The Great North Mountain

Road most of the old Wolf Gap Race course  on great North Mountain

Filled with fun hogs of the Sam, Lindsay and Nate variety.   Saw some fiddle heads 

And not sure whats

But traction on North Mountain is perfect right now.

Get some!

And don't forget to tip the bartender

Let freedom reign!

Signal Knob Trail

Got out for a rock refresher on Signal Knob trail with Sam Skidless and Master Nate, 60 few degrees and perfect trail conditions. Spring time riding on the  difficult terrain up north seems to be peak season in terms of trail condition. All the loose lichen on the rocks has been freeze/thawed off and washed away by the rain. It's never mor grippy then right now.

Once the bush takes hold, the corridor is further challenged, room for error shrinks. 

If you like the rocks, now is the time. Both Nate and Sam cruise effortlessly thru the sandstone on their 650 duallies 

As if the trail were a sidewalk.

Can we build it?

This is the question! There are not too many rides where you get a view like this.

Vince and Tim Cook gazing into the future of Massanutten Trails.

Rough Roubaix

Backed by confidence gained on Georgia gravel, I decided to ride in the Rough Roubaix last Saturday to test my skills on some Virginia/West Virginia rock roads. The turnout for the ride was great, and our group of 50+ riders rolled out of town toward Dayton at 9 a.m. We started the day off with some close-to-home gravel, ending up in Stokesville. After battling a headwind through Briery Branch and on North River Road, it was a relief to refuel at the Stokesville aid station before heading into the second stretch. Once in the George Washington National Forest, the course forked to take either the 90/114 mile loop or the 52 mile loop. I turned up the road for the longer ride, and climbed and descended Shenandoah Mountain into West Virginia. Many a "rough" road, either dirt or gravel, put everyone's endurance to the test. Sore seats and sore legs were complaining, but spirits stayed high in the 60 degree weather. New friends and good conversation helped me pedal all day, and having a few people to work with on the windy stretch to Brandywine, WV was extremely helpful. Once I reached Aid Station 2 at mile 60, I decided to not continue on to the 114 mile loop, but to come back to Virginia via Rt. 33. A long climb and long descent followed by a few more gravel detours and the backside of Mole Hill took me back to Harrisonburg to finish the ride - it took me seven hours total. It was an awesome course, and I hope to do the full 114 mile loop next year. Thank you Chris Scott/Shenandoah Mountain Touring for another great event!

Touring the U.S. of A.

There are many great perks of working at a bike shop, one of my personal favorites is helping a diverse population who love to ride bikes. Some folks ride for transportation, some ride for ftiness, some ride to share a great experience with the one they love.

This set of Surly Long Haul Truckers belongs to Bruce and Mary Ann who set off today to ride from Yorktown, VA to the Pacific coast.  I know many folks who have done this trip after college, prior to entering the "Real World", but  SBC we are starting to see more and more folks take their adventure of lifetime upon retirement! Bruce & Mary Ann, we wish you many safe smiling miles on your trip! Thanks for including SBC in your adventure.

Something to watch that may or may not stretch your imagination.

Check out this short helmet cam video footage of Geoff Gulevich riding his first run of the 2013 Redbull Rampage. If video makes stuff look flat and the course looks steep, then you know it is really steep!
To watch both of his runs shot by helicopter and professional camera folks, check out this link to see the third person perspective.  Be sure to watch run 2 for carnage.  There's an old phrase from West-By-God: "Sometimes you watch the show, and sometimes you are the show."  Everyone is between crashes, some are bigger and more frequent than others.

