Raccoon Mountain, Chattanooga TN

Well, had a descent weekend. Got some work done on the bike, did some shopping, and managed to squeeze in a day trip up to Chattanooga TN.



Trail Details

Steve, Randall, Jeff, RD, and I packed into 2 vehicles and did a caravan from Randall's house to Chattanooga. Drive time is a bit over an hour. Temperatures were in the upper 50s, so it wasn't cold. Trail conditions were good. Gotta watch out for those leaves, they get pretty slick. The trails were a lot of fun, but pretty demanding. Since there is little sustained elevation change there is really no rest. I snapped a few pictures at basically the only rest stop we took as a group. We did stop a few times for 1-2 minute regroup, but not really rest. By the end of the 17mi I was dog tired. Glad I rode this trail system though.

The trail itself can be ridden forward or reverse. We did it oposite of how Steve normally does it. I noticed that a lot of the jumps were going the other direction. Yes, jumps. The trail actually has a lot of jumps and berms carved in for fun factor. Nothing too big, but fun none the less. We stopped and played around on a log ride for a few minutes. Not too narrow or tall, but fun. The trail was fast and flowing in some secitons. Other sections were grueling to keep momentum in. The trail weaves all around in the woods making it quite easy to lose ones self. I looked down for about 30s while about 40 yards back from RD only to lose site of him. After about a half mile of following the direction I thought he took I turned and headed back to where I lost the group and hung for about 5 minutes. I figured from there I could find my way back or at least the group would be able to find me. RD came back around and led me back to the group. I had been on the right trail. Still a bit amazed that the trail weaves enough to lose people that are only a short distance ahead. From there on the trail was much more purposeful and headed in mainly 1 directionback around the mountain and up to the lot.

I found a gnome along the way, so a photo was necessary.

Bottom line...
Fun trails. Would be even more fun if you are conditioned to take advantage of all of the jumps and obstacles.