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/

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!

Dragon's Tale 2011

Early spring is a great time for bicycling on the dry ridgetops of the George Washington and the Jefferson National Forest's. North Mountain Trail is home to a great network of shared use trail in the Jefferson National Forest west of Roanoke, VA. These trails are cleared in Feb and March for use in the annual Dragon's Tale bicycle event.

Check out some of the amazing video's and photos below of the Dragon's Tale backcountry bicycle event.
Results from 2011 are HERE
A photo gallery is on FACEBOOK - higher res images are in our Picasa gallery below.
Lots of great video clips of the riding below too.

Sue Haywood is a smooth rider. Check out her confident riding along Broad Mountain and down into Ferrier Trail.




Sue gave another nice ride on the final roll in on Ferrier Trail. She is soooo smooth in the corners!



We got to follow Laura Hamm down Deer Trail too. She is fast and smooth. Her front brake stopped working early in the event so she was a little cautious on the switchbacks. She has solid backcountry ethics and wasn't going to skid around the corner just because her brake wasn't working. So she took it easy and walked it around the bend. Thanks Laura!


Doc George covered our backs yet again and made a great video to share with us all. Thanks DOC!



Here is a great slideshow from the event in the SMT Picasa Gallery



Kirby was a huge help with the course and logistics. Sorry about the flats Bro!

From Dragon's Tale 2011

Also huge thanks to Ben and the Brown family with the Moonstompers, the Tilson's, Suzanna, Doctor George, Joe Therrell, Gramham, the USFS and the community of New Castle, VA

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!!

Jeremiah Bishop on day 1 of his bike packing trip pioneering the Virginia Mountain Bike Trail

What a day it was! Andy Johnston and Cory Rimmer are having such a good time exploring the wilds of Virginia with Jeremiah in the George Washington National Forest.

Stokesville Douthat Stokesville 3 day

What a ride. It is sooooo nice to stop before Little Mare, eat a nice dinner, get some rest and save the "nightmare" for the next day.

The crew heading towards IMBA' Southern Traverse. The Traverse is the super wonderful southern most section of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail. It was designated as an IMBA Epic in 2000. Virginia's George Washington and Jefferson National Forests have over 2,000 miles of trails open to bicycles. These forests have become well known amid mountain bikers as a place where one can get very deep into the backcountry and experience unparreled solitude. You find yourself in an amazing environment where man is just a visitor and only natural processes are noticed by the naked eye.

Stokesville Douthat Stokesville - Beards Mountain Spur Trail

A very nice trail for a bicycle ride, just plain delightful!

SDS 2 Day is on for this weekend! 3-Day coming up next weekend!

Spent the heat of yesterday on Little Mare Mountain with Matt Smith taking care of some of the last bit of winter downfall on the SDS route! Matt and I even sampled the last section of the ride checking out the full Little Mare Trail to the Brushy Ridge Trail and on into Douthat State Park.

The Forest Service has cut a new fire line in on Brushy Ridge. Cuts through the trail in a section or two but didn't really hurt the tread.  Here you can see the fireline just headed right down the mountain just off the first switchback headed downhill on the Brushy Ridge Trail. The trail keeps going to the left here so don't let the fireline fool you!

The weather is looking to be nice this weekend! Highs of 70ish, some clouds on Saturday, and looking at some solid Sun for Sunday! The route should be beautiful for the weekend, and with flowers like this pink lady slipper orchid popping up, there should be plenty of color to look at!

Here is the detail for the 3-Day SDS ride May 15-17! Come and join us for a spectacular ride some of the best singletrack riding around!

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!

Pre-riding some of the Super Bowl Ride sections

Check out these pics from our ride yesterday up towards Reddish Knob and over Hone Quarry Ridge. Snow, some sun, and a powdery downhill made for one great ride!

SMT's Backyard National Forest Trails need your representation

Cool news about the George Washington National Forest - Planning to resume
this is a hop skip and jump around sorta dealio
check out the background here at Cstan
slid on over to the Virginia Mountain Bicycle Council for more of the details
and if you are really are into representing your bicycle trails go HERE