2012 Mohican MTB 100

The Mohican mountain bike race is a 100 mile loop consisting of 11,000+ feet of climbing along mostly singletrack, doubletrack or dirt roads, spanning 4 counties through some of the most remote and scenic areas in the rolling hills of Mohican Country, Ohio. Climbs of nearly a mile, with elevation gains of 300+ feet, rock gardens, streams, and more!

That's the description of the race from the official website's perspective.  My description of this ride is a brutal, technically challenging, bruising, difficult and crazy hard 100 miles through Bigfoot country.  My hopes in entering this race was to improve upon my finish time from the Wilderness 101 last year.  And I barely did, with a time of 12 hours 44 minutes.  Hey, that's an improvement of 19 minutes!

It's a long day in the saddle.  This ride I felt was much more of a mental challenge than a physical one.  I've been riding a lot leading into this race so physically I wasn't ever hurting.  However, after the first 42 miles of this course I was not sure I wanted to sign up for another 60 miles.  Fortunately, the real demanding riding was behind me, mostly road, gravel and little single-track was ahead.

As is customary on these rides, my mom came along for shotgun.  We had an easy 7+ hour drive out to the Mohican Adventures campground.  We had a good Friday night dinner at the local Sojourner Cafe on Main Street. Here's a couple shots of our campsite.

Race day started with a wake up call around 5;45am.  We had a "Breakfast of Champions" at McDonald's that provided all the calories one needs for a 100 mile bike ride.  Bikes were streaming in from all over the place toward the starting line in Loudonville.  Here's a few shots of the starting line.

 

The riders in front are the ones trying to win the race.  I'm more of a "completer" than a "competitor".  So I took my spot near the tail-end.

Here's the good news as heard in this video.  There will always be someone behind me.  

Around 600 riders started this race, not all of them finished.  One guy had a dislocated shoulder, others just couldn't make it.  I saw numerous people stopping with cramps and this was within the first 32 miles.  

Watch the video and to the left you can see where we had dinner the night before.  The last building on the right is Kim's Bike Store.  I talked with these guys about the ride, and met up with them at the aid station at mile 80.  

Just like the morning commute in DC, here we were all standing around to merge.  The initial road segment is not very long before going into single-track.  As every second passed, it was getting harder and harder to catch the leaders.  I'm sure this is where I lost the bulk of my time :-)

At Aid Station 1 (mile 20) I was feeling pretty good.  Not a lot to report here, just smooth sailing.

Here's a shot of a particularly nasty part of the trail.  I walked less of this course than the Wilderness ride and pretty much only walked where everyone else was walking too.  

One of the nice portions of the trail.  Unfortunately it didn't last too long.   I did like riding in small packs through the first ~40 miles of this ride.  It was later in the ride that I was out there in the woods on my own.  Which is very peaceful.

Aid Station 2 is 32 miles in, and took 4 hours and change to reach.  It was at this point that I was wondering what I had gotten myself into.  Any one read "Fablehaven"?  If so, check out this video.  I'll never look at a butterfly the same again.

This was a crazy ominous sight of a hill around the bend.  For the record, I did ride up the hill that many weren't.  And check out the video below for what I found at the top!

This was the sight of my biggest wipe-out.  When one gets tired, everything gets more difficult.  I was coming down this little hill negotiating the rocks when all of a sudden this log jumped out of the woods at me.  I hit it dead-on and flipped right over the handlebars.  Fortunately it was a soft landing.

Debate time.  I stayed at Aid Station 3 for almost 25 minutes. All the smart people were going left, very few of us nuts were going right.  Check out the video to see what the big debate was about.

Bigfoot Country if there ever was one.  This is 78 miles in, extremely remote, and I hope there's no one out here but me and fellow riders.

The finish line never looked so sweet!  Catered BBQ ribs, chicken and all the extras were waiting for me.  I was glad the other riders left me some.  And of course Mom was waiting right there for me (she must be very patient).

Mohican ride - Check!!!

