In The Beginning

I get asked a lot of questions.  Here is a brief history to let folks know where I am coming from.

I rode the Berryman trail near Potosi Missouri. It was one trail that made a 25-35 mile loop around the foot hills of the Ozarks in Mark Twain national forest. It was reminiscent of Tsali near Bryson North Carolina. I had raced Tsali once long ago, before I even dared dream of this Quest. Then the spark that rekindled my interest in my Quest, Super Storm Sandy caused a slow down at work, for me, and my wife Tammy, mostly was telecommuting, mostly, as she went on a work reduction plan due to health concerns. I will not be a Debbie Downer with the details, but we have had Bucket list  discussions, including her childhood dream of visiting every state, in a meaningful way, not just driving through!

So Sandy made it hard to telecommute and I was jonesing to ride more than a quarter mile with out having to move, cut out or crawl over blow downs! We mapped out 5 IMBA Epics all within a few hours of each other where North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee meet up. I manged to ride:
Dupont State Forest, near Brevard, North Carolina
Jake/Bull Mountain near Dahlonega, Georgia
Tanasi Trail near Ocoee, Tennessee

On our way back from Tennessee to North Carolina, it dawned on me that this is one of those "The time is right"-"Do it before it is too late" situations. Rewind 10 years and Tammy could not sit through the 2 hour 25 mile per hour switch back through mountains and many waterfalls. But watching cry tears of joy at each new majesty that nature presented us, made it very poignant for me. A couple years back, after she came out of remission, I told her that we could sell the house, cash everything in and drive an RV around the country. I meant it, but she still had an incessant need to work. No cold turkey for her. Now that she has been weened back a bit, I am making good on that promise. Tammy is still so concerned with my happiness. After all it was while on a trip to Minnesota for her daughters Birthday, with a stop at the Rock-n-Roll hall of fame in Cleveland Ohio on the way and a stop at Mark Twains home town on the way back, that Tammy asked me what I wanted to do. She thought we were doing too much "Just" for her. I insisted that it was fine, but she insisted back. That is when I remembered that old bike magazine with several IMBA epics that I saved all these years.

Every thing is on line now and we found the Berryman trail. So there it is in circular fashion, I do admit, that is just how I roll.