11/28 The "Trench"

Work starts on the Trench

11/26 Sheltowee Trace

Land of the Big Turtle;  Sheltowee - the name given to Daniel Boone by the native Shawnee Indians.  The Sheltowee Trace is 260-mile back country trail through Daniel Boone National Forest, Red River Gorge, Natural Bridge, Cumberland Falls, & Pickett State Parks in Kentucky and Tennessee.  I rode 5 miles of cream of the crop stuff.  Looped and connected it with some pavement, Cave Rune Lake trail and Clack Mountain forest road.  Through riding the entire length, wow the logistics, one could only imagine the fertilizer to grow that trip.  It has been done - eight years ago by a couple BioWheels riders.  A good read that gives a taste of the drudgery and persistence needed to cross this part of the country.  A forum thread from another rider gathering info for bike packing the entire length. 

The Big Turtle

Clack Mountain Road

Lake Trail

11/25 Climbing to Kingdom Come

So much fun - this should be illegal

Cumberland, KY;  1070 foot elevation gain in 2.5 miles - what does that mean?  Steep.  It started steep, I thought it would level off a bit, but it was pretty much relentless.  I have done this climb before, but now I was on a single speed.  No cheating, just standing on the pedals and luggin it up the lonely tarmac.  I did manage to find a map to the playground and some hiking trails.  I hiked uP the 7/8 mile trail through mountain laurel and around the winding switchbacks to crest on the Little Sheppard.  Rolley the fat tires to Hurricane Gap before tucking and coasting state route 160 for the 2 mile 30 mph twisting descent - all along with a random pace car following behind at a non-threatening position.  I am sure the locals were wondering W.T.F. Good ride in the 20 mile range with an emphasis on climbing.  Did it backwards, but I will take care of that the next time around...

11/23 On the Horizon

Jupiter over Venus, I do believe

This Week

No night ride this Thursday due to the turkey holiday

Friday 10 A M Trail Maintenance Day

Anyone interested in helping maintain the mountain biking trails at Barboursville Park - We will be meeting at the small gravel lot at the top of the hill (Park Road) at 10:00 o'clock.  Bring work gloves and your favorite tool, we will be hiking and/or biking in.  Work a little or a lot, every little bit helps.  For more info contact me here.

11/21 Dude Blogs Like a Lady

This showed up in my in box this week,  buddy Nate Bowe was considerate enough to send a link and point out the obvious this warped perspective.  Seems they got this thing that figures out if blogs are written by a dude or a chick.  Pretty funny stuff, concerning my rating.  I checked and it seems relatively agreeable with some of the few blogs that I follow and know the person. But 80%? I thought the beard would count for more...

T

We think bikebfat.com is written by a woman (80%).

11/18

6 p m Thursday group ride is back up with 3

11/15 Cold November Rain

I had high hopes for this entre, with the GnR reference and such

but it went nowhere

 2 rides with ANdy this week - 2 rides ending in a cold November rain

Blue Sulphur Rd

Adahi Trail

11/14 On The Western Edge

Raven Rock

Whitesburg Ky; Pine Mountain represents one of the last great contiguous stretches of unfragmented forest in Kentucky. While other parts of the region have been developed, strip-mined or heavily logged, Pine Mountain remains relatively untouched. Positioned at the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains, the mountain has remained a refuge in the face of increasing human intrusion, mainly  because it is a rugged, nearly roadless mountain that is guarded by jutting sandstone cliffs, tangled rhododendron thickets and large, pre-historic land slides laden with car-sized boulders. Breached by only six roads in 110 miles, the mountain represents a significant unprotected wilderness area.  - from Pine Mountain Trail Conference

Little Sheppard "Trail"

Kingdom Come State Park

14 miles of ridge road out

14 miles back

2 cars on the road

hunters in the woods

good good good

11/9 Full KT 1 to 31.8

 I love it when a plan comes thru.  Shuttle vehicle dropped at Saturday night at Fraziers Bottom would allowed an Eastern approach on the Kanawha Trace rolling from the house on Sunday morning.  Just 30-some miles of trail.  No hour long prelude.  Just trail.  Mile after mile of trail.  Turned out to be the fastest and truest crossing to-date, just one blue blaze veering from the yellow and white markings deferring the uphill "mile 6 downhill"  for a bonus Ole Baldy summit.  The rest was true KT, no road long cuts, or Adahi by-passes, stuck to the fine up and down line thru the woods.  Total KT time of 6 hours and 25 minutes, trimming lots of fat from the fastest previous tour time of 7 hours 45 minutes set in 2006 on a Western Assault.    

