Utah Trip Update #1

Saturday morning I flew into Salt Lake City and headed straight to Park City. This first portion of my trip was to visit long time friend Matt Krop.  The area that has one of finest reputations of endless single track in the US. Matt was one of my first riding partners in Harrisonburg in 1990, also my teammate in 1998 when we won 24 Hours of Moab. We were to meet up a Jans Mountain Experts, an all around bike/ski shop that sends out a 100+ bike  rentals a day, fortunately I was able to snag the last medium mountain bike available.

The Armstrong Trail

The smooth and gentle rolling climbs at Park City provided a great opportunity for Matt and I to catch up and find out what has been happening in our lives for the past several years. The "Armstong Trail", which is a single directional trial for bikes, was our trail choice to ascend 1700' to the Mid Mountain Trail.  We saw more folks on this trail (even with it being one way) than I usually see on the busist day at our local trails back in the "Burg". The mid mountain trail and the evelation line of 9000' would be our high point of the day, which was probably a good decision for my body which had left Harrisonburg at 3:45am that morning.

The majority of afternoon was spent riding the continuous smooth, dry and flowing trails on the mountain resort.  With the desire to hit some old school trails I knew I was with the right guide.  Matt has been building trails in the Park City region since the mid 90's, his trail knowledge guided us to steep, rooty, tight and loose descents which made me feel right at home. This portion of our ride trigger us both to have flash backs of racing in the early 90's in WV; places like the Black Bear course in Charleston.

Sunday, day two of my trip, was spent catching up with Matt's family prior to his departure to work. As late morning rolled around, I gave into my desire to find some high, more remote elevation riding. I headed back to Jan's to get another 4 hour rental (great thing about Park City you can do a 4 hour rental and ride this entire time on single track).  I ascended the Armstrong trail again and continued my ascent towards the Wasatch Ridge on the the Pine Cone Ridge Trail, this trail increased in grade and traffic due to being multi directional (yes, there is traffic on these trails).

Looking deep into one of the many Canyons before topping out just below 10000'

I finally hit the ridge after 1.5 hours of climbing, the views toward the back country at 9600' was exactly what my soul needed. From here I choose several less traveled trails with my hopes of making it to Jupiter Peak.  This Peak was were my body first experience floating in 3' powder, surfing on my snowboard behind my buddy Matt.  Without Matt this time and being solo I was a little more cautious on my descent, even so I still flatted  the tube equiped rental giving me the feeling I was going to get stranded in some foreign place.  After fixing the flat and descending some more trails the views reminded me that I was safe from getting lost.

The riding in Park City was fun but I must admit my desire for moreremote single track was never satisfied. I know this place can provide, I just need more time!

More to come - Thomas

Wootten's maiden ride on "Quicksilver" his new Trek Remedy 9 29er.

The Rumblefish found a new home.  The knee is getting stronger.  It's time for some new bike stoke.  I chose the Remedy 9 29er for a few features: 140mm travel on both ends, dropper seatpost, tubeless wheels with fancy hubs, reliable components on a capable and playful burly trail bike.  The only modifications I made to the stock setup: 750mm PRO Vanderham riser bars and Bontrager tubeless rim strips, valves and some stans sealant. 

My first ride on the Remedy 9 29er was more fun than a fuzzy box full of kittens.  Fflur and I headed to Stokesville for some of Virginia's finest trails, up Sheffer Hollow to Lookout Mountain trail.  July felt more like April because of the low temps and rainy conditions. 

On the climb, easy gears on the 2x10 XT drivetrain came in handy for the sustained steep climb up Sheffer Hollow. The front end stayed down on the steeper pitches for nice controlled climbing at low speeds. 

Descending is always the fun part.  This bike is going to change my game.  It begs to be unweighted.  The suspension platform is plush, responsive and ready to eat.  The bike felt super stable at speed, soft while braking, fluid over small bumps and forgiving enough to plow over medium sized chunder.  Despite its length and size, the bike was easy to move around on the ground and in the air.  I'm looking forward to lapping the jump trail Brew Thru at Bryce.       

With the suspension set to Trail mode for the entire ride, I was able to sit and spin up the climb easily and party with the post dropped on the descent.  I haven't been this fired up to ride in a long time thanks to this fun bike!

    

Brothers with the 2 wheel bug

Been a while since I've had anything worth while to post other than the normal injuries that plague me lately. A month back or so I got to hang out with my bother at his shop. He builds custom motorcycles for a living. We had some family business to take care of and got to spend a few days riding scoots and chillin in his shop. The similarities in tools for motorcycles and bicycles these days are many. The difference is mostly in size as bicycles are way smaller. We spent the better part of a day talking shop and comparing both. Our conclusion was its easy to see how bicycles evolved into motor bikes by looking at the tool design both use. Here are a few pictures of my brothers shop and a bonus pic of him and our bikes.Enjoy

One of Wootten's favorite things about mountain biking: getting creative.

One of my favorite skills is creative problem solving, especially when I can apply it to bike repair.  Preparedness is a must for all trailside fixes.  The biggest tool in your repair kit (and for that matter your first aid kit) is your ability to react resourcefully with what you have.  

Today on a quick ride at the Western Slope of Massanutten, I was provided the opportunity to get creative.  While riding up to the pond with Fflur, my rear tire slipped sideways and began to hiss.  I hopped off my bike, located the hole and immediately stopped the leak with my thumb.  The plug in my tubeless tire had partially pulled out and was leaking like a stuck pig.

