The Quest For The Holy Trail

Joey Klein and Kathy Summers, TCC2

As we travel the world over, passing on good trail ethics, we're keeping an eye out for the "Holy Trail". The Holy Trail is what we would consider to be the perfect trail. My perfect trail would have a little bit of everything; a contour trail that is smooth, open and flowing, with tricky sections of rough, tight and technical rock. Lush areas are beautiful and I really like open-exposed, ridge-surfing roller coaster downhills. When asked, Kathy said she loves it all, as long as it ends with a hair-raising descent. ("preferably when you're on the verge of eating it the whole time!") So there you have it, that's what we consider to be our perfect trail. Our latest travels have taken us through the rolling hills of the south, the intricate valleys and ridges of the southern Appalachians, the lush micro forests stashed away inside Cincinnati, Oklahoma and Kansas Cities, and now we're working our way through the "Tornado Alley" of Oklahoma and Texas.

We started our quest at the first-ever Olympic venue for mtn biking in Conyers, GA. We rode the course several times, admiring the rock slab features and the man-made dropoffs; a brutal course for any racer.

Our travels then took us to Huntsville, Al. The trails at Monte Sano State Park made us giggle with delight; we loved the rocky flow of the Mountain Mist trail as it snaked under the bluffs of this beautiful forest. The folks from Bicycle Works guided us through some amazing rock features on the Overlook and the Warpath trail. We loved it so much we begged to stay another day!

Tennessee is another beautiful state that is home to an infinite amount of mtn biking. Some of the guys from the Northeastern Tennessee Mountain Biking Association are working on many projects to introduce mtn biking, including some loops at Warriors State Park. Our best ride with the NTMBA was a steep, descending luge-run of a trail that tunneled through a long rhododendron forest!

We're still trying to recover from West Virginia! Those kids play rough; after a hard day of trail work they would send in fresh reinforcements to take us out riding! It was killer; Gil and the boys from Elk River took us on the Tea Creek Mtn trail, which was just a blast! Laird Knight and his troops took us on many humbling rides, including the North Fork trail; a screaming twenty-some mile, rolling single-track descent. In Virginia, Tom Horsch of Adventure Damascus took great care of us by insisting that all we do is ride. Tom and the boys from the shop led us through the Bushwhacker and Iron Mountain trails. These trails were the very definition of open, flowing, swooping and fast.

It was great to see so much single-track popping up all over Cincinnati, Kansas and Oklahoma cities. The cycling clubs, Queen City Wheels, Northern Kentucky MBA, Earthriders of Kansas City and the Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship are pulling hard to keep what they have and to develop new trails for the future. We especially liked Draper Lake Mountain Bike Park in Oklahoma City. The OEF has designed some outstanding tight and technical trails through the dense woods. On hot summer nights they host the Bubba Firecracker 100 race. Relay racers fly through the trees like owls on the hunt. Each lap only takes about 14 minutes and then the racer's partner takes over for the next lap. Competition is kept lighthearted since partners are chosen by chance and racers only ride for 100 minutes. The absolute, most enjoyable race I've ever done!

In Texas, the quest started near Saint Jo, in "the breaks at -H" mountain bike ranch. Tony Boone has been designing sweeko trails forever and here at "the Breaks" is where he experiments with the good stuff. His trails dance through the cool canyons, scenic ridges and technical rock. We stopped in Dallas to meet with the Dallas Off- Road Bicycling Association who now maintain over 85 miles of trail in their area. An interesting trail system is still growing at Ft. Hood, thanks to Joey Roper and the Trailblazers. Helotes Cycles, Hill Country Cyclists and STORM are nurturing new trails at Government Canyon near San Antonio. Hill Able of the Austin Ridge Riders proved that mountain biking in the Austin area is also fabulous. He dragged us through the rocky sections of the Greenbelt trail making us sweat and bleed. At the Emma Long Motorcycle Park local bikers showed up in body armor; a sure sign that the riding is good. These trials-motorcycle paths swoop through the oak and cedar trees. Levitation skills were mandatory to negotiate the tall rocky drop-offs and ledges!

This part of our quest brought us through 11 states, over 400 miles of trails, 111 different trails and we have worked with over 500 trail enthusiasts. We only saw a fraction of the trails that are out there. Every state has great mtn biking, good trails and superb mtn bikers. Places that would seem to have nothing in common are still somehow connected. Skills that were given to us in the wet, rooty and log strewn West Virginia trails got us through the dry, sandy and rocky paths of Texas. We loved all of it and can't wait to get back to those sections we didn't clean and the ones we did. The quest for the holy trail continues and this time we're headed west!

