SMT 7: Abrupt End

The plan was to load a gps route for a route that Harvey had done previously. I needed to do a short recovery ride and get ready for SMT 8 on Saturday to ride at Tanasi with the Catecay Bike Shop group. The ride was out Mulberry Gap Rd -> Shakerag Rd -> FS90 - Pinhoti 2 -> Mulberry Gap Rd. When I got to FS90, I noticed that I could take FS68 up to Bear Creek overlook. From what I had heard, it is an overlook where you can see all the Cohutta mountains. I went for it. It was a 5 mile grinder but well worth the the climb. From there, I took the Bear Creek Loop trail which was a super fast single track along side a creek. At the bottom, I could climb up Pinhoti 1 for about 2 miles then another 2 miles of a fast downhill single track back to FS90 from where I could jump back to the original route of Pihoti 2. It turned out to be the best ride I have had at Ellijay. It was only 25 miles but well worth. Most of the climbing was on FS68 so it was a bit easier then climbing on single track with tons of tight technical switchback. That was the case on my previous day ride on P3 and P4.

I didn't feel like I was super tired at the end of the day and I was done by 2pm. Plenty of time to rest for the next big day at Tanasi. I call back home to get some bad news. A family matter brewing in the horizon that needed my attention. It was then when I decided to pack things up and start driving home. I pulled into my driveway at 1am in the morning.

I am now home safely but wishing I had more time around the Ellijay area to go ride Tanasi and Bull Mountain as I had originally planned. Next trip for sure.

I will post all the pictures soon.

Pics

Sorry about the pictures. I am using the email blog update and they
are not showing up. I'll fix them when I get home and post the rest of
them.

SMT Day 6: I AM TIRED!!!!

Day 6 was an epic type of ride for sure. It was supposed to be a 35 mile ride from Mulberry Gap to the Pinhoti 3, over Hwy 52, Pinhoti 4, some ATV trail and over to Ft. Mountain and back. I made it but the climbs nearly kill me. The elevation goes from about 1900 ft up to close to 3000. The route there goes up an down at least two times. Multiply that by two (the way back) an you have a ton a climbing. I have been riding Georgia hills for six days straight. I feel my legs screaming now. I may have to cut the tour one day short. I must have taken a bad or atv trail. In one particular section was pretty much streight down and very rough. There was no way to ride it on the way back. It took me nearly an hour to walk my bike up two miles. Picture below is a typical Pinhoti switchback. I saw these all day. Very tight and you can't over shoot these on downhills or you will roll down the side of the mountain. I had two close calls. The highlight of today was my first black bear sighting. That was scary because the bear took off downhill in the direction I was going while doing switchbacks. I had to scream and sing the whole way down so the bear would go a different route.



While I didn't get a picture of the bear, I did get a picture of this little fellow. He battle me for the trail and he won.

SMT Day 4: In the books

Day four of my tour came to a conclusion with a nice surprise. After my class I had time to burn before getting back to hotel. Since Conyers Olympic MTB park was within 45 minutes I went for a little TNR. I managed two full laps of the 8-9 mile course. It is challenging with steep climbs and downhills. The climb on the picture below is a streight up climb of over 60 yards. You are seeing the top half. I made half of it on the first lap and about 75% of the second lap. My Florida lungs and legs just didn't have enough. Is the same course used in the 1996 olympics so it us a well designed and difficult. More pics on my Facebook page.