The shirts are in!

Appalachian Pride is the new black.

Poker Derby Version 5.0

Appalachian Mountain Bike Club Poker Derby; Version 5.0
Sponsored by: Yazoo Brewery, the local bikeshops and Gearheads Adventure Sports Consignment

Saturday, March 21st 2009
Start: High Noon
meet at old Bi-Lo in Bearden (trailhead of Third Creek Greenway)
Finish: 5:00pm (cut-off)


Poker rules apply, play your 5 best cards.

7 Checkpoints Although, you should be warned that the start will have a twist.
Riders can get any or all checkpoints(there is a bonus for getting all.)
-Bike Zoo; 4445 Kingston Pike
-Cedar Bluff Cycles; 9282 Kingston Pike
-Harpers Bikeshop; 118 Northshore
-Fountain City Pedaler; 4620 Old Broadway
-River Sports Outfitters; 2918 Sutherland Avenue
-Tennessee Valley Bikeshop; 206 West Magnolia Ave
-West Bicycles; 11531 Kingston Pike
First rider to each checkpoint wins a bonus card.
Bonus card at finish for completing all 7 checkpoints.

Ride is free
Fully stocked checkpoints.
Prizes at the finish.
Buy a t-shirt at the ride, to support the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club

Announcing an after-party at Union Jacks, featuring Yazoo Brew beers!

Shred-passion

Raccoon Mountain



I woke up Sunday to a blanket of snow, and almost gave up on the ride. I fielded a few phone calls, and the word on the street was that the precipitation missed Chattanooga, so we made the drive.

Me, Brian, Eric and my furry friend Hank; met a large group from Knoxville in the lot at Raccoon Mountain. I was pleased to find a keg in the back of Doug Parkers car, so I filled a cup and suited up. We left the lot going clockwise, and immediately started with a fast, fun and long descent.

The group was about twenty plus riders. It was cool watching the train of riders sweep and corner through the woods.

Eric, Brian, Hank and I made a stop to repair a minor issue on Eric’s bike, when he was digging through his pack and found a surprise bottle of Bourbon. Score! The sun was shining bright, and all was well in woods. We began to work our way over to Chunky trails (freeride trail.) We spent the next few hours jumping rocks and playing on those trails; before a persistent need for ribs broke us down. So we stumbled out of the woods and headed for Sugars Ribs, where we found the rest of the Knoxville crew enjoying a southern cultural experience. Cheers!

Eric is the big spoon

Historical Photos of Knoxville

I was recently sent a book in the mail, asking me to read and review for my blog (honored.) I guess they thought my opinions matter in the eyes of my readers, and thats assuming any of you even read beyond the pictures. And if you fall into the latter category, like myself, you will enjoy this book of pictures about Knoxville's history. Historic Photos of Knoxville

AMBC T-shirt Update

I re-worked the logo on the back of the shirt, and finalized the order today. They should be here in about 10 days.
I can ship shirts to the hommies in Nashville, TN; Asheville, NC; Louisville, KY; Chattanooga,TN; Bend, OR; Albany, NY; or anywhere else. Or better yet, come on down for the Derby and try to win one.
If you absolutely can't make it; email me for your order: tgaines72 at hotmail dot com

Point-and-Shoot

Here's a few past perfect pictures from my point-and-shoot-machine. I've been looking through old pics lately, and came across these beauties of Knoxville. enjoy.









view from Fall at Tsali, NC looking north at Smoky Mountains

5 Check-Points Announced for Royal Flush

5 check-points that you can hit in any order:
-Bike Zoo (no bonus card here, due to their proximity to start)
-Cedar Bluff Cycles
-Fountain City Pedaler
-Harpers
-Tennessee Valley Bikes


Also, there will be two bonus check points, which are only valid if you get all 5 check points. You can get these in any order, but you have to get all 5 checkpoints to count the bonus card. The rest of your hand would still count, but bonus cards will have a different back to them, so we will know to discard that one if you didn't make every checkpoint.
-West Bicycles
-(not announced yet)

AMBC Poker Derby update

The AMBC Poker Derby has picked up a new sponsor, Yazoo Brewery. We are working out the details for an after-party!

And the new T-shirt design is looking sweet! I am having them made on high quality pima-cotton, dusty-blue shirts.

Royal Flush Poker Derby

The first Saturday in Spring.

5 check points. 5 hour time limt.
Route can be ridden mostly on Knoxville greenways or side streets.
Faster riders will have an opportunity to hit 2 additional checkpoints for bonus cards.
Also, there will be a 1 card bonus to the first rider at each check-point.
You can play what ever cards you have; i.e. if you hit two checkpoints and get two aces, you don't need to get any other checkpoints if you don't want to.
The additonal checkpoints will force you to race the clock to make it back in 5 hours.
Begin and end at the old Bi-Lo in Bearden. Mexican Restaurant is there for tacos and beers!

Bring money for the new AMBC T-shirts and stickers. All proceeds to benefit AMBC's tool fund.

My Life in Photos

Still Life from a Restless Soul

PHOTOG

I love this picture, not only is her expression beautifully contemplative, the color is amazing.


Blue sky cycling under the brain of Knoxville.


Macie


Hankenstien




I took these pics a few years ago, and came across them recently; on a day about the same, melting snow on a blue bird day.




As I was feeding her prunes I couldn't help but laugh (or rather crack up), she looked back at me with an expression that asked "what's funny?"



Peace out.

Fiendishly Difficult: TMHTE 2009

Valiance in the melting snow

Pisgah Natioanl Forest is an unforgiving playground. Nothing is easy about riding in these mountains. But the reward is huge. As some say, "There's gold in them thar hills."
The crowning race of these woods goes by the name "The Most Horrible Thing Ever." A 36-hour mountain bike race; wich requires navigating 100+ miles of trail, starting at midnight; Friday. The potentail for disaster is near 100%. Racers are guaranteed to break down several times over the weekend.
In my strongest hours, this race was beyond the scope of my interest and fitness. Right now, I am trying to build on some fitness to complete an 7-8 hour version of this race in Spring, and I am a ways off.

Race report: Shawn was blown up, Jon was in the tent hoping someone would come spoon him, to help keep warm.


Jon and Shawn set out to race this thing, and lucked out on weather, with a warm February weekend. Brian, Eric and myself made the trip down to Pisgah for a big ride (small in comparison) and to hang out and check on the race reports.
We did a fun ride from Cove Creek Campground (race central): -> Daniels Ridge-> Cat Gap-> Long Branch-> Cove Creek-> back to the cooler-> Cat Gap-> Long Branch -> more cooler and campfire.
Jon and Shawn showed up at the race headquarters, completing the third stage. It was getting dark, and the temperatures had dropped quickly from the sunny 60 degree high. They were in first place, but Jon had gotten very cold and would have to take a rest and try to warm-up. I'll look forward to hearing the results of the finish.
That's my race report. Here's some pics.

EDIT: word on the streets is they finished second! word. Thats huge = Respect. 8:15pm 2-8-09

The Road to Recovery Starts Here:

Eric and I are signed up.


Past PMBAR:
2007
2008