Three man crew consisting of Matt Johnson on his maiden crossing, Andy Cremeans on his 29'r 1X1, and myself as trail guide and chief line picker.  Lots of fresh fallen leaves to keep in sketchy slick, obscuring the track and hiding trail obstacles along the way.  Overcast skies and forty degrees with a morning misty sprits that couldn't really be called rain helped to keep the regroups and food stop short and sweet.  That and the fact that we where burning daylight right from the 9:20 start, or at least it seemed that way, with darkness that settles in at around 5:30 these days.

Overall the trail was in pretty good shape, until last week it was apparent the some sections of trail have not seen tire tracks since things began growing up this season.  We left things better than they were by cutting and clearing several trail blockages. Jenkins Branch has more than a couple tree-falls in need of a chainsaw, but thankfully nothing like this to deal with.  Some of the signs and key carsonite posts (like the ones below) have disappeared.   My camera failed to boot with a card error message that hopefully can be taken care of back here at bFAT central, so all the photos you see here are "file photos" from previous jaunts. 

11/9 Full KT11/6 Faster Turtle

Imagine my surprise!

The big tree fall blocking the Turtlehead loop has been cut and cleared. 

From what I understand the one man wrecking crew took two days to tame this monster. 

Nice work cj!

11/2   KT  18 to 11

In at Jenkins Creek - 3 miles of gradual grade climbing sharing trail with cows on their turf. Hit the pony pasture off  Barkers Ridge, close the gate for the single track entrance to the ridge run before dumping into the hillside swithcbacks.   Starting to appreciate the quick ascent that is mile 13, gets up quick to Gobbler Knob.  Gotta get back and get out and log a first descent on that section of trail. 

5 rides in the two hour range to knock out all the trail sections of the 31 mile Kanawha Trace.  Enjoying the Indian Summer and the Fall color show.  

11/1 KT 18 to 23ish

Blackjack at it's best - 10 mile figure 8 track in Mason County, showcasing 2 downhill trail gems.  Saturday bFAT riding with Phil, Matt, Tom and Stephen.  Two quick turns, leaving wanting more.  

10/31 KT 26 to 31

Friday at Fraziers Bottom, finished on the road and hopped on the trail KT at Overlook point, Ten mile loop, five miles of trail in the good direction, mostly clear trail, need to return with a hand saw and project a couple of spots, other than a couple off big hop logs, it was clear sailing.  Bright sunny day had the lights in the mile 30 tunnel burning bright, solar panel technology on the KT! 

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Barboursville FAT Tire Brethren

Beech Fork Association of Trails

bFAT is an informal group of riders who appreciate the land and ride for a healthy well being.

Beech Fork is mostly a single track trail that follows around the lake leading into a combination of creek bed, hill climb, and fast downhill back to the lake.  Barboursville's Park has some nice runs from the top with  numerous scenic overlooks from the  sheer  cliffs and steep drops. The flat single track that follows the river and comes out behind the lake - is where the real fun can begin or end. Click on the link at top of page - above left to see a map!    The  Kanawha Trace and Adahi Trails are 32 mile and  17 mile multi user trails crossing over private land.  Check with the Tri-State Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America for trail information and registration.

bFAT email groupo<----click here  Become a part of an e-group forum that will let all subscribers communicate (free!). Send an e-mail with the word "join" in the subject or body and you'll get hooked up with other riders, to do fun group rides, get trail info and conditions, technical advice, etc.

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for more info  administrator at bike bFAT