Sunday, August 1, 2010

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.

 Monster Truck

Jack Rabbit.

 Jackrabbit Sign

TNGA pioneers - Norma, Johnny, Travis and Russell.

 Norma Johnny Travis Russell

SGC and Sorella friends - Clark and Suzy.

 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...

 Lake Chatuge

Brush at the lake shore.

 Brush By the Lake

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.

 View From High Point

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

 Norma at SABA Beach

Norma made a friend.

 Bug on Norma

There's a covered bridge out there too.

 Covered Bridge

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.

 Rainbow

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

4 comments:

  1. The rolling junk show saga continues! Great to see you and to meet Travis and Russell. We rolled back over the mountains to Helen to have lunch at La Cabana so we could enjoy a post ride beer, since Towns County doesn't allow that sort of thing on Sunday.

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  2. Oh yeah, good old rolling junk show. Hahaha, no beer on Sunday. With such a fun bike trail nearby, don't they realize how much revenue they're losing?

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  3. So, are you saying that you didn't capture my rail-fest exhibition...AWW'A!

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  4. I know, it would have been impressive. Don't worry, there will be other opportunities.

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