Lookout Mountain - SVBC begins the trail realignment today with Trail Dynamics - thanks IMBA and USFS for the help.

It's going to be sooooo amazing to have a trail on the west side of Lookout Mountain (pictured below). The views up into the North River Watershed and into one of the largest roadless areas on the east coast are breathtaking. The natural terrain is INCREDIBLE- rock cliffs, huge school bus size slabs with great black bear and rattlesnake habitat.

Cheers to Harrisonburg's ever improving IMBA EPIC Ride Center Trail System!



Sent from SMT Headquarters!

Virginia Mountain Bike Trail - day 1

If you can see the hot line, you HAVE to come ride this route with us!

From Virginia Mountain Bike Trail - Day 1 (of 14)

You have to be able to handle about 1 hour of this a day.

From Virginia Mountain Bike Trail - Day 1 (of 14)

If you can handle the hike a bikes - you will be rewarded! Adventure awaits!

From Virginia Mountain Bike Trail - Day 1 (of 14)

Its an amazing experience riding the length of this amazing state of Virginia. Thanks to those public servants and private citizens who had the forsight to protect this land and make it available to us to experiece as we travel under our own power using bicycles. Freedom!

October SMT Friday Hookie Tour!!!

Russ and Liz had a great time with Matt on the Southern Traverse hookie ride! What an amazing excuse to dip out from the routine and escape deep into the George Washington National Forest for a singletrack bicycle ride. Shenandoah Mountain Touring is always here to take you deep into the backcountry for some much needed FREEDOM!


 

Shenandoah Mountain 100 - 2011 - A tiny bit of the post event goodness!

WOW, super FUN! Thanks everyone! Volunteers, Sponsors, and PARTICIPANTS!
HERE is a link to an .xls preliminary result file. We hope your system is able to allow it to be opened!
Please EMAIL us if you see any corrections that should be made.

For those of you that are super pumped to improve your time in the ride next year Coach Chris Eatough has a special for participants from the 2011 Shenandoah Mountain 100. We can't publish the deal here for others to see, but you can EMAIL us to inquire about the special on either or both of the -  20 week Winter Training plan or the Shenandoah Mountain 100 training plan.

Shenandoah Mountain 100 brief photo set HERE or below

From Shenandoah Mountain 100 - 2011

Shenandoah Mountain 100 Trail Work Mission - Chestnut Ridge

Yesterday, Tyler and Matt headed up to Little Bald Knob then cruised down Chestnut Ridge while clearing loose sketchy rocks, lopping thorny face-slappers, and weedeating the hay-quality grass.  What was once a test to get through now is a dream to descend!  Check out some pictures from the day:

Super-wide corridors!!



Shenandoah Mountain 100 Trail Work Mission- Wolf Ridge/ Lynn Trail

Yesterday, Matt and Tyler went out to Wolf Ridge and Lynn Trail to clear some trees, cut grass, and throw loose rocks off the trail.  This trail is now super clear and smooth, some may be getting the sonic BOOM during the race.  Here are some pictures from the mission:

Big thanks to the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition for getting volunteers to come out and fix a nasty spring that popped up on Wolf.

Our BoB trailer helped get the chainsaw, chainsaw tools, and the weed eater up and down the mountain on this mission.

Guide Trip - Southern Traverse 8/5/2011

SMT Guide Matt Smith took out Keith Esham and friends from Hagerstown, MD for a trip on the Southern Traverse! Everyone was in a state of euphoria while riding the 17 miles of continuous singletrack!! Contact SMT to book your very own guided trip on the Southern Traverse!

Great view from the South Sister Knob Overlook.

Trail Improvement Project in the GW - Moving Forward! - Thanks USFS, SVBC, SMT, IMBA and Ironwood Outdoors

The North River Ranger District of the George Washington National Forest has partnered with Ironwood Outdoors to rehabilitate a portion of the Wild Oak National Recreation Trail, Bear Draft Trail and Shaffer Hollow Trail. District Ranger Elwood Burge is leveraging limited trail maintance funding that will end up quadrupling its value before the project is done. By the time the project is completed the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition, Shenandoah Mountain Touring, the International Mountain Bicycling Association and other trail volunteer groups will contribute volunteer hours and provide financial assistance helping Ironwood Outdoors more the project forward.

The trail project is in Augusta County on Lookout Mountain which over looks the North River watershed in the George Washington National Forest.  Stabilizing the soil on these mountain trails will improve water quality and provide a better recreational experience for all the non motorized trail visitors which consists of  equestrians, bicyclists, hikers and trail runners. National Forest Trail Specialist Christian Canary said, "we are really excited to give the bicyclists' this opportunity to improve these system trails that they enjoy so much. Everyone will benefit from this collaboration" 

Shaffer Hollow Trail and portions of the Wild Oak Trail are used in the upcoming Shenandoah Mountain 100 Backcountry Bicycle Event held on Sunday September 4th. The annual event is held the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. 2011 will mark the 13 edition of the event. The event is operated under a special event permit with the George Washington National Forest. The event brings over 2000 visitors to the Forest each year contributing over $500,000 annually to the local economy while leveraging hundreds of volunteer trail improvement hours associated with the event. 

Shenandoah Mountain Touring, LLC

http://www.mountaintouring.com/

Shenandoah Mountain 100 Trail Work Mission- Dowell's Draft

Trail work comes often here at SMT, especially the month before the 100!  Our second mission of the week sent us to Dowell's Draft to clear grown in trail and loose rocks on the entire trail!  A little bit of love to this trail and it is world class!  Matt towed our new BoB Trailer and it was a great help getting our tools to the top, not to mention was a dream on the way back down!  Here are some pictures from the day:

<--- Outlook at the top of Dowell's Draft

Matt setting out with the BoB trailer

Using a rolling system to move this log off the trail

Shenandoah Mountain 100 Trail Work Mission- Bridge Hollow/Braley Pond

 Matt and Tyler set out early Tuesday morning to clear up some grown in trail as well as remove downed trees on Bridge Hollow, Braley Pond Trail, and Johnson Draft Trail. What does this all mean?? The last section of trail heading into aid station 4 is ROLLIN'!!!! Here's some pictures from the mission:

Sal came down to get in a HUGE climbing day, Leadville simulation training, what a beautiful day!

