Stokesville - It is happening!!!

We haven't been blogging in a few years.... Oups!! Most likely because we have been sooooo busy getting this facility "STOKESVILLE"  up and running. It comprises the Stokesville Lodge, Stokesville Campground, Stokesville Observatory, a fishing lake, river swimming and a trail system that hosts a NICA High School League Mountain Bike Course right here on this property. It is the venue for the Shenandoah Mountain 100 (#Shenandoah100), Virginia Trail Festival. Shenandoah Mountain Bike Festival, Stokesville Orienteering Meet, Red Wing Roots Camping and many many other amazing events. In fact, we hope to release news of another amazing event at the facility very soon. #Stokesville - make plans to come ride, camp or stay at the Stokesville Lodge. Info is available via www.StokesivlleLodge.com - www.StokesvilleCampground.com and very soon on www.stokesville.org

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:

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

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

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.

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