Ohio or whatever

"I did this today. It was very muddy and fun and foggy and weird and adventurous. I rode with my friend, Zach. I think I'm going to copy this text into a blog post for work." -text to Deborah 5:39pm 12/23/2014

Fat bikes and social trails sure make the most of areas with limited trail access and little public land. Mud bogging on the eastern bank of the Little Miami River yielded plenty of opportunities to ride over buried shopping carts, climb on abandoned foundations, and wall ride eroded clay. 

Here's a picture of Zach.

-David 

A Break from Bikes - Bird Bonanza

Walking is cross training. Walking is harder than I thought. However, pheasant hunting in South Dakota is worth slumming through fields all day. Plus the sunsets are terrific.


 We lucked out while we were there with weather in the low to mid 30's each day. On one of the days, the newspaper said it had been -27 degrees that same day the previous year...


We walked through massive fields and corn rows to flush wild pheasant from the brush and reeds.

We had our dog Trotter to help us out - pointing, flushing, and collecting the birds.Three solid days of hunting made for a great mini-vacation in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

BIke Rack Returns!

The bike rack on the sidewalk in front of the store has returned! It was away on vacation while the city overhauled the sidewalks downtown. We are glad to see it again, and already being used. Thanks to whomever for the bike rack. Long live the Bike Rack!

Be Seen. Be Fashionable. Be Safe. Don't Hate Bikes!

Most of you probably know that Whitney March actually hates bicycles. Hates bikes most of the time. Her new hobbies of stained glass and cleaning teeth have been keeping her busy. With all that in mind she realized that she LOVES riding her bike to work. Since Whitney spends two days a week biking from Old Town to Rocktown Family Dental Care on the "evil" side of town and down route 42 to Dayton 3 days a week to another dental office, She wanted to make sure that she was warm and visible and as you can see she has on plenty of gear to make sure drivers see her. 

Fixed gear Earl with Bar Mitts, full fenders, waterproof pannier, bright jacket, helmet cover, and more full list of gear is below.bi

List of Whitney Gear all of which is available at Shenandoah Bicycle Company:

Trek Earl- Steel fixed gear Trek 700c machine.

Endura- Luminite II Jacket - Women's- The brightest jacket we have ever seen. Bright colors, very reflective, and has a built in rear light.

Endura- Luminite Helmet Cover- Very Very bright, very very water/wind proof, built in rear light (Not pictured)

Light & Motion- Taz 1000 Headlight- On sale now at SBC. Very bright all in one rechargeable bike light. Built in California!

Light & Motion- Vis 180 Micro Taillight- Small bright rechargeable tail light

Bar Mitts- Wear thin gloves. Stay warm.

Planet Bike- K.O.K.O. Cargo Rack- Get that monkey off your back (your backpack that is) and try a rear rack on your bike complete with a pannier to attach to the rack.

Arkel Dolphin waterproof bags- most functional, durable, waterproof dry-bags on the market.

Wednesday Night Ride: Stokesville Market Loop

This week for our Weekly Wednesday Night Ride, we opted to head west of town due to excessive

moisture at Hillandale Park.  We had the opportunity to take a couple people night riding for their first time, Travis Carmichael & Meriam Velker.  I was most impressed by Meriam, a 6th grader on her first night ride on a trail she's never ridden in 30 degree weather and sideways snow. She's a tough one!!!  Kudos to the Harrisonburg NICA mountain bike team for cultivating the next generation of SHREDDRS!

For those descending Tillman West, be forewarned of a tree down just before the section of jumps.  Its obvious to see from a safe stopping distance.  We were a group of six, fueled by Stokesville Market Pizza and Chocolate Covered Caramel Peanut Clusters (a new favorite ride food).

Remember that we have plenty of demo Light and Motion lights for you to try out on our Wednesday night rides. Just give us a call if you need to reserve a light for the evening!

Too cold for your SBC trucker cap?

No worries! Embroidered winter hats landed at the shop this week. Keep your dome toasty, or stuff a stocking and give the gift of warmth.

