Beer. The other White Harvest.

3-weeks to bottle-condition.

Brews Cruise tentataivly scheduled for Tuesday, July 17th, a pre-Mt. Mitchell warm-up. The ride will start and end on my back porch with refreshing India Pale Ale at the finish.

Knoxville Music

i have been enjoying Knoxville music lately. This photo struck me.

Image taken from Busternut

Bikes, Bands, Beer, Buttercup Alley Cat Race

Closer to the Sun

I never knew I was getting burnt by the sun. The cool mountain air and breeze kept me comfortable all day while my skin was roasting.
We spent most the day hiking around the balds of Roan Mountain. Almost Heaven.
We stopped in Jonesborough, the oldest town in TN, for dinner on the way back.

High Gravity

Like robbing a bank, we left town in a bang, heading south for Raccoon Mountain. Hot as hell, and sweltering in the woods, we burned it up.
The trails were impressive and an absolute blast to ride. Stunning views delivered with a punch while hard-hitting and ripping trails unfolded around every bend. Exposed bluff lines and spine-like rock gardens kept you honest while fast banked turns made you feel like a rock-star. But of course the keg we brought along helped with that too.

Raccoon Mountain

Fire Up the Grill and Ice Down the Beer.

The Heinous Loop

The heinously early start to the day got us rolling into Townsend before the smoke of the Smokies had burnt off. The cool start to the morning quickly gave way to blistering heat and muggy humid air. We made a quick spin up River Road to the Foothills Parkway to start the ride. 11 miles up to Look Rock and I was pouring sweat in the first 3. I was well aware this would be a long day and a big ride. And chasing some of Knoxville's most accomplished endurance riders up the Parkway was a humbling experience at the beginning of a long ride.
Crossing over the top of the world and down onto 129, we moved headlong into the tail of the dragon. We followed the curviest road in America to the state line.
We turned into the woods on Parsons Branch, and climbed along the running creek on un-maintained mountain service roads. The long ascent over the ridge gave way to fast run through the mountains dropping into Cades Cove. From peaceful mountain outdoor adventure to the circus of vacationers with lawn chairs in the truck beds driving 5 mph through the once pristine cove. I turned into an alley cat racer, passing cars in tight narrow roads dodging parked cars in the middle of the road because of families taking pictures of squirrels or whatever wildlife they could scare up. We sprinted around the loop to the final climb up Rich Mountain. I felt good considering the length of the trek, and made the push to the top in a quick hour. The final descent was a burner. We finished in less than 5 hours of ride time, 64 miles.

Forgive Me, I'm a Ryder.

I had the hall pass and if you were trying to reach me on Sunday, "I'm gone riding." But the plan fell through when some weak soldiers dropped out.
So the search began and I found a pack of mountain bike warriors, and I hooked up on a great tour of Norris. The ride was a blast, like Jimmy Buffet, we got caught in the rain. The summer down-pour was enough to cool us, but not to stop us, so we moved on killing singletrack in the battle of Summer Sunday, which was won in every turn of the crank. Gloriously sloppy and glad to be back on the bike; killing it.