Runaway Roubaix

The Harris Roubaix, a group ride celebrating a few of the Valley's beautiful dirt roads, was this past Sunday. The weather and road conditions were perfect, and my boyfriend and I decided to do a pre-Roubaix ride that morning and drop in later for some gravel laps and socializing. We rode through Hopkins Gap, toured Long Run Road, visited a potential fishing hole, coasted through Fulks Run, then looped back to the Roubaix course via Turleytown Road. Oh, did I mention we were on a tandem bicycle? The power of two flew us through our morning tour, and we got to the farm hosting the Harris Roubaix event just in time to leave with a few friends for a "party lap". Oblivious to the rage of Yanni Yensen on the front of our bike, I had no idea that I was about to get dragged into a gut-busting race against the three leaders who caught up to lap us halfway through. My father, clad in a Ralph Lauren sweatsuit and riding a motorbike, came around a corner with the three leaders not far behind. Erik and I saw them and tried to get to the top of the next descent quickly to try and hold them off, as the tandem is a mountain bike with 300 pounds of fearless momentum. Once we got to the bottom of the hill, we had put a slight gap on the leaders, and held them off for a while until the next climb. A few helpful pushes from Dad on the motorcycle and Erik's race-mode legs driving our machine kept us with the top three for the next few miles. Between the serious trash talk to the leaders and vigorous pedal strokes, I was out of breath and in the pain cave (this is possible on a tandem... who knew?) We quit our teasing before the last uphill of the course, but finished the lap strong. I never thought I would feel more tired the next day after a tandem ride than I did after Dragon's Tale last week... Nevertheless, an awesome day with my significant other and an amazing time riding in the sunshine with some fun people makes the soreness worthwhile. To all those asking when Erik and I will be riding the Shenandoah Mountain 100 in the tandem category... Stay tuned.

Bike Camping Packing Touring Riding

Whatever you want to call it, we did it. 

Marshall is a little camera shy.

A crew of 16 folks loaded up their bicycles with camping gear and headed out of town for the night. We rode out to Hone Quarry, taking the most scenic route.

Riding at a party pace allowed us to stick together as much as possible. Nobody was left behind. 

We even picked up people along the way. 

Easy does it.

No hills were attacked. Conversation abounded.

No inclines were harmed in the making of this ride.

A little angel swooped down and handed beers out of a passing SUV.

We entered the forest without a single flat tire or mechanical mishap.

Upon arrival we were lucky to be joined by even more folks. People came from all directions.

Lots of food. Lots of drink. Lots of stars. Lots of laughing and story telling around the fire.

What is that? It is a hobo pocket full of  deliciousness.

The next morning, people woke from their slumber, rubbed the sleep from the eyes and dissipated back out into the world. Some went hiking, some went mountain biking. All went home having added something to this wonderful little trip. Thank you to everyone who made it out. If you couldn't make it this time don't worry, the next one is already in the works...

GW National Forest Trail Projects. SVBC wants to hear from you!

The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) is having an outreach round table map discussion about trail projects in the GW National Forest. SVBC will break out the maps towards the end of the SVBC Social on Monday April 14th 7pm Ruby's @ Clementine Cafe.  SVBC wants to inform the trail community about potential upcoming trail projects in the GW National Forest. Come find out more...SVBC wants to hear from you!

Here is a list of some of the future potential trail projects.
-Parking Lot on Tillman Road at the Wolfe Ridge Trail Head
-1 mile reroute on the Wolfe Ridge Trail
-Major tread work on the Wild Oak Trail (Camp Todd to Little Bald Knob)
-1 mile reroute on the Wild Oak Trail (Dividing Ridge to Dowells Draft)
-1 mile reroute on Dowells Draft Trail
-6 mile trail from theWolfe Ridge to the Wildoak Parking lot.

Park & Huck mini-vid

In 2013, Adventure Seen started making "Lifestyle Ride" short films.  Check out Sam and Collin blazing down a dirty dh coming of Great North Mountain near Bryce Resort.  The trail was much like many "old school" trails in the GWNF: steep, consistent gradient, loose washed out softball size rocks between huge bolders that once rolled down from the tops of the oldest mountains in the world.

If you listen closely, you'll hear Collin and Sam "pinging" their Industry Nine wheels on the sharp angle of the boulder drop.  They are running tubeless Minion DH casing tires with 18-20psi.  This setup allows for maximum traction on hair raising descents and technical climbs.



2013 PARK N HUCK from Adventure Seen on Vimeo.

Free Money with Trek Fest!

From April 10-14, we're having the biggest sale we've ever had at Shenandoah Bicycle Company.  Here's the deal:

• Receive a $50 gift card when you purchase any Trek bike priced between $399.99 - $999.99
• Receive a $100 gift card when you purchase any Trek bike priced between $1,000 - $1,999.99
• Receive a $200 gift card when you purchase any Trek bike priced over $2,000
• Make the most of great deals on select Bontrager & Trek accessories in store and online.  Check out all the awesome deals here.  

