Fall Weekly Ride Update

Fall has arrived and Harrisonburg's riding scene is in full swing! Check out all of the awesome upcoming rides we have in and around town.

Monday:
Massanutten Mondays: 5:30pm @ Western Slope Parking Lot
   - SVBC Social Mountain Bike Ride, Friendly No Drop Pace

Tuesday:
Friendly City Cyclocross Race Series: 5:30 A@ Ramblewood Park
    - SVBC Ride, All Skill Levels Welcome
Women's Social Road Ride: 5:30pm @ Westover Skate Park
    - SVBC Ride, Friendly No Drop Pace

Wednesday:
SVBC Social Road Ride: 5:15pm @ Harrisonburg High School
 - SVBC Ride, Friendly No Drop Pace
Women's Fast Road Ride: 5:30pm @ SBC 135 S. Main St.
   - SVBC Ride, Fast Pace, Race Training, GIRL POWER


Thursday:
Steady Road Ride: 5:30pm @ Rocktown Bike Shop, Mason St.
   - SVBC Ride, Fast But Forgiving Steady Pace

Friday:
Six Pack Downhill Series: 3:00pm @ Food Lion/Mr. J's South
Party Pace, No Drop, Social Ride, Learn National Forest Trails!


Saturday:
SVBC George Washington National Forest Trail Work: 9:00am @
Food Lion/ Mr. J's South. Log SVBC Volunteer Hours!

Sunday:
Bridgewater Social Road Ride 9:00am @ Wildwood Park on W. Bank St.
   - SVBC Ride No Drop Intermediate Pace
Harrisonburg Social Road Ride 9:00 am @745 S. Dogwood Drive.
   - SVBC Ride No Drop Intermediate Pace
  

Don't forget to stretch!

Hello fans. Thanks to Berry at Tian Dao Clinic I'm finally able to get some runs on my useless wooden toy! My wife joined in the fun too. Whatever your drug of choice, bicycles, running, etc... remember to stretch. We all are hopefully young in the head but the soul craft we inhabit may not feel that same way. So remember to stretch and loosen the old bag of bones every day so you won't be sidelined from your favorite activity.

SBC Ibis/Salsa/Surly Accessory Sale

SBC End of Summer Sale- Pick up a bike to ride this fall

When you buy a Surly, Salsa or Ibis bicycle from SBC you will qualify for up to a $300 gift card to be used on most anything at SBC! More details:

• Free SBC gift card with purchase/order of any 2014 or 2015 Surly, Salsa, IBIS bicycles.
• Gift Cards only good for bikes sold at regular retail price
• Gift Cards expire 30 days from date of bike purchase
• Gift Cards good only for Parts, Accessories, Labor not for bikes
• All bikes need a 50% deposit before we can order
• Here is how is works- Depending on what bike you buy you could receive:
• $100 Gift Card for bikes that cost up to $2,000 
• $200 Gift Card for bikes that range in price from $2,000-$4,000 
• $300 Gift Card for bikes $4,000 and up

Promotion runs August 18 to September 8

Rails with Trails in PA and maybe one day in the Valley?

Map on the kiosk in York PA at the northern terminus of the Heritage Rail Trail

I always enjoy traveling to other communities and experiencing what sort of bicycle accommodations they have to offer. I took the opportunity this past weekend, while at a wedding in York, PA to ride 20 plus miles of the Heritage Rail Trail that connects York PA to the Maryland state line. Whenever I ride a rail trail or greenway elsewhere I can't help but dream about what it would look like to have something similar here in the Shenandoah Valley. As most of you know, the Shenandoah Valley is bursting with many types of amazing bicycle riding opportunities but we are sorely lacking in shared use paths that are free of traffic. 

The Heritage Rail Trail is a rails with trail concept. A bit different from the other trails I have ridden in that the rail road tracks remain in the corridor and the path was built adjacent to the tracks in the past two decades. This means that you often have to cross the tracks but that doesn't seem to be too much of a problem for your average cyclists on the trail. A few very interesting things that I noticed about the trail during my 40 some mile out and back ride.

1. In 2012, the trail had an estimated 281,145 annual visits, resulting in a total economic impact in 2012 of over $4.4 million into the local economy. This data came mostly from infrared counters. 
2. The trail is a county Park and maintained as such. 
3. Surveys show that the majority of trail users spend over two hours on the trail per visit.
4. Over 40% of trail users learned about the trail through word of mouth.
5. Unsurprisingly, 99% of respondents to the rail trail survey support the construction of additional multi-use trails in York County.

