When Torture is Self Inflicted i.e. Hollytree Singletrack

[Fencejumper09]

It is about time I did this write up!

This was not a long trip through the beautiful countryside of our amazing country! Nope! This was a short trip into a small scenic valley for an overnight camping trip with temperatures dipping into the low 20's and some of the tightest singletrack in Alabama.

The plan was to meet at Jack's north of Birmingham by around 6am on Dec. 9th for breakfast and to head to Hollytree, AL by 6:30. Well, as some of you may know, on Friday central Alabama received 3"+ of snow in a beautiful display of winters middle finger! Normally this would be enough to shut down the area but the city workers seemed to be prepared for it and only minimal shutdowns were imposed.

I loaded up in the snow Friday evening and started second guessing my decision to attend the ride but I was too pumped for that deliciously rocky singletrack to bail out now!



My plan was still to arrive at Jack's as long as I could get out of my driveway. Luckily that morning the roads were in great shape and I arrived at Jack's to find Ryan waiting on me and the restaurant closed and no plans of opening soon.



I walked over to the gas station and got a yummy slice of breakfast pizza since I wasn't going to get my Deluxe Breakfast from Jack's. We waited for Kyle to arrive (Typical) and received word from Mike and Mulley that they would be shortly behind us we hit the road!

[Fencejumper09]

The trip up was uneventful and once we were north of Warrior the snow disappeared. We arrived at Hollytree around 9:30am to find Alex and Johnny waiting for us but no one home to take our money.

Let me just take a second to tell you about our fearless leader and what a class act he is. Johnny works in Scottsboro but lives nearby to Hollytree, David lives in Scottsboro with no way to trailer his bike to Hollytree. Johnny didn't even hesitate to offer a haul to David and delivered his bike to Hollytree! This forum is such a great place with some of the best people I have met since moving to Alabama!

Soon after we arrived, Mike and Mulley rolled in and so did the owner/operator Russ! We payed the stifling rate of $10 for the day or $15 for the weekend and prepared for the ride.





Mulley was already messing with the Lectron (picture actually taken later in the day)

[Fencejumper09]

While we were preparing for the ride, Gary Barry and a crew of mountain goats had arrived. Kyle walked over and must have planned up some crazy plan to screw with all of us. Kyle informed us we were going to follow GB on a full loop of all of the new singletrack!!

Being young and naive, I assumed we would start on loop 1 and work our way up to loop 3 as they increase in difficulty! Once again I was wrong!

We headed off down a creek bed then turned right up a ditch and meandered up and down a few ledges before we realized we had been thrown to the wolves and were on loop 3! After a polite discussion with GB about what lay ahead, we decided to turn around and go warm up on loops 1 and 2. On the way we picked up David and his WR450!

We spent the morning enjoying the "easy" loops and really bonding over some technical terrain! We stopped back by the trucks and had a quick lunch and a few of us decided loop 3 would be a fun and relaxing way to wrap up the day.

Ohhh loop 3, where do I start, it was love at first sight! I knew we were in for some fun when the first techy section is straight up a waterfall! This trail is awesome, you wind up and over and through rock passage ways barely wider than your handlebars. Just when you see a clearing that looks like a smooth flowing section you make a hard pivot turn up the mountain through a rock garden blossoming with case destroying limestone! It really was a fun trail and it was very technical but still doable!

We ran into the GB Billy Goat Mafia and they showed us a sneak peak of what it looks like to be a good rider (it was glorious and I think I shed one single solitary tear). GB offered up a challenge to take a right at the next piece of survey tape and try our luck at Barr Mountain. Of course Mulley headed straight for it and peer pressured me into following. It was a grueling hill climb of rock ledge after rock ledge followed by fender shattering surprise traction. I made it to the top and that is all that people need to know!!!

Thanks for the picture Kyle!

[jrobinson]

Nice report. Glad yall got to ride that day.

