On most Tuesday nights I go for an in-town night ride on the east side of Atlanta and it’s often the highlight of my week. Some Tuesdays there are more than a dozen mountain bikers, other nights it’s just one or two of us. We ride all year long and in pretty much all conditions (unless it’s actively raining) and grab pizza and beer after the ride. I factored the Tuesday night rides into my 29 Day schedule but out of 4 Tuesdays, every single ride was rained and/or snowed out. Unprecedented.

So yesterday, after at least an inch of rain fell the night before, I rode to 3 of the trails we typically hit on Tuesday nights. None of the trails are very long (most are just 1-2 miles of singletrack) but there’s a surprising variety within them all. With 4-5 miles of road riding between each trail I had a good workout ahead of me. I was a little worried things would be completely wet and muddy but every one of the trails was in great shape – better than many of the trails I rode last week that had 4 days to dry after a rain!

Mason Mill / Waterworks

The Mason Mill trails are the closest to my house. A couple years ago the county installed a paved path right through the middle of some choice singletrack but somehow the best stuff survived – much of it just crisscrosses the path now. If you know where to go in the park you can easily ride 4 miles of singletrack without too many repeats, making this one of the biggest trail systems I know of inside the perimeter. The “Waterworks” section is actually where I did my Chainlover photo shoot last year.

Peavine Creek

It’s crazy how different mountain bike trails can seem at night vs. during the day. Thinking back, I’m pretty sure I’ve never ridden Peavine Creek during the day and yesterday I was struck by just how amazing these trails are, especially given the location. Steep climbs, well groomed singletrack, and tricky, narrow bridge crossings make this a fun place to play on the bike. I was amazed at how dry everything was after the rain – few engineered trails I’ve ridden drain as well as this unofficial trail network does.

Morningside Nature Preserve

The trails at Morningside were constructed with mountain biking in mind thanks to Atlanta’s SORBA chapter. The 1-mile main loop was machine cut and flows better than anything else in town. It’s also officially open for night riding whenever you want – posted park hours are 6am to 11pm. A new suspension bridge was recently constructed, though unfortunately it’s not bike-friendly (nor are the trails on the other side of the bridge – believe me, I’ve checked).

I didn’t see a single person (walker or biker) during my ride yesterday which was surprising given the urban-fringe locations of each of these trails. I clocked almost 21 miles round-trip from my house which was a great training ride for sure. Bagging 3 more trails so close to home made it even better. Just 2 more trails to go!

A few mountain bike items to take a look at today:

Mountain biking 101: How to get women into the sport. Diane Ursu posted a good article over on Examiner.com with tips for introducing women to the sport of mountain biking. Aside from the obvious stuff (get a comfortable bike, the right clothes, etc.) Ursu also says “don’t give her pointers unless she asks, at least for the first ride” and “let her lead.” Most articles I read about getting women into mountain biking are written by men so they usually skip these points Give the article a skim if you’re thinking of introducing your significant other to mountain biking this fall.

3 cool MTB events in Atlanta this weekend. I already posted about this in the forums but here’s a quick recap: SORBA Atlanta ride @ Panola Mtn. State Park Saturday; GA Tech sponsored collegiate MTB race at GA Int’l Horse Park Saturday & Sunday; and ribbon cutting / grand opening for new bike trails at Burruss Park in Marietta on Sunday. I’ll definitely attend at least one of these events – that is, if it doesn’t rain!

Mountain Hardwear giving away a pack-a-day through September 17. Man, August and September must be the months of free outdoor gear! Not only can you score a VHoldR HD helmet cam or Specialized Stumpjumper FSR, you can also register to win a sweet pack from Mountain Hardwear (giveaway pack changes every day). The cool thing about this promo is that you’ll find out if you’re today’s winner as soon as you submit the entry form and you can enter every day the contest runs (I didn’t win today so that means you still have a chance!). Most of the giveaway packs are hydration bladder compatible and should be great choices for epic slogs through remote terrain.

Last month I wrote about a somewhat disappointing MTB trail recon trip to middle Georgia and I actually got a lot of sympathy (though that wasn’t my intent at all). The fact is I love riding new and unfamiliar trails and even the stinkers give me satisfaction since I get to check another MTB trail off my list.