It was a great day of climbing. Up the long Union Springs climb with a bonus hot lap into Dunkle Hollow. It was amazing up on Shenandoah Mountain, the AC'ish cool breeze was blowing all day and the ferns were floating with a cool mixed light infused glow.
Nice work Sal Ruibal!
Thanks for training with SMT!

2011 Virginia Mountain Bike Festival fast approaching - Sign up NOW!!

Virginia Mountain Bike Festival 2011
Stokesville Campground, VA

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 - May 27-30th

From Virginia Mountain Bike Festival 2010

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder that the Virginia Mountain Bike Festival is a few weeks out. We have a great bunch of folks already registered, don't wait to join them! The Virginia Mountain Bike Festival is an event celebrating mountain bicycling in Jefferson and George Washington National Forests. Come out and enjoy the atmosphere, the riding, and social gathering that is the Virginia Mountain Bike Festival. Please encourage your riding friends to participate in this volunteer driven festival. Thank you for attending in the past, we hope you can make it again this year.

Register here - Online registration for $80 per adult and $20 per child closes on Wednesday, May 25th at 5PM- on site registration is $100

Your registration covers camping for 3 nights, and 4 days of great backcountry riding. Friday night the kitchen is open in the pavilion for your use (Grill and Burners). Saturday night we provide pasta and sauce. You provide your favorite side or dessert. Sunday night we provide a deluxe full on burrito dinner. Since this is a fundraiser for Virginia Mountain Biking there are no refunds. If you cannot attend, you will able to deduct the whole amount as a donation on your taxes.

The festival will feature rides for all, fun events, and great company on a glorious weekend at a private campground nestled against the George Washington National Forest. This fun-filled event is brought to you by Shenandoah Mountain Touring, LLC.

Not really into Mountain Biking? GREAT HIKING right from the Campground on the Wild Oak Trail or bring your ROAD BIKE and enjoy the wonderful road riding the Shenandoah Valley has to offer - we will have county road maps for your use. Bring your family for a fun weekend!

Hope to see you there,
Chris, Matt and Tyler


Special thanks to our sponsors for coming out to Stokesville for the weekend! There will be a few 2011 demo bikes from KONA BIKES. Richmond ASR will be in town as well helping run registration so that everyone can get out and RIDE!!
Also, a huge thanks to our local sponsor Shenandoah Bicycle Company and Trek Bikes for provided the weekend's beverages!!

George Washington National Forest - Spring Trail Clearing

Holy cow, there is always an opportunity to get out and clear some trail in the George Washington National Forest. Just don't forget to do all the right things first - volunteer agreement, prior approval of specific projects and use proper safety gear with required certifications.

Some quality work on Shenandoah Mountain - 4 work days in already and I haven't even ridden from Rt. 250 to Scotchtown Draft since last year.

A collaborative project on Carr Mountain - what a cool connector!

Stribbling Springs is not looking soooo good - will add picture link soon

Dowell's Draft is tight - thanks Matt, Katy and Jennifer!

Beards and Little Mare for SDS - thanks Matt, Mike and Tyler!

Lots more to do, Eliotts in the am!

From Elliotts Crawford Chimney Hollow

Yes, it could be this cold up there again!

From Elliotts Crawford Chimney Hollow

It will surely be this sweet up there again, even with some rain!

From Elliotts Crawford Chimney Hollow

SDS Trailwork on the Southern Traverse

The "Southern Traverse" is open and rolling. Two days of clearing and cutting deadfall. 

Amazing snow ride on Great North Mountain Trail in Virginia's George Washington National Forest

Good times in the GW on the old "Dante's Inferno" loop
Winter is here!
Judge Rye Road up onto Devils Hole Mountain
Drop in on Long Mountain Trail
into and back up and out of Trout Pond Campground
Super fun technical ridge on Great North Mountain Trail
to the tight and fun switchbacks on Stack Rock Trail
Laurel Run Road back down to the parking lot.
Good times!
The road bed that is listed as a trail needs a lot of drainage work on the slopes above Trout Pond Campground - a job for the Lee District Sweco!
Everything else is wonderful!!
Thanks PATC and the Equestrian's (Diane) from the Old Dominion 100 for keeping Great North Mountain Trail cut back, those briars can be brutal in the summer!!

Lynn Trail switchback is reconstructed in the George Washington National Forest

First assess the worksite and make it a safe area to work
Make a plan that can be completed successfully
Start digging the foundation for the rock crib wall
After cutting the backslope
Spread the soil on the trail tread
Tamp the ground to compact the soil
Take a moment to appreciate your hard work that will last forever

Lynn Trail is the 2nd climb in the Shenandoah Mountain 100 bicycle route. It is one heck of a challenging trail to climb. The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition just reconstructed the rocky steep and very difficult to ride switchback about half way up the trail. Thanks to Ed Sutton of Trail Dynamics for coming out and volunteering with our local bicycle club. Trail Dynamics just finish the work on lower Wolf Ridge Trail which is the descent that bicycles use after the climb on Lynn Trail in the Shenandoah Mountain 100. The Wolf Ridge trail project was funded by a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant that the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition was awarded. The grant is administered through Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation and funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The funds are from the estimated tax from fuel that is not used on our highways.