Directions to Olde Rope Mill Park:

From I-575 Going North
Take Exit 8 (Towne Lake Parkway Exit)
Turn right off Interstate onto Towne Lake Parkway
At first light make a left onto Woodstock Parkway
At next light – make a left onto Ridgewalk Parkway
Make first right (just before bridge) onto Old Rope Mill Road
This road dead ends into the park.

From I-575 Going South
Take Exit 8 (Towne Lake Parkway Exit)
Turn left onto Towne Lake Parkway
At second light – make a left onto Woodstock Parkway
At next light – make a left onto Ridgewalk Parkway
Make first right (just before bridge) onto Old Rope Mill Road
This road dead ends into the park.

So come check them out! We need the tire tracks to create the line and concrete the path. It also gives you a good preview of the trail - designed to be a race course. Intersections are temporary flagged to avoid getting lost.

Also, as Malanda said in the previous post, we need an army of folks (like 70 people) on the work party on July 17th to backcut and clean up. If that many folks show, we could have the entire 6.5 mile trail open by the end of July!

Come show your support for more trails on the I-575 corridor!

Jay Wilkes

Pres - SORBA Woodstock

There is also a chapter meeting on Monday, July 12th, at 7:00pm, at Blankets Creek.  Please attend if you would like to find out about all of the activities that are going on with SORBA Woodstock, and you will be able to hear about many exciting events that are being planned.  Bring a lawn chair and meet us at the kiosk in the parking lot at Blankets Creek. 

On Saturday, May 8, the City of Woodstock dedicated the Taylor Randahl Memorial Mountain Bike Trails at Olde Rope Mill Park. In a ceremony attended by over 100 friends and family of Taylor Randahl, as well as officials from the City and Cherokee County, a beautiful plaque was unveiled in Taylor’s memory. Taylor died in a tragic accident on April 14, 2000 while riding his bike on a country road in Cherokee County. A vehicle traveling in the opposite direction struck a deer and the deer was thrown into Taylor. 

The ceremony was led by the Mayor of Woodstock, Donnie Henriques, and included heartfelt remarks from Taylor’s father, Doug Randahl, Thomas Turner, who was riding with Taylor the day of the accident and Josh Lewis, who revealed the name of the first section of trail that was opened for riding the day of the dedication. The Avalanche Trail name was chosen to remember Taylor’s love for his first mountain bike, a GT Avalanche. 

This event consummated a ten year effort by Taylor’s parents, Doug and Kelli, and his sister, Lindsay (pictured above), to build a mountain bike trail in memory of their son and brother. By age sixteen Taylor was a very successful cross country mountain bike racer, competing in events all across the U.S. and beating strong competition several years older. 

The plaque honoring Taylor is set in beautiful stonework at the trailhead. The final words on the plaque encourage all riders “To honor his spirit, approach each ride with relentless dedication, fierce passion, tenacious commitment, and boundless enthusiasm. In so doing, he will be riding at your side.” 

The Taylor Randahl Memorial Mountain Bike Trails are being built by the Woodstock Chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA Woodstock) in partnership with the City of Woodstock. The City and SORBA Woodstock executed a memorandum of understanding in 2009 whereby the City will provide the park land, facilities and financial resources and SORBA Woodstock will provide the trail building expertise to design and build the trails as well as provide volunteer labor to build and maintain the trails. The park land is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and leased to the City. 

The first section of intermediate skills trails, approximately 6 miles on the south side of the Little River, is scheduled to be completed by late this year. Additionally, 2.2 miles of beginner trails on the south side is also scheduled to be completed this year. The next phase of trail building will be approximately 5 miles of trail on the north side of the river. The County is in the planning stages of erecting a bridge over the Little River that will connect both sections of trail. Long term plans include a connector trail that will join the Taylor Randahl Memorial Mountain Bike Trails with the Blankets Creek Mountain Bike Trails on Sixes Road, creating a network of over 30 miles of singletrack trail providing outstanding riding opportunities for riders of all skill levels.

The second event on June 26th will be a women's group ride at Blankets Creek beginning at 8:30am.  The group ride will start with beginner ride, followed by intermediate, and finished up with an advanced loop.  All age and skill levels are invited to attend the appropriate level.  We will meet at the kiosk in the parking lot at 8:30, and we will regroup at the kiosk about every 30-45 minutes to change trails.  Bring lots of water. 

On July 24th, come join us for a group ride to Raccoon Mountain.  This will be an intermediate level ride with different groups within the ride from slower to advanced.  You should be able to ride at least one complete loop of Dwelling and all obstacles without stopping to participate in this ride.  We will meet in the church parking lot by Blankets Creek at 7am on Saturday, July 24th, to convoy and carpool up to Chattanooga.  You can also just meet us there at the TVA Raccoon Mountain Visitor Center at 9:30am.  http://www.tnvacation.com/vendors/tvas_raccoon_mountain_pumped_storage_visitor_center/.  We will begin the ride from the visitor center at 9:30am.  You may also be interested in camping at the Raccoon Mountain Campground.  Make your own reservations at the campground asap if you plan to camp.  http://www.raccoonmountain.com/.  Bring plenty of water, dress for warm weather, and bring a snack.  We will post more details about this group ride as the date approaches. 

 Check out many more photos of the event in the photo section