Dirt Bike Date to Snoopers Rock

Last year (I think), Daniel purchased his first dual sport bike after going several years without a motorcycle. He has several friends who enjoy this sport, so when their schedules align, he likes to sneak off for a few hours in the woods.

But he has always hinted (maybe not so subtlety) that he would like me to go ride with him. He has big aspirations of doing a ride out west some day. Last January we watched The Long Way Round, and I have to admit the adventure of an epic ride like this has some appeal (especially when Ewan McGreggor's wife joined him for part of the ride through Africa... if she could do it, I probably could too).

I guess Daniel has had his eyes open for a specific size bike, and when he found out that a friend was selling a TW200 for a good price, he asked if I would at least try it out.

So I did. I haven't ridden a motorcycle since 2004, but I still have my motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license...

Even though I haven't been riding motorcycles, I did take up riding mountain bikes about ten years ago, and I have been driving a stick shift for the last 15 years. So in a sense riding the TW200 was like riding a bike, I hadn't forgotten. Though I did need a refresher on how to start it.

The new-to-us bike was purchased at the end of September, but I had not been on it since my initial test ride. In the meantime, Daniel has taken it out on the trails several times and really enjoyed it. The bike is geared really low with really wide tires, so it is really forgiving and easy to ride. Perfect for learning how to ride (again).

During Thanksgiving, we had a houseful of guests and Daniel requested that we leave our kids with my family and sneak off for a date to ride in the woods.

And so we did.

To start, I rode around the rocky parking lot to make sure I felt confidant on the machine. The parking lot was small and rocky, but I didn't fall off, so we ventured away from our car.

We started out on a gravel forest road. In hindsight, we probably should have just found some jeep trails. The gravel made me nervous and I fish tailed at least once. I also couldn't muster the confidence to ride above 20mph (mostly 15mph). I did a lot of deep breathing from yoga to stay focused and not freak out. Thankfully I didn't fall.

Then I agreed to follow Daniel down the rocky trail to Snoopers Rock. This was the scariest part of the ride and I had a hard time not riding the brakes the whole way down (and I was relying on the front brake only, which I know is a bad idea, but trying to use the foot brake simultaneously for the rear was a bit much for my brain to handle). Thankfully I made it to the bottom without a problem. I immediately hopped off my bike to a break and walk off my adrenaline rush from being afraid during the ride down.

We walked out to the Snoopers Rock viewpoint and I tried not to think about the ride back up. Daniel gave me a pep talk and told me it would be easier if I went faster and that I just had to trust the bike. Both things I know, but it is so hard to do when you are in the moment.

We agreed that I should follow him back up the trail, and it was much easier than the ride down! We also decided he should lead on the way back to the car. After a nerve-racking, narrow, winding gravel climb, I finally got the confidence to keep up with Daniel on the flat parts, going 30-35mph on the way back.

I still have a lot of riding to do before I will be truly confident on a dirt bike, but it was a lot of fun and I always enjoy doing adventurous things with Daniel. When our boys are bigger, this will be a great bike for them to learn on.

Embracing Weekly Hikes in January

Green Gorge on Signal Mountain

My word for the year is Embrace and I am working to embrace this period of my life, as well as the things that make me me. Right after Christmas we took our kids camping in Gatlinburg (camping equals embracing being us, Gatlinburg crowds is borderline us). Anyway, Dollywood was offering free season passes to pre-k kids for this year. I thought that might be fun. Can I just say going to Dollywood was a complete bust, as far as our family was concerned, and definitely NOT embracing who we are. We hope to go back later this year and redeem our experience, but I'm also letting myself be okay with not always loving what everyone else loves.

Middle Creek on Signal Mountain

Another thing I'm embracing this year is my love of hiking. I've been hiking for a really long time. I will turn 40 later this year and I fell in love with hiking when I was twelve. Thankfully I married a guy who loves the outdoors as much as I do. And we are working to transfer that love to our kids.

