TRAIL DIRT

By Michael Walsh

December 2001

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.

Oh the joy of a new bike under the tree or even new components. As the holiday approaches, the dreams of another wheeled joy fill the nights and the days. Upgrading the steed can be distracting during a ride, derailleurs, chainrings, stems, hubs, gadgets and widgets dance in the shadows of a daydream. Rocks and logs loom in the path of reality. Then BAM the daydream is broken and the rock introduces itself along with the newly fallen leaves that were hiding it. Maybe Santa will bring a new brake lever instead.

A bike for a different purpose is a good reason for a new toy. Sure, it would be simpler to have a multi-purpose bike, but it would never excel at any one type of ride. Should a racing bike be used for commuting on the street or a downhill rig be used as a city park cruiser. Cross country riding and free riding? A cyclist should have at least two different bikes — at a minimum one street and one dirt. Each type of riding helps the other. Endurance, strength, technique, are some shared experiences. Just as riding in a group has an advantage over riding alone, so do different types of bikes. So leave plenty of room under the tree for Ole St. Nick to park that new singlespeed. Or even involve your significant other in your desire. If not a second bike, how about a bicycle built for two? Kids of all ages love to ride. The more riders we have the better our community will be. That could be a Christmas wish.

Hopefully, the Chattanooga Urban Area Bicycle Facilities Master Plan achieves their goal of an improved region for bicycles. Pathways could link communities. Schools and stores and churches will have parking for bikes. Rural roads will have larger shoulders for bike lanes. Mountain bike trails will be more common and designed better. A better-designed trail will require less maintenance. Cycling events will become more popular in the region, which could be a boost for the economy. The old abandoned railroads will become bike paths linking communities. Bill Allen, of the Regional Planning Agency, 757-5216, has more information on this.

Hopefully, the Hiwassee River will be home to one of the best Rails-To-Trails site. We are still waiting on CSX RR, Cherokee National Forest, Polk County, and McMinn County to come to an agreement on the future of the rail. I hope for a trail.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS -- NEW TRAILS AT THE WHITEWATER CENTER!

Yeah!

Seven more miles are in a loop connecting the Chestnut Loop to the FS 45. Some stuff just can’t fit under one tree, but under thousands of them. Oh life is great! However, there is some maintenance still needed out there. We have plenty of good volunteers in the club, so we can get this trail and the others in shape for the festival. Yes, another festival! This one will be on April 12-14. April 14th will be the race. The Chattanooga Bicycle Club and Kenny Allen will coordinate the Annual Spring Festival with the Annual Tanasi Challenge Race. We look forward to a great weekend. Bikers and racers can enjoy the trails and festivities on Friday and Saturday and then the bikers can watch the racers challenge themselves to one of the first races of the season. I hope to have as much fun as we had back in October for the Ocoee / Tanasi Mountain Bike Festival. The White Water Center is a beautiful place in of itself and the trails system is growing to meet the needs of the area cyclists. 44 miles are planned and we are about half way there. So I call on all of our volunteers to come help get the trails ready.

The wonderful volunteers of the CBC have been out working on the trails at Chilhowee and connected the Benton Falls trail to the Slickrock trail. It’s partially on an old overgrown Forest Service Rd with some fun singletrack. It’ll be a great addition to the system. Its seems as though the Clear Creek trail is open. No signs are out on the trail and the logging appears to be over. There is no blockage of the trails and its still as fun and challenging as it has ever been.

Other new trails in the area are at Booker T. Washington State Park and in Cleveland at the BMX track. Contact Owens Cyclery and Scott’s Bicycle Centre, respectively. Lula Lake Land Trust has oodles of fun trails. Their website or Bill Chipley will have more information.

So with the holidays upon us and cycling near and dear to our hearts, lets all have a fun-filled time and be safe doing it. We should all get helmets for Christmas.

Enjoy

Mike

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