Looking back / Looking forward to TSE

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 5^th 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!

NC to GA?

This weekend I was out at a conference and opted for the 90mile, mid-day departure, road ride back to Toccoa. I'd throw up a mapmyride route, explain the beautiful route from high Blue Ridge mountains to South Carolina Piedmont,  but....I was utterly unprepared for heavy rain and a drop into the 50's. Not far from the SC/NC line (pictured above) I took cover in the Caesar's Head park office, already on my way to hypothermia, as dense fog turned to sheets of cold rain. I was on the very crest before dropping several hundred feet to the light rollers of mile 60 and on (apparently going up this is a popular training climb). By my original calculations, this was where it got easy. Weather determined that this wasn't the case without a lot more clothes though. So a friendly extraction and return back to Hendersonville was on order. Although it was a failed attempt at a ride home, it got across how sweet the riding is up towards Pisgah.

Pain Cave

Last week was busy, so after several months of ignoring the rollers that I left in my truck, I pulled 'em out and stared into the dark of the front porch as I rode in place for a while. What an odd world we cyclists live in.

Georgia's attempt at Raystown

An hour away, in more far reaches of Georgia, some mountain bikers got together and built some lakeside trails. Later on, some nudists combined forces to put on a race there. Fantastic.

For me, wide, smooth, lake side trail systems will forever be compared to PA's Allegrippis trails at Raystown lake. And when for you "mountain biking" means "rocks" and the challenge of picking a line , this fast, presumably well flowing format of trail doesn't quite do it. Sadly, I re-affirmed this at Paynes Creek.

Places like Muleshoe and Pace Bend on the other hand... well they not only give ya the fast, flowy bits, but also some sweet tight, twisty singletrack and proper technical rock stretches. Of course, they're in Texas, a state with 90+% of it's land privately owned, so you have to pay to ride at these parks. This sure ain't Texas though....sometimes that's a good thing.

Faster Mustache = Fresh Threads

New team means new kit. And what a fine kit it is. Yes indeed, those are bacon strips. Check out more FM happenings here. You could even get a jersey for yourself. Can't wait 'til I get mine!

Another overhaul needed...

Who needs a bike stand when you have excess webbing lying around?

Awww hell yea!

Succession Road

Up just beyond where I work lies "Succession" road. A short trudge through deep leaves and fallen branches on an old logging cut, with hemlock and white pine returning it to the forest, then left towards a green tunnel with a copper carpet of needles, and finally after a quick drop, a serpentine road bends left and right around the contours. To the left, a wide, darkened expanse from a controlled burn. The charred blackness in sharp contrast to the blooming redbud trees, rust colored roads, and specks of green from budding saplings. To the right, a downward progression out towards Prather Bridge road, the Tugaloo river, and the rolling hills of South Carolina.

Today I started left, rolling up and around bend after bend, past the burn and clearing my body of a hangover. With inhibitions still gone after the first car bomb last night, I pushed on past the expansive cul de sac at the top of a long climb. The predominantly coniferous forest closed in and another long abandoned lumbering road unfurled before me. Even though in my ears Ben Gibbard was appropriately repeating "there's nothing past this", I kept going until the trail disappeared, becoming a blanket of pine needles all around.

Back the way I came, explored a fire break for a bit, then past the connector trail, down...down...and down some more I rode out. Took the pavement back and spun the legs out.

Happy Legs

Little did I know, I saved the best trails for last out at Lake Russell. I took the Selma towards those trails I was after on Sunday and found mud and happiness. Glad I had the tubeless wheeled mountain bike this time; there were proper rocky stretches, the aforementioned mud, and fast flowy descents that wouldn't have been nearly as fun worrying about flats on my cross rig.

New training grounds for sure.

Lake Russell Part 2 & Fort Yargo SP

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, after a day of barely working, really tired but motivated by the weather, I got out to Lake Russell WMA again. This time I was going to explore the easterly cluster of trails. I didn't realize how tired I was until I pulled into the lot at the check station and lost all motivation to ride. Sat there for a few minutes contemplating driving back or taking a nap in the truck right there. Eventually I pulled myself together and slowly rolled over new ground. A wrong turn took me just shy of the trails I was aiming for, past a redneck camp and their two threatening dogs, and straight through that ounce of energy I was holding onto. So rather than looping back to where I wanted to go, I cut it short back to the truck, to a shower, and much needed, albeit brief, shut-eye in a proper bed.