Official Results: http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/national-ultra-endurance-nue-series-mohican-100-2012/results

Garmin results: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/185549213

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Running with the Stars

 Jared has been participating in the after school program "Running with the Stars" for the past several weeks.  He really works hard at this program and has done extremely well.  

His first accomplishment was winning the 4th grade Turkey Trot this past November.  His prize, a 23 lb turkey that he brought home and we had for Thanksgiving dinner!  I believe that's the first time he's contributed to putting food on the table.

He's been practicing a couple times a week after school.  Basically, this means he runs around the school field non-stop for one hour.  He's a little feisty and competitive with wanting to come in first place.

This past weekend was the finale to the program.  The event is a 5k run out in Ashburn, VA.  Of course the program calls for a buddy runner and Daddy was up for the challenge.  Timing of this event wasn't so good, as I just rode the Casa River Century in West Virginia the day before.  But what the heck, aren't we all still young?

Pre-Game Photo

Finishing Times:  Jared 25:04    Daddy 27:37

Very proud of Jared.  I just couldn't keep up with him.  He shot off from the starting line and never bothered looking back for his "Running Buddy".

Post finish dessert: Colossal donut from SFW

Runners with their fan base

Here are the official running results: http://www.runningwiththestars.com/index.php/results/spring-2012

Here is the Garmin result from my run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/180099300

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CASA River Century

Saturday May 20 was a perfect day with perfect weather to ride a perfectly wooded and rolling route through the hills of Shepardstown West Virginia and beyond.  From the results of this ride, I'm thinking I have a shot at riding the Mohican 100 in 2 weeks time in under 12 hours!  But this day myself and my buddy Dan Wolfe got up early and drove to Shepardstown University to join 400 other riders on the tour.

This had pretty consistent rolling hills on roads that weren't too frequently traveled.  The rest stops were stocked well (except missing gatorade) and we took full advantage of each and every one.  So Dan, you haven't been riding much but how's your pre-ride feel?  Check the video below.

I'm thinking that all this commuting on the bike and once/week 70 mile trips out to Purcellville are really paying off.  This was my strongest century thus far.  At the 85 mile mark came the biggest hills of the ride.  Attack - Attack - Attack these hills by standing and sprinting up them. This repeated for about a 5 mile stretch.  I felt pretty darn good on these hills and was ready for more.  Check another video!

Here's a few other videos if you're interested in different parts of the ride.

First video - a few miles in.

First Rest Stop

Typical riding scene .. very beautiful.

Infamous Butler Chapel

50 Down, 50 to go

72 Miles

Mile 93 - Home Stretch

Garmin statistics: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/180099387

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Middleburg Mountains x 2

Middleburg Mountains x 2

Awesome weather and time to kill got me off the couch and out west to Middleburg for another training ride in preparation for the Mohican 100 mile mountain bike race on June 2.  Packed up my things and off I went.  I was a little nervous because this was to be the first time I tackled two mountains instead of just the one up Blue Ridge Mountain Road.

20 miles I reached my first nemesis in Blue Ridge Mountain Road.  This road has crushed me in the past.  It's long, steep, and just seems to keep going up up and up.  Today would be a different outcome, as I motored up it with not a significant amount of effort.  I did have a little trouble with the video recap as you can see below.

Recapping the end of Blue Ridge Mountain road below.  I never liked trying to slow down quickly on the road bike.  The Cannondale CAAD10 doesn't like to slow down.  After this video, I headed down 50 a little more to get to the second mountain.  Have I mentioned how much I hate dogs, especially when they chase me?  More on that later.

This was supposed to be just another training ride through Middleburg and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  For the most part it was, but it got ominous at the rest stop in Linden.  If I hadn't known better, I'd think I was in Northern Georgia (if you get the reference).  For a hint, check out this video.

A few ride statistics and elevation profile.  68 miles, 4 hours 55 minutes, Full Garmin ride statistics.

