I finished the drive to Gettysburg arriving Thurs. Apparently a weekend of street motorcycles is underway. Bunch of overweight helmetless mob. Noisy bikes that causes the riders to wear ear plugs. How stupid, a muffler would save all our hearing. Downtown is a rotary. I am glad to be out of town. Struggle of a town that became a historical site thru no fault their own then the leadership turns the town into a tourist attraction to bring in $ to all the Tshirt and ice cream shops. t

I made the Gettysburg fitness bike shop. The manager was still there whom I met 2 years ago. I twisted some of the maps around to find the gps course I wanted to ride. Downloaded it onto my Edge. I bought groceries @ Giant, a chain store, really big. Able to buy hand crafted and macro beer in the grocery store, what a change to PA liquor laws. I allowed 2 gallons of propane to be put in my tank as the spitter valve which is the overflow shutoff is plugged. Added water then drove to the Michaux forest office to obtain a camping permit. I registered for 2 days @ Teaberry which is a large open parking lot and popular w/ the horse riders.

Yesterday I rode away from the TH following the gps track. I recognized some of it. Early on the sketchy trail went between 2 trees that were closer together than my handle bar is wide. Opps. Rocky rubble. Crossed the road and descended on an old overgrown logging road. There were still trees across the trail that I remember from 2 years ago. No big deal, a pedal wheelie and I was over. However, new trees were down across the trail making the old ones appear to be drinking straws:

Tues night as I drove n from Harrisonburg a storm storm hit this area. trees facing east were hit hard. This was one patch, another was just up the way. I struggled hoisting me and my bike over the blockage. The route GPS track was not identical to my path but I was were i was supposed to be. The trail seemed to be bush bashing thru the woods on no visible tread. I worked the lost trail to no success and the trail remained lost. It seemed to be working its way back into the blow down area. I had enough of clambering over under or around the trees so I gave up and  found the logging road back to Teaberry.

At the TH I watched 2 women in separate horse trailer rigs pull in and gear up for their ride. They left. They returned less than 45 mins later then put their gear away and drove off. Lot of work for such a short ride.

This AM the lot became the starting point for maybe 8 rigs, horses and people. For the most part the horse riders are not as overweight as the motorcycle riders. I left.

Today I am meeting Mark, whom I met in Brevard, he knows the trails. He is my guide this afternoon.

My knee really hurts now. I thought my saddle might too high which might be the source of pain. Except the pain is in the front of my knee that indicates the saddle is too low. I think it is too high which causes my pelvis to rock. I lowered the saddle a bit. I’ll experience my ride.

Hot and humid today.

State College is next. Herm of Purple Lizard Maps is my next contact. I meet him 4 years ago.

Yesterday was my ortho DR exam. Xrays were taken and knee wiggling followed. Determination is there is swelling in my knee which causes the pain. No structural repairable damage. I was given home treatment that I have been following. DR said reduce the stress level, like climbs. I am moving to PA where the riding is less hills but more rock gardens. DR said course of treatment will be to see if swelling and pain go away in a few weeks. If still present perhaps a cortisone shot. If pain still persists then an MRI. I’m down w/ that.

So I headed N out of Harrisonburg up rt 11. Forecast called for possible severe t-storms that I experienced driving North. Short lived. Tim suggested a camping spot. I found the road then took an early an early instead of shopping. Quiet night in the forest. This AM while doing dishes I looked out the windshield and saw a black bear about 50′ away. I grabbed the big camera to take pics but the camera didn’t turn on: dead battery. I know i watched it amble thru the forest not displaying interest in me. I continued on my way.

Sunday I rerode Lookout Mtn making all the correct turns. The rock gardens were where they grow. I did better at keeping my head up and pedaling over them. There are man made paved gardens which are easier to ride than the natural random distribution of nature’s rocks and are harder to ride. I still walked several spots.

Nature as appears:

Trail finishes by crossing the river on a suspension bridge that is a bike too wide

Back @ TH I visited w/ a man & woman ultra endurance trail runners, 100 miler kind. We encountered each other on the trail: I pedaling up and then running down. We all stopped and said for the other to continue. I deferred to the runners / hikers but they told me to continue uphill. I said I needed a breather.  I learned from them that they were seeking a breather also. I told them about my smiley face number plate and offered one, he accepted readily.

