Myron Glaser Cabin (Virginia)

The first cabin trip of the season!



Cameron and Eric rounded up the crew again for a great weekend in the woods. The best thing about the Myron Glaser Cabin was that it wasn't accessible by vehicle and required a decent hike to the cabin along the Appalachian Trail. We hiked in Friday night and started a fire as soon as we reached the cabin. The rest of the weekend was spent exploring the area, chopping wood and, of course, exhausting our supply of booze.

Snowshoe Mini Vid

Alex put together this nice vid from our weekend at Snowshoe. He may continue editing the footage, so I'll post an update if he revises this version.

Murdered Out!

The bus moved onto a new owner and a new adventure. It will be used on a winter-long trip to Florida - reminiscent of its original winter-long trip to sunny San Diego. The paint was the first thing to change. Opting for a less noticeable scheme, our friends flat blacked it from bumper to bumper with over twenty cans of spray paint.

I'll keep the blog rolling, however, detailing our camping, biking, hiking, canoeing, and general adventures. It was a great time owning the bus, but it was time to pass along to someone else to enjoy.

Linden (Virginia)

I write this post "from the future" and let me say, this winter was one of the mildest we've had in years. Certainly not what I'd have expected given this snow in November...

Snowshoe (West Virginia)

This past weekend was Snowshoe's final weekend of summer operation. Now the resort will prepare for its winter season. It was a good chance to get out on the bike and say goodbye to another good summer of riding.



The bus had seven passengers for this trip [including two dogs] and we were met at the resort by Jarrod for Saturday's ride. The weather was phenomenal and the Fall colors were in full force.



We had a bit of mechanical difficulty when Krister's xLOC broke, which is designed to default to "lockout" on the front fork (a MAJOR design flaw, Rockshox!). It was a major pain in the ass, but he kept a smile on his face and rode the trails despite the hand-numbing vibrations and lack of suspension.



We finished up the trip with a quick dip in the Greenbriar River and a few scoops of ice cream in Cass, WV before heading home.

Gauley Fest (West Virginia)

Late each summer the Summersville Dam is released to provide a few days of increased flow on the Gauley River. It's become a regular event called Gauley Fest which includes concerts, vendors, boat raffles and gear swap.



We were lucky enough to have lodging, shuttle, and food waiting for us when we arrived, compliments of our friend's company, New River Outfitters. The place was great! Fully loaded with hot tub and kegerator!



Our group separated into two boats and soon we were headed down the river. Our boat had only one paddler with experience on a whitewater raft, but we all pulled our own weight and navigated the river with ease. I fell out of the boat at a crucial rapid, Pillow Rock Rapid, and our entire boat (minus the guide) was pitched later down the river at Box Canyon. The other boat was tangled in the hydraulics near the end of the trip, which sent a few of its members swimming for the shore. Somehow we all emerged from the carnage with smiles on our faces and tales to tell.

Timberline (West Virginia)

Somehow I forgot to upload this little gem.

Seven Springs (Pennsylvania)

Last year we visited Seven Springs for the second stop of the Gravity East Series. At that time, we were in a rush to practice and race which doesn't leave much time to explore the other trails in the resort. This weekend, however, allowed us time to ride every trail in the park.

Snowshoe (West Virginia)

Our first trip to 'the shoe' this season was marked by relatively good weather, fun in the mud, and a few injuries to body and bike. The weekend's weather was constantly changing, with dark rain clouds rolling in and out of the area all weekend long. You could see blue skies approaching even with torrential rains overhead. Each storm was brief but heavy, a reminder that we were lucky to have sunshine otherwise.



Three of us had GoPro cameras, so we were shooting video both days. Alex and Jake decided to compile the footage and as soon as they're done I'll have the finished product posted here.



Joe learned an important rule - protect your nose region! Luckily he'd just purchased some Oakley goggles with a noseguard, otherwise this little scrape would have been a broken nose.

North Anna River (Virginia)

Single-day trips are sometimes the best. This float on the North Anna River is one of my favorites.



Our group dwindled a bit from our original twenty or so to a group of twelve people (and two dogs), which worked out pretty well since we were only taking one vehicle in addition to the bus. The temperatures this previous week had been near 100, but the day of the float they hovered around 85-90 - still ideal for a lazy river adventure.



Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Follow

Just Friends' Day / US Open (NY/NJ)

For this double-header weekend, we dropped off a busload of Richmond Cutthroats in Brooklyn, NY for our annual camping trip to Floyd Bennett Field, then headed to Diablo Freeride Park to ride and watch the US Open.



