MTB Camp & Ride - Knoxville Urban Wilderness and Windrock

Dang that’s quite a ride! Don’t think we can push that far especially in a day. The jump lines are definitely talked about the most.

is there anything on that loop you feel could be “eh not worth doing” unless you’re just trying to do miles?

 

I don’t think that’s a great idea...most campgrounds aren’t for “wheeling” lol.

 

Haha I know

 

If fitness is a factor, then yes, the entire 23 mile loop is a very extended workout. I was smoked by the end of it, but that may not be saying much.

That said, it's very difficult to hit all the good stuff without doing a loop, so you may need to split the Wilderness in half over a two day period using out-and-back rides in each direction. If you do that, you can easily cut out all of the area I've highlighted with blue marks below (which is mostly just a bunch of flat dirt and pavement with really good views along the river).

Everything I didn't cross out is definitely worth riding, though, so try to do as much of it as possible.

 

If I can read maps correctly, I think we are camping in the bottom right of your picture. I don’t know if there is an entry down there but if there is, we could basically do a clockwise loop on your path but skip just the top and your blue areas? Idk

 

So will we be able to ride from where we are camping?

 

that's a question for @honda50r but if I'm reading right, camp is in this red circle, bottom right of @paleh0rse picture.

 

Try this one. Just don't judge me for my slowness :
https://www.strava.com/activities/4041147207

OK, having fun with MS Paint!

There is actually a really awesome black trail called "Far East" that I skipped in my loop, but it would bring us closer to our campsite. In this pic below, you can see the Far East trail scribbled in black, along with the Brown Bike Farms campground marked with an orange star (because GO VOLS! ). It's a slightly uphill ride on pavement from the campsite to the trailhead, but it's not terrible if you decide to go that route.

 

Palehorse is right. Brown Bike Farms is located eastern side of trail system and with OK fitness we can pedal anywhere our heart desires. (Slow people may elect to drive). Red circle is camping, blue circle is Baker Creek (primary destination), and the bars are connected via greenway to all of this as shown in the top-left

@GrundleJuice @eidsondesign remember when we pedaled from the campground? It's hard for me to judge my daily trails - what was the difficulty level traversing to those jump lines where we drank beer?

 

Yes

 

You remember my lack of fitness at pisgah. Granted, claw hammer is still the most difficult climb I’ve seen or done to date, but how would you judge me for Knoxville based on that? I assume slightly below average fitness level.

 

If you are doubting it then just wake up a little slower than everyone and meet us over there. You can be our shuttle back after our day, too

 

Lol no I’m not doubting myself, I’m asking for a relative effort comparison. Like I could not do the claw hammer climb, but how will anything we do at Knoxville compare physically?

 

You still made it to the top.

 

I did. Man that was brutal lol

 

You're mother and I were very proud of you.

 

Aw thanks <3

 

Ive got a few months to pack in some miles and get some work outs done. Dont count me out yet. I just need this rona to go the frick away and i can get to it.

 

I know you got it. And you know I’ll stick with you no matter the speed. These guys are well aware I am in no way offended if they run off ahead haha

 

I hope somebody ride windrock

Technical difficulty wasn't too bad, 5/10. There were a couple punchy climbs, but those are only as hard as you make them. Want easy, granny and go.