Photographs taken by Mama/Chocolate Girl.

For those of you that know nothing about Blankets Creek in Woodstock, GA, it is a 3 loop trail system that now totals over 12 miles of singletrack about 3 miles from my house. The entire trail system at Blankets shoulders Lake Allatoona.

THE 3 TRAILS

1. Dwelling – Super groomed race track that just begs you to keep pedaling.
2. South – hand cut rooty, rocky and technical loop that was designed for more experienced riders.
3. Van Michael (North or Area 51) – The new section has the most elevation change and potential for some serious tech sections.

There are also beginner trails (Mosquito Bite and Mosquito Flats) that interconnect in the beginning sections of the trail. The Woodstock SORBA chapter handles all of the land/trail maintenance for this system.

THE VAN MICHAEL LOOP

First, how did the Van Michael Loop get it’s name? One of the local businesses in the area, Van Michael Salon, donated $10,000 towards the construction of this new loop for Blankets Creek. Personally, I have absolutely zero problem with naming the trail after them. One, they are supposedly avid mountain bikers, so they are supporting the sport they love. Two, anyone that is willing to donate that much money towards a mountain biking trail deserves recognition in some way. It is incredibly hard to get funding for new trails. I could care less if they put a huge banner at the entrance of the trail if it meant more funding for trails in the area. That is the end of my first rant.

Now my second rant before I get to the ride. The VMT had to be temporarily shut down because a horse rider complained about erosion. Now, this horse rider is illegally riding on this land and he was upset because the approved trail goes through the area that he once used. Luckily, the army corp and local government really likes Blankets Creek and the work that Woodstock SORBA does, so the reroutes were done very quickly and the new trail was reopened after two work parties. I don’t think that this will be the last we heard of our horse riding friend, but for now everything is good. He did leave a nice present on the trail for us though…

The loop is incredible. A group of us headed out on Sunday morning to get a good ride in on the reroutes. To my surprise, my favorite sections of the trail were still there! There was one switchback that didn’t make the cut, but that didn’t change the character of the trail at all. We now have a destination trail system in Woodstock, and the best part is that it’s only 3 miles from my house. My favorite section is the tight rocky singletrack next to the lake. There is no room for error because you have a wall on one side and a drop off on the other. When climbing this section, I am repeatedly hitting my bars on the first tree. Having cleared this section multiple times before, I can not figure out why I keep doing it now.

RIDING FRIENDS

I do have to take a second to share how fortunate I am to have the chance to share these rides with the people I do. I had a great time riding with Raja, Mama, Speedy, Clogger, Al., Robin and all of the others Sunday morning. Thank you to all of the people that I ride with for making all of these rides just that much better. After two fast VMT’s and a Dwelling, I was cooked and it was time to go home.

Another thanks goes out to Ham…if it wasn’t for you…I wouldn’t be on a different bike for every ride! Thanks for letting me get them dirty. The Mojo was flawless.

For more pictures and another write-up of Sunday…check out Mama’s blog.