Tweetsie Trail outpost taking shape as Local Motion opens for business

This story was originally published in the Johnson City News and Neighbor Dec. 19, 2018.

At long last, those who frequent the Tweetsie Trail have an outpost to serve their needs at the beginning or the end of their respective journeys.

Local Motion Cyclery, a bike shop with a bit of European Trail Café ambiance, has opened its doors at 701 East Maple Street, just steps away from the Johnson City entrance to the 10-mile Tweetsie Trail. The outpost is an example of public-private cooperation as much-needed public restrooms are being added to a bike shop that aims to serve the needs of anyone who uses the trail.

The Local Motion shop has opened for business just steps away from the Johnson City entrance to the Tweetsie Trail. The building at the corner of East Maple and Alabama is a public-private endeavor aimed at providing much-needed amenities for those who use the Tweetsie Trail. PHOTO BY W. KENNETH MEDLEY IItion

The ceiling inside Local Motion Cyclery is painted to resemble white clouds and blue sky, albeit a little abstract. There are bikes, but also drinks, snacks, apparel, a patio and destination souvenirs. Being located directly next to the Tweetsie Trail provides a unique opportunity for founder, owner and operator Bryan Winston.

“I think we are more than just a bike shop,” said Winston. “We can help all the genres of people that utilize the Tweetsie Trail in specific; that is runners, walkers, hikers and cyclists. We have a patio out front, we have drinks, edibles, wear-ables and we offer all things cycling, whether that be maintenance, service, rental or sales.”

In the small show room, one will discover Fuji bicycles of all types surrounding an island stacked with shirts themed around the Tweetsie Trail and biking. Lining the checkout counter and end capping the island is an assortment of energy gels, bars and hydration additives. The shop also includes a maintenance area and a coffee/slushy station.

There were many obstacles to getting the doors open at Local Motion, starting with a caved-in roof. According to Winston, the structure was built in 1920, and a failed remodeling job led to the dilapidated state.

“It was like a swimming pool, and water was accumulating,” Winston said. “It was just going to collapse at whatever point in time. We removed the roof, but we couldn’t be on or inside the building. So we had to hang through and above to dismantle it piece-by-piece.”

The plan for the shop hatched after Winston bought the building in April 2017. It took him about five months to get the building rezoned and secure a building permit to begin reconstruction. After that, Winston postponed the work until spring, but received a boost when city commissioners agreed to reimburse him up to $35,000 for construction and cover the shop’s utility costs.

“We started putting it back together, pumped the walls full of concrete,” Winston said. “Did what we wanted to do with new doors, new garage doors. Then we elevated it up and went pretty much with the architectural plan.”

The original concept art for the outpost at the head of the Tweetsie Trail reflects a vision that was realized when Local Motion was completed.

Now, the building is an aesthetically pleasing mix of tin and wood, giving it the ambiance of a 1920-era speakeasy or modern European Trail Café. One almost expects to hear a “Hallo” or “Buongiorno” from behind the counter upon entering. Instead, visitors are greeted with Winston’s smile and slow Southern drawl.

 

“My goal for the shop is to be a destination point,” said Winston. “I think the Tweetsie Trail is a logical destination point for the local community, as well as visitors coming to the John-son City area. Our goal is to be that destination point. We want to be the ones that can fulfill (needs for) all things cycling.”

Winston went on to say that the decision to open a bicycle shop was made due to need, location and opportunity. His initial plan was to provide drinks, snacks and bicycle rentals aimed at the Tweetsie Trail. The decision to expand to a full cyclery came later.

Plans for the future include bicycle maintenance classes, no-drop group rides and working with The Goose Chase, a non-profit running organization. One of Winston’s part-time employees, who he referred to as a coach, is planning mountain bike “How-to” classes. All he needs is support from the community.

“I would love to have the community to support local,” said Winston. “In turn, I will continue to support the community. If I can provide the tools for the people in Johnson City, in our community, to be a healthier, more fit, diverse community, I am willing to step on the edge, and offer an abundance of guidance.”

Work Continues at Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park

This story was originally published in the Johnson City News and Neighbor November 28, 2018.

Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park saw more than 20 volunteers join Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association Tri-Cities (SORBA Tri-Cities) members to clear a section of trail and place rocks for a new advance skill-level trail.