Howard Tunnel built in 1838 and a "250 foot long tunnel named for a Revolutionary War soldier from Baltimore"

While we don't have as many old rail lines in the valley as PA, there is a railroad line that runs through the middle of Harrisonburg. Hopefully one day it will either have a trail adjacent to the line or will be decommissioned and turned into a rail trail. Fingers crossed, it may not be as far off as we think.

Despite an amazing trail experience, the 50 plus road crossings all had these signs. I never saw a single person walk their bicycle on the trail and I wasn't about to get off either. Unfortunately some of these signs are less than 10 years old. Hopefully planners will find better ways to handle these crossings in the future to keep the experience safe without posting ridiculous signs that garner zero compliance.

The Heritage Rail Trail transitions into an urban greenway in downtown York, PA along the the banks of a river that cuts through downtown. This is the only part of the trail that is paved.

Bicycle Camp Out V3.0

 Another group of hardy folk joined me for our third 24 hour bicycle camp out. I was unsure as to how many people would show after the forecast practically promised rain, and indeed, this was our smallest group, but also one of the hardiest.

Love those long stretching views.

Roadside bounty.

Church spigots keep us wet.

Overlooking Slatelick Fields

Up, up,up...

Beyond the gates, where no cars go.

What a goon.

Camp kitchen, right on the water.

Harrisonburg Historical Society Meeting.

Misty morning quiet.

No trail. No problem.

Homeward Bound.

I want to thank everyone that made it out on this trip for rolling the dice with the weather forecast. Thanks for the company, I am really enjoying getting to know you folks that are becoming the regulars. Thanks to the people that haven't made it yet, every time someone asks about the next trip it stokes my fire. Stay tuned, the next trip is being planned already...

Taste of Downtown

Taste of Downtown has come back to Harrisonburg! 

This week PULP has been churning out waffle bowls for the special

The entire bike shop smells like delicious waffle bowls when the waffle iron is out.

Look at that beautiful special... only $5.95!

Even if you aren't in a PULP mood this week, make sure to check out some of the other local businesses that are offering some great deals on food. We really have it lucky here in the 'burg with all of the great food options! You can find out where all the specials are by going to this link:

http://www.downtownharrisonburg.org/events/taste-of-downtown

or by looking at the signs and flyers posted at all taste of downtown business locations

Stay Hungry my Friends,

SBC and PULP

Sub-24 Hour Bike Tour Adventure

On Wednesday August 6 Kyle and Whitney biked this route with an overnight trip in it

View from the Heiliger Kanzel Overlook WV

1:45- Leave Harrisonburg with two bikes, two B.O.B. Trailers, camp gear, too much food, and a camp table

2:30- On Top of Mole Hill

2:55- Crossing the "Slab" road over Dry River

3:30 Approaching the 257 Grocery

4:15- Beginning the climb up the pavement towards Reddish Knob

6:00- Less than a mile from camp and the cold rain began

6:20- Arrive at Heiliger Kanzel Overlook in West Virginia just below Reddish Knob

7:00- Rain stops. Freezing cold. Neither Whitney nor I can feel our hands

7: 15- Cook dinner with numb hands and drinking cold can beer does not help

8:30ish- Sunset

7:00am- Wake up and start coffee/breakfast

8:00am- Start packing up the camp site and packing the B.O.B. trailers

8:30am- On bikes and rolling back down the mountain

10:00am- Pedaling through Dayton after booking it towards home on 257 with the wind at our backs

10:20am- Home and frantically getting ready for work

10:45am- At the bike shop ready to roll for another full day of fun

See the map of our full route out and back 

Turns out you can see some pretty cool stuff in a 50 mile round trip from Harrisonburg

Whitney with her BOB trailer and bag

It was really really cold up there 

Old mountain bikes with skinny and slick tires make for great touring machines especially if you hook up a B.O.B. trailer to them

Cliff Trail Lifestyle Ride

AdventureSeen.com is adopting the "No Fracking Pipeline in the George Washington National Forest" slogan to spread the word and to add value to the AdventureSeen lifestyle ride videos.  Protecting the places we ride is just as important as trailwork.   

A few of the boys from the crew rolled out to Cliff Trail and shot this short video.

Cliff Trail Lifestyle Ride: No Fracking Pipeline in the GWNF! from Adventure Seen on Vimeo.

