Elements of a ride

To journey on a bike is reminiscent of being a child, wandering through south Nashville suburbs. As an adolescent peddler, we found trails, rivers, forest and urban-blocks with video games and soda's.
Not much has changed today, except that; at times I have to drive to get to my pre-determined destination, where I will then get out and change my clothes and hop on the bike. Suffice to say, I prefer to pedal from the house, with no real destination in mind. And, its even better when I can hit some trails along the way.
The last few nights, I've done just that. With somewhere around 600-forested-acres south of the river, there's a few trails etched out across the rocky terrain. Last night we rode from Bearden, through downtown and back onto the greenway at Island Homes neighborhood. From there, we pedaled through Ijams Nature Preserve and into Meade's Quarry, where we climbed to the top of the ridge. The views were inspiring and the descent was "Pisgah-esque."
The Forks of the River/ Eastern States was the next portion of the loop, made-up of big-ridge singletrack, logging-roads and greenway, its a pedaling paradise.
As the sun disappeared from view, the sky darkened as we rolled under the city-lights of downtown, and onto the porch of the busy Downtown Grill and Brewery. Pizza and beer was exactly the fuel I needed to make the final push through Third Creek greenway and back to Bearden.

My Beer Comes From the Man Hut

Sunday is brew day. I woke up early and headed out on my road bike through downtown and out to Sevier County. Found some cool roads and revisited the natural spring on Porterfield Gap. Tarklin Valley was the highlight as I rolled between the ridges of Bays Mountain. Came home with almost 5 hours of riding, played with the dog and started right into brewing (after cleaning up thoroughly.)

One Bright Morning

Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell

I woke up early and strapped on my fancy new Puerto Rican prom shoes. Hopped on my road bike and rolled out to meet a few guys for a long ride in Appalachia. I haven't ridden my road bike lately, in fact I haven't ridden much at all lately, but I had a great ride today. Starting in Bearden, we headed through downtown and out past the Forks of the River and into rural Sevier county. We stopped in Seymor at a natural spring and filled our water bottles before we continued into the city limits of Pigeon Forge, far removed from the outlet malls and airbrush t-shirts, it was more like something out of the Heartland Series. Old farm roads and mountain backcountry led us to the far point of the ride in Walland.
I was late for lunch plans with my wife and family, so I sprinted back into civilization on a hot summer day. Pushing through the wall to make it back, I battled cramps that were reminiscent of Mt. Mitchell. It just doesn’t feel like a ride unless it hurts. The sun beat down on the miracle mile, as if it were my last. It nearly took all I had to give to finish.

Double Dog

Green air has kept me inside lately, which has given me the chance to brew some great beers, and an excuse to drink some great beers. Bad air raises concerns, which allows me to prove a point that we can all make progress towards saving the world by drinking local beer. Small victories are won, when the old ways are embraced. Brewing has tradionaly been a household chore of the women, but in todays world where it takes two incomes to get by, men have embraced the culinary arts. Zymurgy is the art of fermentation, and home brewing using recycled bottles reduces the energy used to transport beers around the world as well as provides a fresher and better quality beer.

Dupont State Forest

Dog Days of Summer