28 JAN 05: MOUNTAIN GROANS

Why DO they call that park in northeast Columbus Flat Rock Park, anyway? It may have rocks - but if you've driven through it, you know the ground certainly isn't flat.

The ups and downs of Flat Rock Park have gained the interest of the Columbus Cycling Club. It wants to develop a trail inside the park for "mountain biking." Exactly how Pine Mountain would be moved into the park, I'm not really sure....

Columbus Cycling Club President Barry Carswell says there's no "official venue" for mountain biking in this area. I'd never thought about it before - but this IS strange, when you consider this area is so often called "the valley."

Mountain biking apparently is growing in popularity, but the nearest trail for beginning to intermediate bikers reportedly is an hour away from Columbus. So? Pedal there on your bike - and you might build up enough muscles in 60 miles to climb those mountains in record time.

The Columbus Cycling Club wants to clean up current nature trails inside Flat Rock Park, and put markers on them for mountain bikers. Some people use those trails now for hiking and running - so can they add some rear-view mirrors as well, so we know fast bikers are coming?

The Columbus Cycling Club even wants to improve the trails on its own, with the city spending no money at all. But city officials reportedly are concerned about liability issues. That could start some wild rumors - but I really doubt the city would close Flat Rock Park to save money.

I saw all this on the news Thursday night and wondered if the proposed mountain bike trail is misplaced. Why not put it in Harris County - for instance, at Callaway Gardens? Or is the cycling club worried that a biker will fall off and mangle some marigolds?

(Or even better: put the mountain bike trail in F.D.R. State Park -- and in the great tradition of President Franklin Roosevelt, allow motorized wheelchairs to race on it.)

I don't own a bicycle, but the thought of having one has crossed my mind. It would be great for touring the downtowns or exploring the Riverwalks. And I can tell you after years of jogging, they already have a "mountain." Try running up the incline from the Phenix City Amphitheater to Dillingham Street after a couple of miles, and you'll know what I mean.

E-MAIL UPDATE: We invited new blog readers Wednesday to take advantage of our InBox's 250 megs of space. That brought this response from Michael in Phenix City:

Just read the last post on your site about welcoming emails...

Would you like a google gmail address with a free GB of space?

I have trouble with braggers like this - the ones who might say, "My cyberspace is bigger than YOUR cyberspace."

If you haven't kept up with it, there's been a mailbox melee in recent months between Yahoo and Google. The plans for "Gmail" prompted Yahoo to increase its basic InBox from six megabytes to 100 [17 Jul 04] - and recently to 250. If only my landlord was this generous with his apartments....

But anything Yahoo does, Google tries to outdo. I didn't realize its free "Gmail" box was up to one gigabyte, four times what Yahoo offers. So thank you for the offer - but this is sort of a single guy having to choose between a 10-bedroom and 20-bedroom Hollywood mansion.

.It's been a busy week for me, so I'll wrap it up as quickly as I can:

+ Developers of the new National Infantry Museum announced the grounds will include a "World War Two Street." Somewhere in Columbus, Jim Rhodes must be asking what wrong thing he did....

+ The Open Door Community House held a "resource fair" for homeless people, including a guest singer. Someone asked me what the point of the singer was - and I guessed he's inspiring beggars to make some money in karaoke contests.

. + The mother of a Baker Middle School student told WRBL her son was punished for calling up a porn web site on a school computer, even though the school has filters to block such things. But maybe some good can come out of this. That boy may have an advantage toward becoming a sex education teacher someday.

+ Auburn city officials talked about plans for an "Outer Loop" road around the city. It could be a big moneymaker for the city - especially if they can arrange to close it one weekend a year for NASCAR races.

+ Floyd County, Georgia authorities reported someone stole hundreds of pounds of trout from a fish hatchery. Quick, call the local churches - and see if any of them plan a weekend sermon on Jesus "feeding the 5,000."

+ Instant Message to the Eufaula Tribune: I don't care what those critics wrote in your web site comments section. As I single guy, I say you can post photos of teenage girls doing dance moves as long as you wish -- even if they are at a private high school.

COMING SOON: OK, who's the woman with the hot tub?....

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