Harrisonburg's backyard is famous for long climbs, ripping descents, rocky tech and destination quality trails thanks to the GWNF.  The George Washington National Forest is one of the largest federally managed public lands on the east coast.  Natural gas production in the forest is currently banned and it needs to stay that way.  Dominion Power has proposed a natural gas pipeline that is slated to cross the most remote and magnificent ridges in the forest to transport petrochemicals from fracking sites in West Virginia to export centers in North Carolina.  Not only would pipeline construction interfere with ecosystems and watersheds, but it would be infrastructure for directional drilling in the forest. 

Visit the Southern Environmental Law Center's page on Fracking in the GWNF to learn more about this threat to our playground. 

SBC....two trash cans a week. Can we do it?

It is amazing how much trash is generated each day when a business opens it's doors.  A majority of what ends up in trash cans does not  have to end up in the landfill if the business is willing to put some time, money and effort behind recycling and reusing.

If you have ever been in the shop you might have noticed a few metal shelves behind the first two service bays. These shelves are the home to over 10 large bins and boxes that are designated for recycling.  What does SBC recycle? A majority of our "trash" is paper, plastic and cardboard. We curbside all our corregated cardboard for the City of Harrisonburg Recycling program, we also use this service for all our #1 & #2 plastic and glass. Unfortunately this curbside service only covers a portion of "trash" from SBC.

SBC's Recycle Team Members, Ethan & Carter getting ready to "Jump and condense" at EMU. 

There is a lot that of excess that is generated at SBC that can't be picked up curbside by the City, for these items, such as paper board, office paper other plastics we rely on Eastern Mennonite University Recycling Program.  It is EMU's community recycle trailer where we take a truck load of recycling each month, this is also the time when we call in our recycling specialist, Ethan and Carter.  The E&C Team help sort, dump, and condense what goes into the back of the 18 wheeler at EMU.

Anything can be fun if you make it fun! 

Even with the City and EMU's recycling programs we still need to find home for all the tires, inner tubes and metal that consist mostly worn out bicycle parts. All metal is super easy to recycling in the Burg with a metal scrap yard less then 2 miles from the shop. The metal recycle run is even fun for the adults. Who does not like to see giant metal crushers in action!

The tire pile will only grow until we can overflow BIG RED with tires!

Our last and probably most toxic category of trash is all the tires and inner tubes generated by two wheels. These items where always the hardest to throw out but we now have found places that will take these items. Alchemy Goods takes all our inners (except those slime filled) tubes and turns them into really cool new products.  Our tires collect on the second floor of SBC (yes, SBC has a secret second floor) until we have a full load for Big Red which takes them to the Rockingham County Recycling Center.

Just a little insight of some on the behind the scenes action that makes SBC proud to be a business in Harrisonburg!

-Thomas, Manager of E&C Recycle Team.

Double-Down on Sundays

The start of a delightful double-down day.

Joel Maynard freedom riding in Front Royal, VA

Collin Waters rides skateboards.

Tim and Sam try four wheels instead of two.

 After the concrete jungle and lunch at Jalisco's, we drove to Fort Valley to ride Signal Knob-Bear Wallow. Beautiful afternoon in the woods riding some serious rock tech. 

Stair set #2 on Signal Knob.

Bridging gaps.

Sending Young Dan Oates off to Japan and China

If you have been following SBC on social media the past month you have likely seen that Tim spent some time in Japan on a bike tour with a good friend. Stay tuned for Tim's write-up of his trip complete with tons of great pictures and tales of biking on Japan's north island of Hokkaido.What we haven't talked much about yet is the other traveler. Daniel Oates and his Surly Troll that he picked up from SBC and took overseas for what may amount to almost a year long tour. Once Dan gets to China he hopes to bike from east to west and potentially south into India. Dan's travel plans are very open at the moment while he soaks in Tokyo culture and the smooth 1980s music that he tells us is being piped through the speakers of every shop and restaurant he goes into.

Getting Dan out the door was no small task as he boxed up his bike and all his possessions to take on the airplane with him.

We had a few hot nights of packing with Dan and you can see how it ended up.

Dan ordered WAY too much stuff for the trip and a box of things has already been shipped back from Japan to the Shenandoah Valley. All we can say is, "we told you so."

Dan's top slefie over in Japan. Green helmet? Who thought that was a good idea? Yuck.