Bikes N Beer attended the 13thAnnual 12 hours of the Hill of Truth race at Haw Ridge Park just North of Knoxville of off Highway 62 near Edgemoor Rd. We usually do this race as a 4 person team. This year only two of us could participate in the race. Notorious said he had an infection in his lungs and needed to take it easy. Apparently taking it easy did include drinking beer and getting shit faced though. The others on the Sin City Geezer team were taken away on other business.
Trudging up the Hill of Truth
This year’s turnout was not as good as it has been in the past. It was probably largely due to the rain that fell from the heavens in buckets on the previous day. But I can say this, the 90 or so racers that showed up had phenomenal time. One of the best parts of this race is that people come to have fun. There is a party atmosphere and folks stay and have a few beers following the conclusion of the race. The one thing
Enjoying a little carb loading
we did miss was the traditional pint glass that usually gets handed out to those who sign up for the race early. I have a collection of those glasses and now I have a gap. I am already looking forward to next year’s event. Bikes N Beers will be on the sponsors list. Hope to see you there.
On Saturday November 12th we had the opportunity to attend the 2nd annual AMBC Fall Festival. AMBC (Appalachian Mountain Bike Club) is a Knoxville based chapter of the South East regional division of IMBA. According to the AMBC website, their mission revolves around conservation of open spaces, mountain bike rider education, and protection of the natural environment and experience for other trail users. Now I’m not sure about all that since my normal modus operandi on the trails involves breakneck downhill speeds with my hair on fire doing kick-outs over small woodland creatures screaming YEEE HAAAAAW. But I will say this; the AMBC puts on a kick-ass fall festival.
The festival started in the early afternoon with 4 different guided rides, a 30 mile ride that highlights the entire trail system they are building/maintaining in south Knoxville, a 16-18 mile ride, a 9-10 mile ride, and finally a 5 mile ride. In the interest of preserving our drinking time we
The trail system in south Knoxville (Click to Expand)
opted for the 9-10 mile ride. The ride consisted of the William Hastie trails and a smattering of the trail system around the festival site (I’m not sure what they call that system). The entire ride was fun but the highlight for me was a short section around the festival site that had 6 bridges that traversed a small cut leading down to a stream. After returning to the Festival site we of course had to immediately do some carb replenishment and fortunately they had numerous options to do just that.
New Belgium beer was on hand and included Fat Tire and Snow Day, a Winter Ale with chocolate/caramel flavors and moderate hoppyness. We were additionally treated with some local home brew from the Underground Brewing Company. They had a nice crisp light bodied Pale Ale and a German Alt that seemed to be medium bodied with moderate hoppyness.
Next up was some spectator friendly short track racing; the format was a 4-lap 1 mile loop and while the racers were surely burning their lungs and having a great time, I believe the spectators had even more fun harassing and in some cases providing some friendly impedance to the racers. Following the short track races the party really began to ramp up. The night time festivities began with some outstanding food provided buffet style and included lots of carb rich foods that hit the spot after a day of riding and drinking. The bonfires were lit and people began settling in for some great bands (including the Stolen Sheep, Big Bad Oven & The Wild Gifts), a blind auction, and lots of great raffle prizes. There is some night time riding but we did not stay to partake in those activities, although watching the forum boards it appears to have been and smashing, arresting success.
We will definitely be returning next year and plan to do some camping to fully enjoy the entire experience. Of course we have put together our traditional video of the event which you can enjoy below. If you’re interested in learning more about AMBC you can check out their website here. Until next time, keep the rubber side down and your beers cold……
