“I wish I could. I just don’t have time”

This is what I said to my good friend Matt Schweiker, who had just taken over as director of a silly race with some serious miles called the Cohutta Cat. He was asking if I was interested in making a short documentary about the race. Matt himself is an incredibly strong cyclist. I am a very average cyclist, but I’m a filmmaker who loves bikes and adventures with friends. We’ve actually done a few projects together in the past, namely a film called A Couple Screws Loose.

I can’t remember how many times I told him no. I’m a husband and father of two with a handful of other good excuses/businesses that I thought would be good enough reasons for Matt to stop asking me. The next thing I know, I’m on a long phone call where he somehow talked me into it. “What if we just drive back and forth from Chattanooga to Ellijay a handful of times so you can be back for bedtimes with the kids and not have to be gone for three days solid!?”

Somehow, this worked on me, and I decided to take on the project. With this bonkers schedule, I hope it’s apparent how deeply I love projects like this. And boy, did it not disappoint. I absolutely love bikepacking, but I’m in no way in this race scene. A lot of my good friends are incredibly strong riders who really enjoy pushing their limits. I’m more of a “let’s make up a silly plan to do 40-60 miles a day and camp along the way” kind of guy. One of these ideas was actually made into a film and article for BIKEPACKING.com, which you can watch here.

With that said, I wasn’t really sure what to expect when showing up to film a “race” like this. Turns out I knew more folks than I thought, and the rest welcomed me in as part of the community straight away.

The event itself is also such a cool thing. Some folks treat it as a race, absolutely pushing their limits. Many view it as a good time with their friends. When I asked everyone their estimated finish times, many just said things like, “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t work until next week, so I’m just gonna have a good time and hopefully finish!”

Nobody looks at the other’s strategy with judgment. The folks taking it slow cheer on the folks giving it all to beat each other’s times. And the guys at the front of the pack are stoked for the guys just enjoying themselves on some beautiful (but don’t forget heinous) miles. In an effort not to spoil anything, that’s all I’ll say for now. You can watch the full 25-minute film below, and I hope you enjoy it!

Although relatively unknown in the mountain biking world, Georgia boasts hundreds of miles of singletrack and gravel nestled in its rolling hills and rhododendron tunnels. The Cohutta Cat is an expression of the varied, beautiful, quirky, and extreme nature of the Southern Appalachians. Find the full route guide here.

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