As cyclists, we normally don’t need too big of an excuse to get out and enjoy a weekend ride. As a matter of fact, we will often make up reasons/excuses just to get out.
- “It’s been a tough week”
- “You know…we haven’t been there in awhile”
- “Do you want to ride this weekend?” (easy answer to this one…)
- “I saved money on my car insurance by switching to Geico”
When one of our riders has a birthday, it begs for a weekend epic that will be remembered. And what better excuse to get everyone together…
Who, What, When and Where?
The who…Roger…the what…his birthday…the when…yesterday…the where…Tanasi trail system next to the White Water Center (home of the river events at the 1996 Olympic Games). Roger and his wife Laurie (Life on a Bike) had spent the past week in Switzerland riding a huge 7 rides accumulating 354 miles, 40,000′ of climbing, and 29.25 hrs riding. Before they left on the trip, Laurie set up a surprise birthday ride for Roger the weekend after they returned stateside.
Tanasi Trail System
Tanasi is an incredible trail system in the Tennessee mountains. Part of its real appeal is the parking lot. At the beginning and end of every ride, you are next to the Ocoee river watching paddlers and rafters with picnic tables and grills. I can’t think of a better way to end a ride than enjoying the food and water with friends. In the picture to the left, the water is down. They release it every morning during the warm months for the water sports.
Tanasi also offers some of the best singletrack that the state of Tennessee has to offer. Brush Creek is a Tsali-esce flowing single track and Thunder Rock Express is one of the best cross country downhills in the area. They even used to have nets on the side of TRE to catch riders as they flew off the side of the mountain.
Tanasi was also a great place to put some miles on the new Fox Talas 140 RLC with the 15mm QR TA. It has a lot of different riding conditions that the Talas was built for. This made for perfect proving grounds.
The Ride
She kept it a secret through the entire trip and when they pulled into the Tanasi parking lot, Roger was greeted by around 15 of his cycling friends. What a great way to get acclimated to being home. What I didn’t know ahead of time was this ride was about to turn into a road crit full of top end racers in the woods.
Roger, with his huge base built up from unbelievable road miles in Switzerland, started the pace off hot, and didn’t slow down. To help him keep this clip going, he had Duckman (on his new sub 25 lbs. MotoLite) and Barry (who actually does ride with the front group on road crits). Pretty soon, I looked around…and it was just the four of us. I was in big trouble.
This was a hammer of a ride and by the end…I couldn’t find my lungs or my legs. Luckily, this time I brought the sub 30 lbs Ibis Mojo instead of the 38 lbs Ventana El Terremoto. The decreased rolling weight really helped when trying to keep with the racers.
Even with wearing myself out like I did…it was an incredible day with great friends on a fantasic ride. I can’t wait until the next one. Who’s birthday is next?
- If you want to see a full write up by Laurie with more pictures…visit her blog, Life on a Bike.
- If you want to see some amazing shots of their road rides in Switzerland…visit her photo blog, Life Through a Lens.