These in-store gift cards must be used the day of purchase. The cards have no cash value and there will be no change given.

Dragon's Tale

This past weekend I went to New Castle, Virginia to participate in Shenandoah Mountain Touring's Dragon's Tale mountain bike race. This year, the ~40 mile course started with an eight mile road ride to the start and a few miles of dirt roads before the trail climb.  The switchback packed single track climb is done twice, the first time turning onto a short ridge section and coming down a fast descent to an aid station. The second time up the climb, you turn a different way to begin a long ridge ride. The gnarly 10 mile ridge is super technical with steep climbing and descending throughout, and the descent off the ridge takes you to the final aid station. Two more punchy climbs and a few more fun downhills spit you out on a mile long road ride to the finish. It might sound easy now, but this course is one of the toughest around! Last year was my first time racing Dragon's Tale, and it was the longest and hardest mountain bike ride I had ever done. I finished last year with a time of 6:42:24, and suffered the majority of those hours! This year, I knew to pace myself, eat a lot of food, drink plenty of water, and more of what to expect. For example, I knew that when you could see ten more bumps in the distance on the ridge, you had to ride over all of those bumps... The treacherous hike-a-bikes were much less menacing this year though, and I knew that the switchbacks come up faster than you think on the downhills. My goals for this year were to finish in around five hours, and to make it in before the awards ceremony - I reached both. My parents both came to help out and heckle, and their support was extremely helpful - how else would I know to not associate with the JV Squad or have eaten so many boiled potatoes? Dad made appearances in all the places I wanted to walk my bike... and Mom made sure I was eating/drinking enough at the aid stations.

After a full day of slum and fun, the last climb brought on painful leg cramps and dreams of hamburgers, and I finished fourth among the women after one-leg pedaling up the last two pavement climbs. I'm proud of both Kelly Paduch for completing her first big mountain bike race (finishing sixth!) and my boyfriend Erik Jensen for placing fifth overall. I can't wait to do this race again, and I know the experience will only get better. Thanks Chris Scott/Shenandoah Mountain Touring for another awesome ride!

Buzzard Rock

Out for a pleasure cruise on north end of Massanutten ridge yesterday with Sam, Collin, and the Preston. 70 few degrees and the first taste of heat. We forced Collin to break trail and pick up all the downfall from the winter. Started at Veach Gap them went north past Sherman and Shawl, eventually getting to Buzzard Rocks at the tip of Fort Valley.

The rocks are cleaner and more grippy than ever from the winters wash, the bush is showing its teeth but not yet encroaching on the trail, now is the time!

Preston watched the large winged birds hovering over us trying to understand there movements an apply it to his flying.

Happy Trails at Pandapas Pond & Brush Mountain

I had to drive down to Blacksburg for business on Friday. The weather was phenomenal, and it seemed a waste to drive all day in that sunshine. So Tony, the dog, & I made a weekend of it. We phoned some friends who gladly played hooky on Friday afternoon for a sweet ride on Gap and Brush Mountains.

Friday's ride was sponsored by Nathan's 6 year-old and 8 year-old. They donated superhero tutus, wings, & belts to the cause. We used them to fly up the mountainsides and dance our ways back down.

For anyone familiar with Blacksburg's Pandapas Pond trail system, here are a few updates from the past year or two:

-the bottom of Beauty now has some new gap jumps. They're no good for a hardtail singlespeed because it is borderline impossible to gain enough speed.... but gears + squish = fun!

-most of the switchbacks on Old Farm/Gateway have been simplified with use of rocks & removal of roots; I was glad to see the Blacksburg folks watching out for increased erosion in some of those spots

-everything else keeps getting a little more washed out every year... just like every other trail system I know

Saturday's Old Farm trail ride got off to a rocky start. Approximately 7 minutes up the trail, Tony broke his single-speed chain. Crap. So back down the mountain we rolled. Fortunately, some really cool cyclists rent the house at the bottom of that trail. We owe a big shout-out to Graham Snyder from East Coasters Bike Shop; he robbed a hollow-pin 9-spd chain from one of the barn's dozen-or-so bikes, & we happily spun (err, slowly grinded) our way back up the mountain. Somehow, that road chain survived Tony's gear-mashing, ring-smashing ride. And we even had enough daylight to enjoy some Bud Light With Lime at the bike house with Laura, Stefan, Graham, & Tommy. No matter where you ride bikes, you can always find some brethren.

