Yesterday I drove from Davis up high in WVA mtns down to Harrisonburg: 3000 to 1400′ there abouts. RT 33 is a mountainous US route. What mountains exist albeit covered w/ trees and less height than western mtns. Still enjoy them. Broadleaf trees reach a height then just get bigger around. The shear mass of life.
GPS navigated me right to parking lot of Shenandoah Bike Company. Greeted Tim who now has a beard. Later I met Thomas who no longer has his beard. Asked if the facial hair change occurred simultaneously and they weren’t sure.
AT SBC I was sort of seeking a ride but not too hard as my rear brake pads are all but shot. Then Thomas invited me to their bike club trail work out @ Massanutten trails. Hot & humid. I said yes and rode w/ Thomas out. The site is location for their stage race ( Missing details here). A new short track trail has been built machine cut big berms & flowie across meadow. Brock built the machine trail w a Ditchwitch tracked machine. Did nice job. Our manual effort was to smooth out the back slope. All of us were dripping sweat wet from heat & humidity.
A snapping turtle the size of a medium pizza pan was spotted out in open on a dirt bank, perhaps it was a female and she was laying eggs. I do not know how to sex a snapper besides “she” would have resisted perhaps being bitten. Legend is a snapper bites and doesn’t let go until a certain phase of the moon.
3 hours of muscle work left me worn out.
Drove back into town to Thomas’ house where he offered me his yard and dinner. Spent night.
My dad is in the hospital back home w/ intestinal bleeding which is of concern.
Friend Grace Ragland for Huntsville, AL started a Facebook group for people who know both of us. On page 116 of July issue of MountainBikeAction there is a piece about Grace. Both of us have fame in national publications. If you know both of us, let me know and i will invite you to the group.
A note about Davis: I like the challenge of tech challenge. Not every foot of the ride was “nasty”. The locals have that figured out. I sought out that kind of trail sort of. Locals always know their home turf better than a touron can find using a map. I wanted to put their terrain in perspective of other places ridden.
Check out the thread on MTBR about my odyssey as started by Duane in Davis.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=6972174&page=2
Off to find a ride here.
State College next week.