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New York 5 Boro Ride

I rode the New York Five Boro Bike ride on Saturday May 7.  It's the single largest bike ride in the world (or so they say) with around 33,000 riders.  Riders come in all shapes and sizes, some on rent-a-bikes and others on Cervello's.  It's quite a mix and a little scary in tight places.

I saw six crashes, one of them fairly serious.  It sounded like a car wreck with metal crunching and I looked back to see at least one guy and girl both flying through the air and crunching the pavement.  Similar to this crash from yesterday.  Well, enough with the roadkill.

The ride is around 42 miles of almost all flat roads.  The only inclines are the bridges, the last one being the Verrazono bridge.  It's quick to see the riders and the wanna-riders when the road starts to tilt.  Lots of people huffing and puffing, with a plenty walking.

Some of the most prominent takeaways from this ride are:

1. There are a lot of cops in New York.
2. I'll never get bored of the New York skyline.
3. Central Park is an incredible place to visit.
4. Don't go to New York if you enjoy elbow room.

Our Host Nicholas

Accommodations in New York can be hard to found if you're on a budget.  Thanks to www.AirBNB.com for helping me find a room on Staten Island.  Nicholas (on the left) rents a fine room for a "Few Dollars More" (love Clint) than 42 miles on this ride.  He's an exceptional host who enjoys the company.

Make sure to ask him for breakfast as his omelette special with ham, tomato's, apple juice, coffee and toast was fantastic.

It's about a 3 minute bike ride to the Staten Island ferry from his flat.  A 25 minute quick trip and we were among the most riders I have ever seen.

The ferry ride was not as packed as it has been in the past.  This was the first year for staggered starts.  Although, even with the staggers there were a ton of riders everywhere you looked.  The car bay was jammed with bikes from front to back.

There was tremendous excitement in the air as we were herded to the starting line.  I think "Herded" is appropriate as how else could you describe thousands of people funneling to a common location?  Moooooooooooo!

Right off the Ferry	Getting to the Start
Still Getting to the Start	Aerosmith, Live!

Eventually we got moving as we sailed down 12th avenue to start (I think) and on to Central Park.  The road started out pretty wide as there were no cars allowed, but got narrow at points and that's where the fun begins for those who don't know rider etiquette.  So if anyone is wondering, here's a few rider etiquette tips:

1. Hold your line. Not sure what that means, then go straight.
2. Don't look behind you when in congestion. Same rules when in a car dummy!
3. Swerving and weaving is not acceptable at any time.
4. Slow riders to the right, faster riders to the left.  Again, dummy!
5. Farting when riders are close behind is encouraged.

	By now you must be thinking "What is Kenny doing up there all alone in such a dangerous, smelly and hostile place?!?!?!"   Have no worries.  My buddy Michael was the only one to take me up on my offer (and I'm sure you were included) to attend the event.
	This is Charles's Bench

He's another avid rider who rides his bike to work every single day, rain or shine.

6th Street	Harlem Hospital
Bronx	East River Tunnel

One thing about this ride is there were riders everywhere.  33,000 riders over 42 miles is very congested.  The Seagull Century has 8k-10k riders over 100 miles and you constantly are among other cyclists.  I wonder if they all knew where they were?  I, for one, had absolutely no bearing on NSEW or any of the buildings around me.  Never had I seen any of these roads, nor will I ever remember them.

Astoria Park	21st Street

Staten Island Ferry Ride to Start

Overall this ride was a whole lotta fun.  It's 42 miles of almost all flat car-less roads. Only a few people had to walk on the bridges, especially when the headwind got to you.  Logistics worked great, weather was great, all was a good time.  I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to pedal around New York.  Don't let the distance intimidate you, it's easy.

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Capital Idea to Purcellville (200m shy)

I set out for a long bike ride last night after work.  Not sure why I thought this was such a "capital idea", but the thought of going 70 miles was appealing to me.  I thought I could make it so I set 2 hours as my limit for riding west.  I started about 5:30pm and wouldn't you know it, 2 hours later I found myself out in Purcellville 35 miles from the car.  At this point I ate some peanut butter and jelly crackers and decided to head east.