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	The Quest For The Holy Trail Joey Klein and Kathy Summers, TCC2 As we travel the world over, passing on good trail ethics, we're keeping an eye out for the "Holy Trail". The Holy Trail is what we would consider to be the perfect trail. My perfect trail would have a little bit of everything; a contour trail that is smooth, open and flowing, with tricky sections of rough, tight and technical rock. Lush areas are beautiful and I really like open-exposed, ridge-surfing roller coaster downhills. When asked, Kathy said she loves it all, as long as it ends with a hair-raising descent. ("preferably when you're on the verge of eating it the whole time!") So there you have it, that's what we consider to be our perfect trail. Our latest travels have taken us through the rolling hills of the south, the intricate valleys and ridges of the southern Appalachians, the lush micro forests stashed away inside Cincinnati, Oklahoma and Kansas Cities, and now we're working our way through the "Tornado Alley" of Oklahoma and Texas. We started our quest at the first-ever Olympic venue for mtn biking in Conyers, GA. We rode the course several times, admiring the rock slab features and the man-made dropoffs; a brutal course for any racer. Our travels then took us to Huntsville, Al. The trails at Monte Sano State Park made us giggle with delight; we loved the rocky flow of the Mountain Mist trail as it snaked under the bluffs of this beautiful forest. The folks from Bicycle Works guided us through some amazing rock features on the Overlook and the Warpath trail. We loved it so much we begged to stay another day! Tennessee is another beautiful state that is home to an infinite amount of mtn biking. Some of the guys from the Northeastern Tennessee Mountain Biking Association are working on many projects to introduce mtn biking, including some loops at Warriors State Park. Our best ride with the NTMBA was a steep, descending luge-run of a trail that tunneled through a long rhododendron forest! We're still trying to recover from West Virginia! Those kids play rough; after a hard day of trail work they would send in fresh reinforcements to take us out riding! It was killer; Gil and the boys from Elk River took us on the Tea Creek Mtn trail, which was just a blast! Laird Knight and his troops took us on many humbling rides, including the North Fork trail; a screaming twenty-some mile, rolling single-track descent. In Virginia, Tom Horsch of Adventure Damascus took great care of us by insisting that all we do is ride. Tom and the boys from the shop led us through the Bushwhacker and Iron Mountain trails. These trails were the very definition of open, flowing, swooping and fast. It was great to see so much single-track popping up all over Cincinnati, Kansas and Oklahoma cities. The cycling clubs, Queen City Wheels, Northern Kentucky MBA, Earthriders of Kansas City and the Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship are pulling hard to keep what they have and to develop new trails for the future. We especially liked Draper Lake Mountain Bike Park in Oklahoma City. The OEF has designed some outstanding tight and technical trails through the dense woods. On hot summer nights they host the Bubba Firecracker 100 race. Relay racers fly through the trees like owls on the hunt. Each lap only takes about 14 minutes and then the racer's partner takes over for the next lap. Competition is kept lighthearted since partners are chosen by chance and racers only ride for 100 minutes. The absolute, most enjoyable race I've ever done! In Texas, the quest started near Saint Jo, in "the breaks at -H" mountain bike ranch. Tony Boone has been designing sweeko trails forever and here at "the Breaks" is where he experiments with the good stuff. His trails dance through the cool canyons, scenic ridges and technical rock. We stopped in Dallas to meet with the Dallas Off- Road Bicycling Association who now maintain over 85 miles of trail in their area. An interesting trail system is still growing at Ft. Hood, thanks to Joey Roper and the Trailblazers. Helotes Cycles, Hill Country Cyclists and STORM are nurturing new trails at Government Canyon near San Antonio. Hill Able of the Austin Ridge Riders proved that mountain biking in the Austin area is also fabulous. He dragged us through the rocky sections of the Greenbelt trail making us sweat and bleed. At the Emma Long Motorcycle Park local bikers showed up in body armor; a sure sign that the riding is good. These trials-motorcycle paths swoop through the oak and cedar trees. Levitation skills were mandatory to negotiate the tall rocky drop-offs and ledges! This part of our quest brought us through 11 states, over 400 miles of trails, 111 different trails and we have worked with over 500 trail enthusiasts. We only saw a fraction of the trails that are out there. Every state has great mtn biking, good trails and superb mtn bikers. Places that would seem to have nothing in common are still somehow connected. Skills that were given to us in the wet, rooty and log strewn West Virginia trails got us through the dry, sandy and rocky paths of Texas. We loved all of it and can't wait to get back to those sections we didn't clean and the ones we did. The quest for the holy trail continues and this time we're headed west!


Help \| Site Map \| Copyright