We have a local Super D series that has been ran by Kirby from Blacksburg Eastcoasters and it's been a awesome series. They have only been in the spring up until now. Josh from Blue Ridge Gravity is putting together a Fall D-Cup series and I'm really stoked on it! Here is the info.
http://thedcupdownhill.blogspot.com/
Dates and trails: race details and starting times will be announced
later
Sept 14 Hemlock and Upper Comet mini-Enduro
Sept 21 Prickly
Pear/Skullcap/Queen Anne
Sept 28 Deer Trail (at North Mtn)
Oct 5 Snake
Root
Oct 12 Buck
Oct 19 Trough x2
Oct 27 Rowdy Dawg
(Saturday)
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Oregon Enduro Series
http://threadkiller.pinkbike.com/blog/Oregon-Enduro-Series-Race-4-Sisters-Recap.html
update 8/29/80 http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/member/2012-Oregon-Enduro-4-Sisters,4241/2012-Sisters-Oregon-Enduro-Adam-Craig-Slays-the-Rock-Garden-and-Wins,41551/corytepper-com,831 Awesome Photos!
I've been following this series, it's got to be one of the best Enduro Series running this summer. I really wish I could get out there and make one of them. How fun would that be? I'm really looking forward to seeing this type of racing come to the forefront of mountain bike racing. I am in the crowd who believes this could be really good for our sport. I really like the format.
update 8/29/80 http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/member/2012-Oregon-Enduro-4-Sisters,4241/2012-Sisters-Oregon-Enduro-Adam-Craig-Slays-the-Rock-Garden-and-Wins,41551/corytepper-com,831 Awesome Photos!
I've been following this series, it's got to be one of the best Enduro Series running this summer. I really wish I could get out there and make one of them. How fun would that be? I'm really looking forward to seeing this type of racing come to the forefront of mountain bike racing. I am in the crowd who believes this could be really good for our sport. I really like the format.
Credit: corytepper.com
Credit: corytepper.com
Looks like Fall sun, it's right around the corner. Things I'm Stoked On by Riley McIntosh
http://nsmb.com/5491-things-im-stoked-on/
I really enjoyed this read. I share the same stoke! Ok maybe not the 29'r, it's still cool though atleast it's steel with decent geo; maybe a 650b in my future..?
I really enjoyed this read. I share the same stoke! Ok maybe not the 29'r, it's still cool though atleast it's steel with decent geo; maybe a 650b in my future..?
8/27/12 Falling Creek Update
Just a quick update, I made it out to Falling Creek Park in Bedford again to help Kenny with the gravity runs by the pumptrack. He was off today but cool enough to fuel up the ditch witch on his day off. I met John over there around 3 and we started doing some touch ups on a berm and a landing. I started piling dirt for the second landing, Seth showed up a little bit later; he and John pulled and pushed dirt all around to make the beginning of a nice landing for the second jump in the main straight. We worked until dusk, the moon came up early, ended up being a nice night. Can't wait for rain and to get some runs in.
Sorry no photos it was too dark.
Sorry no photos it was too dark.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Nukeproof Mega: All Mountain Adventures | Vital MTB
Nukeproof Mega: All Mountain Adventures | Vital MTB
I go through phases of watching riding videos and here lately I really haven't been. I guess my own riding has had me entertained. I stumbled across this video posted sometime last week and really enjoyed it. I would love to get the opportunity to ride here.
I go through phases of watching riding videos and here lately I really haven't been. I guess my own riding has had me entertained. I stumbled across this video posted sometime last week and really enjoyed it. I would love to get the opportunity to ride here.
Falling Creek 8/25/12
I was really looking forward to racing in the Chomolungma race at Snowshoe this weekend. I was unable to get a group together to go up there. Needless to say I was bummed, I was really looking forward to that event. Most of the time in any form of cycling it's very much a solo competition, the Chomolungma was the first chance I had to get a team together and do it as a team. I just wasn't able to find willing riders from this area, maybe next year. I wanted to make good use of my weekend and do something fun and productive. I made it back out to Bedford Trail's Falling Creek Park yesterday to help Kenny with the new flow line we are putting in. Randy, Kenny and I got out there about 9 and started moving dirt. It's always amazing to see how much dirt it takes to build stuff. Luckily this place is all clay dirt and it works really good for a base, we were adding some filtered top soil in with it and seemed to work great. We were only gonna work till 1 but 2 snuck up on us and we were still out there. We decided to take a break, go grab a snack and we were running out of fuel so we grabbed a little more fuel also. We got back and when we started back up we had a rider come down the hill. Seth came out, we hadn't met him before but he came out to help and he jumped right in. Good stuff! We worked till around 7 and got a good sized table top built. We attempted to ride it but we got rained on just before that and really shouldn't have been riding it just pulled off the top layer and made a mess. Oh well we'll fix it later.