What I didn't know is that I was only 200 meters from the Trails End!  That's where the W&OD trail comes to an end at the Trails End Bike Store, go figure.

So heading east was getting a little chilly.  I was hoping for warmer weather but didn't have too many options.  However, one option I did opt for was heading into 7-11 off Dry Mill in Leesburg.  A kiobasa on a roll and hot chocolate for everybody!  Wow that really hit the spot.  Then heading east again I was wondering to myself why this was a good idea, along with not being able to get that "Over You" song by Miranda Lambert out of my head.

The further east I got, the warmer it was so the climate was just perfect for riding.  Wind was at a minimum, trail was all mine, and it was quite peaceful cruising in the dark with the only illumination the bike light and stars.  I did have to watch out for the Easter Bunnies who were making an early appearance, plus all the fox, deer, and other rodents scurrying around the trail.

Somewhere outside of Ashburn I decided that I'd try for my first lifeline.  Unfortunately, Michelle didn't answer and as it turned out she wasn't playing racquetball at Worldgate in Herndon, but was already home on the couch.  Great, capital idea and I was going to be seeing this through to the end.  The ride was pretty nice in hindsight, but all the long rides are somewhat mentally tough.  

4 hours and 20 minutes later I returned to the car while logging 71 miles.  Here's the Garmin trip data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/162955425

Surprisingly, I got up early today and feel just fine ... albeit a little hungry.

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5-0 on the W&OD

Obviously more training is required if I get a little weary from a slow 2 hr 40 min ride down the CCT with P Binning.  So to toughen up I set out Wednesday March 25 for a 5-0 ride out the W&OD trail.  Weather was great, trail wasn't too busy, and I was ready to go.

After work, I parked at the Gallows Road and W&OD intersection and rode 25 miles west, then turned around and rode 25.1 miles back.  You figure that one out.  I pushed it a bit on the way out trying to keep over >20 miles hour.  At the turn around, I was averaging almost that.  The ride back was a little slower but not much. In the end, 2 hours and 38 minutes for 5-0 miles with the final average of 18.9 miles/hour.

Just over 2 months from now will be another ridiculously hard 100 mile mountain bike race through the Mohican State Forest in Ohio.  There's got to be some harder riding between now and then.

Many miles ahead.

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Biking to Work

Many of you know that I recently joined Gannett as a web development manager for USAToday.com.  This facility, the people and the work are all a welcome change from the federal space.  But the biggest difference has been the commute.

I've been riding my Specialized FSR Comp 29'er to work on most days.  This includes when it's cold (which it has been since November) and when it rains/snows (only once so far).  The ride is almost 11 miles one way which takes me on a lot sidewalks, a little trail, lots of residential and few heavily traveled roads.  Here's the route.
Let me tell you something you already know, traffic in this area sucks.  On the few occasions I have driven, the commute takes about 40 minutes.  It has taken 2 hours.  Once it took 12 minutes but that was leaving the office at 3:30AM.

Biking to work takes about about 50 minutes, rain or shine, day or night.  There is never a traffic jam, road closure, accident, or other impediment.  A quick shower, change of clothes and 2 cups of free orange juice at the gym and I'm at my desk.

Top 10 Reasons I Love Biking to Work 1. I now love commuting. 2. When I fart I don't smell it. 3. I can spam my friends with commuting stories. 4. I enjoy looking at the RT66 parking lot. 5. I hang my sweaty stinky clothes in someone else's cube. 6. I'm always first at the traffic light, always. 7. Exercise exercise exercise. 8. I don't have to shower after getting out of bed. 9. Going green. 10. Increase the benefit-to-cost ratio of my mountain bike.

 So by now you've got to be thinking "Why am I not riding my bike to work?" My suggestion is to detour your way over to the bike store and either tune up that piece of rust from the basement or buy a new one.  Personally, I've lost 6-7 pounds and am flirting with losing my Clydesdale label (200+ lbs).  Riding heals all.