I was then faced with digging through my bag, one-handed only to find that I had neither plug installation tool nor fresh plugs to install.   What to do?  I really didn't want to get all slimy putting in a tube. 

I had a multi-tool, nothing on it would help.  I had a tire lever, not the right tool.  I had my keys: BINGO!  I took the dangling plug and folded it over the hole.  To keep from loosing any more pressurebeneath my thumb and kept pressure on the hole.  I sandwiched my keys over the dangler and shoved the plug back into the hole.  It kept pressure, I pumped it back up and finished my ride.        

FYI, these plugs are a great addition to your trail tool kit.  You can fix a tubeless leak without even taking your wheel off your bike.  Come pick up a set and be the hero on your next ride.

Thursday Nights are a special night!

Thursday nights are a special night. Yes, partially because it is the day before Friday but in our little bicycle community it is also trail work night. Thursday trail work evenings have been going on for years, at least 10! Over the past few years Thursday Trail Work Evenings have gained some momentum and the trails that are being built showcase the skills, energy and love our community has for trails.

Gloves hanging out to dry after a wet Thursday!

2014 has seen a great increase in volunteers and energy on Thursday evenings. This increased energy might be coming from the new trail we are building, the adverse weather conditions we have had this year or tail gate time after a hard evening of work. What ever the source of this energy I am confident I am not the only Thursday night "digger" that is feeling the trail work love.

Stepping back from the "Rock", 20+ feet of granite that seems to have been placed for our trail pleasure.

Folks haning out after a Thursday trail work session.

Before each Thursday I make sure I visit the work site to get a grasp of what has been done and what has yet to be built. As I walk or ride each section I am reminder of the person who created that few feet of trail. There is the rock bridge Bruce built, the in slope turn from the JMU Students and the monster rock moved by Troy and his son.

SVBC Volunteers know how to build some great trail, this section climbs up to one of the two ridges that the new Upper Granny Trail will cross.

I encourage each of you to come out one Thursday, you will leave with an increase of energy that will be felt each time you travel on that trail in the future. 

See you some Thursday, I will make sure the cooler has a drink for you!

Thomas

Kyle and Whitney West Virginia Bike Tour Day 2 and 3

Sometimes you plan a bike tour and it looks great on the map but takes WAY too long while riding with weight. That was the case of day 2 on our bike tour from Harrisonburg to Davis West Virginia. Day two saw us pedaling about 50miles with another 7000 feet of climbing from Big Bend Campground to David West Virginia. Planning on only one large mountain to climb and about 50 miles we figured day 2 would be a nice change from our long and arduous first day with Rough and Long Run roads. Turned out that we were both a bit tired from the long first day and the steep steep climb up the Allegheny front and across the Eastern Continental divide proved brutal.

Climbing out of Smoke Hole Canyon took longer than expected but the views are well worth it. The above picture is looking back East and the Potomac River and Canyon are sandwiched between the far mountains. The Big Bend Campground is somewhere back in there.

Ever been to the Dolly Sods? Well if you have then you have seen these signs from when the Sods were used as a bombing range during World War II. Most of the bombs have been cleaned up but warning signs still abound and you must remember, "Do not Pick it up!" 

Whitney didn't mind the climb up into Canaan Valley at all after the slog up into the Sods on Forest Road 19. This paved climb with the classic water pipe coming out of the rocks was a breeze. Even with relatively "heavy" traffic.

Once we arrived in Davis we made a quick stop at the grocery store and then headed out Camp 70 road and snagged our favorite spot on the river (site #6). A beautiful spot where Yellow Creek flows into the Blackwater river. From here we were able to ride into Thomas or Davis and to most of the good mountain bike trails. Turned out we had neither the energy nor desire to ride any mountain bike trail. One of the newer trail additions to the area, "Splash Dam" was directly across the river from our camp spot.

Day 3 involved leaving our camp setup and a very short bike ride into Thomas for coffee and food. Then we took a tour down the Blackwater Canyon trail with none other than Sue Haywood for some local sightseeing. The view below from Lindy point shows how dramatic the Blackwater Canyon looks from the rim and also shows the old railroad cut, now a rails to trail conversion on the left side of the photo. 

North River Gorge Trail...Family Style

So here is the before photo of......

The entire crew getting ready to start at the North River Campground.

the crew that patiently ventured down the six or so miles of the North River Gorge Trail this past Sunday. I say patiently because patiences is what it takes when you join a determined 3 year, an exited 5 year old,  and their over confident parents for a biking adventure. The North River Gorge Trail seems to have become a tradition of sorts during the summer solstis weekend, the weekend when Chris Scott and I celebrate our birthdays (this was year #45).  It is alway great to see Chris's whole Family come out for the North River Adventure, this ride includes siblings, neices, newphews and even Chris's 70+ aged parents.

For the Jenkins Family the adventured included taking Ethan on his Jet 16" and Carter on his worn out scoot bike. We made sure we also took a Burley Trailer knowing Carter would eventually retreat to the wet pull behind.  It is mind blowing watching young kids ride off road. Can you image ferns over your head? How about numerous river crossings up to your waist that seem to stretch on forever?  I would image this was the equivilent to the you or I riding in the Amazon. 

Every Stokesville Ride include a great swim session afterwards!

Enjoy was able to do the "Full Pull", with some assistance. Carter determination that him scoot half of the distance and then spent the remainder in the Burley safe haven. At the end of ride we were able to enjoy time spent on the rocky shores of the North River, doing what kids do, play with rocks!