Welcome!

And Thanks for visiting my blog. As you read you will learn what you need to know about the trails in the east Tennessee area. Be sure to check out this cool video.

I.C. King Park is in a wonderful location right outside the University of Tennessee. It is just a short drive up Alcoa highway, but I did have a little bit of difficulty finding the place. I drove past and went in the western exit, and I immediately found myself stuck at a gate. I took a second to look it up on a GPS.

Fallowing the GPS’s instructions, I got back in my car, drove for ten more minutes and ended up in a cul-de-sac. All I could think was that I was never going to find this place. Fortunately as I passed the first entrance, I saw a small brown sign that said “I.C. King Park,” I hit the brakes and turned into a little parking lot. THANK GOD! The last thing I wanted was to get myself really excited and not even ride the trail. So a little advice before going to I.C. King, is that unfortunately you’re not going to be able to rely on the otherwise “trusty” technology that we have today.

To the west of the parking lot is a pretty big blue lake that is overshadowed by mountains of green trees. The sun was up in the middle of the sky, beaming down, heating the air to at least 92 degrees. The blue water looked exceptionally refreshing, I told myself I was definitely going to jump in as soon as I got done.

I got all my stuff on, including a camelback, which I highly recommend to those of you who are planning a mountain biking adventure.

No matter how far you are going, camelbacks offer more to the rider than you can ask for. If you are unfamiliar with camelbacks, they have a water bladder a

nd a tube comes out to right beside your mouth for an easy, hands-free sip of water whenever it is desirable. Keys, wallet, food, water, bike tools and a first aid kit are all necessary things that easily fit inside your camelback.

I headed out onto a trail that slipped between the railway and the lake; I got to a fork and chose the high road named “Upper Trail Loop”, not very creative. I followed it up to a hill that got my heart pumping. The next few miles was some fast paced riding, but not without minor obstacles. There were a few trees down in the path, easily overtaken by experienced riders. Some small areas of the trail have a hard time draining, causing a little ‘slip and slide’ with tires, but the best way to get through this is to keep your speed to easily maintain balance.

The coolest part of I.C. King trail was “heart-break hill.” You hit a hill that takes you up to what seems to be a mountain, If you can get up the hill without stopping, congrats! When you arrive your legs are burning, but look around, it is a beautiful view looking over the entire park. I took a stretch and little bit of a break and got back on the bike for what became the best part of the ride. It was a downhill ride for a good mile, but there are no hard turns so you can keep your speed and cover some major ground. The trail loops around the other side of the park that puts you back on the original trail, the one before “Heart Break Hill.” I took the trail back and eventually got back to the parking lot, total time: 1 hour 35 minutes, perfect.

I would say I.C. King is a pretty good place to go ride, especially for me because of its proximity to the university. The trail itself was in overall good condition and I enjoyed the muddy parts because they were easy and added something to the trail. As far as the type of bike nearly anything would work under two conditions: big tires and good brakes. The reasons: the mud and the hills. I would very much recommend this trail to beginner and intermediate riders (experts would get bored), who live in the Knoxville area. One word of caution: As I was leaving I did notice some police cars and I asked a fellow biker why the police would choose to sit in a park in the middle of the day; he answered that there had been many instances of homosexuals found with each other in cars and even on the trail. Good luck avoiding any of these awkward situations if you go visit I.C. King.