Our BikeCX / Bike29 is a sponsor of this 55 mile endurance cross race called the Southern Cross in Dahlonega, Georgia. It just so happened that I had to fly down to Atlanta for a work meeting immediately before Southern Cross and a million things perfectly aligned themselves to make me able to go to the race.

Everything was so smooth, until the weather got involved. I woke up in Buford, GA on Friday morning to a nano-inch of snow on the ground. Laughable by VT standards, but enough to throw the greater Atlanta area in a frenzy of school closings and car crashes.

Emily picked up a bike that I was borrowing for the weekend, and then picked me up and after stopping at REI, a gas station and a bike shop we found ourselves in Dahlonega trying to figure out what was going on. Apparently it was a giant mess. Unequipped to deal with the snow, plows were tending only to the main roads leaving lesser roads untouched. The gravel road out to the race start was a sheet of ice with cars off to either side and the last bit was closed to traffic. They had no choice but to cancel the race for that weekend.

We weighed our weekend options, which were not many, and Emily and I decided to head to Mulberry Gap where we knew we could get a comfy bed, good food, and a good ride – even if it would be snowy.

fireOn Saturday Emily and I headed out with Namrita and Ron for what ended up being a really pleasant 2.5 hour snowy singletrack ride. The temp was at 25 degrees at Mulberry Gap, but they’re in a hollow and I’m sure it was a touch warmer as we climbed over the hill. They had about 1-2″ of snow on the ground and we saw all sorts of animal tracks on Pinhoti 1 and 2.

I was on a mission, try to figure out if I really need a medium Niner One9, or if my small frame is okay. The bike I had borrowed was a medium Air9, essentially the same thing but with gears. I’ll go further into details on the bike tomorrow and all my thoughts – I learned a lot from riding this bike.

Anyway, the ride was fun. I felt like I had spent the three previous eating and sitting, which I had. But once I warmed up I just really enjoyed the rare winter opportunity to be on trail, the sunshine and the company.