Erin Bishop's Blog

Enjoyed some big rides this week. A few days over at the 'Nutt where my favorite easy-to-access roller coaster downhill trail off Kaylor's, the Upper Ravine trail, offers some close-to-town fun. I checked out the new Hoo Ha XC course with Jeremiah. It's a great route that makes use of many of the SVBC's new and improved trails. Next weekend is sure to be a good time.

This weekend was the annual Virginia IMBA mountain bike clubs festival out at Stokesville. On Sunday, I joined in the huge ride option with about 30 other riders for some super sweet IMBA Epic riding on the Southern Traverse of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail. I hadn't been up there since our Stokesville-Fort Lewis and Bike Magazine adventures last October. It was great to ride under the leafy green canopy and the crystal clear blue sky made for a spectacular setting and allowed awesome views. This ride is about a 45 minute drive from town, so it's not always a first choice for a weekend adventure, but I'm going to look back at these photos and remember that I've gotta hit the SMT more, more, more! (More photos in the Gallery!)

Benched big mountain singletrack that goes on and on...

The southwest view from South Sisters Knob

The evening ended with a big burrito dinner with many SVBC kitchen volunteers. Jeremiah was a lean, mean grilling machine, and a lot of the riders got a kick out of watching him do the cooking for a change.

We're heading out on a spin to the Rocktown trails before hitting the road for another adventure.

Our flag is 'a flying this Memorial Day,

Erin

Labels: Adventures

posted by E Bishop # 8:33 AM 0 comments

North Fork Mountain Trail

I'm trying to catch up with the responsibilities that I shirked last week in favor of a whole lot of fun. I don't want to condense the week into one story, so over the next few days I'm going to retro-blog from each adventure.

Here's looking back on Wednesday.

Kip wanted to venture out to West Virginia to hit the North Fork Mountain Trail, an epic ridge ride with spectacular overlooks and an out-there classic feel. I don't know when I became included in the plan, usually I plan an alternative route when the pro riders tackle an epic - seriously, they are in another league - but I was happy to be included as if it were only natural, and I was VERY excited about the adventure ahead of me.

The crew rallied at Tim's house for the 9 a.m. roll-out and we caravaned over Shenandoah Mountain into WVA. On the way, I spotted a bald eagle that was perched in a sycamore tree. He must have been three feet tall, and was majestic as he looked out across the wide meadow.

We parked along the river inside a canyon. Our route began with a climb that left the pavement after a few steep miles, and snaked up the mountain on gravel to the North Fork access. Most of us were over dressed, since there was frost at the bottom. We warmed up quickly and shed most of our extra layers by the top. At the trail head, Tim and Sue pointed me in the right direction and told me to lead the way. The trail was completely blanketed in leaves but I figured it out and forged ahead.

We were treated to spectacular views along the ridge line. We stopped for a few flat tires and one broken derailleur. Most of us saved our lunches for the best overlook, where we lingered in the warm sun a little too long. From there, we followed a sweet re-route around a peregrine falcon nesting site, and on to the downhill. The very top of the descent was tricky and scattered with big rocks that were perfectly placed to cause trouble for chainrings and derailleurs. By the bottom of this techy section, the trail opened up and became smooth and swooping all the way to the bottom.

We regrouped at the end of the trail and began our 10-mile road ride back to the cars. I was motivated to keep moving, and so was Chris, so we boogied up the road. We were met with a super steep switchback almost immediately. The cows in the adjacent pasture heckled us with knowing moos. I was totally spent by the time we saw the crest, and I heard Jeremiah yell from behind me, "GO, Erin! Here he comes!" I knew Jeremiah had been climbing with 'The Wo,' and the urgency in JB's shouts could mean one thing - The Wo was probably surging up the road to claim a glorious victory in a mountain top sprint. I'm competitive, and all it took was Jeremiah's urging for me to pull everything I had left into a wildly unorganized sprint starting in the little ring I'd been spinning up the mountain. God knows how I pulled it off, with reckless shifting and little warning, but my front wheel was the first thing over that hill, and I wasn't slowed until I felt a pull from behind on my camelback. Sweet Jesus!

We continued riding as the sun dropped behind the hills and cold air sank down each mountain hollow. In the last mile or so, Thomas looked back from his bike and with a warm smile said "impressive ride, Erin."

I was proud of my accomplishment. I'd completed a big-ish ride with no mechanicals, no crashes, and not one complaint. If fact, I'd didn't even realize those things at the time, I was just so happy to have spent such a wonderful day in the mountains with great friends - old and new!

My next post will make you want to move to Harrisonburg and ride three times a day!
Erin

Labels: Adventures

posted by E Bishop # 9:42 AM 0 comments

SMT

There's a fun week on tap, with Kip and Chris from BIKE here in H'Burg to check out our incredible mountain bike locale. Kip is definitely "The Boss," it seems like he's hired just about everyone in the bicycle print media industry. The weather forecast is crystal clear, the trails are waiting and the BIKE guys are in for a good time.

On Tuesday, they wanted to hit the IMBA Epic Southern Traverse Trail, which is the southern portion of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail. To make the ride do-able within the constraints of daylight and a late start, I dropped them off at the bottom of Benson Run and then drove the car to the end of the trail. While the guys climbed up the fire road and hit the trail heading south, I rode in from the bottom of the last downhill. I climbed past South Sisters Knob without stopping at the overlook - I wanted to see it with fresh eyes when we'd stop later as a group. It was only a few weeks back that I'd ridden the same climb with Jeremiah, as we ventured home from our anniversary adventure to the Fort Lewis Lodge. The trail was still fresh in my mind, I knew exactly where I was and knew that eventually I would intercept the guys riding toward me, so I was less worried about being out in the middle of nowhere on my own. Though I did use my "bear horn" liberally.

Our timing worked out very well and I'd only been at the SMT-Jerkemtight Fire Road intersection for a few minutes when I saw the guys rolling down the trail toward me. We enjoyed the vista for a few minutes, and The Boss passed out Oreo cookies.

Riding the downhill together was a blast! The SMT is so sweet. Leaves were covering the trail, but it was still smooth sailing around the big swooping turns and over the roller coaster rhythm sections. I was smiling ear to ear. We stopped for a photo shoot on South Sisters, where the view was extra incredible. The fall air made for a crispness that I could have only dreamed of two weeks ago. Every single rolling ridgeline was defined as far as our eyes could see. The bluff above Fort Lewis Lodge was sharp, and I got to thinking about the comfy coziness and great food that was just a fun singletrack descent away. Alas, we had other plans that would be just as fun.

The last few miles of descending were way fast, rolling and had some crazy off camberness and banked berms. It was so sweet, and the group's vibe was such a good one that I couldn't have had more fun. Well, next time we'll leave town earlier, and I'll ride the whole thing.

Here's a profile of my out and back mini adventure.

We loaded up, rolled back to the Burg and hit Mexi Night for all we could eat organic goodness and half price Negro Modelo.

Next we'll ride the North Fork Mountain Trail. As Bushi would say, I'm going big!

Having fun,
Erin

Labels: Adventures

posted by E Bishop # 10:20 AM 0 comments

Epic

North Fork Mountain Trail

SMT

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