Georgia

Blankets Creek In Woodstock

November 18, 2005

I haven't mountain biked on the East coast since 1996 (I moved out to California at the beginning of 1997), so it's been almost a year. I miss the souteastern riding, and I couldn't wait to get to it. Blankets Creek became highly recommended by the local shop that I rented the bike from (Outspokin in Woodstock, nice folks), so I decided to see if anyone would ride with me here. After posting on the SORBA website, I found a couple of folks (Alan and Marsha) willing to be ride with me.

We started off on Mosquito Flats (the beginner trail, 1.2 miles) and moved on to the Dwelling Loop (which is the intermediate trail). The beginner trail is very short, and very flat, other than this short steep section that we went up. The Dwelling Loop is where we spent most of our time, and it's 3.7 miles. This trail had some slight elevation and plenty of obstacles such as logs, roots, and rocks. The freeride bike I rented was a pleasure over the roots and rocks, but when it came to high obstacles like the logs or the uphills, I was having problems lifting it up. This was my idea of riding. As much as there are enjoyable trails on the West Coast, I absolutely love the technical rides of the Southeast. I also miss the autumn riding where you can't see what's below the trail because it's covered in leaves. There are also obstacles like logs that are too big to be covered by leaves, and something I couldn't ride with a 40+ lb bike. :-( Due to a fall I took at the beginning of the Dwelling Loop, I separated from my guides and explored more on the easier trails to try to accustom myself to the heavy bike. I did discover the cooling thing: SORBA put together a bike skills area, complete with logs, mini A-Frames, and even a teeter-tooter (sorry, no pics of it). Because I was sore from my fall, I decided to return home before catching back up with my guides :-( I really wanted to try the advanced loop, but I think I was shaken up more than I could admit to myself. For those who are unfamilar with riding in the Southeast, there is plenty of "tight" singletrack, which means you have to squeeze between trees. I'm good at this when I have a bike that's handlebars aren't so wide, but the freeride bike's bars were WAY wide for me. A tree caught my bar's right side and introduced me to the ground while skinning my left arm a bit. Here are my trail tattoos. I did have fun thought, I would love to ride Blankets with my own bike. Ahh, maybe next time. :-)