Give the gift of a well Tuned Machine.

  There is no denying it, after the Thanksgiving the holiday season is in full effect. Parties, lights , parades, hot chocolate, and gifts gifts gifts. Fantastic! Enter the dilemma; finding that perfect gift for that special someone out there. Fortunately for you SBC has got you covered! We have a huge selection of different gifts from small stocking suffers to that shiny new bike that will fit perfectly under the tree (trust us, it will fit). Check out the holiday shopping section of our website to find out more.
  This season we are excited to offer a totally new gift idea that may be exactly what you've always wanted: A SBC winter overhaul service special. Give the gift of a finely tuned high performance machine dialed by your local service professionals here at SBC. Offering specials for any type of bike from  commuting bikes and hybrids to high end road and mountain bikes there is one for your bike or that special someone whose bike always seems like it needs a little love. Give back to the bike(s) that bring you so much joy throughout the year.

Come by shop and pick up a special as a gift today!

To learn more about the specific service packages follow the links below:

• Hybrid and Commuter bike service:  $75 reg. $135
• Rear Shock service:  $75 reg.$115
• Dropper Seatpost service:  $75 reg.$105
• Suspension Fork service:  $85 reg.$125
• Mountain bike service:   $175 reg.$285
• Road, touring, and cross bike service:   $175 reg.$295

Harriosnburg Holiday Parade

Holiday Parade Open House TONIGHT December 5

We will keep the shop open until at least 8:30 so if it ends up being too cold and rainy to watch much of the parade then hang out at the shop with us and enjoy warm beverages and snacks from the all new bakery (Heritage Bakery & Cafe) to soon open in the Harrisonburg Visitor Center, the Hardesty Higgens House.

On Friday December 5-Join SBC for an open house prior to the Harrisonburg holiday parade at 6pm. We will have snacks and warm beverages for you to enjoy while you wait for the Harrisonburg Holiday Parade to start at 7:30 and watch the parade from the bike shop parking lot as the cars and bikes come down Main Street.
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Shenandoah Mountain and the National Forest Plan

If you recreate in the George Washington National Forest regularly, as most of us do on our bicycles, then you have a vested interest in what happens to to the million plus acres of National Forest land located close to the Burg. While much of the media attention as of late has revolved around natural gas drilling and specifically hydraulic fracking, there is much much more in the 15 year management plan than a de facto "ban" on fracking. While unlikley that most folks will wade through the massive land management plan that encompasses all 1.1 million acres of the George Washington National Forest, some of the biggest implications of the plan our right in our backyard.

Shenandoah Mountain is a biological HOTSPOT according to the Nature Conservancy

Hopefully over the years many of you have heard about or seen mention of the Friends of Shenandoah Mountain organization (FOSM). With local advocate Lynn Cameron taking the lead, and SBC co-owner Thomas Jenkins as co-chair, FOSM has worked tirelessly for over a decade to build grassroots support for an extensive proposal to permanently protect Shenandoah Mountain from industrial development and essentially ensure that the mountain remains largely unchanged from how you experience it today. Other than the fracking piece of the Forest plan, the FOSM proposal for expanding the Ramseys Draft Wilderness area and a new Little River Wilderness area. For all the juicy details of the proposal you can look at a map below and also the FOSM Website has great explanations. 

FOSM started with an agreement between the mountain bike community and a committed group of Wilderness advocates. Our local public radio station, WMRA explained the tricky situation nicely this morning, "It has supreme recreational opportunities. People have been enjoying hunting and fishing in the area for decades, hiking, backpacking, camping, horseback riding, and more recently, it’s become one of the most popular places in the East for mountain biking.

Detailed map of the proposal. Including the proposed Wilderness areas and the National Scenic Area that would encompass much of the moutain

Most of you know how phenomenal the mountain biking is up on and around Shenandoah Mountain

Mountain biking adds a fascinating wrinkle to this story. For decades, Cameron and others had hoped to protect Shenandoah Mountain as a wilderness area. But because wilderness is a very restrictive designation that bans mountain biking, the mere mention of it has a tendency to make mountain bikers: THOMAS JENKINS: Defensive. Definitely defensive at first, because wilderness was a bad word when it came to mountain biking."