Probably still needs more dirt as always, but it was fun. Really looking forward to rain and getting it all solid. Stoked!
Probably still needs more dirt as always, but it was fun. Really looking forward to rain and getting it all solid. Stoked!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Douthat 8/18/12
I skipped a Snowshoe weekend in preparation for Chomolungma and headed up to Douthat. I hadn't been to Douthat since maybe 2001 for a Fallapallooza ride that Kyle use to put on. We left around noon and the weather couldn't be better, the whole way up we were talking about how nice the day was and how awesome Douthat would be. We were right in our assumptions this time, we were greeted by a really cute girl at the park office which is always good. We found a parking spot pretty soon right at the base of Stony Run Trail and had it all to ourselves the whole day; by the way the park was packed in general. We road up by the lake/beach area they have set up and there were kids everywhere and plenty of campers all around.
I had talked to a buddy of mine Sam about what his feelings on the best descent up there was and he told me that I had to hit Stony Run and check out the Tuscarora Overlook, but also that the most memorable descent up there is Brushy Hollow Trail. (Sam went to school for a few years in the area.) We decided to go up Beards Gap Trail right beside the park office, ok maybe it was a bit of an excuse to get another look at the pretty lady. On up the trail we ran into some fresh cut sections of trail, followed by two huge root balls back to back that I have no clue how the local trail crew will deal with, obviously downed by Derecho storm. This climb was really easy, once we got to the top we found a nice sign and place to sit. Here is how some of the nice newer signs look.
I had talked to a buddy of mine Sam about what his feelings on the best descent up there was and he told me that I had to hit Stony Run and check out the Tuscarora Overlook, but also that the most memorable descent up there is Brushy Hollow Trail. (Sam went to school for a few years in the area.) We decided to go up Beards Gap Trail right beside the park office, ok maybe it was a bit of an excuse to get another look at the pretty lady. On up the trail we ran into some fresh cut sections of trail, followed by two huge root balls back to back that I have no clue how the local trail crew will deal with, obviously downed by Derecho storm. This climb was really easy, once we got to the top we found a nice sign and place to sit. Here is how some of the nice newer signs look.
We took a right onto Brushy Hollow Trail and it climbs a little bit further up, but it's not bad at all. Not long after you start going up Brushy Hollow Trail you run into a awesome lookout and another spot to sit. It was definitely a sweet spot, here are a few photos I snapped one with my phone and the others with a gopro.
We couldn't resist and took a short break just to enjoy the view. We headed up just a little bit more after that and we could see more substantial fresh cut trees where they had to clear trail here after Derecho. It looked like it came right through this area and attempted to flatten everything in it's path. Right after this is where we started to feel like things were starting to roll in the right direction, we geared up and headed on down. I took some video of it, not the greatest but it works. The top section is a bunch of loose switchbacks and bench cut singletrack along the side of the hill and then it dumps you into a lower rolling area and just seems to go forever, lots of fun. I will deffinitely ride this again soon.
We walked across a sketchy swinging bridge that we really didn't have to cross but did it for fun, I guess. I kinda wish I'd taken a picture now, the wire was was truthfully holding it together because the wood was pretty much done. It would be nice in the colder months not having to get your feet wet. We had a short spin back to the bottom of Stony Run where we parked. We took a break and talked about how awesome Brushy Hollow is and decided we would head up Stony Run to the Tuscarora Cabin Overlook. Nice sign at the bottom of Stony Run.
We started heading up and could see where they have done some fresh cutting at the bottom, it's pretty wide, but once you get up into the trail it gets much more narrow. It was really nice in the lower section of this trail on the way up because it was really shaded and a easy grade. We climbed for what seemed like forever but it is worth the trip, I was tired by the time I got to the top but it's not a difficult climb at all, just long. The reward is not only the downhill coming backdown but at the top when you find the Tuscarora Overlook it's pretty rewarding. The video I took on the descent back down didn't turn out all that great but it's a nice long descent back down, nothing really technical just good singletrack.