Members of SORBA Tri-Cities and volunteers enjoy pizza, refreshments and camaraderie after a long day of breaking rocks and building trail at Winged Deer Park. The new stretch of mountain biking trail will be between 1 and 1.5 miles complete with rock features.

SORBA Tri-Cities Trail Boss Greg Carr said, “I think the trail that we are currently building is a little bit out of the norm for us. We didn’t really know that we were going to have such enormous technical trail features.”

The new trail will be approximately 1 to 1.5 miles long and have natural rock features. The main focus of last Sunday’s volunteers was to build this section of new trail. Completion is not expected until the spring of 2019. This new trail and a beginner loop being built in January will nearly double the available mileage at Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park.

“We’re going to have, probably, some of the biggest drops that we have ever built at 4 and 5 feet,” Carr said. “It surprised us and we are really excited about the opportunity to build something like this.”

Carr explained that the rock features presented themselves as they cleared the downfall. This was during a previous outing to mark new trails.

“Normally, technical trail features like this have to be built with rock that you have to bring in,” explained Carr. “This was probably one of the largest natural rock gardens that we have ever uncovered.”

Volunteers use a rock bar to dislodge a large boulder that will be included in the new rock garden.

Morale was high amongst the volunteers. Sledgehammers landing upon solid rock echoed like shotgun blasts, as big rock was broken into little rocks. Volunteers used a “rock bar” – imagine a 6 foot tall, 2.5 inch thick nail – to break apart large boulders along fracture lines. Chainsaws screamed as more downfall was cleared to expose the rock and trail underneath.

Carr said, “It will be a trail that will take time to master. It is not going to be something that most riders will be able to ride all the way through the very first time they ride it, myself included.”

Volunteers used a variety of tools to clear leaves, roots and trees to expose a trail that may seem foreign to the untrained eye. Blisters, pizza, refreshments and the prospect of “sending it,” are the reward for the diggers. Carr hopes the volunteers gain “a sense of pride in the local trails, because they are putting their own time and effort into build-ing them.”

SORBA Tri-Cities will host its next volunteer workday on Dec. 2. This will be the last workday of the year. The club plans to go “full-throttle” in 2019 to complete this trail and a new beginner loop. Check the groups Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/SORBATriCities/ – for more details.

ETSU Remembers Selfless-Service of Veterans

East Tennessee State University celebrated Veteran’s Day with a solemn ceremony in Brooks Gym Monday. During the ceremony ETSU’s Reserve Officer Training Corps presented the U.S. Colors and a wreath in memory of veterans.

ETSU Veteran Affairs Office Director Col. Antonio Banchs said of the event, “It is a time for us to essentially take a knee, to pause for a moment and reflect on those who have elected to serve; and honoring their decision to be a part of something greater than themselves.”

The Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, sitting front row, represented the World War II veterans. Also In attendance were veterans from multiple wars involving the U.S. including Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm/Shield and the Global War on Terrorism. Current and past veteran students were in the crowd honoring those who have served.

Lt. Gen. Kathleen Gainey was the Honorary Guest Speaker at the event. She kept her words brief and elevated selfless-service above the other traits of military service during her remarks.

“That is something that I want to grow for that future generation, one that maybe serves in the military or serves some other service related organization,” Gainey said in an interview.

Col. Banchs said the event was a success. He was emotional when delivering his words of remembrance. Col. Banchs works directly with veterans transitioning back into civilian life. In his role at ETSU he sees first hand some struggles that face transitioning service members and continues his service to them.

When asked how the event went Col. Banchs said, “It was fantastic. I mean between the choir from University School, the band from ETSU, the ROTC Honor Guard, It was absolutely beautiful. To have Lt. Gen. Gainey impart her words and give us four things that we need to do as we go from here. It gave us a sense of purpose, or a renewed sense of purpose; to seek out veterans, seek opportunities for selfless service and encourage others to do selfless service and acts like that.”

The University School Choir was in attendance. The choir sang from “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor” and members of the ETSU band played music. Songs included the Star Spangled Banner, the Army Song and a playing of Taps as a wreath was placed in front of the colors in honor of all those who have served.

Vietnam veteran M.B. Pruitt may have said it best after the ceremony by simply saying;

“Hang in there men.”