 But the big story for mountain bikers is the potential for the Ramseys Draft Wilderness boundary (western boundary) to be moved in order to open the Shenandoah Mountain Trail to mountain bikers. As Thomas Jenkins stated on WMRA this morning, "If the plan goes forward, there will be a loss of mountain bike-accessible trails due to wilderness expansion. At the same time, there is a game-changer of a wilderness boundary actually being moved to open up a trail that currently isn’t open to mountain bikes. That, on a national level, is something that we don’t know has happened before."

More than hikers and mountain bikers enjoy recreating on Shenadoah Mountain

The proposal has been endorsed by over 220 area businesses and organizations and by diverse George Washington National Forest stakeholders, including the Virginia Forestry Association, Ruffed Grouse Society (James River Chapter), The Nature Conservancy, and National Wild Turkey Federation to name a few.

What does all of this mean? Well really no change at this point but it does mean one step closer towards Congress taking action on the Friends of Shenandoah Mountain Proposal. From the FOSM press release about the plan:

View from the top of Grooms ridge. Photo from Lynn Cameron.

Scenic Area designation would permanently protect the Shenandoah Mountain area from commercial energy development and other activities that could mar its natural character and degrade its supreme recreational opportunities.

The designation would potentially serve as a tourism draw that could help the local economy. Shenandoah Valley Travel Association (SVTA) President Sergei Troubetzkoy said, “SVTA supports this designation and firmly believes that it has the potential to draw more tourists to the Valley.“
Friends of Shenandoah Mountain will continue to work toward preservation of one of the crown jewels of our National Forest for the use and enjoyment of future generations.

Lindsey's Birthday Bike Ride

I turned TWENTY last Sunday! To celebrate, we rode some of the North Mountain Ridge trail, commonly known as Church Rocks. The weather was insane - sixty degrees and snow on the ground! Suns out guns out, falling in snow piles, wet feet but not cold feet. The perfect birthday treat. The ride was about twenty miles of party hardy fun, with beautiful views and great times hanging out with friends. Thanks to everyone for making my birthday a blast!!

***On a side note, this route and more is now on the MTBProject under the title, Northern Traverse. Is is the perfect northern complement to that other Southern Traverse down south. But this one has more rocks and better views!

Unplugging at Douthat and Exploring the GW!

Douthat State Park is like no other place on Earth.

Jim...stepping outside Douthat on Fore Mountain.

There is not just one thing that makes this State Park so special but a great combination of trails, cabins, beauty and NO phone/internet service.  For the past several Novembers my family and I have hooked up with our buddies from Athen's Bicycles  (land of great gravel road riding) and rented one of the several large cabins offered at the Park. This has become an annual tradition, hopefully you can find your own annual retreat at Douthat.

Mackie...Taking a break form the World Enduro Tour to ride Douthat

The trails at Douthat that most folks talk about are the ones with in the Park, these trails provide great all single track loop options for the beginner to the advance rider. You can ride these trails right from your cabin door, making for a quick night ride getaway after putting kids to bed. The fantastic day views are not noticable at night but they do open the ceiling to a star filled sky with no light pollution dimming sky filled stars.

Carter...Taking a break from the playgrounds at Douthat

 During the day try and venture outside the park and explore some the great trail opportunities in the George Washington National Forest.  The park and national forest boundies are seemlessly connected making several multi hour loop rides an option. This year our crew road the Fore Mountain trail out the Douthat, hitting the north direction one day and south direction the next. The northern Fore Mountain trail is more well know since it is commonly used during the XXC course for the Middle Mountain Mama Race. The middle portion of the Fore Mountain Trail is more remote, but with the help of MTB Project this ride will be much easier to navigate.

