The Birthday Ride...

The weekend may not have gone as "planned", but today was a great day. I finally was able to hook up with SORBA-Chattanooga to help with some trail building up at Raccoon Mountain. It was a small group since it was Mother's Day, but we got a good section on the new trail from East Overlook to Laurel Point looking great. After 3.5 hrs of manual labor, we worked up an appetite and ate lunch. Then I set out for my first trip on the new sections, which now allowed 1 complete loop around the reservoir. I rode it clockwise- which worked out well for many areas (EO to LP was nearly all downhill, and I got to go down Grindstone), but this turned the expert section even harder.... and this isn't my forte to begin with. Yeah, it was slow going and some walking, but I had a fab ride, even if it was a solo endeavor. (I'm starting to like doing this, esp somewhere that is close, gets good cell coverage, and usually has other riders around just in case).

Animal count: 1 wild turkey (that surprised me as much as i surprised him), 1 4-5 foot black snake slithering away, and 1 tick.

Here are some pics I took of the rock path on the side of the dam... pretty amazing! (taken with my phone - didn't bring the camera unfortunately).