The weather is supposed to be very sunny and very warm for the next few days, and early this morning I woke up and instantly decided that I wanted to bike.
Briefly I internally debated where to bike and waffled between riding single track, riding roads near the water, riding the old roads close to the golf course, even heading down to and finally exploring Sinking Pond that I have wanted to explore since we arrived back in Tennessee last fall.
I discounted Sinking Pond quickly, cringing at all the mud I would find after all of the heavy rain we had recently.
As I quickly chugged down the last few swigs of my very oversized coffee cup I decided that the old roads were the place to go today.
Quiet, a combination of dirt and road and gravel and crumbling and overgrown paved roads.
Endless easy-to-ride roads and trails with no-one around.
It sounded perfect.................
The early part of the trail system is made up of a series of paved and flat roads that remain as evidence of what was once Camp Forrest - one of the largest army training bases in the country at that time, and a base which also housed German POW's during WWII.
Throughout this large section of the base (as well as others) is also what still remains standing of old military buildings.
Mostly pillars and foundations, usually deeply hidden in thick woods, and now partially covered with moss after decades of abandonment.
In another month or two all of these building remnants will be completely hidden in deep vegetation.
I had found some of these old pieces of structures during previous bike rides in the past and greatly wanted to explore areas I had never seen before this morning.
Perhaps find more abandoned building remnants in my travels.
As I slowly biked down first one and then another and then another of these roads, taking my time and greatly enjoying the beautiful and very warm morning I realized that this day was also very very quiet.
Every once in a while I could hear the noise of a plane overhead.
Occasionally a wood pecker - which always reminds me that my oldest son used to call the cartoon bird Woody Pecker instead of Woody Woodpecker when he was little.
Much to the amusement of adults who knew this beautiful little boy.
Little noise. No people. A warm day. My bike. It was a good day................
I did not have to ride far before finding what I had only half-heartedly been seeking.
Straddling my bike briefly I snapped this picture of the concrete reinforcing wall that lead down to a small stream, looked over to my right and unexpectedly saw a large series of small concrete pillars hidden deep in the woods and only partially visible, even at this time of year.
Smiling inwardly at my find I layed my bike down on the side of the trail and headed into the woods on foot, eager to see explore......................
This section of the woods was primarily old growth pine trees, and although I had to wade through a few vines and thorny bushes and brambles to get to the concrete pillars that I had seen from the road, there was not a whole lot of undergrowth.
The vines and thorns disappeared once I found myself standing directly in front of the columns.
Over the past couple of years I have found so many things while wandering on bike or on foot that have been incredibly interesting to me.
In Juneau I was constantly mesmerized by rusty and bullet ridden vehicles, and the remnants that spoke to Juneaus very rich gold mining history.
In Wyoming I was constantly intrigued by the carcasses and hides and bones that I found every single time I explored on Bureau of Land Management land.
And in Tennessee I have been intrigued by these building remnants and rusty abandoned farming equipment.
In all cases I am completely enthralled with my finds.
Always wondering what the back stories behind these finds are................
There were more columns than I expected.
Perhaps 40 in one single area.
Some in low and silent rows and others seemingly standing at random and (as I always do when I find interesting and unexpected things in the woods) I stood regarding these small concrete structures trying to figure out exactly what the story behind them was.
Trying to picture how this place must have looked 70 years ago.................
An old building foundation.................
Standing among the trees I looked around me, greatly enjoying being able to quietly explore alone in the woods on a sunny and warm day.
There are more times than not when I need solitary time.
Many times nowadays I ride single track or trail run the same single track on the mountain bike trails that are located about 8 miles from where I was today.
Those times usually focus on actual workouts - moving for fitness.
But there are other times when I find real pleasure in just easy riding.
On those days these simple trails, or road riding close to the lake, bring real joy and require little concentration.
There is much to see. Much to enjoy. Much to photograph.
Today was one of those days and I took child like pleasure in dropping my bike and bushwhacking through the woods..................
During a multi-day adventure race I was doing in Virginia in about 2006 my team-mate and I were into our third straight day of racing.
The weather had been freezing cold since the race had started, and during those three days we had faced sleep deprivation, a challenging course, cold temperatures, rain, freezing rain and snow.
My team-mate and I were in way over our heads and we knew it but were both single-mindedly determined to finish it.
As we faced each successive challenge along the way and found a way to keep going, and as we watched more experienced teams drop out one by one because of the weather, injuries, major navigation errors, mechanical and equipment failures, losing the heart and the will to finish, and a whole host of other reasons that cause teams to DNF (Did Not Finish) our resolve and confidence grew.