[Fencejumper09]

After loop 3 we were whooped! Some decided to head home while others decided it would be a good night to camp! Nothing says camping like a forecasted low of 20 degrees F! While we were finishing up our torture, Beck settled on a location for camp and began working on what would later be described as "The Best Campfire in all the Land"! When we arrived we set up tents and commenced to cooking dinner preparing for the events of the evening!

Another art shot by Kyle


During the planning of this event, the highlight for Mulley was the planned night ride. I had prepped my light rig for the event and was ready physically but emotionally I was beat down after loop 3. After a barrage of insults that could have melted the toughest of snowflakes I once again succumbed to Mulley's peer pressure and we suited up for our jaunt into the dark forest. Once we hit the trail I was glad I had decided to join in, it is awesome to blast through the woods with only a couple of bicycle spot lights mounted to your helmet!



The pros use much better lights!

[Fencejumper09]

We got back to the campsite and enjoyed a nice relaxing adult beverage or two while admiring the clear sky and abundance of stars! We discussed some mind blowing science and physics topics like how some of the stars we were looking at had already burned out!  ???

Our serene evening was disrupted by a few intoxicated locals and some hunters! The locals were hilarious and had some pretty crazy stories to tell. The hunters were young and kept reminding us how much they hate that we ride near their stands. One of the locals decided he had had enough of the joking and wouldn't be taking anymore lip from the a young whipper snapper such as myself, apparently the 60's were a bad decade for old Steve! He waddled off into the darkness jibbering on about wanting me to stand up and keep running my mouth!! He eventually cooled off and decided it was best to retire to his truck. The night came to end and we all retreated to our domiciles to try to keep from freezing! It was an eventful evening with some pretty entertaining stories told!

[Fencejumper09]

The next morning we woke up and quickly began stoking the fire to thaw toes and fingers. I cooked up some delicious brown n' serve sausage with eggs for breakfast burritos and we feasted!!

Maybe Kyle will share some of his art pictures as I was too busy slaving over the stove!!

Mike Hudson and Eric Bottomlee arrived and Mulley departed. We headed off to hit loops 1 and 2 with a short stop to watch some rallycross on the dirt track! Here is a long video of all the riding from the weekend! It really is a great place to ride some singletrack and to think that they are just getting started with plans to double the mileage in the coming year is exciting. I really look forward to heading back soon.

[klaviator]

Great Writeup.  Looks like a lot of fun but unfortunately way over my dirt riding abilities. 

[Nice Goat]

Awesome report!

[Chitza]

If I break a bone trying to ride off-road, I'm sending you the medical bills. Thanks for the inspiring write up. Well done.

[norton73]

Great video!

Looks like a challenging place to ride.

Thanks for taking us along as we watched from a nice warm office.

[yamahamer]

After watching the video I'm almost glad I had to work.  :D
Nice report. Looks like a great training ground for TKO.

[springer]

 Great report!  :)

I DO have just ONE question though...okay maybe moare than one...



How much do you charge to write ride reports? Is it buy the word or sentence?  Can I set up a monthly pay type deal for you to write mine?  And the last but the mostest important question, Will you take a check? It's good, I promise.  :D :D

[Fencejumper09]

It is, by far, the most difficult riding I have ever done but it was pretty awesome to reach the top of some of those hill climbs. As always, the video doesn't do justice to how steep and technical the terrain really is.

Thanks to all those who commented here and Springer I feel like you are being sarcastic. Are you hoping with my lack of writing skills my price would be lower than the likes of BrianA and Klaviator?  :D

[springer]

It is, by far, the most difficult riding I have ever done but it was pretty awesome to reach the top of some of those hill climbs. As always, the video doesn't do justice to how steep and technical the terrain really is.

Thanks to all those who commented here and Springer I feel like you are being sarcastic. Are you hoping with my lack of writing skills my price would be lower than the likes of BrianA and Klaviator?  :D

Lower? Heck, to be honest, I don't know. But they are higher than mine and that is what mostest important!  :D