Big Scott

On Saturday, I decided to join my buddy for an early ride on the Silver Comet trail (SCT). The SCT is a paved multi use trail that was converted from an old railway so it’s pretty flat but has those long gradual up hills that work ya, I placed 4th in the Tundra TT that was held on the SCT in the Spring. I had my friend meet me at Perimeter Mall at 6:15am (15 minutes from the ride start); I figured I’d leave my car there so we could save gas by taking one car since he was driving by there anyway. As we start to get suited up I noticed that I had brought two Right side shoes (one MTB and one Road). I keep both sets in my car and guess it was either too early for me to be thinking properly or I’m a freaking dumbarse (I’d go with both at this point). My buddy told me to take his car and get the right shoe (or left for that matter) and he will see me on the trail so I left. I drove 15 minutes there and 15 back then got on my bike and thru the hammer down in a very large way. I was not a happy camper and decided to take it out on my legs. I went as hard as I could and caught him just as he was making the Rockmart turnaround 40 miles out. He could not believe that I was able to catch him... he left 30+ minutes before me! I made it into a 40 mile time-trial; I kept my HR around 172 and was going 23-28mph the whole time. As we made our way back I saw a couple folks I knew from work and they turned around to join us for the ride back. One guy stayed on my wheel for the entire time and the other guy stayed with my buddy, we would wait up for them from time to time but then I would ramp it up and never looked back. By this time there were walkers/slow riders on the trail and I do not like to scare anyone by passing them at an insane clip and this is why I don’t normally ride here unless I /we start real early. As I would slow down before coming up on folks I would say… “On your left” in a nice way and proceed to do my thing. When I was drilling it alone trying to catch my friend it was still early enough that there wasn’t anybody to contend with but later in the day it’s a different story. You have to be careful since the kids tend to walk in your direction if/when you say “on yerr left” My stem/fork is creaking right now so I would stand up and make it creak as I got closer to folks ahead of me so they knew I was close. Rudely yelling “ON YOR LEFT!!!” like the guy behind us did a couple times is not cool, when he did this it scared a little kid, I told the kid as I passed him that he scared me too! This rude guy was sucking our wheel for a free ride and I did not like that so I picked up the pace and dropped him. I also dropped the guy from work but he managed to get back on as I slowed a bit during one of the street crossings. Another guy pulled a jerk move and cut in front of us as I waited for the large family up ahead of me to move out of the way. This guy not only cut us off but then he started to sprint away, I would have none of that so I stood up, drilled it and not only caught him but dusted him when he tried to hold my speed. The guy from work told me that this guy was really trying to get me but blew da hell up! I was glad he did since he pulled such a move around kids, giving bikers even more of a bad name then we already have. I was toast as we pulled into the parking lot, I did 80+ miles at a very fast pace and I went as hard as I could for 40 of them, the other 40 were in the form of intervals so it was a hard day indeed.


I figured Sunday was a good day for some off road fun, my legs were sore but I figured I’d deal with the soreness the best way I know how, RIDE! I woke up at 4am and was in the car by 4:45am on my way to Tsali trail, a 3 hour ride from Atlanta. Tsali is one of the best MTB rides in the country, its fast as hell and I sure like to go fast. I was on the trail by 8:30am and had it all to myself, I was in total bliss! I know this trail like the back of my hand and can ripp it up with the best of them. I’ve done a bunch of MTB races here but for some reason I’ve never placed better then 3rd due to various issues. I’ve done a bunch of weekend camping trips here as well as a slew of night rides… make that insane night rides with/without lights, my friends are nuts and will always try to ram each other off the trail. I like that game mostly because I tend to win . My first 27 mile loop was uneventful other then tasting the freshly made spider webs the spiders made during the night. You know you’re the first on the trail when you get the webs in the face special! When I got back to the parking lot it was packed with cars & riders either heading out or on the trail already. I took in some water, ate a Cliff bar and went back out to chase down the folks I saw leaving before my little siesta. I hammered it and passed a bunch of riders and then hit a tree stump HARD with my right foot, I knew I broke my pinky toe right off the bat and did the math… Do I go back to the car and call it a day or… do I keep on keeping on and deal with it later. I took door #2 and proceeded to blaze through the trail and even though I felt the pain of my foot it did not hurt more then the bee sting I just got in the same leg! As I got back to the car this time I was a little worse for wear and decided to call it a day. Getting my shoe off was a chore and the drive home sucked but I still had a smile on my face from the wonderful experience I had on both days. I tried my best to turn a couple downers into a fun time and I think I did pretty well.

-Scott

paednoch

23-28 on a bike trail that is a flat rail bed? and passing people?


Safe to assume that competitve cyclists don't use the trail?

Big Scott

I am a competitve cyclist and my teammates & I use the trail a bunch but normally we ride out to it, do 50 (25/25) then ride back. The next time I'm out there I'm riding out to the AL border (60 miles) and back.

-Scott

CliftonGK1

He'd be passing me!

For any sort of distance I don't keep up more than 19mph on the flatlands for very far. Even when I drope the hamer.

lil brown bat

Meh. Bike paths are the refuge of all kinds of people being clueless in different ways. Waste o' time/breath/mental energy getting stirred up about any of them being "rude"; they're pretty much all "rude", just in different ways.

Big Scott

Go there early and its a great ride, once you get about 20 miles out its empty but on the way back is when you run into the jerks. I really wanted to tell that guy to STFU but held my tounge and decided dropping him was a better choice of payback. When we (teamates) go there we pickup the trail after the 20 mile mark so we can get a good workout in without all the fuss.

-Scott

CliftonGK1

The best ride on the MUP I've had in a while was last Friday night. I left my place at 9:45pm, rode the 7 miles to the MUP, and took it for 10 miles from Redmond up to Bothell. Aside from some people finishing up an evening walk (right near some townhouses) and a few kids hanging out at Wilmot Gateway Park (not on the trail, just sitting at the benches and chillin') the trail was quite empty.

lil brown bat

...which was probably a good idea. Ever consider that perhaps he'd had ample experience on the MUP of people listening to IPODs, talking on cellphones or just zoning out and not paying attention when he uttered his polite, low-volume "on your left"? Perhaps there was good and sufficient reason for his volume.

Missbumble 

Hey Scott - Sorry about the toe! man you are very tough!! Glad you had fun... me rode Sat 45 miles and fell -no biggie...but a bit sore and rested on Sunday! Glad you ahd a couple of good rides!