First Post and New Bike

Well, after reading everyone elses blogs, I am starting to desire to have one of my own just to help me remember (in my old age) what and where I rode a few weeks after I actually ride.

I am just coming off two weekends of riding new places. September 21st I went to Helen, Ga for Octoberfest. In addition to the numerous German beers I tried, We (Brian Moran and Tommy Watkins) rode from our rental house to the Unocoi Trail. We rode a lap of the trail and then back. The trail was in pretty good shape and a lot of fun. It is a pretty smooth trail but has a lot of elevation changes. It was a fun ride as we also decided to ride across the chatahoochie river as it was only about a foot deep at that point. I will try to post a link to the pictures later.

Last weekend I attended the Fat Tire Festival in Huntsville at Monte Sano State Park. Once again I went with Moran and Tommy and we drove up the night before and stayed in a hotel. Saturday I rode the Epic ride and it was a little more than I was expecting. Monte Sano is quite rocky and has some incredible downhills. I ended up almost finishing off my brake pads on this trip. The pace and not knowing the trails made this a pretty difficult ride. I ended up going over the handlebars twice (once I was just going too fast and hit a sharp rocky turn and the second I chose a bad line through the rocks and tried to keep riding when I should have just put a foot down). I also wrecked another time or two but nothing serious the first day. Back to the ride: I was doing ok untill we came to the last hill we had to hike up. I had been fighting off cramps in my thighs for a few miles and no one told me there was about a mile of hiking the bike up the hill (I am not used to hills that cannot be ridden). By the time I got to the top I was almost done. I did manage to finish strong on the family trail and I was happy as only about a third of the origonal group finshed with us.
The second day when they called for the Epic riders, only about 6 people joined so I wimped out and decided on the Super Sampler. I figured I would get to see some different trails also so I was not too worried about it. We actually ended up taking nearly the same route but the pace was much slower. I had my worst "wreck" of the trip even though I never hit the ground. My chain came off on the steep downhill with all the switchbacks and when I tried to pedal, my ankle met the front chainring and the chainring won. I didn't even realize how bad it was till much later in the ride when I looked down because I felt it burning and my sock was red. It is just now healing, but I think I am going to have a tatoo to remember this by. Near the end Moran got a flat and we waited on him. Most of the group went back on the road but we convinced AL29er (our guide) to take us back on the trails (we took mountian mist) so we could see more of what Monte Sano had to offer. I had a great weekend with an estimated 35 miles riden.
I also got to meet BlackAgness, SSinga, and AL29er from the MTBR board while there. I will definately be going back for another ride. That has been the most technical riding I have done.

Lastly,
I found out that my new bike is finished today. I am really excited as it is quite an upgrade from my current bike. I am hoping to pick it up tomorrow. Stay Tuned.