Joey and I rode nonstop on Friday and Saturday, taking a short lunch break on Saturday to watch the US Open qualifying runs. It was the first time this season that we've been on our DH bikes, and it was a great way to start the summer.



Friday night we caught The Hangover 2 at the Warwick Drive-In Theater near Vernon, NJ.



After two long days of riding, Joey and I decided to head back to Floyd Bennett Field a day early. It was a good call and it allowed us a day to relax before heading back to Richmond. On Sunday we headed to Rockaway Beach in Queens, NY. I was amazed that such a gorgeous beach lay just around the corner from the big city. After that we headed back to camp, relaxed and leisurely packed up, then headed back to Richmond.

Shoe Creek (Nelson County, VA)

This weekend we decided to go Jeeping on the Shoe Creek trails, near Crabtree Falls.



The trails were rocky, but not too technical. We were all able to find plenty of challenges climbing boulders and maxing out the Jeeps' articulation. I even brought my DH bike to ride on the rocky descents.



As one last sign of winter, we woke to 3-4 inches of snow on Sunday morning.

PATC Cabin (Charlottesville, VA)

Our original cabin from the PATC was pretty rustic. It was basically one room that we spent most of our time in, huddled around the wood stove for most of the duration. It was nice, though, just to be away from it all.



This time our cabin was surrounded by the UVA campus, but the cabin was much, much nicer. It was a lodge (called Dunlodge) to be exact, with all the amenities of home like running water and electricity. We chose this spot instead of the more rustic cabins since we wanted more people to feel comfortable going on the trip without the fear of "roughing it" the whole time.



We spent most of our time lounging around the cabin and its acre or so of land, putting in some effort to drink our keg for the weekend. It was a nice, relaxing time even though we weren't far from civilization. To get some of that feel, though, several of us slept outside in tents and hammocks.

Joey supplied entertainment on Saturday when he found a log that he dubbed "Thor's Hammer."



A short walk into the woods revealed a ropes course, so we spent some time climbing around and exploring the challenges. We even spotted a zipline, but had no way to test it out.

Superbowl Ride (Briery Branch, VA)

For years now there has been an annual tradition called the Superbowl Ride. I've always missed it for some reason or another, but this year I was able to make it for the first time.



The general theme of the day is to freeze your ass off, grind up a long climb, then celebrate by downing whatever beer/alcohol/other that you faithfully carried the whole way to the top (Flagpole Knob to be exact).



This year it wasn't especially cold, but every other aspect of the ride remained the same. We grinded up the asphalt road until it met fireroad, which was a great relief - just having something to pay attention to was nice. Although it's...well...a climb, the ride is actually pretty fun. Once we gained some elevation, we began to see snow on the ground and frost in the trees. We even had a chance to ride on solid ice, carved out of the muddy tracks from trucks driving in the Fall. It was a good distraction from the tedious nature of the climb.



When we reached the top we all set to digging through our individual stashes of the goodies - I brought two Brooklyn Brown's. I also discovered that Time Atac pedals are perfect bottle openers.



The descent is always the best part of the ride and this one was certainly worth the drudgery. The thin layer of water/mud on the top of the surface made it a "blinky" ride down, but still at warp-speed despite the minor lack of sight. I was reminded of our trip in the Spring with the big bikes and how quickly the descent was over. There's some satisfaction in riding smaller, less "sled-like" rigs on technical descents. You get to pay attention to the details I suppose, although railing through the rocks on a full DH bike does have its pros too.



Once out of the woods, we had a quick jaunt along the road back to the parking lot. Muddy and tired, we relaxed in the sun and retired what remaining booze waited at the bus. It was a full day of riding - almost 30 miles; but we still made it back to Richmond in time for kickoff. A great day for sure.

Potomac Trail Club Cabin (Virginia)

Our friend Cameron set up this weekend's trip. Our destination was a rustic cabin within the Shenandoah National Park managed by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC).



When we arrived Friday night we quickly started the wood stove within the cabin to warm the inside from its brisk temperature of around 22 degrees. By morning the entire cabin was a toasty contrast to the outside temp, not that Joey minded as he slept outside on the porch.



On Saturday we collected more wood for the stove by towing it from the woods with Warren's Jeep. After that a short hike led us to the Skyline Drive, where we took in the views and made a few quick snow angels.



Killing the keg became the main event of Saturday night. Joey, Eric, Mike, Warren, and Cameron found every imaginable way to kegstand and before morning there was barely a drop within the steel barrel.



Another drive for firewood and some extensive cleaning had the cabin back in shape for its next inhabitants. Shortly after that we were on the road and back in Richmond.