Today I filled up at a rather excellent indian buffet in Athens with AT friends Travis and Casey then drove through intermittent rain on over to Fort Yargo State Park. Again, with waning motivation and energy, it took some effort to get started. With limited days off ahead, I had to get a long ride in so I told myself I'd do two loops of the 12.5 mile outer loop.

Trails were super well marked and maintained. I was reminded of the trails at Bluff Creek Ranch that I raced on last year in Texas and the Boggy Draw trails in Dolores, CO. There was plenty of quintessential Southeast too, with loose sand and pine needles over hard, red clay.

My first lap was slow, stopping to check the many maps along the way. I wasn't terribly impressed with the flow until I was warmed up and going fast through my second lap. Fast, low tread tires seem to be the ticket there. There aren't many places where you need slow, tall knobs. It's nearly devoid of rocks and what roots exist are easily rolled over. In fact, with the trails as hard as they were, I was fighting against my knobby tires slipping out underneath me through a lot of turns.

It got me wondering what tire/gear setup I'd run at the race there in May, as well as whether or not I want to race there for 6hrs or 9hrs. Nine might be pretty damn boring.

New Training Grounds?

Drove out to Lake Russell WMA today to explore its cluster of trails and gravel roads. I was not disappointed. Three hours of well marked and fun riding. And there's plenty of ground I haven't covered. Trails were mostly navigable by cross bike.

Mostly.

Glad I didn't end up in the creek twenty feet below. The final trail I took, the one I threw caution to the wind to take back to my truck with no water and fading legs, was beautiful all in all, meandering up and through seeps, a narrow bench cut perched above a picturesque stream. It was not, however, in the best shape, with many trees down, or ideal for riding, with awkward drops and bends.

The other trails I rode were wide, relatively smooth, and fast at times.

Only about twenty minutes away, I imagine I'll be going there to ride as much as I can this Spring. There's a good bit more to explore. Finding a route to ride there would be ideal as well...

Georgia On my Mind

Down in Georgia, back in a holler, way up in the piedmont, hoot n'ah hollarin'...so on and so forth.

Been enjoying my proximity to Athens, visiting good friends in my time off. Enjoyed S. Cross last weekend. I was sitting in the top ten for about two thirds, then I flatted and lost several positions as single speeder after single speeder zipped past. I was feeling strong. Short on sleep from travelling and with heavy legs from driving, but strong. 13th SS.

In the coming weeks I hope to explore the National Forest I'm near and the other trail networks within a stones throw. Chattahoochee NF, Lake Russell WMA, Stone Wall Falls, Victoria Bryant State Park, to name a few.

Overhaul

Clean rims, remove old bar tape and brake pads, clean frame & brakes, replace cables and housing, re-set brakes...at least a two beer operation. In this instance, it took three.

Trans-sylvania Epic

Yet another warm winter day. Still focused on Southern Cross next week, I took the nature boy out to Sal's to gingerly hop and weave through rocks. Not too bad without the snow, but certainly slower goin' on skinny tires.

Looking forward, I'm super excited to be signed up and committed to the Trans-sylvania Epic stage race. Come May 19th, I'll be returning to PA to help with, then race 7 days on the hallowed grounds I learned how to mountain bike. A fully supported event, I'll wake up everyday to a different course, each one under 50 miles, encompassing some of the best singletrack in the area, or even country. No doubt, it will be a serious feat of fortitude to complete, but the way I figure it that's what this here body is for!

More Snow. More Rothrock.

Before I made it back to a bit warmer Bethlehem, I got another cross ride in Rothrock, this time with my friend Matt and a snow squall or two. Essentially the same route, but we went up Gettis Ridge Rd, instead of Greenlee. It probably took just as long, with the new accumulation slowing us down.

Top of Bear Gap Rd; vista down below was a whiteout

See, Matt's smart. He wore glasses. Towards the end my eyelids were freezing shut.