How I Started

As a child, bicycling was freedom.  It was also how I went fishing and camping.  In college, my used, rusted, bondo-colored, tensile steel Raleigh 10-speed was transportation to town and the country, but mostly it sat unused, a car being the better option with friends.  I was living in Chattanooga, TN in 1981 when I saw a story on TV about "mountain biking" as a new sport being created in the Bay Area of Marin County in California .  What intrigued me most was bicycling on a hiking trail, away from traffic and cars.

An online photo of the Schwinn Catalog, the Sierra is on the right.

I purchased a new, relatively inexpensive 10-speed from Sears, and quickly learned how to stop with my feet on the ground on long downhill runs; the steel rims wouldn't stop the bike when they were wet.  After a few close encounters with the car-kind, I sold the Sears bike and paid a whole lot more money for a mostly chrome molly Schwinn Sierra mountain bicycle, the only mountain bike sold in the area at that time.  I also purchased a bicycle helmet and a Velcro-mounted water bottle.  My first few rides on gravel back roads were liberating!   The professionally assembled bicycle had the smoothest rolling bearings of all the bikes I had owned (to then) and rode so well, I was captivated to find new places to ride.
My first hiking trail bike ride was to pedal along the base of Lookout Mountain on a gravel road through the forest, and pickup the hiking trail to the summit at Sunset Rock.  The almost vertical mountain hiking trail proved difficult, but where I couldn't ride, I pushed or carried the bike.  After the final vertical scramble up to the top of Sunset Rock, I finished my water bottle, enjoyed the view and considered how I was going home, down the main paved highways or via the hiking trail.  I chose the hiking trail and hung on for dear life, bouncing from rock to tree, basically in one long fall downhill on the steep trail, and was only partly upright at any time.  Shouting "sorry" to scared hikers who scrambled out of the way at the last second as I blew past them going way too fast, I somehow careened my way back to the gravel road and a much more reasonably slower pedaling passage back to my car.  I was stoked!  And primed!   The Chickamauga Battlefield became my main riding area after that, just down Missionary Ridge by car.  I could enjoy a 4 hour bike ride 3-4 days weekly and still make it to work on time (I worked second shift then) and that was my life until moving to Florida in the mid 1980's.

A Centurion Pro Tour 15 like mine, loaded for touring.  

Once in the Sunshine State my bicycling mileage increased by commuting to work and by riding longer weekend routes.  I purchased a lugged, Centurion Pro Tour 15 touring bicycle and a used Cannondale mountain bike, riding both as much as possible.  The Pro Tour quickly became my favorite bicycle and even though it was worn out when I sold it, I now wish I had kept it.  With my friend Bill, I made two bicycle tours of north Georgia's mountains; with my future wife a very memorable overnight tour to Lake Kissimmee State park where we listened to a raccoon eat our breakfast one night while the food bag was tied to a tree; and a few overnight camping trips with friends in the Ocala National Forest.  Many rides were all-day long, with several centuries ridden around the state.  I bicycled two back to back, ten thousand mile years and carried my children on local rides in bicycle baby safety seats.  We day hiked then also, mostly in the Smokey Mountains and since we lived close to Wekiva Springs State Park at the time, we hiked and bicycled there on the trails extensively.  Life was good.

A Cannondale Mountain Bike, and a gift for my wife.

In the early 1990's I moved to Colorado for a new job and continued bicycling to work when I could.  The winter weather and cold temperatures were rough to ride in, but with investments in the right clothing I could ride without freezing about half of the year.  I don't know how many times I called home for help picking me up.  However, riding in the mountains and foothills was awesome!  I grew to prefer road bicycling there, the mountain bike trails being only all up or all down, and very tough!  I had a custom road bicycle frame built by a friend and rode it until recently.  Ride the Rockies in 2001 was my premier bicycle ride in Colorado with the best support, the best route, the best of everything in one package.  It was also the best I had ever ridden and I was in the best health of my life (so far).  A couple years later, life changed and I was again living in Florida.

Along the Ride the Rockies 2001 Route.

Fast forward a few years and my bicycling here has mostly been on the local multi-use/bicycling trails, the traffic being very difficult to ride with here.  Once you get way out of town the roads seem better with fewer drivers.
My goal is to get back to riding a touring bike again.  I like the upright position, the ability to ride most anywhere, and to carry panniers for overnight camping trips on occasion.  It will fit well with my current riding style, biking locally on the bicycle trails with an occasional overnight road trip in the Ocala National Forest.

A Specialized Rockhopper Comp, like mine.

In the meantime, I'm riding my fourth mountain bike now, a 2002 Specialized Rockhopper Comp and I still get a rush when riding off road.  I can't believe it is 11 years old now.  I am pleased with how mountain bikes have changed with the times since my first Schwinn, and recently witnessed one of the new, 3-inch super-wide fat-tire models being ridden locally at Wekiva Springs.  We'll have to see how things go for my future bicycle tastes as I plan on bicycling more with my wife, while balancing backpacking, hiking, kayaking and family in the future.