Lynch’s Turkey Wine Modoc Lick Fork

It was nice to set the wheels down on firm ground this weekend and actually feel them roll! As I knew the north would be flooded with melting snow, it was time to head into the heartland of South Carolina.

Saturday was a good two laps at Lynch’s with Goat Master, Shade, BrouSSard and Harlee. Not much to report besides that the trails are in perfect shape right now and the trail is easy to spot. The only thing notable was this tired poopers:

Saturday was a different story altogether. I was up by 5:30 so I could meet Zach and Andrew for our carpool to Lick Fork State Park in the western part of South Carolina. The propagator of FATS (Forks Area Trail System) was holding a fundraiser ride for the phase III plans for FATS. For a suggested retail donation of $25.00 you got a map and a jeep to carry some SAG supplies to the halfway point of 28 miles.

I had ridden all of these trails before so I knew what to expect, I just wasn’t sure how the gravel to connect them would pan out. It was put together very nicely and the map didn’t skip a beat. Well some people thought it did but they don’t count 8-)

Bill gave a short speech on what to look for on the course as he had marked some spots of pavement and tree flags. Then he said we could go and I heard someone in our group say “Well we should go get out front.” That was all I needed to hear as the first six miles were all single track at Lick fork and I remembered loving that trail. I hopped out in the lead and proceeded to keep all pistons firing until the six miles was done. One of my favorite downhills in SC is along that trail and I pinned it going down hooting and hollering with a trail of riders behind me.

This was also my biggest mistake of the day as my legs would feel like concrete for the rest of the day but it didn’t matter as temps jumped into the 50’s pretty quickly and we all just spun along the road. Every now and then I would find myself trying to paceline with the gearies as I was running 34X19 and able to keep pace if I really pushed the RPM’s but that was a recipe for disaster if I tried to hang longer than a minute.

There was some confusion at the first big turn but it was quickly cleared up by me and I was happy to be in front of my geared friends for a couple minutes longer. Toby was out rocking the ghettofied 69’er:

Turkey and Wine have always held a special place in my MTB heart and yesterday was no exception. How could you not enjoy a thin ribbon of trail that takes you from county to county for 18-20 miles. The trail is no wider than one hand with twists, turns, swooping canal ditches and a few small climbs and descents. All of this while cruising easily above 10 mph amongst the trees is more than enough to make you wear a smile if even your friends will only let you catch your breath for 2.8 seconds.

Modoc was everything I remembered her to be with the fast flowing ridgeline sections and the tricky creek crossings. I started to get my legs back a little on this trail as I started to realize the ride was almost over.

A great 50+ miles on a fantastic day for a fantastic cause, more mountain bike trails! Our group hammered out the 50 in less than five hours, nice work, can’t wait to do it again.

Icycle!