Mountain Goat Adventures

09/04/2024

This year's shirt design and colors for the Blankets Creek 3/6 Hour on September 28th. Register by September 10th to guarantee your size in this design!

09/03/2024

Block pricing this year for the Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Race so we currently have 22 spots left at the mid-level registration price. Once we hit 300 riders it goes up another $10. These trails are considered intermediate in technical difficulty, with many fast and flowy sections as well as long climbs and long descents. Even determined beginners can finish this course. Join us for some of the most fun singletrack in the Southeast!

08/30/2024

Calling all Juniors! We are excited to have the Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Race on a non-Georgia Cycling Association race weekend this year and all juniors (18 and under) will receive a bonus swag item - one of our flat bill Mountain Goat logo hats! Juniors can register in either the open or age group categories. If we have more than ten riders 18 or under in the same category, we will break them out into their own Junior category. We are very close to having a junior men's category in the 54 mile race...just need a couple more to register!
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/foolsgold

08/16/2024

Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Race volunteer update: We have a need for one more course marshal who is familiar with the gravel roads in the Bull Jake area. We are also looking for a few more folks to help out with registration and parking from 6 to 8 am on Saturday morning, September 14th. If you have friends/family/teenagers traveling with you to the race, we'll make sure they get all the race swag and lunch for helping out for a couple of hours.

08/13/2024

If you are bringing friends or family to the Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Race we can use a few folks to help with registration and parking on Saturday Sept 14 from 6-8 am. Morning volunteers receive a shirt and race swag, as well as lunch/beverages. Please email [email protected] if you’d like to help!

08/11/2024

We have new casual shirts coming for fall of 2024 in grey, purple and blue. These will be available at all of our events.

08/05/2024

With the economy where it is currently, event attendance is down across the board and many event promoters are struggling to stay afloat. We need your participation to keep these events going and to continue to do what we do for SORBA Woodstock and the other trail organizations that we support. Please consider signing up for the Blankets Creek 3/6 Hour or for the Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Race so we can continue to provide our high level of service at these events. Both events are on "non-GCA" weekends, so that our junior riders can participate. Thanks to everyone who has or is supporting us - we appreciate you now more than ever!

06/05/2024

We're continuing the tradition of Finisher Medals at this year's Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Race! We'll have these for all 38 and 54 mile finishers! Get signed up now and take advantage of the early registration entry fee!
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/foolsgold

05/26/2024

Race Photos from the Rope Mill Half Marathon and 10k from Dashing Images have been posted! You can view the gallery at the link below. Race results will be posted Sunday night. Great work out there, espcially our half marathon runners who finished in a downpour!
https://pics.dashingimages.com/ropemilltrailrun2024

05/26/2024

Race photos of yesterday's Rope Mill Fast + Furious 15 Mile MTB Race from Dashing Images are up! You can find the gallery at the link below. Results will be posted Sunday evening. Thanks to all those who showed up despite the monsoon during check-in!
https://pics.dashingimages.com/ropemillfastandfuriousmtbrace2024

05/24/2024

Registration is open until 5 pm today for tomorrows trail run and 15 mile bike race at Rope Mill Park in Woodstock. The weather forecast changes every hour this time of year, but right now its looking good! Come join us as we kick off Memorial Day weekend and summer break!
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/ropemill15

05/24/2024

Martha’s Outpost will be set up in the parking lot closest to the Explorer trail at tomorrow's Rope Mill Races for all your coffee and tea needs!

05/23/2024

We'll have early check in for the Rope Mill Half Marathon and 10K at Fleet Feet Canton, GA tonight (Thursday) from 4 to 7 pm! They are having a huge memorial day sale as well, lots of great deals to be found! Check in for the Fast+Furious 15 MTB Race will be at Out Spokin' Bicycles - Canton, GA at the same time. Come check in early so you can just roll on down to the start line on Saturday!

05/20/2024

Happening THIS COMING SATURDAY at ROPE MILL PARK! We'll have a 10k and Half Marathon Trail Run in the morning, followed by a 15 mile MTB race at Noon. Join us as we kick off summer break!
Online registration is open until 5 pm on Friday May 24th!
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/ropemill15

05/17/2024

Blankets Creek and Rope Mill riders - please consider joining Sorba Woodstock to support our local trails and make sure they stay around for years to come.

An Open Letter to Blankets Creek and Rope Mill Riders from Tom Meany – Secretary of SORBA Woodstock

