Alpharetta Greenway

After riding with Sophie yesterday, I felt decent enough last night to attempt something a little more challenging today. My plan was to sleep in until 10 or 11, then head up to the mountains, take it easy, but get in some good climbing miles.

That was the plan.

But, this morning I woke to loud and prolonged thunder that reverberated like an explosion on the ground. It sounded so close that I even looked outside to see what was going on. Rain. That's what was going on. The radar looked terrible too. The mountains were under attack and looked like they'd continue to be for quite some time. I felt bad for the TNGA riders, but just the same, I wished I was one of them.

Instead, Iz and I took a ride on the Alpharetta Greenway. Close enough, right?

Well, it was an Adventure. Just past Mansell the trail was flooded, knee deep. We ended up taking the road over to Kimball Bridge and getting back on, but north of that it was flooded again.

And again.

Though less so than at Mansell.

Iz rode through that second one too fast, got her feet wet, got grossed out, you know, because water is gross, and decided to turn back.

On the way back, we'd hoped to find an easier way around the deluge at Mansell, so we stuck to the trail, rather than taking the road. Unfortunately the only options were through private property, and I'm not real big on trespassing.

Fortunately, we rode through a dozen or more little flooded sections, Iz kept getting splashed, gave up on staying dry, and didn't mind crossing the flood when we got to it.

Getting wet is funny. It sucks horribly when you're trying to stay dry, but once you accept being wet, it's amazing how not-a-big-deal it is compared to how big of a deal it was before accepting it. Of course, that assumes you're wearing the right clothes. Anything tight is good... Bathing suits, bike clothes, running tights, barefoot shoes, cycling shoes... All good. Anything loose is horrible... Boxers, tee shirts, tube socks, tennis shoes, pants of any kind...

I suggested we take our shoes and socks off, walk through the water, then put them back on, like we do in the woods. She didn't care about getting wet at that point but she insisted that I get my shoes wet too, which I guess was her idea of fair.

Did I mention that it was fairly deep? It was fairly deep.

So, it was a bit more of an Adventure than I expected to have in the middle of the city. Aside from being traumatized momentarily, Iz seemed to have an OK time. She definitely liked how fast we could go. We usually ride with Sophie, and though Sophie isn't terribly slow, Iz is way faster.

They're roughly equally fast and skilled hiking, but I might have to try to ride with them individually more often. For now at least, they do seem to get more out of it when it's just the two of us, than all three.