"Ride the Raccoon" Southeast Munifest, May 19-20, 2012

[BrickMan]

This would be a good learning opportunity for me. I cant do any distance though and its my weekend to work. Ben, I sent you a message.

[Nurse Ben]

I cant do any distance though

Don't worry about riding distance, there are trails galore, easy, hard, whatever you want. Raccoon Mountain is an idea location because there is so much variety and the access is so easy.

Just over a week till Munifest, so exciting!!

[munimag]

Is anyone planning to bring their 36er and participate in the road ride at Raccoon Mountain this weekend. I am debating whether to bring mine along.

[munimag]

If anyone is in need of a new 24 inch tire, I will be bringing two 24 x 3.0 Intense tires with me for sale. One has never been used ($25). The other one was used for one 10 mile BMX race ($20).

[Nurse Ben]

If anyone is in need of a new 24 inch tire, I will be bringing two 24 x 3.0 Intense tires with me for sale. One has never been used ($25). The other one was used for one 10 mile BMX race ($20).

Speaking of which, if anyone has gear or unis they'd lke to sell, be sure and bring them, labeled and with a price tag, we'll have an impomptu gear sale table.

I'll have some 26" and 29" muni tires

[Nurse Ben]

We got coverage in the local news:

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2012/...ning-momentum/

Too bad it's not me

I will be out of internet contact after noon on Friday, so if you need my cell #, send me a pm or email through the website, and I'll respond back.

If anyone needs more info or has questions about the event, send me a message.

We have a couple groups coming Memphis, one from Alabama, a few from Tennessee, no one so far from NC (I think they're shunning us), looks like awesome weather, hopefully that'll bring out the "maybe attenders".

Josh from UDC is coming with all his toys, a learning bar, maybe he'll bring some prototypes

The events start at 9am Sat and Sun, meeting at Laurel Point on Raccoon Mountain, google for directions, there are two ways to come in, if you get lost, ask directions, everyone knows Raccoon Mountain.

There are no stores nearby, so bring your cooler ful of food and drink, we'll all picnic together.

I'll be at the campground Friday night, driving a red Honda Element with racks and a UNI sticker (of course).

See ya there!

[MadFurai]

Don't worry Ben, the media never seem to give credit where credit is due... At least it's a decent article, though.

[MuniSano]

Be advised that the Scenic City Trail Marathon is tomorrow, May 19th that uses the full Raccoon Mtn. trail system. 100s of runners and lots of car traffic. Sorry I didn't realize these two weekends overlapped! Be careful out there!

[Nurse Ben]

Well, it looks like We a not alone in wanting to utilize the resources at Raccoon Mountain. I must have missed this event when I was checking for other uses cuz there are going to be a whole bunch of trail runners out there at the same time as us.

After checking out the trail event plans, it does not look feasible to try and park at the Laurel Point area as there will be hundreds of cars trying to park close to the start/finish.

So, we are now meeting at the Switchyard parking lot, which is located aprox one mile from the interstection of the reservoir ring road and the access road. The Switchyard is very easy to find as there is a large power substation located next to the parking area. The Switchyard does not have bathrooms or water, but there is some shade and a nice grassy area for picnicing.

From the Switchyard we will have easy access to Small Intestine, Grindstone Ridge, Upper and Lower Chunky, as well as some easy single track. There is plenty space in the parking area and paved access road for new riders to practice.

If you have any questions, call me at eight, six, five, four, eight, three, eight, seven, three, five.

Sorry for the last minute changes, fortunately all those folks will be gone by late afternoon, so we'll have the trails to ourselves on Sunday.

[Nurse Ben]

We did it! What an event, the weather was good, the turn out was great , and the riding was awesome!

Thanks so much to everyone who made it to "Ride the Raccoon", we had riders from as far away as Memphis, Alabama, and Maryland. I didn't do a "head count", but we had ~twenty five people attend, fifteen or so trail riders, there were also some kids who rode in camp and are "building skills" for next year

Friday night we had a big rain event, so those of us who were at the campground just hunkered down. Claude was the only one who went out riding; he was on the mountain during the rain; woops.

Saturday morning we had a slow start, in part because folks got in late the night before, and well, why rush things if you don't have to...we also found out that we were sharing the trails with six hundred runner Fortunately they didn't use any of the major trails we were riding, so we hardly saw them, and by early afternoon they were long gone.

We met at the Switchyard trailhead, ate donuts and played around until everyone arrived, then got riding around 10:30a on a trail called the Small Intestive, a circuitous trail that winds back on itself for ~3.5 miles, We had some a photo ops where the young guns strutted their stuff by hucking a rock ledge. It was warm and the humidy was high, but we all finished together and there were no "major" injuries.

After finishing the morning ride we had a relaxing lunch in the shade, then it was off for round two. The afternoon ride was a little more technical, we rode the Switchyard Connector trail to Upper Chunky for some "trail trials" on the big rock out croppings that give Chunky it's name. On the way there we some fun on an elevated log. From Upper Chunky we headed over to Lower Chunky for some DH and more rock play, the looped back to the Switchyard..

It was threatening rain, so we packed up quick and headed back to the campground. After showers and snacking, we had an informal potlock and ate marshmellows and smores.

Folks were looking a little sleepy Sunday morning, but we did get an earlier start, meeting at Laurel Point for our final ride. We had a dozen riders start on Laurel Point Trail. Laurel Point provided us with some exciting stuff, an eclectic mix of rock jumbles and roots, fast packed trail in places, a few rock ledges, then finishing with flowing single track on a pine needle carpet down Electric Avenue Trail.

Two days, three rides, some new friends, plenty to eat, and good weather, what more could you ask for?!

Here's a link to my public Photo Bucket, feel free to copy pictures and repost at will:
http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/c...oon/?start=all

And a couple teasers:









Don't miss the Southeast MuniGathering 2013: Ride the Ridge!

[Nurse Ben]

I wanted add a big THANKS to Josh (Unicycle.Com) for coming to the MuniGathering and bringing lots of toys and schwagg!

Josh is a great guy and was so much fun to have as a riding partner.

And a big THANKS to Josh's wife and son for giving him a "kitchen pass" for the weekend

Events coming up:

Ashville MUni Round-Up, Sept 29-30: http://ashevillemountainunicycle.wordpress.com/
California Muni Weekend, Oct 5-8: http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92759

Support local events!

[munimag]

Thanks Ben for organizing this event! I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed meeting and riding with everyone. The trails were awesome. It was well worth the drive.

[Hugh]

I want to echo the thanks to Ben for pulling this event together. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the trails, though I see I need to build more endurance.

Below are links to the three rides we took as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/181129219

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/181129204

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/181129185#

Note that I took one short cut on the first ride and a large short cut on the last ride. Most riders rode more than the above routes indicate.