Leaves hide obstacles

Kim and I have ridden Big Rock/ Cedar Rock trail several times this year, but never during the fall season. So while she is in Gatlinburg on a weekend get away, I feel drawn back to the trails to fill my eyes and ears with all that nature has to offer. It is a rather difficult trail due to the long climb to the top and getting back down is a little tricky as well with the long steep descent to the Little River trail at the bottom. Nonetheless it is worth the effort. The air is thinner this time of year so climbing a mountain in cooler, thinner air can put a strain on the lungs and test your abilities. Never one to back down from a challenge, I thought this would be a good day to go to the top and enjoy the last moments of fall color from a bird’s eye perspective and with any luck at all I'll get there before everyone else comes to the same conclusion.

I was the fourth car in the parking area. Too good to be true. But true it was. So far so good. Unload the bike, get geared up, fill the pack and off I go. The climb to the top takes about thirty minutes. Not a very long climb, but more than makes up for the short distance by being a very steep assent. So after a couple of stops to convince myself that my lungs are not going to explode and to allow my heart to return to a rate somewhere below mach one. I reach the top. The view from the top of Big Rock can be compared to the Crayola Factory after a tornado. Color everywhere. Deep oranges, brilliant reds, bright yellows and scattered through out all this are evergreens that refuse to be part of the change of seasons. It’s probably one of the strangest analogies you will ever hear, but….evergreens and I have a lot in common. They stand in the face of all sorts of weather and temparture and seem to be almost opposed to change while the world around them moves on and goes through this metamorphosis. All to discover that in the end....everything will return to normal and continue as if nothing ever happened. There is one other challenge to riding this time of year and here it is.....Leaves have a tendency to hide obstacles on mountain bike trails. Things like roots, rocks and logs. There is one sure fire way to prove this. And prove it did.