Five Hours of Sun, Few Minutes of Trump

Listen to my newest podcast interview. In this podcast I interview Miss Megan Boyanton of Johnson City, Tennessee, about her experience about the recent Presidential Visit.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/americandreamoverlandx/episodes/2018-10-05T15_13_19-07_00

$10,000 Grant to Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park!

PeopleForBikes is achieving their goal of “building better places for bikes” by awarding a $10,000 grant to Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Chad Wolfe presents check from PeopleForBikes to SORBA Tri-Cities Vice-president Marc Upton and President Jerry Greer.

Mayor David Tomita opened celebrations Wednesday, August 8, as community leaders, mountain bike trail advocates and local bike shop owners gathered at Winged Deer Park. A brief downpour did not dampen the spirit of attendees. Out of the rain, a big check was presented to the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association Tri-Cities to expand the existing trail system.

“Thank you to PeopleForBikes for the generous grant,” said SORBA Tri-Cities Vice-President Marc Upton. “This is really a tremendous win for the community; and what it means to facilitate the growth of mountain biking as a whole, and also open up mountain biking to new generations.”

Upton gives thanks to PeopleForBikes for their generous grant.

SORBA Tri-Cities built the 3-miles of existing trails with volunteers after the trail system was approved by the city in 2015. A $500 cash donation from The Bike Shop to match an International Mountain Biking Association and Fox Head Apparel grant began groundwork in Feb 2016.

“We could not have done it without the community,” Upton said of the existing trails. “We’ve had 2,000+ hours of volunteer hours. We’ve had 150 different volunteers show up.”

Upton went on to say the grant from PeopleForBikes is to build a new Green Trail to facilitate more youth riding programs. Contour Trail Design out of Knoxville, Tennessee, is tasked with digging the new trails. Work will begin in December and take 4 to 6 weeks to complete.

According to Upton, 40 to 50 hours of work was put into the grant application process. Time was needed to gather letters of support. Even the office of a U.S. Representative for Tennessee, wrote a letter that may have helped secure the grant in a competitive selection process.

Upton explains the what the grant will be used for at Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park.

Upton said, “My understanding from PeopleForBikes is this is a very competitive process. They typically have 100 people apply for this, maybe 150 per grant cycle.”

Two local NICA teams utilize the trail system at Winged Deer Park now and there is a plan to add a local Little Bella’s chapter by 2019. Both of these factors were added to the grant application, according to Upton. He stated that reaching the next generation of riders and advocates is a goal of SORBA Tri-Cities.

“A lot of the things that Johnson City has done helped prime our ability to put ourselves at the top of the heap,” said Upton. “That includes the Tweetsie Trail, talks about a State of Franklin walking/hiking/trail-running loop around the city…The NICA teams and a youth program coming out of ETSU; we hope to be able to serve all those user groups.”

SORBA Tri-Cities accepts grant from Wolfe representing Trek and PeopleForBikes.

 

Chad Wolfe was representing Trek at the event. He explained Trek’s history with advocacy and PeopleForBikes. Wolfe spoke about one of Trek’s philosophies of creating new places to ride.

“Our arrangement [with PeopleForBikes] started with $1.00 for helmet sales,” Wolfe said. “At the time we were not entirely sure what that was going to spin into. Now we [Trek] are able to make $1 million donations to organizations like PeopleForBikes to create new opportunities for cyclist.”

Wolfe delivery a brief statement about PeopleForBikes and Trek’s philosophies of philanthropy.

Wolfe went on to say that the success of Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park is due to its accessibility and proximity to Johnson City. The non-discriminatory access ensures that all members of the community get to enjoy the trails.

Johnson City Parks and Recreation Director James Ellis closed the celebration. He began by thanking PeopleForBikes and SORBA Tri-Cities. The Director highlighted Winged Deer Park’s diverse offerings.

“I am very proud to be part of the recreation program and the offerings that we are able to offer our park patrons,” Ellis said.

The future development of Johnson City into a Mountain Biking Destination is well underway. Along with Winged Deer Mountain Bike Park, Tannery Knobs Bike Park is scheduled to open soon. There are miles of single-track to be ridden within city limits or a 20-minute drive away.

There is also approval to design trails at Buffalo Mountain City Park, digging trail is not yet approved. Local riders one-day hope to connect Buffalo Mountain City Park trails, if approved, to Cherokee National Forest trails, where a land use debate is currently open for public comment.