Good Times!
First Post (Falling Creek)
I decided to start a bike related blog. I'm not a writer and don't really ever intend to be, but figured riding is my passion so why not write about it. If anything I'll be able to look back at it and remember these good times. Life is good! I'm not really sure what kind of format I'll keep for this so it may be all over the place for a while until I find my groove. Bare with me.
I ride in and around Southwest Virginia, so you'll mainly see content from there. I may try and do some parts reviews here as well, who knows.
For my first post I'll just start off with what's going on in riding for me now. It's late August, the summer is coming to an end and fall seems to be arriving a little early; the colors of fall are already beginning to peak out little by little. The cooler temps are here at night, it's awesome. I'm not a huge fan of the shorter days, but life these days seems to be all about tradeoffs. Really looking forward to fall riding and digging. Hopefully I can get more people out to work on the trails this fall/winter.
Speaking of trail work, I've been working with Kenny from Bedford Trails this passed month on getting the new flow line built at Falling Creek Park. I'm really excited as this is really the first opportunity I've ran across that gives me the freedom to build some normal bicycle sized stuff to ride. I wish there was more support from the local riding community, but my hope is that when the stuff is built they will get it and be more supportive. Fingers crossed.
The track is about a 1/3 the way down the hill as of yesterday (4 berms, two jumps, few rollers). I started piling dirt for the first table the day before yesterday in the main straight away and it's amazing how much dirt it takes, we almost need a big front loader. After talking with quite a few locals, I plan to make this line trail bike friendly since that is what most people have around here. Jumps are tables and landings are/will be on the long side so that overshooting to flat is more difficult and coming up short is a non issue.
On the way home lastnight I stopped off at Montvale and hit up Moto X and a few other trails in there. Always cool to check out new stuff, small area but lots of tight twisty singletrack.
Here are some photos from Falling Creek. I'll be doing a rain dance because it is crusty dry out here. I deffinitely wouldn't recommend trying to ride this right now it's just too soft. The good news is it's coming up on some wet months, just in time to get it packed in! These pictures are from the last few weeks. The last two are from yesterday. This project is moving along pretty good as soon as we get some good rain it'll help even more.
I ride in and around Southwest Virginia, so you'll mainly see content from there. I may try and do some parts reviews here as well, who knows.
For my first post I'll just start off with what's going on in riding for me now. It's late August, the summer is coming to an end and fall seems to be arriving a little early; the colors of fall are already beginning to peak out little by little. The cooler temps are here at night, it's awesome. I'm not a huge fan of the shorter days, but life these days seems to be all about tradeoffs. Really looking forward to fall riding and digging. Hopefully I can get more people out to work on the trails this fall/winter.
Speaking of trail work, I've been working with Kenny from Bedford Trails this passed month on getting the new flow line built at Falling Creek Park. I'm really excited as this is really the first opportunity I've ran across that gives me the freedom to build some normal bicycle sized stuff to ride. I wish there was more support from the local riding community, but my hope is that when the stuff is built they will get it and be more supportive. Fingers crossed.
The track is about a 1/3 the way down the hill as of yesterday (4 berms, two jumps, few rollers). I started piling dirt for the first table the day before yesterday in the main straight away and it's amazing how much dirt it takes, we almost need a big front loader. After talking with quite a few locals, I plan to make this line trail bike friendly since that is what most people have around here. Jumps are tables and landings are/will be on the long side so that overshooting to flat is more difficult and coming up short is a non issue.
On the way home lastnight I stopped off at Montvale and hit up Moto X and a few other trails in there. Always cool to check out new stuff, small area but lots of tight twisty singletrack.
Here are some photos from Falling Creek. I'll be doing a rain dance because it is crusty dry out here. I deffinitely wouldn't recommend trying to ride this right now it's just too soft. The good news is it's coming up on some wet months, just in time to get it packed in! These pictures are from the last few weeks. The last two are from yesterday. This project is moving along pretty good as soon as we get some good rain it'll help even more.
Jon made it out and we got in some good work. Here he is asking for no photos, trying to stay off the radar. Keep yer head up buddy!
A work in progress.
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