Super fun trails at Blankets Creek. Fun fact: trail direction changes daily in Georgia!

That red clay is gorgeous and fun to ride… when dry!

Beautiful campground on Lake Allatoona (McKinney Campground).

Paynes Creek trails (during the Payne Cave 6 hour race).

Our beautiful campsite at Paynes Creek Campground (and our 3 medalists).

Even if Georgia is not yet a mountain biking destination, we were quite surprised to find some really fun rides only a few hours from Atlanta.

Our favorite were the trails at Blankets Creek in Holly Creek - some of the top-rated in the Atlanta area. At most networks we visited, the direction of travel on the trail loops changes daily (kudos to the trail builders for making trails that are fun to ride in both directions). Hikers and trail runners have to travel in the opposite direction to bikes and foot traffic is meant to yield to bikes here. The trails were very well-marked with lots of emergency exits. The rating is easy, so a black here is much tamer than elsewhere. If you ride here, make sure to ride the Van Michael trail (huge berms and lots of flow) and don’t miss Quehl Holler, a short purpose-built gravity trail full of berms, wooden features and rollers! The Dwelling Loop is a good fast warm up, but is more a green than a blue trail.

The other sector not to miss are the Bull/Jake Mountain trails, near Dalhonega. With over 30+ miles of trails in this network, you can rack up more than 2000 feet of climbing through lush Georgia forests, an unforgettable experience that will take you hours. The Walmart in Dalhonega is a good base camp.

Allatoona Creek – Nearly 20 miles of trail, ranging from beginner to expert. Unfortunately, a big portion of the trails were closed for hunting season and we ended up having to ride the TurtleBack Loop (a very mellow green) for 5 km before being able to hit an interesting trail and it was getting late, so we didn’t get to ride the more interesting Mason’s Bridge and Bluff, Hocus Pocus and Voodoo.

The Pinhoti Trail is an epic mountain bike route that goes from Alabama west to the start of the Appalachian trail. All but one section is open to bikes, though currently about 40 miles of the 140 mile route are on paved roads.

Some sections can be ridden and some of those require a shuttle. Look up P1, P2 and P3.

The girls did a 6 hour race (3 hour for Mathilde who was doing it solo) at Paynes Creek Campground. The trails were fun (think fast, twisty flowy green), but not a destination IMO.

Also check out:

Chicopee Woods Intermediate Loop (don’t miss the Flying Squirrel and Copperhead gap trails for a fun challenge)

Know of any other fun trail in Georgia that I miss? Leave it in the comments!

The girls decorated this saguaro cactus for Christmas.

Mara made macaroons for Mathilde’s Christmas gift.

The most amazing 1985 Vintage Port. Our friends truly spoiled us.

That we drank with Stilton blue cheese, figs and dark chocolate. It was heavenly.

JF’s delicious Mascarpone orange chocolate pie (from Jamie Oliver).

Served in Pascale’s grandma’s ice cream bowl.

Leg of lamb for New Years served with a 2005 St-Julien. Spoiled. I tell you.

Our traditional fireworks in the backyard!

Our very sick puppy on Christmas morning.

As per tradition, we spent December in Tucson, parked in our dear friends’ yard, enjoying our time with them and sharing daily meals, playing board games, watching movies and riding bikes together. It is always a pleasure to slip back into our simple rhythm and to see our girls and their boys connect and grow together. It was heartwarming to see the girls go on bike rides with Antonio or Pascale by themselves and learn from them.

However, our celebrations were tainted with lots of sadness since our beloved Stout is very severely ill from late stage disseminated Valley Fever (VF), a fungus that is found in the soil in the desert. He likely contracted it in November and the fungus quickly spread everywhere in his body. He has heart failure from the VF and fluid build up around the heart, lungs and intestines. He has had seizures, which tells us it is in his brain too, and he moves with difficulty, which means it is everywhere in his bones. He has lost 17 pounds in 10 days. On December 26, we were pretty sure we were losing him. However, he responded pretty well to the treatment. He is on 4 different meds right now to try and control the VF, but the heart failure requires surgery, a very complex, pricey and risky surgery in which they remove the sac around his heart.

A friend has set up a Go Fun Me to try and raise money to pay for all the vet fees and possible surgery. If you can help even just a bit, we would be incredibly thankful. Here’s the link.

Mountain biking in Northern Georgia

Christmas 2018 in Tucson