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C&O Canal Century

I'm not sure what got into me this year with all this biking.  Over 1,300 miles logged while sitting on the saddle for more than 116 hours.  Some of the riding was incredibly hard, like the Wilderness 101 and Mountains of Misery, while other rides weren't as difficult.  This C&O Canal ride was my 6th century ride of the year.  I had a target of 6 centuries this year so I'm happy with the effort.

The C&O Canal Towpath runs from DC to Cumberland Gap, ~183 miles.  The full length of the trail from Cumberland Gap is on my 2012 Spring list, but for now myself and Derrick limited the ride to a round-trip from Great Falls to Harper's Ferry.  Derrick is a fellow dad from Cub Scouts and I was lucky to have bridged the conversation with him about this ride.  He's wanted to do it for some time as well.  His longest previous ride was ~60 miles, so he was definitely about to be tested.

We got on the trail around 7am and it was darn cold, 34 degrees to be exact.  The first few miles were a chilly and foggy affair.  We had crystals forming on us for the first several miles.  Let's see how we were doing after 6.5 miles.

The trail itself was in fine shape.  It had rained a lot the previous few days so we did have to deal with a lot of mud.  Later in the ride it was getting somewhat demoralizing to get your speed up and then get slogged in a mud bath and lose all your momentum.  There was an over-abundance of sticks on the trail as well.  I got a flat around 20 miles in and changing the tube was a little difficult as I was frozen in the riding position.

Here are two videos of landmarks on the way up.  White's Ferry and Point of Rocks.  

Brunswick is 5.5 miles from Harper's Ferry.  At this point we were feeling good and much warmer.  The day warmed up nicely to the upper 60's, maybe 70.  We stopped for a quick bite, er, longer bite as both of us didn't mind the rest.

The trail itself is not the most scenic adventure.  The water keeps it interesting with the Potomac on one side and the canal on the other.  Not many people out on the canal at this time, but it started to get more populated with the warmer weather.  Neither of us wanted to feel the cold again and we had a long ways to go before nightfall.

We rolled into Harper's Ferry in about 4.5 hours (I think).  I've read on different blogs that although the canal is uphill going North, it's not real noticeable.  I'm here to tell you that's a bunch of garbage.  It's definitely uphill and much more effort than riding South.  The town hasn't changed much since I was canoeing there as a kid.  I still remember "Big Rock" where you could body surf down the river.  The first video has a shot of the rock cliffs that I highly recommend you hike up on the trail when visiting.  A great look at the town can be seen from up there.

Here's a scene that's getting to be more common.  Filming a clip laid out on my back.  At this point in the ride we were both pretty spent.  I think it was about 75 miles in with 20 miles to go.  I'm laying on the same bridge where I changed my flat tire on the way up.

Finishing is always sweet but it's always hard.  We rode about 30 minutes in the dark and it got cold again when the sun went down.  Slugging out those final miles was a chore and I kept focused on the leftover Thanksgiving hot meal that was waiting for me at home.  Funny how at the end of these big rides I'm always thinking about food. 

Ride stats: 8hrs 15 min's riding.  10.5 hours duration.  95 miles. 7,432 calories burned.

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CCT to Occoquan

The Cross County Trail (CCT) extends from Occoquan Regional Park all the way to Great Falls Virginia.  I've been wanting to ride it from one end to the other for quite some time now.  And what better time to do it than when one is unemployed?

The CCT is part paved, part gravel, part shared road throughout the county.  This ride made me feel like I was in the Shenandoah given that the trail runs along a stream with high embankments on both sides.  It feels like a remote ravine.  A movie sorta comes to mind, something about "He got a real pretty mouth, there."