On the third day of racing we had been on our bikes for the better part of a day and we pulled into a check point in the middle of the night exhausted and cold and hungry.
After checking in with race volunteers we looked around us and in my sleep-deprived foggy brain was shocked at the scene in front of me.
The checkpoint was located in a natural area as many of them were during this race.
There were at least 10 campfires roaring and as I took in the scene saw people (racers, volunteers, staff) everywhere.
Many were sleeping on the ground around the campfires, curled up in balls and wrapped in jackets and silver space blankets.
Others were sitting on the ground and in camp chairs staring deeply into the fires as though they were in some kind of hypnotic trance.
And many others were slowly wandering around the area in a daze and also wrapped in the warmth and protection of their jackets and space blankets.
I tiredly studied everyone for a moment and decided that the scene reminded me of those scenes from movies about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust, where everyone is slowly wandering around in a daze looking haggard and ragged and exhausted.
My team-mate and I slowly walked our bikes over to a camp fire, propped them up against trees, set our watch alarms to go off in two hours, then curled up beside each other on the ground wrapped in jackets and space blankets and fell asleep.................
Most of the trees are still bare.
No matter how crazy of a non-winter it has actually been it is still early in the year.
But today there were bright green evergreens, endless deep blue skies and white flowering trees.
Early spring in Tennessee...................
Beginning to move away from paved and onto gravel trails...............
I do not know these roads and trails well.
Over the years I have ridden and walked and even run some of them, but not often enough to really know them well.
Sort of familiar but not really.
Today I found myself intentionally wandering away from the familiar, eager to explore the back portions of these trails.
I had no idea how extensive the trail system was but was eager to see "new".
As with the mountain bike trails that I know so well, everything looks different at different times of the year.
A link to a ride here tha I took last fall:
I was on a road I had been on before so was surprised when I saw this trail veering off to the right.
How on earth could I have not seen that before?
I had no idea, but curious to see where it led I geared down and went off road.............
The trail was only 1/4 mile in length and eventually dead-ended.
OK..........that answered my question.
Onward and upward................
There were roads everywhere and traveling in all directions, crossing each other, intersecting with each other.
Some are very overgrown, some are partially overgrown, some are deeply rutted out, some dead-end, and I wandered aimlessly and happily along many of them.
Some looked vaguely familiar, but as I continued on my journey I found trails I had never seen before and was happy to be in this place.
I knew (generally) where the main highway was. I knew (generally) where the huge power line trail was.
And so I felt confident I could find my way back to my truck which was parked in back of the golf course easily enough.............
One of many beautiful and white flowering trees against a backdrop of evergreens.
I stopped at this tree which was located at a four way road intersection for a few moments, unclipped from my pedals, straddled my bike and sucked water out of the hose of my water bladder, briefly debating which way I wanted to go.
Left would move me closer to Wattendorf Highway.
Right would move me closer to the power line trails.
Straight would move me..............well I wasn't sure but in the general direction of UTSI road (but that was still miles away).
Or back the way I had come.
It didn't really matter because everything was new to me at this point and I was just eager to see new.
I (on the spur of the moment and without anymore deliberation) turned right..................
10 minutes later I came across a wide open dirt and leaf covered trail.
Briefly I debated riding it, but had ridden a few gnarly trails by this point only to see them peter out in a few minutes.
Instead, I leaned my beloved bike up against a tree and headed onto the trail on foot, eager for a brief break from riding.
I fully expected to be back at my bike in only a couple of minutes...............
The trail remained open and easy to walk, and relatively straight and flat, and 10 minutes onto the trail I began to regret having not brought my bike.
Another five minutes and it veered sharply to the right, remained wide open and beautiful and quiet for another few minutes.
Unexpectedly clusters of small pine trees began to show up on the trail...........
That got bigger and bigger as I continued this unexpectedly lengthy hike..............
After passing through the small groups of young trees in the center of the trail it eventually cleared out and opened up again.
Before wading through or bushwhacking around the muddy water holes up ahead of me on the trail I stopped walking and looked around me.
Nothing but woods 360.
Looking at my watch and realizing that I had been walking for 20 minutes I regretfully decided to turn back.
Very likely this trail ends up veering back onto a paved or dirt or gravel road somewhere, but I would have to find out for certain another day..................
Heading back the way I had come.................
35 minutes after I had left my bike standing against a tree at the edge of the trail I picked it up again and headed further down the road, still eager to explore.................
Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight..........Lance Armstrong
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