New Year's Day Hike with friends, Middle Creek on Signal Mountain

A few years ago I made it my goal to get outside with Jack EVERY SINGLE DAY. And we did. We #optedoutside365 and it was totally doable. When Jack was in kindergarten I made it my goal to hike with him every week. And we basically did. But last year, I let the pressure of making sure our homeschool was legit enough sway me to do less hiking with my boy (plus it was a hard year weather wise). But no more! I just finished reading Call of the Wild + Free and I committing to going back to doing the things that our family loves. Embracing the things that make us us.

We kicked off the year with our annual New Year's Day Hike with friends. It was a short and sweet hike next to Middle Creek, here on our mountain. It was with friends we love. And it was so good.

Then instead of doing a one-on-one hike with Jack, I waited for a time I could let Isaac tag along. We visited one of our favorite haunts: Green Gorge (which is practically in our back yard) and I knew we had to keep it up. Nature does something to us. It calms us. It brings peace. It prompts wonder and curiosity. We need a healthy dose of it at least once a week.

Green Gorge on Signal Mountain

After posting about our hike, I had two friends ask if they could tag along. Um yes! Please join us in the things we love most. It makes it even better!

Since then we have completed three hikes with a group of friends. There has been some variation in who shows up, but it has always been a great experience.

Greenway Farms in Hixson, TN

Our second weekly hike was to Greenway Farms. I wanted to keep it simple so I could gauge what the group was capable of. We did a lap through the woods. We walked past a wetland area where we saw ducks and heard bull frogs.

Then we came to a huge swampy area. Instead of turning around, the kids figured out how to navigate past it (I think everyone made it across mostly dry).

Everyone was in good spirits so I suggested we walk up and over the quarry to the bottom. I thought the kids would want to throw rocks and sticks in the water. It was a cold day but we had all warmed up for the hike. It turned out the kids were more interested in climbing the cliffs and taking an alternate (more dangerous) route back to the car. We completed almost four miles and everyone was so excited about their accomplishments.

Blood Mountain, North Georgia Mountains

The following weekend, Daniel and I snuck away for a quick trip, just the two of us, to Blue Ridge, Georgia. Choosing to do the things we know we love, including driving down a rutted out dirt road in the dark on our way to dinner. We embraced the fact that we felt better being within two hours of home for our FIRST WEEKEND away from our kids (EVER!). We rented a beautiful cabin in the mountains and ended up doing an almost 5-mile hike to the top of Blood Mountain. Temps dropped from 38 to 29 while we hiked. But it was perfect. It felt like getting back to the us, before we had kids.

Glen Falls on side of Lookout Mountain

For our third weekly hike, I had our friends meet us at the Glen Falls Trailhead on the side of Lookout Mountain.

The two-mile hike involved large boulders to climb on, a passage through a rock that led us on top of a waterfall.

It was cold and there were icicles hanging in the creek, but the kids had such a good time exploring the creek, pushing their limits, putting up with the moms telling them not to fall in the icy waters!

Snoopers Rock in Prentice Cooper on Suck Mountain

Then today we had our fourth hike of the month. Five other families braved driving down gravel roads to an out-of-the-way spot in Prentice Cooper State Forest. The hike was a quick 0.5 mile walk out to the spectacular view from Snooper's Rock. With an oxbow of the Tennessee River spread below us. This is such a gorgeous spot (a favorite of Daniel's to ride dirt bikes to, let him know if this is your jam! Jack and I have done it on dirt bikes and it's a lot of fun).

Mamas were pushed up against their comfort zones as we were on an exposed rock with big drops down into the river gorge. After some quick pictures, we headed back into the woods where the kids delighted in finding creeks to rock hop across and small waterfalls to climb up. It is the end of January, but with temps in the 50s it was a perfect day to explore like this.

We are looking forward to more hikes with various friends in the weeks and months to come. I joked with my boys that we could go somewhere new every week for the rest of the semester and never hit the same trail twice. I'm pretty sure that could be done. We will probably circle back to some favorites. I am just thankful to be back on the trail, with my boys, and I am loving that our friends are wanting to join us every week.