This is a blog about our travels, whether vacation or missions. We have been asked to share our experiences on our travels. This is our response to our friends questions.
Did another ride today, all on single track on Stinky Trails in Peachtree City. Tried to get in as many miles in 2 hours time by taking a steady pace, and I was able to do that...a steady pace that is. Did just under 15 miles, which is a good ride for me. Definitely got the heart rate up which is what I needed. Beautiful afternoon in Peachtree City and on the trails...
Entrance into Stinky Trails
Just a nice shot!
Stinky Trails
Stinky Trails
Saw a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while on the trails, John and Kevin. They were taking advantage of the great weather. As you may see on a couple of the pictures, fall is here in the Atlanta area. The more used trails are easy to see, its when I get on the less used trails that the leaves are doing a great job on the cover up.
The next training ride is Saturday where Josiah, myself and possibly Dan will be doing a road ride around Senoia and Sharpsburg, hopefully getting in about 30 miles. This will be a good gage to see how well we are going to do. This road ride will have a few more hills to conquer, but still a good gage.
A special event marked the beginning of our ride. Last January, an owl was found severely injured on Highway 74 next to the Stinky Trails. One of the local mountain bikers found him and through a series of events, he ended up in Auburn University to be treated and rehabbed. This was done through the efforts and donations of the local mountain biking community, a great group of people that ride the Stinky Trails in Peachtree City.
The folks at Auburn, AL that treated Hooter
This evening, before Dan and I started our training ride, we were able to witness the release of "Hooter." He has been fully rehabbed! They took him into the woods along Stinky Trails and released him there. What was funny is that all of us had our cameras waiting to take a picture of Hooter coming out of the crate. They opened the top of the crate and that bird took off! None of us got any pictures of Hooter leaving the crate, we just got a picture of the crate (LOL!), but at least he is in the wild again.
Hooter is in the crate, but not for long!
Afterwards, Dan and I did a short ride. We meant to go longer, but due to some gearing problems, but mainly due to dying batteries on our lights, we had to turn around about midway and finish the ride, doing only about 7 1/2 miles. I wasn't too upset. I was getting cold as temperatures had dropped well into the 40s (it felt colder), but way too cold for Georgia this time of year.
My faithful steed
A clear and crisp evening in Peachtree City
On another note, we did a fundraiser this past Saturday evening at Crosspoint Community Church in Peachtree City to raise money for Rides for Redemption, the organization for which we are doing this ride at the end of next week. Not sure how much money was raised last night, but if anyone is interest ed in either donating to Rides for Redemption or participating in any of the rides, please check out the link. To remind everyone, the ride we are doing at the end of next week, the entire Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trails, is to raise money and awareness for the refugees fleeing from ISIS.
I know its been a little over a month since my wife and I rode the Katy Trail in Missouri, but I finally got the video of our trip put together. We had a lot more still pictures, but when I upgraded my iPhone 4S to iOS8, it rendered my phone unuseable. I was able to revert to iOS7.1.2, which is good except when I did, it trashed all my still shots. Yes, was a bit upset, but nothing I could do about it. Anyway, I think the video still turned out pretty good...
Yesterday evening, myself, Dan and a cool dude who I haven't ridden with in a while rode a combination of singletrack and cart paths in Peachtree City. We started out on Stinky Trails, a really good set of singletrack on the south end of Peachtree City. We started right when it was dusk, which is really my favorite time to ride, just when you need your lights on but there's enough light in the sky to let you know what is around you. But that didn't take long to change, soon enough we were riding in pure night.
After a few miles of singletrack, we got on the Peachtree City cart paths. Not too many people out, although we did go by Schrader's Graveyard, unfortunately too dark to take any pictures, but let me tell you, the fog machine and lighting really made for a good display! We also rode past a group of riders, good to see more bikers getting out there at night. One thing I like about night riding is that your senses are definitely set on HIGH. I also like how even though I have ridden these trails many times, night riding changes them into a new set of trails to ride, pretty cool!
We did a little over 18 miles last night. This next week will be difficult to train as I will be on midnight shifts meaning I will only be able to ride at night, AND I will be dead tired, but I got to get out there and ride!
Josiah and I did, what was suppose to be a 20 to 25 mile training ride, however, through a series of events, we did a little over 13 miles. Beautiful day in Peachtree City, Georgia, temps in the 70s, a few clouds in the sky, perfect for riding.
