Noisy night in parking lot. Ran heater on low and made van too hot to sleep comfortably. Woke to alarm to meet 9:30 meet time in Chattanooga w/ Ralph who answered my SORBA forum asking for a guide on the mtn.

Fog & drizzle driving down, same @ his house.

Forum comments advised me to accept Ralph as my guide. Somebody else said yeah, bring a lung, But Ralph answered that he would be riding his “slow” bike, the suspension one. I learned that he normally rides a single speed and is really fast. Young guy, another engineer. What is it about mtn biking that seems to attract engineers? Early on I managed to stay on his wheel. His brakes squeal which sent a caution sound of up coming downhill.

Say this about the Spot. I normally ride last just because. I watch other riders on non Turner bikes slipping & sliding occasionally over roots & rocks. I seem to nail them straight away whether I pick a better line &/ or it is the stiffness of my bike. I think it is the bike. I really like my bike. 1710 miles so far.

We loaded up his car for the drive eliminating 1 rig from a potentially crowded parking lot. We were the only rig in the lot perhaps because of current conditions & forecast for rain. Raccoon mtn is a new trail system cut in on TVA land. The TVA purpose is to store h2o for hydro electric when demand rises. Mtn is above valley (duh) Could barely see beyond the front wheel. Lookout mtn of Civil War fame is nearby, lost in the fog.

Only riders on trail. Nice ST, not much for stuff on tread except for normal roots. Today they were wet but not overly slippery, as long as they were hit @ right angle or keeping front wheel light to “float” over. Rain matted out the fall fallen oak leaves making the tread easier to find & a bit less slippery, and maybe drier. Fog so thick we both removed our riding glasses. I have a small fender on my down tube that blocks some of the stuff that gets flung off the front tire. Still I kept my eyes squinted hoping that no splatter made my eyes.

The trail system is a big loop around mtn. About the furthest point away the clouds opened up for an intense downpour. It stopped after about a min. A bunch of feet further it opened again and poured for several minutes. I know I was pretty wet: My tights, socks & shoes, & gloves. My rain coat kept my upper dry but the rain made me cold. We considered bailing if it kept up. It quit but we were still wet. Still 2 hours of pedalling for 15.50 miles & 1200′ vert. Trail is like some other eastern trails in that sometimes another trail was just a few feet away. Lots of looping playing w/ topography. All trails made by bikers. Sweet.

We stopped several times to talk about trail issues. But the stops almost ceased once we got good & wet.

Ralph and his wife are active in Chat SORBA and played big parts in bringing the trail into existence. The club has plans for over 100 miles of ST. TVA is a cooperative landlord for trail construction.

Back @ Ralph’s ( who is English) house I washed off my bike & enjoyed a shower & dry clean clothes. He made me a cup of real English tea w/ milk & sugar. Tasty.

My fork seems to stay compressed to far which concerns me. I stopped @ Scottie’s for advise but they are closed on Sat.

Diesel for $2.09/ gal near shop. Nice price to fill up to.

Weather forecast is for more rain days out. I was thinking about driving N to Big South up @ KY border, which from what I understand is a big area, but because of forecast I returned to ThunderRock XG up the Ocoee and Tanasi pronounced TA nasi. Alone again. TVA pulled the plug on the river and it is gushing by XG. Tanasi rode OK in the wet in case that’s what tomorrow brings.

Ralph designs robotic welding machines. VW is building an assembly plant outside Chat.

Wet wet wet. Van is dry & toasty.

I am thinking about modifying my appearance to resemble Arte Johnson as the dirty old man on Laugh in. That or Clint Eastwood w/ my poncho in his spaghetti westerns.

Like sitting on exercise ball again.

To all you Spokanites: keep shoveling. May you have enough beer on hand. Skiing in it, if you can get to it, is more enjoyable than mtn bike riding in the liquid state.

Another night interrupted by pounding of rain on the roof. Again, i put the rain cover on before locking myself in. Slept in hoping rain would go away. Nice thing about not having to go anywhere: I could hang in bed all day.

About 7:45 I threw off the covers and looked at rain puddles in parking lot to see if rain drops were landing in them. By now it is a fine drizzle mist.

Fixed scrambled eggs & toast & cup of cold brewed coffee. Still drizzling. Changed into riding clothes.

Truck pulls up w/ 2 bikes on back. Make contact with driver, Bruce. Looks like my kind of rider: Gray hair, wrinkles around the eyes, bifocals, & a Georgia accent. He tells me he is waiting for his buddy. Buddy shows up, John, a VP w/ Turner Broadcast. They know the trails well. I ask to glob on and they say sure.

Rode Tanasi, IMBA epic trails. Bit wet w/ mud. Most trails are machine cut and lack tread challenges. We did ride a short section of old trail that was hand made, closest I have felt to N. Idaho in a long time. Several times we stopped & solved our national problems. In all my rides I have never encountered a Republican. We rode almost the entire system on the mountain. Enjoyable & challenging ride, worth doing again.

4 guys had set up camp @ TH XG. Good to see other riders out. Washed bike off using river h2o.

As I was inside van getting ready to leave 2 more rigs pulled in. AN older guy took pictures of the back of the van. I rolled down window & engaged in conversation. They were both Olympic kayak medalists. The younger guy medaled at this course. They said that this course on the Ocoee was the most natural of all the Olympic course they have paddled. Cool.

Drove down to Cleveland to Scott’s. Purpose was to buy backup brake pads, ask for another shower, and to do laundry. At shop I met Doug, the other brother. Dave was there also. Nice guys, nice shop. No brake pads but a replacement chain & a shower is good.

Did laundry. Clean clothes & body.

Hung at a small business park X street from shop, another special kids program school.

I have a guide for Raccoon Mtn tomorrow. The ride is outside Chattanooga, TN. Forecast is for rain after 1:00. Get ride in & head N to KY border for Big South Fork Rec area.

I am meeting interesting people. The van is a great introduction to me. The number of people who have expressed their wish to do like I am doing is almost as great as the ones asking about the van and what i am doing. But they are talk. I am the one pushing the pedals. Again, I think the key is being by myself. Purely selfish but I believe that’s what makes it easy to meet new people. And people to interact w/ me. I like it.

Chilly night, cloudless, all stars.

Arrived down river @ TH for ride. A bunch of riders met like me @ the river and would be riding the trail up the mtn to join the other group that started from TH up mtn. Cold AM. Sunny day but temp @ ice degree. Hump up. Feet were not warm in neoprene socks, need to wear worn overbooties. Trails ridden were old roads but made up for in grunt & sharing w/ others. 15 miles & 1560′ vert.

I was introduced to Dave, one  of Scott’s owners. He invited me to shower @ the shop & have free lunch for a story for his web site. I took him up on his offer. What he tells will be learned later.

Drove back up river to Thunder rock XG. Again, I am by myself. Tomorrow is Tansi unless it rains too hard.

Walked up river to white water center for the kayak course. Trail along river from XG to center. Kayak course all man made and man (TVA) regulated h2o flow.

I am upriver quite aways from nearest town but still get slow internet access, I understand thanks TVA.

I learned that Spokane received a record of 61″ snow in December. Go shovel.