Jack Rabbit

I hadn't planned on doing ANY riding this weekend, but there was a crew getting together up at Jack Rabbit. I haven't ridden there. I've got a race there later this year. Travis was driving. Lots of cool folks. Yadda, yadda, I went riding.

In Helen, they apparently have a monster truck ride now. You just go around a track that I could drive in my own truck, but seriously, next time I'm up there, I'm riding in it.



Jack Rabbit.



TNGA pioneers - Norma, Johnny, Travis and Russell.



SGC and Sorella friends - Clark and Suzy.



Lots of cool folks. There were a couple of folks I didn't know too. Always cool to meet new folks.

Jack Rabbit is on this little peninsula sticking out into Lake Chatuge.

Lake Chatuge...



Brush at the lake shore.



It's been really, really hot lately, but this morning it was actually still cool. The trail was tacky. Perfect conditions. We rolled and rolled. No hammering. Ahhh. Jack Rabbit has a central loop (I think it's actually called "Central Loop") with loops off of that and some of those have loops off of them. Easy to find your way around, and there are like 15 miles of trails out there. IMBA trails. Reminiscent of FATS. Twisty, turny, fun and flowy. Not much climbing though and most of that is the undulating. Only one trail, High Point, has any steep climbing... and a nice view.



There's also this trail that leads out to a sandy beach. SABA Beach...



Norma made a friend.



There's a covered bridge out there too.



The first lap was a no-drop, hang-out-at-the-intersections-and-let-everybody-catch-up-ride. We never had to wait more than a minute or two though. The group was pretty well matched.

At some point, the braking surface broke off of one of my rear brake pads. I no longer had a usable rear brake. Good I still had a front brake.

Me, Travis, Russell, Norma and Johnny went out for a second lap. We spun around the central loop, then hit the outside loops again. That lap was a little faster and extra challenging with no back brake, especially since it was getting hot and the trail was getting really dry. My front wheel kept wanting to plow. Sketchy.

Whoever built the berms at Jack Rabbit needs to go back to trail school too. If you actually use them, they throw you completely off the trail. I didn't see a single one that put you where you needed to be. Also sketchy.

I bought a helmet cam a month ago and tried it out today. I got about an hour of footage, mostly aimed of the ground.

On the way home we drove through rain and rain and rain. And a rainbow.



Good trail. The singletrack does get a little anonymous, but it'll be a good race trail.