Food Not Bombs: Alley Cat Race

I rolled to the start and raced it solo, but ended up riding with the bikeshop manager/owner of Tennessee Valley Bikes. We knocked out all 4 checkpoints/ 15 miles in about 48-49 minutes. Traffic/pedestrians/downtown concert and everything. I had a blast making race moves in traffic. I came in 3rd, met a bunch of cool people and planned a bike trip to Nashville. Leaving afterwork today, riding from Knoxville to Nashville carrying a Bob trailer packed with a tent and sleeping bag, etc. I have wanted to ride this route for a while now.

The Legend of Kentucky Jeff / a.k.a. KY Jeff

Who shows up drunk for a bike ride, honking and skidding in the gravel? Gets out of the truck with music blaring; yelling obscenities? Kentucky Jeff, that's who. Who takes off into the woods yelling "I feel a major crash coming on." Then gets lost at every turn, and knocks themselves out by hitting a tree? Laying there unconscious, a stranger wakes him and ask if he knows his name: "I'm Kentucky Jeff!"
KY Jeff made it back to the lot for hot dogs and tall-boys. Spits his teeth in his hands and takes a bite! You can see him thinking, I just wish I could be known as "California Jeff."


Haw Ridge; I've had several great rides here latley. Wednesday night weenie ride, early Saturday Morning and Memorial Day afternoon weenie ride.


TN Tom; yours truly


Telico Lake


Impending sunset on the lake

Saturday

Norris-> up Highpoint->down Longmire->up Freeway->down Ridgecrest->up Eagle->Observation Point->down to mile marker 8->city Loop->Spooky->Eagle->up Highpoint->down Freeway->out


Me and Eric ran the dogs into the dirt, and nearly left myself in the dirt of the last climb on the singlespeed.


Our nephew sent us this in the mail, Erin is due July 6th. She had a baby shower today with her friends from work.


Farmer Ramsbottom's wedding

Future Hall-of-Famer

I traveled back to the city where I grew up and started riding bikes, this week. And it brought back some memories. (Although I have made several trips Nashvegas lately.)
It all started in the woods and hills around my South Nashville neighborhood, building trails and sweet jumps. As a kid I knew the woods around my neighborhood like the back of my hand. We traveled by bike all over Brentwood, and rode into town (via trails, neighborhood roads and sidewalks) for the first of many epic journeys.

Later in life, I remember re-discovering the joy of riding bikes, thanks to the advent of mountain bikes. In the early 90's I acquired my first mountain bike, a shiny new Specialized Rock Hopper. I remember riding the trails of Percy Warner Park (that I helped build on the SWAT team {Summer Warner Action Team.}) In my older teen years, the hills of West Nashville became my new stomping ground. At this time, the long climb to the top was best done in a truck with bikes loaded in the back. We would hang out at the top and catch a buzz, before bombing down the hill.
I'm proud to look back on my history of rides, and realize I am the same as I ever was. Still kicking it in the woods, still riding hard and enjoying the good life by bicycle. I hope that the next generation of Gaines will discover this pleasure, regardless, I am sure the adventurous spirit will be passed along.

Percy Warner Park: Dripping Springs (Deep Well) on Mossy Ridge Trail


View along my Knoxville urban assualt ride

Breaking Away

PMBAD
Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Derby
Team Gaines/Nelson finished 8:20 (8:00am to 4:20pm) 25th place of 76
We beat last years time by 3:00 hours.

We nabbed 4 check points: Turkey Pen, Laurel Creek, Cantrell Creek, Club Gap-> Beer!
After riding most the day with Drew and Forrest's team, we broke away heading up to Black Mountain and finished in a heated race down the mountain.

Freight-hopper

On my way through Tennessee's oldest town, Jonesborough, I stopped into the Depot Street Brewery for a tour. I caught the brewer before he headed out, on a beautiful day, to go ride his mountain bike. The small brewery serves a very local region. I sampled what he had on draft, and I was impressed with his beers. I brought home a sixer of his Southbound Scottish Ale, which was surprisingly light in body for a strong ale. This beer is going in my cooler and heading for Pisgah Forest.
I had celebrated the first Saturday in May with the thoroughbreds for 7 years, before coming to East Tennesse and beginning a new tradition of suffering like a Thoroughbred. The usual suspects are are heading for the mountains of Western North Carolina to ride in the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race.

Also, good luck to those heading to the hills of Tennessee for the 12 hours of Dirt Sweat and Gears. There is alot of bike racing going down this weekend, and I'm fired up!

Insert in cooler and head for the mountains:

When I made it back to Knoxville-town, there was a package waiting on me, containing some hop rhizomes. Erin and I are getting our garden together, and this year we will be growing some hops.


The Double Pale Ale I brewed has turned out great. Wednesdays are happy hour at the The Back of My Car Bar, found at your local trailhead.

This reminds me of a funny story: My wife, Erin, was telling some people at work about last weekends bike race and how we drank copius amounts of beer. Her co-workers asked "is that what they do when they ride their bikes?" To which my lovely wife had a wealth of hilarious stories from beer-dinking-bike-rides to tell them. So when her boss was leaving the school with screaming kids, she looked over at Erin and said "I need to go for a bike ride."
Now when they want to get a drink, they refer to it as "going for a ride."
Cheers!

Devils Backbone

Sunday
The Devils Backbone trail
This trail is in the Cherokee National Forest, and is mostly ridden by the local river rats.
We stopped into Hartford, a river town along the Pigeon River of rafting guide companies. We hooked up a shuttle; by heading back onto I-40 to the Wilton Springs / Cosby exit and headed east on 73 about a mile, then hang right on Sweetwater Rd, then another right on Crum Hollow (Halls Top Rd.) which eventually turns into a gravel road and goes all the way to the top of Stone Mountain (Hall Top Mountain). There is a fire tower at the top. The singletrack is marked by a can of Spam. The top part is scrappy, rocky and leads through Rhododendron tunnels. There is a knob at the top of the first climb which has a 360 degree view, seen through the trees. This trail eventually comes out on a forest service road; head downhill through one switchback and keep an eye to the right, where the singletrack picks back up. The next section has steeps and jumps. Its a blast! The trail ends in the town of Hartford.




Our trustworthy guide: