10/28 Full KT

Last Friday's run on the Kanawha Trace - some of the guys from Logan Mountain Bike made the trip up becuase they thought they wanted to ride the entire Trace from end to end , the whole 32 miles.  So, I couldn't pass up that party, made arrangements to meet them at the trailhead (loose term here) to be sure that they had a chance to make their goal.  Great day for riding temperature and humidity wise, but the fall foliage was mostly fallen and laying all fluffy like over the trail, made for some tricky negotiations at time but I led out mostly on track for most of the day. 

 

First time check at Lookout Point = 4 miles in 1:05, was right on track, and we finished up the trail with a 7hr 17 minute group time crossing.  Pretty good for a first time on this trail for especially for those that this was a personnel longest ride ever.  Welcome to the club, long live long rides!

Jim approaching Blackjack ~ mile 20

 

 

 William in Jenkins Hollow ~ mile 16

 

 Chris finishing up on Wildcat Switchbacks ~ mile 1

10/24 More New River

Another 50 miler, more or less the same route as before. Started at the visitors center along the canyon rim just north of Fayetteville, Dwayne, Calvin, and Andrew from New River Bikes completed the crew. 

 

Fine rolling day in and about the Gorge

 

couldn't ask for more

 

OK Map My Ride is irritating me, as you can see there is these big straight lines shooting through the preview below.  That is not part of the route, we didn't fly back and forth for the last 12 miles.  If you click on the full view, they are not on that map, tried to fix it, but there seems to be no fix.  Argh! quality control is out of hand

 

photo gallery

10/20 Movin' on the NRG50

I have been talking this route up for some time.  Scouting the maps trying to connect some dots in the vaguer areas.  Last rode this with Carp in the other direction,  got a little lot off track, missed Babcock, and rounded it up to about 70 miles.  That has been some years ago.

So with the day off from work on such a great day - I had to make my move on the the plan.  Do some recon and some riding, not to do the entire thing, by myself.  Drove in from the New River Bridge visitors center on the back roads through Winona and parked at the activities parking lot at the campground. 

 

Started with some known singletrack at the park and took some photos,  play in the creek, and loose a glove somewheres around the bridge over Galde Creek.

 

 Stopped the park office for some local intelligence.  There was none.

 

The idea was to ride or maybe drive (nah)  and find that connector to Beury Mountain Road (the one they said could NOT be done) 

Head down 2k  feet to Thurmond where the sensible plan was to be to turn around and do the 19 miles back   This way I would know this route coming and going.

 

Did I say sensible? well sensible is rail trails and DOWN river.  NOT going back up three thousand feet, right away.  Scored some local bottled water from a maybe local state "worker", which is a good thing, because Thurmond is dry,  Literally.  Dry.  That I know of, there are no taps available  and never anything open.   After giving some directions and a map to Thayer to the Fed-Ex driver, I was heading down river along the New. 

Cunard and Kaymoor Rail Trails are always awesome riding.  Pops you out right under the New River Bridge, leaving about half a gorge decent and a whole gorge ascent  by going the wrong way on one way route 82.  Back up to the point that I drove earlier in the day to finish out want I hoped was nine miles of back road.  Earlier, I had spotted a little store at the top of the climb, so that motivated my empty tanks up the gorge.  Stopped and restocked with all the necessary liquids; water, Coke-a-Cola, and 24oz Sierra Nevada.  I also picked up some good information there too.  She  nailed this distance I had left (according to map my ride), put me onto cr7 to avoid the plunge into Winona, she seemed to understand where I had been and what it is like to ride a bicycle (probably from driving these same roads in Winter, I imagine) .  Another customer started mentioning short cuts that I seen ends of, but were rather posted like.  A rather slum like 12 miles back to the car to finish up at a quarter to dark.  50+ miles at a touristic pace, with a lot of time looking for that damn glove  (got to know when to keep  movin' on) = 8ish hours.

 

facebook photo's

10/15

10/13 Hells Stairway on Fire!

10/10/10 KT Xing

Last Sunday's ride on the Kanawha Trace;  ran the shuttle out to the east trailhead at Frazier's bottom for 32 miles of a western assault.  Five hours twenty minutes of the Trace back to Barboursville trimming 45 minutes off of the trails best previous time.  Running the time not as a race, but as a testament to the trails improvements.  My first single speed crossing and Dwayne's first complete crossing via bike.  Seemed so easy.  Having three riders knowing the way sure helped to keep the moto on such a beautiful day.

 

Andy kicks things off 

 

Blackjack schoolhouse

 

Jenkins Creek

 

 

bringing it home

10/8 Get Some

Local rides

The 2 hour jaunt

 

Wednesdays

in the park

 

 

 

and a little KT Xing this weekend

10/3 Bad Blogger

 road tripping with a Stan's monster

Bad blogger I am turning out to be. 

Still gettin' it.  Spruce Knob - Huckleberry - Allegheny

Camera battery oh so low, keeping it more on the go.

High noon departure on a 7 hour ride ,

that'll keep a scurry on.

 

 

 

See the horse's ass.

It is hard to give the right away when that ass keeps turning back around on ya.

You're lost and think your going to follow us up Horton? 

You should have thought again.

Our bikes makes your horse skittish?

Damn man get a clue and stay away from us.

Oh, and the Diesel engine is mightier than the horse.

At least on Horton.

It's been proven.

 

Sunday

Finding friends on North Fork Mountain

 

last shot before the battery died

Sundays ride could soon be off limits to MTB, yet open to most other trail users!! We went to check it out today, SVBC & WVMBA are doing all they can, please do your part, whether you ride/use trails or not:
The IMBA Epic North Fork Trail in under threat of Wilderness designation! A current bill in Congress threatens to designate the most iconic part of the trail as Wilderness.

Contact your elected representatives and tell them that you oppose Wilderness designation of this trail:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Good to see Andy in the vet expert  class vying for the podium amongst some good company.  Dwayne Walters makes the standings there in the sport masters, as well.

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go on back

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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