What would happen if Blankets Creek and Rope Mill was closed for mountain biking?
That may sound like a horrible doomsday message, but there is a possibility that the SORBA Woodstock Chapter could see this one day if scenarios occurred. From failure to obtain required insurance liability for the club to Washington politicians turning their backs on the sport altogether, it could happen. While we have a good core of local volunteers who provide the stewardship and sweat equity on the backs of all the riders, none of that matters without insurance liability and pro-bike federal policies. Without a certain number of required memberships a year, our chapter will lose its chapter status. No Chapter = No Insurance. No Insurance = No Trails at Blankets or Rope Mill.
The key to avoid this is simply by donating $39 a year to obtain a SORBA Woodstock chapter membership through IMBA. The $39 a year goes on to protect us in three (3) parts: 1
40% for insurance, 20% for lobbyists in Washington, and 40% for chapter funds. That’s it. By joining and renewing annually, you ensure your trails are protected from frivolous lawsuits, we are assured of having advocates in Washington, and you help fund SORBA Woodstock. Funding SORBA Woodstock means we can build and maintain trails, we can buy supplies/tools to work on the trails, and we can offer social events. The $39 is also tax deductible, which means it is even less than $39 to protect your local trails.
The Blankets Creek and Rope Mill trail systems see well over 100,000+ visitors annually. Of all that ridership, only a small fraction are members of SORBA Woodstock. Most of you who love the sport of mountain biking and see the absolute value of your local trails would love to come help, but life is busy! Kids, jobs, weekend commitments, etc. get in the way of being able to work Saturday trail work parties or give sizable donations to fund projects. The EASIEST, MOST IMPACTFUL thing you can do to protect your trails for future generations is to purchase and renew a $39 annual membership to SORBA Woodstock. It’s that important.
So come on, how much did you spend on your bike? How much do you spend on gas a week to get to your trails? $39 is really nothing. Having a membership is the best way to say “I’m In” and “I Care.”
Please go to the IMBA-SORBA membership link below and join/renew today!
https://www.imba.com/join/chapter/sorba-woodstock
As always, thank you for your support—we couldn’t do this (literally) without you!
Thank you,
Tom Meany
Secretary – SORBA Woodstock

05/16/2024

Just a friendly reminder that if you are pre-riding or pre-running for next weekend's races at Rope Mill, you will not be able to ride/run the entire course in race direction on the same day. If you are riding, I'd suggest pre-RIDING on Tues/Thurs/Sat so you can see Explorer and Avalanche in race direction. The Mill Trails are the least technical and you'll get a good feel for those trails even if riding the opposite of race direction. Since runners need to travel opposite of riders, I would pre-RUN on Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun to get the best feel for the course.
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/ropemill15
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/ropemillrun

05/14/2024

If you are considering running the Rope Mill Half Marathon on May 25th, we are down to about 20 spots remaining as we have a limited number of 13.1 finisher medals. There is still plenty of room in the 10K.

https://mountaingoatadventures.com/ropemillrun

05/13/2024

Bull Mountain Trail Work Day, Saturday May 18th with Northeast Georgia SORBA.

RESCHEDULED to Saturday May 25, 2024!!!
URGENT: Northeast Georgia SORBA needs some help at Bull Mtn. Several drains on the Whoop-De-Doo trail have failed causing water to spill over and run down the trail. We need help now to protect this trail from severe erosion. Bring your bike. We will ride about a mile in to the site. Of course you can walk in if you prefer.
Please join us Saturday May 18, 2024 for a workparty.
Location: Bull Mtn parking lot
Time: 9:15a.m. for sign-in. Bring a lunch for the trail.
Bring: Helmet required, wear closed toed shoes, eye protection suggested, water, snacks, gloves, etc.
Please RSVP to [email protected] by Thursday 5/16 so we will know how many tools to bring.

05/08/2024

UPDATE: Due to today's rainy weather, this event will be rescheduled at a later date.

Cherokee County Youth Mountain Bike Teams are having an info session and fun ride on Monday, May 13th at Blankets Creek Trails at 6pm. Teams are open to Middle and High school students. All experience levels welcome and racing is not required. Come and see us on Monday to learn more!

Any changes due to inclement weather will be announced in the comments on this post.

05/06/2024

RACE SHIRT SIZE DEADLINE APPROACHING! Get registered by May 8th if you are planning to attend either of our Rope Mill events on May 25th. I'm only ordering a small number of extras to ensure that they don't go to waste and we only have a limited number of our Mountain Goat logo shirts in a couple of sizes.

05/01/2024

As Georgia Cycling Association coaches, we are thrilled that this year's Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Race does not fall on a GCA weekend. We'd love to see a good turnout of Junior riders at this event and will have bonus swag for all riders 18 and under!! Juniors may register in either the Open or Age Group categories, and if we end up with more than 10 in a gender/age category, we will create separate Junior 18 and Under Categories. The 38 mile course is a great next-step for juniors who can complete a 3 hour race, as most finish times for the 38 mile are typically between 3 and 5 hours.

04/30/2024

Shirt design and color for the Rope Mill Fast+Furious 15. Get yourself registered by May 8th to guarantee your size, especially if you want an XS, 2XL or ladies specific shirt as we do not order many extras in those sizes. The 15-ish mile bike course includes one large loop of all of the trails at Rope Mill Park.
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/ropemill15

04/26/2024

Shirt design for the upcoming May 25 Rope Mill 10k and Half Marathon. Register by May 8th to guarantee your size in the race design shown below!

04/23/2024

Big Frog Trail Run Results are posted!
https://mountaingoatadventures.com/results/2024/BigFrogResults2024.pdf

04/22/2024

Race photos of the Big Frog Trail Run from Dashing Images have been posted! To download your FREE photos, just select the photos you like and click the download icon on the top center of each photo. There were so many good ones but the pups definitely won the day! We had a great group of runners and despite being a little damp, times were fast and the course scenery was second to none. Thanks to everyone who made the trip to Copper Hill, Tennessee to spend the morning with us! Race results will also be posted tonight.
https://pics.dashingimages.com/bigfrogtrailrun2024

04/19/2024

Race weekend is off to a GGRRREEAAAAT start…a deer assaulted the goat wagon north of Ellijay, rendering it undrivable. Thankfully Chainbuster Racing sent someone to rescue us and the race trailer so we could get up to the Ocoee Whitewater Center for the Cohutta Races and Big Frog Trail Runs this weekend. Never a dull moment.