A swooping roller-coaster ride of flowing dips, curves and climbs stretches down the trail in front of me until it disappears into leaves and forest shade.

I lean into the pedals of my mountain bike and churn up enough speed to feel a small surge of excitement — shoulder-cracking tree trunks whirring by within slapping distance on the left, a slope dropping away on the right toward Lake Allatoona.

Christopher Quinn/cquinn@ajc.com. (ENLARGE)

Forrest Pecha (white shirt) takes on the roots and clay, followed by his dog Aspen and biking friend Michael Biller of Alpharetta.

Popular riding areas Blankets Creek Bike Trails, I-575 to Sixes Road, left on Sixes and one mile on the left; www.sorbawoodstock.org Chicopee Woods Trail System, next to Elachee Nature Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville; tinyurl.com/5wrgl5 Big Creek Park, 1600 Old Alabama Road, Roswell; rambo-mtb.org Yellow River Park, 3232 Juhan Road, Snellville; www.gwinnettparks.com Dauset Trails Nature Center, 370 Mount Vernon Road near Jackson; www.dausettrails.com 1996 Olympic mountain biking trail at International Horse Park, Conyers, I-20 to left on Ga. 138 and right on Centennial Olympic Parkway State parks, www.gastateparks.org. Click on "Join the Muddy Spokes Club Challenge." Georgia travel stories Town is artisan-friendly  Five romantic spots for the newly wed  Art, music and scenery  Your pick: Pottery, berries  Charleston graciously gives Savannah 'Most Mannerly' title  Photos: Travel / Southeast Galleries Latest deals! Back to: Travel | Southeast destinations Travel Guide Powered by

"If you don't fall, you aren't trying hard enough," Forest Pecha, a rider from Atlanta had half-joked earlier when I stopped to talk.

I had no intention of putting his riding theory to the test today. I was riding alone, and the single track of clay, rock and roots snaked on for three more miles. It would be a long walk out if I crashed and burned.

The trail I was on is one of four for mountain bikes at Blankets Creek Bike Trails in Cherokee County.

When I mentioned to Pecha and two of his riding buddies that I live just three miles away, I got jealous looks. Blankets Creek is one of the most popular riding areas in north Georgia, attracting hundreds of bikers in a typical weekend.

Many Saturdays and Sundays the parking area is full most of the day as bikers come and go, and cars spill over into a nearby school and church lots. People travel from around metro Atlanta and other states to work up a sweat here.

The trail difficulty ranges from flat and easy, suitable for a 10-year-old, to advanced, where Pecha's theory no doubt gets put to the test more frequently than optimistic riders hope.

Blankets Creek is not the only set of trails within an hour or so of downtown. Across the region, bikers can find trails suitable for the family or challenging enough for adrenaline junkies.

Mountain biking is a growing sport, and riders are developing areas like Blankets Creek where more than 13 miles of trails were built largely by volunteers. The majority of workers were members of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association.

They had to start building their own trails, says John Hicks, president of the Woodstock chapter of SORBA. Bikers were getting kicked out of public parks, like Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

"We figured out the only way we were going to have places to ride was if we aggressively got involved," he said.

The Woodstock chapter targeted the 400-acre tract owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Blankets Creek and negotiated to use the hilly forest for building the trail system.

In June, the volunteers finished up the final and most challenging of the four trails. By this time, the group was really organized and got some corporate donors. It hired a professional trail builder to bolster the volunteer force. The trails now operate under the umbrella of the Cherokee Recreation & Parks Agency.

Other SORBA chapters in the region and local parks departments have pitched in with their own trail systems. There is Big Creek Park in Roswell, Yellow River Park in southern Gwinnett County, Dauset Trails Nature Center south of Atlanta near the town of Jackson, the 1996 Olympics mountain biking trail in Conyers and Chicopee Woods in Gainesville.

The state park system has also developed a system of trails, including some at nearby Fort Yargo and Red Top Mountain state parks.

Mike Gibson of Woodstock, another rider at Blankets Creek, said the number and quality of trails surrounding Atlanta is unusual.

"For a big city, it's one of the best in the nation," he said.

"East of the Mississippi," Pecha adds.

The trails are close enough to get to after work for an hour of riding on long summer evenings. They are good enough to challenge experienced riders on extended weekends of pedaling.

Helmets are a necessity on the trails, as I can testify to, having an old one with a good sized dent in it. And trails are closed after rain, to help cut down on erosion. Web sites associated with the trails or SORBA are usually updated with latest information and notes on trails other than those listed below.

So if the sport has ever appealed to you, stop wasting time, get the bike out and find a trail for your skill level.

After all, you live in one of the best cities for mountain biking.

East of the Mississippi, that is.