Yesterday morning the weather was cool and dry so I snuck out to scope the newly constructed trails at Harbins Park in rural Gwinnett County about 35 miles east of Atlanta. The reviews I read on singletracks gave conflicting information and I really wasn’t sure if there were 4 miles or 11 miles of trail and whether there was even any singletrack at all. This time I packed info on a “backup trail” nearby just in case Harbins Park was a dud.

Harbins Park is only about 4 miles down the road from Tribble Mill (and 8 miles from Ft. Yargo as the crow flies) but the two trail systems couldn’t be any more different. For one thing, all the mountain bike trails in Harbins Park are purpose-built for biking and are single-use meaning you won’t run into any hikers or equestrians on the trails (they have their own dirt). The loops closest to the parking lot feature fairly wide trails with sharp, twisting turns being the only real “technical trail features” (TTFs).

All the trails were cut using machines so they’re a couple feet wide right now but over time will become more narrow as vegetation fills back in. From what I could tell there wasn’t a lot of hand work done on the trails after the machines came through and there are several rough spots where things aren’t quite smoothed out yet.

Most of the main, large loop is solid beginner territory but I pressed on to the far loop marked with a dashed line on park maps. I wasn’t sure if this meant the trails were still under construction or what but they ended up being some of the best I’ve ridden in a while. To enter this section you have to ride over some large rocks piled up on the side of the paved path which seems like a good way to weed out the newbs – kinda like the “you must be this tall to ride the ride” signs at Six Flags. If you fall on the rocks, you’re not ready

The back section features much steeper climbs and some short downhill runs with jumps and bermed turns – an unexpected surprise for sure! In fact the entire back loop is really just a miles-long pump track through the woods and has incredible flow – I felt like I could ride around and around for hours. There’s even a super steep granite downhill that transitions into a bermed turn and for about 100 yards you feel like you’re riding somewhere in Utah.

The park facilities are top notch with restrooms, a bike wash area, and great maps and signage throughout. In fact I think I may have found the nicest MTB Trail sign anywhere in the world – and there are two of these in the main parking lot! There’s also a paved multi-use trail that intersects the mountain bike trails in a couple places making it easy to skip ahead or take a shortcut after a long day.

Harbins Park is a county park and the trails were built with the help of the Gwinnett Area Trail Riders (GATR). This place is a great example of how sustainable trails can be built with all MTB skill levels in mind and how destination trails can potentially benefit the local economy. I know I’ll be back soon – and next time I’m bringing my friends!

Saturday was National Trails Day and I got a chance to help out with the MTB trail reroutes out at Sope Creek just outside Atlanta. I assumed this would be just another monthly SORBA work day with maybe a dozen volunteers so I was blown away to see nearly 200 people ready to work at 8am! Apparently REI promoted National Trails Day involvement pretty hard and was able to get a good group out there, most of whom were not mountain bikers. The SORBA guys were clearly in charge though and ended up leading several groups of ~20 volunteers each.

My group (led by SORBA Atlanta prez. Tom Tomaka) was assigned trail closure duty – sorta like demolition work on a construction site. While we piled sticks, leaves, and logs on top of the old, eroded trail other groups were busy constructing split-rail fences at the entrances to the old trail to route riders and hikers to the new dirt. Still other groups did finish work on the new trail sections, clipping roots and tamping loose dirt to make the trails smooth as butter.

Trail closure step 1: Find sticks and logs to pile on closed trail.

Trail closure step 2: Place sticks and logs on trail.

Trail closure step 3: Cover with leaves. Where’d the old trail go?

Some die-hard Sope Creek riders will probably be disappointed to see the steep, rocky trail sections replaced with bench cut smoothness but the reroutes had to be done to address some serious erosion issues. It’s rare to see mountain bikes allowed at all on trails managed by the National Park Service like those at Sope Creek and the good news is that there are plans to build a brand new loop / network of bike trails in the park as early as this fall.

Long Cane Trails LLC did the initial machine work on the reroutes.

At the end of the day the volunteers were able to open at least 2 new trail reroutes which was honestly really satisfying. I managed to get a quick ride in on the new trails (“first tracks” as snowboarders would say) and I gotta say these new sections flow much better than the old stuff. I also ended up working with singletracks member GoldenGoose and didn’t even know it until afterward – small world (see if you can pick him out in the second photo above).

Even if you didn’t get a chance to help out in your area on Saturday, make a point to help with trail work at least once this summer – contact your local MTB club to get involved!