It was just what we needed. Even though there are a shitload of trails close to us here in Charlotte, Lunchbox and I took the three hour drive down to the Augusta, Georgia area to ride some “different” singletrack at the Forks Area Trail System (FATS.) As always, it was well worth the trip. Since we were only going for the day, we didn’t have to bring that much stuff.
After a bit of a late start leaving Charlotte, we ended up on the trail at around 12:30. The plan was to take the closest loop, Great Wall, and use that as a warm up. It’s the kind of trail that wakes you up and gets you going, and actually requires quite a bit of thinking just staying upright. It’s super fast, and if you’re not careful you could find yourself flying off the trail with a quickness. We’ve ridden it before, so luckily we knew what to expect.
Since we were out for a joy ride of sorts, I planned on taking a lot of photos. Since Lunchbox was usually right behind me though, I had to speed up in a hurry to get far enough ahead of him to get a picture. Sometimes I had to cheat and use switchbacks, since he was keeping up with me quite nicely.
Notice that he’s wearing communist cycling clothing. For some reason he has a thing about Russia, so he was given this old-style (yet brand new) Russian Olympic jersey (with matching socks even.) He’s not a commie, but he likes feeling like he’s far superior to you out on the trail.
“In Soviet Russia, bike rides you.”
After riding that first loop, we headed back to the truck to refill our bottles. Even though it was only 70 degrees outside, we were sweating a lot for some reason. After our short break we headed back out, this time on the trail called Skinny. It was so fast and flowy that I didn’t even get a chance to get any photos. About two thirds of the way through it, it split off again to a loop called Brown Wave. A lot of people talk about this loop like it’s God’s gift to singletrack, and while we found it fun, we also thought that the other stuff out there was better.
After riding Brown Wave for a bit (and not shitting our pants), we passed a familiar section that winds down near the Savannah River. We decided to take a quick break to see if we could spot any of our favorite creatures, the alligator.
We hung out on the riverbank for a bit, and didn’t see shit. We figured that maybe the water was getting too cold out there, and the little reptilians headed a little further south. Damn it. I’m always down to play with the alligators. Maybe next time.
After that it was smooth sailing back to the trailhead. We only had about five miles to go, and we pushed it pretty hard. I only stopped a few times to change to position of my GoPro camera, and Lunchbox took one of those opportunities to get ahead of me and take my photo.
Way too much fun, for sure.
I took some video, but it’s gonna take a while to sort through it all. Hopefully I can have it finished by the end of this week. I experimented with a new camera angle thanks to a new mount I got, and I think it should look pretty cool. So, keep you’re eyes peeled for some more video action from yours truly.
It was so good to get away. Three hours is a long way to drive just to ride bikes, but it was well worth it. After riding all day we hit up a good local eating establishment in Augusta, the Carolina Ale House. Since we were in Georgia, I was a little confused by the name. Nevertheless, I had an awesome Greek pizza and washed it down with a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.
It was a good day.
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