This past week I studied the CCT trail map and set out to what turned out to be multiple attempts.  I originally tried this on Sept 15 and got lost in Springfield.  My next attempt was last Tuesday which ended up being a 26.5 mile loop where I goofed at the CCT/Rolling Road interchange.  I followed up that attempt on Wednesday with a 28.5 mile loop where I made it further but missed the Pohick Road turn.  Thanks to Danimal for being his computer that day to tell me how to get home.

On one of the trips back along the trail I experienced a first with deer.  I've seen a ton of deer while riding around the county, but this was my first buck!

I took a couple days off to clear the cobwebs, re-energize and psyche up for another attempt.  This attempt was "mostly" successful, albeit a little off and another call to Danimal.  I made it to Occoquan Regional Park in about 1 hour 45 minutes.  Ride was almost 38 miles in 3.5 hours.

It's still a very confusing trail to follow as it's not adequately marked.  The trail down in Lorton goes right by the old prison, which is a very dismal place.  Clint's movie "Alcatraz" comes to mind.  Best line ever, "A man's got to know his limitations."

Here's the video of me rolling into the park.  This gets abruptly cut off since the battery wasn't charged.

I'm planning on riding the length again this week to catch the part of the CCT that I missed earlier.  Then the plan will be to take the CCT in the opposite direction and see if I can make it to Great Falls. I've tried that Difficult Run section before and got lost ... can't wait to do it again.

Garmin recap: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/129453635

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Seagull Century 2011

The 2011 Seagull Century will forever be known to me as the ride of Danimal's life.  Let's back up to October 2010 for a moment to explain why Danimal rode this ride.  We're both 40-something and trying to hold on to younger days by pushing ourselves to crazy extremes.  Danny with the marathon's, myself with the centuries. So we made a deal, I run a half-marathon and Danny rides a century.

I ran the Suntrust half-marathon earlier this year and followed a 10 week training program to make sure I had a good experience.  Danimal did an admirable job in training for the century by going on 3 bike rides around Burke Lake and getting in a few hours on the recumbent while watching football games.

Perhaps the best part of rides is the camping the night before.  We stayed at Woodlawn Campground in Salisbury.  Beautiful, clear and crisp night that we spent a good portion of shopping on Craiglist for a pop-up camper.  Here's a few videos of the evening.

Our Campsite

Danimal was legitimately worried the night before the race about the effort he was about to put forth.  He may have been feeling better when we arrived at the start because how could he be the only one out of almost 9,000 riders to not make the finish.  Here's a shot of the starting line:

And we're off with a strong 17mph pace!  Danimal couldn't keep a 17mph for 2 minutes down at the beach last year in August.  I'm thinking;

1. Danny is insane.
2. How is Danny going to finish?
3. Who's going to drive him to the finish line?
4. Confucious say, "Man who climb mountain too fast, not reach top".

Mile 1	Mile 6
Mile 11	Mile 20 - Aid Station #1

Miles 20 through 40 were not overly difficult, but there was a windy difficult stretch of a few miles before Aid Station #2 around mile 40.  This was just a taste of the 40mph wind gusts that we would feel later in the race, along with the constant head wind that would soon take a miserable toll on me. Mile 50 and Danimal is still setting a blistering pace.  I'm thinking that it was a really good idea he got slick high-pressure tires on his bike.  I was riding my huge 29x2.2" knobby's at around 45psi.  This turned out to make the ride much more difficult than it needed to be. If you listen to the riding videos closely, you can hear a low humming noise.  Those are my tires on the pavement.  Listen to the mile 6 video above for a great example.   Danny's previous max distance was 26 miles that we rode twice at the beach this past August.  Amazing how strong he looked at mile 50 and beyond.  Danny, how do you do it?  And in his own words, "I'm quite a specimen."

Mile 40 Mile 50

We cruised into mile 60 at the Assateague Island Aid Station #3 with a little fatigue setting in.  The wind was just ridiculous as you can hear from the videos.  It was a cross-wind at this point and it makes we wonder why no one was sent flying into the water.  There were a few horses out feeding and I'm always amazed at how much attention a few ponies can get.  Did I mention the wind?

