Snowy Springtime Teaser

Perfect weather makes up for not so perfect conditions. Kelly and I rode our hardest ride yet this year: Leading Ridge road, up Camp Todd, down Chestnut ridge, up Hanky Mountain, and down Lookout Mountain trail to the car. It was only 28 miles, but almost 6,000 feet of climbing! The trails were either soft or covered in slippery slush, and the roads looked and felt like peanut butter. But who cared? We were outside, it was sixty degrees, and our slum only reminded us of the bigger, harder, better rides to come this year. Tour de Burg prep maybe? Short sleeve jerseys and shorts spoiled us - it will be hard to transition back to the cold weather. It's rides like these that up the motivation to stay active through the winter, reminding us that  spring time isn't too far off!

Almost to Little Bald intersection from the Camp Todd climb.

Camp Todd overlook!

Coming down Chestnut - slushy slippery sketchy sleigh ride.

Rhododendron tunnels on Chestnut Ridge, from snow to pine needles depending on elevation.

Soaking up rays at the Lookout Mountain overlook at the end of the day.

Super Bowl Sunday Up to Flagpole

Football flying through the air on top of Flagpole for the Super Bowl Ride

How many years has the Harrisonburg cycling community ridden up to Flagpole Knob on the day of the big game? 30 plus years? The ride has been a Harrisonburg tradition since before there was a bike club in the area, before mountain bikes were ridden regularly on the trails of Shenandoah Mountain and certainly before there were Fat Bikes designed specifically to gobble up the snowy roads and trails.

Lindsey Carpenter rolling from Meadow Knob over to Pond Knob before riding out to Oak Knob and down Mud Pond

Since 2003 I don't think I have missed a single Super Bowl Sunday ride. A classic winter event, the weather is always variable and conditions never consistent. I've ridden in super cold light fluffy snow where you couldn't stand on Flagpole for more than a few minutes without freezing. I've also ridden in rivers of running water streaming down the Forest Service roads as the snow melts and temperatures push upwards of fifty degrees. Often, the road conditions are something in between with plenty of snow but also treacherous ice as the surface is caught in a freeze thaw cycle. Riders often end up on the ground unknowingly as their wheels lose traction.

The Salsa Mukluk Fat Bike was eating up the snow especially on the Mud Pond downhill

Many of those years I have ridden from town, up the mountain and then back to town. One of those years there was far too much snow to ride up the mountain so we brought a group of 20 folks and skiied up to the top. Well we sort of skiied, we were fortunate enough to have a group of large trucks pull us from the Reddish Knob damn up to the saddle. Skiing down the Pond Knob trail was a treat.

Pushing the Fat Bike up the STEEP climb to Oak Knob with Flagpole looming in the distance

This year, we couldn't be more excited to see several members of the Rocktown Composite team (middle and high school local mountain bike team) pedal all the way to the top of Flagpole. They are well on their way towards many many Super Bowl rides to come. In a classic Harrisonburg tradition, the Super Bowl ride isn't really a group ride but it embodies all that is right and welcoming about the Harrisonburg bike community.

Thomas Jenkins brought a football all the way up the mountain!

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!