Trail Review : Enterprise South

The Enterprise South Nature Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee were some of the first trails I went to when I began mountain biking. It features approximately 10 miles of looped trails. There's no doubt that these are appropriately labeled as beginner trails, but don't let that be a deterrent for your visit. What these trails lack in gnarly factor, they make up for in fun.

Enterprise South is divided into three directional loops. I've done both directions and I highly recommend the Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, although there are still tons of fast downhills the Tuesday Thursday Sunday direction, too. Each of the loops are about the same difficulty, even though technically they're considered beginner, intermediate, and advanced. As I said, they were my favorite trails when I started mountain biking and I never came across anything that I couldn't handle....except for the occasional rock garden but that's a personal hurdle I'll overcome eventually.
Each loop has its own defining features.

The loop we started on is known as Black Forest. It's a quick singletrack with a handful of punchy climbs, roots, and loose ground. (There's also the most fun downhill run into a parking lot if you're doing the M, W, F, S direction). From there, you go into TNT, my personal favorite. There is a tiny bit more climbing on this loop, but the pay off is wonderful. This loop has a lot of roller sections which is a heck of a good time regardless of how much speed you're comfortable with maintaining. The Log Rhythm loop is the last one we came to. For advanced riders, this area can be used as your playground. It has an elevated bridge, pump track, and log obstacles. For those not comfortable with the advanced features, they're easily bypassed without taking anything away from the all around experience.

I definitely won't be making any trips to Chattanooga that I don't make time to visit this trail at least once. It's a good way to get in a couple of really solid miles on your bike. For those riders looking to amp up their mountain biking skills, it's a really great place to work on getting comfortable with maintaining speed. For those just looking for a good place to ride, this is a decently easy trail that doesn't feel like a snooze fest.

Impromtu Chattanooga

Yesterday was our usual day for group mountain biking trip. For whatever reason, the idea of riding didn't sound the slightest bit appealing to me. I was going to suck it up and go anyway, but thankfully, Patrick was there to save the day by suggesting we go on a day trip to Chattanooga.

By the time we decided to go, it was already past noon. The trip up there would take us about 2 hours, closer to three when you take into consideration traffic and a food stop. We compromised by agreeing to pack up the mountain bikes to get in a quick ride at Enterprise South (which are some of my favorite trails ever!) and then get in some good exploring after.

Around 3:30, we got to Chattanooga, unloaded the car, and hopped on the trails. Unfortunately, we only got about 7 miles in when the skies opened up. I can't say it was the biggest downpour I've ever gotten stuck in, but it definitely ranked in the top 3. Our only option was to head to the car one way or another. Bummed that we drove 2 hours for about 30 minutes of riding, we figured that we'd be able to take the few miles of trails back. Nope!
After only a couple of minutes of rain, the previously flowy trails turned into actual rivers. So we turned around and took to the road.

Once we packed back up, we called up my brother who lives in Chattanooga. Luckily, it only seemed to be raining over the trails, which are about 20 minutes outside of the city. We drove out of the storm and into perfect weather!

My brother has a friend whose family owns a ridiculous amount of land up on Lookout Mountain so he took us up there, where we got in a whole lot of sightseeing over Cloudland Canyon and some canoeing on a private pond.

We originally had plans to go out to dinner together before leaving, but it being Sunday and us having no concept of time, when we realized how late it had gotten, all  our food options had closed. (which is a major bummer because I've been dreaming about how good Urban Stack burgers are for a good six months now!)

All in all, it was the perfect almost-full-day-off-a-bike day. I am thankful to have had a moment outside of the routine of the city. Now, back to my regularly scheduled training rides.

Trail Review: Chicopee Woods

Chicopee Woods are 21 miles of incredibly well maintained mountain bikes trails created by SORBA in Oakwood, Georgia. I've been hearing about the insane trails at Chicopee Woods in Oakwood, GA for a couple of months now. Patrick has made his way up there on several occasions, but it had sounded a little too intense for me. Unlike the other trails I had ridden previously, Chicopee's loops don't have an easy out. Once you're in, you're in until the end.

We finally made our way up yesterday so that I could see what all the hype was about. And, man, they didn't disappoint!
The trails were probably the most technical I'd ever ridden. There are lots of roots, rocks, punchy climbs, and fast descents, that make even the beginner trails a little sketchy.

The trails are separated into several different loops, varying in difficultly from beginner to advanced. From the parking lot, we started on the easiest loop, known as the Tortoise. It made for a solid warm up, allowing time to hone in on the challenges ahead and get your legs burning on a couple of relatively easy, but long climbs.
Honestly, I can't tell you where we go from there. The trails quickly split off into several, non-directional loops. We ended up riding everything, except Copperhead Gap, the most advanced trail. Patrick has done that one on previous trips. He reports that it's a lot of climbing and really technical, but I don't really have much more information to report on it than that. I'll do it next time, promise!

While I may not have known exactly which trail I was on the majority of the time, I can say that the Flying Squirrel loop is one that no one should miss! It's a little climby, with one insane, rocky hill that nearly took me out a couple of times. (Keep in mind, I would rate my personal riding skills at just below intermediate so what I regard as tough, may be more or less challenging for other riders). However, any climb on any of these trails has an incredibly fun pay off at the end. There is almost an exactly equal amount of climbing as descending. I haven't smiled my way through an entire trail system before Chicopee.

Aside from that, I really only remember that I kept getting lost between White Tail and Red Tail, finding myself riding the same section of trail over again, only to then turn around. White Tail is probably the best trail for someone looking to get more comfortable with fast descents, without any crazy climbing in between. There are some cool, hidden drops that I accidentally did (without dying!)

Yesterday was an insanely hot day, so it's important to make lots of time for water and food breaks when you can. There aren't any water fountains at the trail head, so make sure you're fully stocked up before heading out there!

We ended up getting soaked by a spontaneous thunderstorm for our last 2 miles. While I never recommend intentionally riding wet trails, it definitely made the final stretch that much more enjoyable. We got back to the car covered in mud, absolutely exhausted, with ~15 miles under our belt for the day.

Chicopee Woods are about an hour outside of the city and definitely worth the trek up north. I can't wait for our next trip up there. I can't recommend those trails enough!