Clearing Trail!

Got out to Dowell's Draft, Bridge Hollow, and Braley's today. 

Trails are rolling quite fast as some great folks have gotten them ridden in and clear of sticks this Spring.

Cut out the last remaining larger obstructions with the saw today. Smooth sailing for the season!

Tony B came out from Richmond and brought his "guns" to sherpa the saw on Beards Mountain Trail - the SDS Route is about ready!

Tony slid away from his trail duties with Richmond MORE to lend a hand in
the George Washington National Forest. Beards Mountain and Beards Mountain
Spur Trails are riding great all the way down to the swinging bridge!

Still excited from Dragon's Tale!

Still pumped up after the success of Dragon's Tale. The venue, the trails, the weather, it all came together and we had a blast!

Ryan Fawley(Trek Mountain Co-Op) clears the steep switchback at the top of Grouse Trail.

We nabbed some super hot photos during the race, check out these riders enjoying a long day on their bike in the Jefferson National Forest!

Cheryl Sornson(Team CF) dominated the women's race, and finished 11th among the men!

Chris Scott hooked us up with some super hot race videos as well!

Check out the video as Chris jumps in behind Sam Koerber (Gary Fisher 29 Crew) on the last bit of ridge on Ferrier Trail just before he flats allowing Tim Mosher (Champion Systems/Cannondale) to pass 1:30 into the video! Chris rolls the last of the ridge with Tim and 5 minutes in, the clip starts rocking as Tim rolls a sweet downhill section! See it HERE!

After hitting the downhill with Tim, Chris catches up with second place David Wood (Gary Fisher 29 Crew) heading up the last short climb before rocking the last fast downhill before the short road section to the finish. Check out David's solid climb HERE!

With the last climb over, the excitement continues as David Wood obliterates the downhill with his smooth, flowing, action! Check it HERE!

Now in third place, and not wanting to give in after his flat, Sam Koerber really turns it on and puts in a HUGE effort on the last section of road leading to the finish. Chris jumps in to film all the action, speeding his way to the finish with Sam. See Sam's effort HERE!

Men's Podium

Women's Podium

Cycling News has a great report on the Dragon's Tale!

The Dragon's Tale was great, thanks to all the racers for coming out, and the volunteers helping us get the trails ready and put on the event!
SDS singletrack tour is coming in May! Check it out and contact me us Shenandoah.Mountain.Touring@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us. Its going to be awesome!

Exploration

Spent yesterday afternoon catching up with a ride I used to do outside of Big Island, VA starting at the Dancing Creek Overlook just North of Otter Creek Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are lots of current and old fire roads in the National Forest in this area, all of which providing for great riding and some spectacular views. Many of these old fire roads are pretty grown up and more or less have turned into singletrack in some areas.

Unmapped short cut single track trail between two fire roads at the bottom. Most likely an older grown up fire road. Fun in both directions!

The fire road goes through this culvert and under the parkway. Nice with about an inch or two of water running through it. Bats too!

Gravel road climb!

Under the parkway off the gravel road.

Grassy road climb from the parkway to Bluff Mountain.

The view off to the right on the fire road climb up to Bluff Mountain.

Thunder Ridge off in the distance.

The old Belle Cove trail is off to the left here dropping down the other side of the mountain from the Saltlog Gap trail. It was destroyed during the 1995 flood and was never resurrected. A sign notes its permanent closing.

You can see a remnant of the Belle Cove trail start here where folks have been walking to read the sign. Not much noticeable after that though. 

The trail drops down and runs the top of a cliff overlooking this view and an old, but still somewhat operational stone quarry. 

The trail disappears for a bit as it has been cut through by the quarry. Ride down into the quarry road and keep an eye to your left. Short hike-a-bike up to the rest of the trail.

Iron Mountain 100K in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area

The Iron Mountain 100K has some gems
Jerry's Creek Trail is lush and green
Tight singletrack with a steep exciting sidehill
The trail has a 10 x 6 ft. divot missing from the tread
A huge tree borrowed some soil for a while
We are going to harvest the soil off the roots
And return it to the tread so we make it though there again
A few rolling grade dips need to be refreshed
We have to keep the water flowing across the trail and not down it
The only place the water needs to be running
Is in the beautiful creek far down below

The Southern Traverse needs a few more days of sawing!

An amazing day on the Southern Traverse
We only made it a 1/4 of the way there was sooo much deadfall
I had to stash the saw on the mountain for another day next week

Alex hooked me up and carried the saw up the mountain
I put it on once we hit the trail and got to work

It was fun using that 14 inch bar on those huge trees
Getting creative and using a lever to roll the HUGE sections
When you are running a small saw deep in the backcountry
You have to get in the zen of the fewer cuts the better
Each and every cut is a big part of your strategy
One wrong move and the operation could be over
Chess like moves is a great way to illustrate what needs to be done