When most folks look for vacation options they want to make sure connection to Al Gore's web is an option, well not at Douthat. Think of unplugging as a positve thing for you and your family.

Dream Machines

Ever wonder what you could do with a bike and some free time? Me too. Usually I daydream about all of the places that I can go to. One daydream I like to entertain is living out on the road, just me and my bike. All my stuff stashed in my bags. Not like this guy though, his bags are full of trash. Depends on who you are though, maybe when he looks over his shoulder all he sees is treasure. Good for him though, for showing us what is possible. This guy is helping me with a reality check, next time I'm pedaling home from the grocery, all secretly proud of my self, I will think about this anonymous man and his mountain of trash. Dream big, live big.

The birth of enduro!

Enduro is not new and here's the proof. Seth me Chris Dave and Lou G. spent a couple three four days in the GW Forrest summer 2003 shuttle trucking the area and ripping the ridges. We hadn't complicated things with timing ones self but time has marched on! We also didn't have digital cameras......good memories

A Northern Southern Traverse Ride?

!!!This ride is now on the MTBProject. Check it out as Titled the Northern Traverse!!!

Owen's first time on the ridge and riding strong. Just get a better rear tire next time...

Thanks to the International Mountain Bicycling Association's "Epic Ride" designation, the "Southern Traverse" section of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail (From Benson Run south to Scotchtown Draft) many riders travel to our area to ride this southern gem and we are often asked about it in the bike shop. While the ride has a little bit of everything and is a superb example of hand-built Virginia ridge top riding, anyone who rides around here regularly knows just how many other amazing rides are out there for us to enjoy. The Southern Traverse provide an amazing back-country experience but a trail like that deserves another and another such experience.

Kurt and his Little Grill Bagel sandwhich

On Tuesday, I made it out to the mountains with former SBCer Kurt Rosenberger now of Gray Fox Design Works to celebrate 30 trips around the son for one of our mountain bike buddies. This particular buddy just happens to have twice "won" the Shenandoah Mountain 100 on a tandem with Kurt. You can read Kurt and Ryan's account of the Shenandoah Mountain 100 on Blue Ridge Outdoors. Since Ryan now resides in the deepest depths of Northern Virginia, he doesn't typically escape to ride in the mountains these days. But for his thirtieth birthday (and veterans day) he made an exception and brought his buddy Owen along. So we decided to meet at Tomahawk Pond just north of Brocks Gap in the Lee District of the George Washington National Forest and ride a piece of a Virginia Endurance Series ride that I helped put together last year.

Look at that elevation profile! The ridge is FLAT or at least mostly downhill

Other than a trip to Big Schloss once in awhile, not many Harrisonburg mountain bikers seem to venture up to the western side of the Lee District of the National Forest. For this loop we parked at Tomahawk Pond off of state route 610 and cruised up pavement through Basye and then over to Crooked Run Road. After traversing along the eastern base of Great North Mountain, we finally made it through some recent timber sales and over to Laurel Run trail and climbed up to the North Mountain Ridge trail. Once on the ridge, it is as easy as cruising ridgetop singletrack for 14 more miles all the way to the Hunkerson Gap Trail. We dropped down Hunkerson Gap just as the sun was dipping below the mountains and ended a route that starts with a lot of climbing but then cruises a ridge top trail that is "mostly flat."

Where do you keep your trail food? On top of your Ibis Ripley of course.

The ridge trail along the top of Great North Mountain is part of the Vriginia Mountain Bike Trail and the Great Eastern Trail. With some rocks, plenty of amazing views, open meadows and noticeably "flatter" than most Virginia ridge top trails, Great North Mountain is a treat to ride. Once you turn onto a dirt road at mile 7 the tires never touch pavement again until the car. That is an epic ride that I can get behind. Feel free to checkout the route on Strava and stay tuned for SBC to update the MTB Project and other mapping sites this winter with some of our personal favorite rides in the valley. Especially those that are a little bit different from what we all typically ride. Any questions about the ride? Feel free to email me: Kyle@shenandoahbicycle.com

OK so it isn't totally flat. A little bit of walking here and there BUT very little walking

The birthday boy rolling into one of the open meadows

One of the best overlooks on the ridge. This one is up north near Devils Hole Mountain Road

Cheating Old Man Winter with the Wolvhammer

Sometimes certain things are that much better!

