Raccoon Mountain: Switchyard

I traveled back to the beautiful Raccoon mountain in Chattanooga to check out some of the trails I had did not have time for during my first ride. I went up the mountain on a sunny Sunday morning and turned into the parking lot beside the switchyard. If you don’t know what this is, you can always tell because there is a constant buzzing from the flow of electricity. As I got my stufftogether and hopped on my bike, the sound reminded me of my body buzzing with adrenaline, I was more than ready and I knew raccoon couldn’t disappoint.

I jumped an intermediate trail called “switchyard,” immediately hit a downhill and was off. The trail was a perfect singletrack, clearly used very often because the dirt was packed, no fallen trees, and no constricting underbrush. The trail was perfectly constructed, the turns had banking for fastpaced turns while the trees were close enough to keep you on your feet but far enough to keep it safe. I kept pedaling, keeping my speed around fifteen to twenty miles per hour. This is key for these kinds of trails, if you remember back to your high school physics class the principal called the conservation of angular momentum increases with speed, therefore the faster you go the easier it is to keep control of your balance and direction. This principal is hard for beginners because they don’t trust themselves with a high level of velocity.

I kept pedaling, maintaining high speeds through the trail. Shifting my weight over my bike, I could make small adjustments to my direction without my handlebars. My mind and body became harmonious, I heard trees blow by as I flew inches away, flirting with disaster. I stayed focused dealing with each turn individually, letting the air cool me

down, and my brain do the calculations. It is all about timing I reminded myself, when to turn, brake, and accelerate. I shot down another turn, feeling unstoppable when I hit the brakes. It was the view in front of me that I couldn’t look away from.