A morning meander on the lesser roads, the journey was definitely part of the fun. We started an audiobook from the library, American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It will be around for several driving days.
Oak Mountain State Park is big. It runs maybe 15 miles long, and has golf, lake Marina, and lots of hiking and biking trails, and enough slow traffic roads to challenge most roadies.
After setting up we rode from our campsite to check out the nearby lake, and it looked inviting. But we were on our mountain bikes, so the call of the trail was in our ears, so we spun up the hill out of the campground, then screamed down to the North trailhead.
Sharon misread the map, and we started off on a Yellow hiking trail (maximum grade 31-52%, typical grade 10.1%) that destroyed any pretence we had about being fit cyclists. We eventually turned back, and found retracing our tracks were no easier. Exhausted, we started on a Red singletrack. The Red trails are the mountain biking trails, and this was much more fun. We confirmed that the trail was really designed to flow the other way when we turned around and flew back. And then slogged up the hill back to the campground. The lake offered succor for our tired muscles.
We awoke with a plan. A leisurely breakfast, and then pack up for the 1/4 mile drive to be near our little lake. We broke out the SUPs, filled them using our house battery, then carried them down to the water. I wasn't stable, my legs quivered, and I dropped to my knees several times, but I managed to avoid falling into the water. I paddled in circles for maybe 20 minutes before back pain and stressed muscles convinced me to return to shore. Sharon traversed the whole lake before we deflated and re-packed the SUPs. After lunch we drove Ernie to the South trailhead and another lake, and rode some Red trails there. Nicely maintained, we were able to ride well and enjoy the flow. Knowing they are two-way trails I tend to brake for blind turns, just in case.
Our pictures from Oak Mtn should all be here.
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