these parts. This month I’ll find out if all those
mild-winter base miles are worth anything out at the NUE series opener, the
Cohutta 100.
I got hooked on riding on the
back roads of Central PA and the bad-ass trails of Rothrock and I can’t wait to
get back there to test my mettle in the Epic. And you best believe I’ll be
downstairs at Zeno’s Wednesday night for bluegrass!
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