Snowy Short Mountain

Daddy-daughter rides are always great, especially when the trails are steep and rocky and the conditions are snowy. Last Sunday, Michael Carpenter and I rode Short Mountain, a seven mile ridge trail with serious tech-gnar. When we got there that morning, it was snowing heavily and the wind seemed unforgiving. We let the snow die down a bit before pedaling up the road to start our ride, and the snow completely stopped right when we got to the top of the climb. The trail is a personal favorite of mine, and the two-inch snow blanket covering the trail made for even more of a challenge and learning experience. Dad even double flatted (and he runs a Minion on the rear!). It was great to get out on (hopefully) the last cold and snowy day of the year. Join us on the Friday Fatty rides in the next few weeks if you want to get a taste of the trail yourself! 

Got Tire?

When I first started mountain biking, I figured I'd just use whatever cheap cast-off tires my friends had lying around. Maybe I would pick out the ones that looked knobbier... regardless, I didn't pay much attention to the rubber on my rims.

So the first time I rode the ridge at Massanutten, I didn't really ride it. I walked it. And I didn't ride down Upper Ravine.... I stopped, let the rest of the pack go by, & then tiptoed my way down boulders with my bicycle bouncing around in my hands. Riding that stuff just felt too sketchy-- I couldn't get traction, and my 40PSI tubes bounced over everything like a basketball.

Fast-forward to yesterday. It was my first ride of the spring, one of my first rides post-winter-hibernation. AKA- I'm not yet on my game this season, and my withered legs had trouble even climbing the fire road.

But now I have new tires. Thanks to the dudes at Trek, my hardtail now sports 29-3 team issue 2.35 Bontrager tires.

Despite my winter weight, those sticky donuts got me clean across the ridge. I partied down upper ravine without touching foot to dirt. My tires stuck and rolled, and my tubeless 20PSI smoothed out the worst of the rocky bounce.

For just $150 bucks (a fraction of the cost of a new bike; roughly the cost of a new pair of shoes; or 2 weeks of boxed lunches rather than eating out), my Massanutten foray went from a hike to bike ride. I am now a believer in the power of rubber.

Flying Flags of Things to Come!

When the conditions on the mountains look like this, time is best spent off trail with a few friends, many rolls of flagging tape and a clinometer. It is scouting time of year. The 2014 scouting season has been one of the longest due to old man winter refusing to leave the Mid-Atlantic, this is a good thing because of the many new trail projects that are on tap for the next few years.

Lairds Knob...Windy and snow filled on the last day of March

Once trail work at Hillandale finishes up in May the SVBC crews will shift to the Western Slope of Massanutten to begin on the next phase of the ever growing trail system. This year's project at Massanutten might be the most exciting since the 2 year project that created the "2K Traill".

The Orange Flags in the GW will have you exploring for miles!

The orange flags are not limted to Massanutten. The majority of orange rolls where used west of town in the George Washington National Forest. SVBC has secured over 100K of funding through the Recreational Trails Program Grant  (FREE Pulp Bowl to the first correct answer of who is on that site) to continue trail work efforts in areas such as Dowell's Draft, Wolfe Ridge and the Wild Oak Trail.

To find out more about these projects come out to the next SVBC Social on April 14th, SVBC will break out the maps and hold a round table discussion about some of the upcoming National Forest projects.

Now time to putting the flagging tape and climnometer away until next winter and jump on the bikes!

Thomas

Trucker Hats are so 3 years ago

Here at the Shenandoah Bicycle Company, we pride ourselves on the variety of custom SBC branded clothing items we keep around the shop. We hear again and again from our customers that they are looking for SBC branded items. Especially since Harrisonburg is the Bike Capital of Virginia, we have many visitors who want to take home something from their trip. As if the endless miles of beautiful dirt/paved roads and trails aren't enough to remember it all by. We are excited to add SBC logo trucker hats to the mix (yes we know that we are a few years behind the trend) of custom SBC gear that you can pickup at our shop. Pictured below we have long-time SBC customer, Chase Lyne with his hat, former SBC employee, Whitney March with her hat, and current SBC employee Collin Vento building a kids bike and wearing a red SBC hat.