WARNING!!! SBC has select sizes of these boots in stock. They will sellout QUICKLY and we may not be able to get our hands on any more this year. If you are thinking about boots then the time is now.

My old Answer winter shoes have seen the end of the road. This 7 year old pair of riding boots had made it through many rough and cold rides keeping my feet void of frost bite. Between the answer pair of winter shoes and my previous Lake winter boots I thought I had experienced the best of options for foot protection during our winter months. Now I know better,  45Nrth Wolvhammer winter boots are AWESOME!

Once I figured out the right size (go one size bigger then you normally wear or checkout the wooden 45NRTH foot measuring device at SBC) and  bolted a new pair of cleats to the bottom I test them out on a night ride. The ankle stiffness was the only item that felt awkward but this disappeared and was not noticeable at all during my second or third ride. The Wolvhammer's look big but they ride light and small, even more so then my previous lake boots. So don't let the bulky looks fool you.

These look like a joke compard to my new Wolvhammer shoes.

I like winter riding, 20 degrees bring it on, 10 degrees and I might be game, below 10 and I would bail due to my feet. Now I can enjoy anything winter will offer this year.  If you don't foresee yourself getting out there in the sub 25 degree days 45Nrth still has a pair of shoes for you, the Fasterkatt. The Fasterkatt still has many great warmth and water proof features but comes in at a lower price and less mass.

Even if you keep your riding to the road, no worries 45Nrth has on option for roads pedals too with their road version of the Fasterkatt.

Road version of the Fasterkatt by 45Nrth.

Lets talk about bars

I love bars! I consider myself an expert. What makes me an expert you ask? Well I've spent the majority of my life in them and behind them. We will be talking about the new bars that a few customers and myself are behind right now in this post and save the talk about the best drinking establishments for a later date.

The Jeff Jones loop h bar is the hot ticket right now for the trekking crowd. My man Dan has been rolling thru Japan and south east Asia for months now and my friend John has seen the light and had us install one on his bike too. The first picture is John's old bar. The second is his bike now waiting on grip choice. The third is my bike outfitted with this great bar. Stay tuned for pictures of Dans bike. SBC is now a dealer so come by and check them out!

SBC tested and approved: Trek Slash 650b

After riding the long-travel mid-sized wheel option from Trek since early April my initial thoughts have been confirmed over and over again. The conclusion: this bike rules.

Yes,I could reel off all the numbers and angles and specs that make this bike so great but you can read that on every mtb forum on the web. What makes me give this ride the SBC stamp of approval is by the sheer amounts of fun I have had riding it.

Sporting a lengthy 160mm of travel it's been my one bike to rule them all.  And by "them all" I am referring to the different types of rides, races, and events I've done and not the inhabitants of Middle Earth (nerd alert!).  To name a few of the rides that seen the Slash get put through its paces; the Massanutten Yee-Ha downhill race, the Giro d'ville, the Massanutten Hoo-Ha XXC, le Tour de Burg, the SM100, and Shenduro. Yep, the same bike for a downhill race and a 100 mile endurance race.

I did a custom set-up using the Slash 7 to start, adding Sram's XX1 drivetrain, Industry Nine Torch wheels and a RockShox reverb stealth seatpost and it weighed in at 28lbs.3oz. The Trek Slash 650b is ready to pedal all day, but when the trail points downhill, it comes alive. It's squishy, it's light, it's fast, it's a total party. And it gets better, the 2015 Slash 650b is available in a  carbon model. Check it out at Trekbikes.com and check out a great review the fine folks at Pinkbike wrote up for the new carbon option here: Trek Slash 9.8 - Review .Ride on!  - Collin