At Mile 60 I was thinking that Danimal was going to start getting tired and that interesting times were ahead of us.  I had no idea that he was going to be the one chugging along strongly and I was going to be feeling the pain in the quads.  As a matter of fact, my quads were about to start screaming at me for taking my mountain bike on this ride.  My road bike would have been significantly easier and then perhaps I could have laughed at Danimal more.  As it turns out, too much effort went into the riding and not enough heckling Danimal.

Riding to mile 80 and the apple pie was a challenge for the both of us.  Coming out of Assateague we had a little scare with Danimal's hamstring as it tightened a bit.  He rode through it and I bet he rode through a lot more that he didn't bother to mention.  At least he didn't ride into a mailbox like some bone-headed guy, or get tossed to the pavement like a few other riders.  I was surprised by the number of riders getting flat tires.  That would be the ONLY benefit to riding 29x2.2" tires on this ride.

Let's just say that I was pretty spent at this point in the ride.  My quads were absolutely screaming at me and there wasn't much I could say to them, outside of "sorry".  Perhaps what kept me going was preventing the irony of Danimal finishing the ride without me.  Again, here's the mental toughness that comes into play on these rides.  They are all hard and have different challenges .. some you can predict and some you can't.

Danimal appeared to simply cruise to the finish line.  We were able to draft a little bit during the final few miles and at least I benefited from it.  Danimal kept looking like he was just riding around Burke Lake for another 5 mile practice ride.

I could not have been happier reaching the finish line at this point.  You can hear the fatigue in my voice in the video.  Danimal continues to chug along with no recognition of the physical toll that he just put out. All kudos to Danimal for making this ride.  In the two days after the ride, he has felt no knee pain whatsoever.  Even indicating that it feels better than it did before the ride! I hope that he remembers the therapeutic benefits of riding a bike and decides to go on future rides.  The simulated 40 mile hill with the wind from Assateague is a good indication that he's ready for more difficult events. Great job, Danimal !!!! Ride time: 7 hrs 9 min's.

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Reddish Knob - Up We Go!

Reddish Knob 

It's been a incredible birthday weekend this year.  Started out with a family trip to Cox Farms on Friday, then our 20-something JMU reunion on Saturday, followed by a great ride up Reddish Knob on Sunday.  RK is the second highest point in VA, standing a tall 4,397 feet.  I haven't been up there since my college party days.  This ride has always been on my bucket list and this was a perfect weekend to ride.  It's also a pre-ride check for the SMT 100 that I may ride next year.

I parked at Hone Quarry which is 6.7 miles from the top (~ the first yellow section below).  The ride would go up the service road and then take Timber Ridge/Wolf Ridge single-track down the mountain.  Tilghman Road to Briery Branch Road would circle me back to the car.

Elevation Profile

Jay Taylor, why didn't you bring your bike to the reunion?  Oh yea, because this climb would have kicked your flat-terrain-loving Rehoboth Beach soft-self back to the ocean.  Here's the pre-ride video.

The problem with starting on a hill is that you immediately go up it.  No warm-up and the legs and heart feel it quickly.  30 minutes into the ride was much more enjoyable once the muscles got greased.

Timber Ridge starts out very technical.  There's an immediate hike-a-bike over rocks that I would really like to see someone ride over.  I'm sure some guys do, but not me.  My intention is to get down the mountain in one piece.  The trail rolls up and down for a little while before starting the larger descents.  The absolute best part of the ride is lower Wolf Ridge where the rocks disappear.  This is smooth rolling while zig-zagging around trees and no pedaling.  Just a real joy of a downhill through the woods.  This part of the trail makes the climb totally worth it.

Back at the car I was feeling a little surprised at how easy of ride this turned out to be.  3 hours total without pushing it hard.  I thought about taking a leap from the reservoir tower but common sense kept me in the parking lot.  This was a fantastic ride and I'd recommend it to all mountain bikers.

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