Josiah (red shirt) and me being cheesy before the ride
The last ride Josiah and I did he was having brake problems, and we were going to work on them before this ride, but SQUIRREL! We started our ride and he said "uh oh, I have no back brake." Well this is kind of important since there were two long downhills coming up. We stopped, work on his brakes, tightened them up on his, ummm, 40 pound monster. Yes, he is in the market for a new bike and would like to get one before the Silver Comet/Chief Ladiga Ride in a little over 2 weeks.
After some repair work, and knowing we had a time limit, I decided I was going to put my bike in a high gear and just pump it as much as I could. It was working pretty good until I got to Hell Hill. Its not really steep, it's just long...and steep. However the payoff is great with 2 good long downhills. Unfortunately when you ride in the late afternoon/early evenings, there are a lot of folks out walking their dogs and driving their golf carts. Don't get me wrong, the people are really nice out there and say hello. Even when crossing the few roads we have to cross, the motorists, for the most part, will stop and let you cross.
Josiah rounding the top of Hell Hill
We continued on the trail, taking advantage of photo opportunities. Didn't see too many deer, which we see a lot of on the morning rides. One of the cool things we like about the Peachtree City golf cart paths are the many tunnels we go through. Check these out...
Josiah pondering
In Peachtree City there are many ponds, so we decided to be cheesy and take a few pictures...
Josiah's cheesiness
Me being cheesy
one of the ponds in Peachtree City
Me pondering
Last time we were riding we came across the cemetery scene that a family made for Halloween. The only way to know it is there is to ride the cart paths. We saw it this afternoon and the guy that built it was out there, so we talked to him a little. He said that he and his family started this years ago and kept adding to it. He said that each night, his family dresses up and scares people walking by. He said had a fog machine and lights that make it very cool. They also have a large plastic tote in front of the fence for people to donate food to charity, such as the food pantry. He said this year people have donated more food than in any year previous. I asked him where he was sending the food and he told me that he will divide up between churches and food pantrys. Check out the video of his display...
It was a good ride, and even only doing a little over 13 miles, we both pumped it in high gear and took time to enjoy the trails. Next training ride will be another night ride coming up Thursday.
Yesterday evening, Dan and I did a little night time training on Stinky Trails. The weather was perfect...well maybe a bit cool, but once we started riding, it was perfect.
This also happened to be the inaugural ride on Dan's new Specialized Epic Comp 29er. It was a beaut! My bike is a 2014 Fezzari Cascade Peak 26er, not as fast as Dan's, but it gets me where I want to go.
Our rides
Dan and me
Over the last few weeks I've been riding more on the Peachtree City cart paths doing 15 to 20 miles versus being on the single track. What I (and Dan) noticed on the single track last night is that my cardio has definitely improved. Don't get me wrong, the PTC cart paths are great riding, but my heart is definitely in the single track, and Stinky Trails in Peachtree City definitely delivers! While we wont be doing any night riding on the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trails, I do love night riding, it turns the trails into a brand new set of unknown trails. Got a little night riding video of Dan riding the trails...
Our ride was about 12.5 miles last night, but on single track that is a good ride! You can check out the other stats in the Strava window to the right. We will continue to post our latest training so keep checking back!
Training has started for my next adventure. Unfortunately Tammy will not be joining me on this one, but two awesome dudes will be joining me, Dan and Josiah. On Friday, November 14 we will be riding the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trails, returning on Sunday, November 16. This ride is actually for charity with Rides4Redemption. This organization will put together bike rides for charity to raise aid and awareness for various causes around the world. This ride I will be doing will be to raise aid for the refugees in Iraq and Syria.
On Saturday, November 1 at 6 PM we are having a fund raiser. For more information, click on this link... Rides4Redemption_Fundraiser.
Meanwhile, training has begun (check out the Strava logs to the right). Our goal for the Silver Comet/Ladiga Trail is to do a total of 159 miles in 3 days. This total mileage would have been greater, but the Cobb County section has a lot of construction going on with the trail, and so we have opted to start at the Hiram, GA trailhead. Check back for updates in our training as we get closer to our starting date! Here is a picture from a morning training ride in Peachtree City. Pictured here next to Huddleston Pond is Josiah (hopefully he will have a newer bike before the ride...this one weighs a TON!)
