Panola Mountain

Panola Mountain State Park - 06/08/09

We started our day by purchasing our "Muddy Spokes Club" cards ($10 each) at the Interpretive Center. From there, we drove over to the beginning of the Rockdale River Trail which further leads into the Arabia Mountain PATH Trail. To meet the requirements of this ride, you have to ride the length of the entire 12-mile trail. The problem is that once you're done, how do you get back to where you left your vehicle? You could get someone to meet you at the other end, but we just decided to turn it into a 24-mile ride. It was a warm day with temperatures in the 70s when we started at 9 am and it had warmed up to near 90 by the time we finished at 2:30 or so. We had a mechanical problem that really slowed us down. About 3 miles from the end, one of our bicycles had an issue with one of the crank arms working its way off. The only way to tighten it was with a socket wrench, which doesn't come in one of those emergency tool kits for bicycles. We limped through the last three miles to Stonecrest Mall where they had an absolutely beautiful sight...a Sears store. I ran in, got the tool I needed, made the repair and we headed back home. Don't let anyone tell you this is an easy ride. There are some tough climbs. It is a beautiful and well-maintained trail though. I enjoyed it, but it wore me out. :-)

Click here for a few photos from our ride.

Donnie
Mark

P.S. Learn from my mistake. Make sure you have all the tools necessary to tighten everything on everyone's bikes. This is a long ride and nothing much between the beginning and end. Also, take plenty of water and a small first aid kit (we needed that too).

P.S.S. We did most of this ride again (22 miles) on 8/5/09 and it took us 2 hours and 15 minutes...much easier when you don't have mechanical problems (and probably easier still because of all the bike riding we've done this summer).

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