I ran out of water in my sink tank. I planned to drive to Briery Branch store to fill up. I drove over to Stokesville to see if Chris was there. He wasn’t. I saw signs of a store in the community. I checked it out. It is a store and I was given permission to help myself to water. After filling I walked into the store to put some $ in his cash drawer. What a beer selection he has. He talked to me about his stock. Amazing to see so many craft beers way out here in the toolies. Shrimper made a name recognition for himself here as he spent days working on both Lookout and Narrowback mtn trails.

I decided to find a camp spot along Tillman road instead of back @ TH. I rode by the sites previously. I found 1 and pulled in not down by a river but a small stream. No internet service. I cleaned myself w/ a solar shower.

Monday I rerode Narrowback mtn trail. This is about the easiest trail in the Hburg locale in the forest. There are several pieces of machine built trail to solve sustainabilty issues which make the trail easier to ride. A new section is a series of machine built switchbacks.

Knapweed in Virginia!

I spent Monday night @ same spot.

Tuesday I headed back into Harrisonburg for the DR appointment. The results will determine my next plan. I visited a bakery for a treat. I sat outside near a young woman reading and writing. I commented on her effort which started a conversation. She a serious believer of Christianity and me the opposite.

Next stop is Winchester then on to Gettysburg and rocky Michaux.

back @ Wild Oak TH near Stokesville and within jet pac range. 4G 2 bars way out here.

Thurs I went back into town. I did my wash. I stopped @ SBC and talked w/ Tim. He suggested riding Braley Pond, I accepted. Shenandoah Valley is rolling cultivated fields, woodlands, flat, rolling to steep. Rocky. I drove to Braley Pond TH and picked a primitive camp spot. One site had a big tent set up but no one there, I suspected an abandoned camp, or maybe 1 set up as a p;pace holder during the week for a weekend saved spot. The spot next to it had 2 beer cans in a row on the picnic table, nothing else. I thought the beer cans could be a place holder. I checked them out: empty and air temp. OK, open site. I am inside my van when I look out the open side door and see the right front fender of a USFS LEO rig. I stepped out and greeted him. He asked about the beer cans, I told him they were there when I arrived. He said Good because if they were mine and I consumed them in public I would have been guilty of having an open container in public, a state law. Whew. I asked him if wanted the cans as I was volunteering to pack out 2 Keystones. Nah, he said, just pack them out when you go. I crushed them and dropped them in my trash bag. He asked other questions about camping in the forest. My Sedona LEO training stood me in good stead as we sparred. No harassment on either side. He left and I mixed a moonshine cocktail and drank it inside in a pint glass. Car and truck pulled in to the not to be abandoned camp site disgorged several people. We were separated by a thin screen of trees and that’s the way it stayed.

Plan is to ride from camp the Braley Pond loop. I studied the map then took off on the wrong gated road. My way reconnected w/ the access road and all was pedaling  good. This loop is typical of a single piece of trail: ride the road to the top then down the dirt. The access road dumped me out on US250, I turned right and headed towards a pass in the ridge. 2 miles and 800′ b4 the pass where there is a historical site from the Civil war, confederate troops, some 3,000 strong built an extensive breastworks to defend a Union attack from the west is the Mountain House rest area and a lower access to the single track. Back in ’08 I rode to the pass and the upper trail down to here, today I am mortal. Again, first visit was right after the oaks dropped their leaves which covered the trail. Today the trail was bare. I found the tree I did the pole dance around that saved me from a downhill header. Tread was a mix of cast in rocks and very disconcerting loose rubble.

The above is pretty typical of the riding here: tree cover.

I finished back @ Braley

The water in the solar shower was tepid for a parking lot shower.

I drove up to the pass and hiked the historical trail around the breastworks. Tree regrowth since 1862 clear field of fire buzz cut.

I drove back down to Mountain House and behind a TH for Ramsey draft, 6200 acres of designated wilderness. I scored the isolated spot for the night. temp dropped during the night, @ 8:28AM is was 49 degrees.

I need groceries and water for riding and staying out here again. I drove into Staunton on US 250 that routed downtown bordered by old public buildings. Town settled 1735. Goal was grocery store. A guy was looking at my van while parked in the lot. We struck up a riding conversation. He told me about Wolf Ridge which is right near where I am. I evaluated it for a ride but I wanted to call SBC to learn of beta. Instead this guy shared. I selected it then drove following GPS map. Wonderful country back roads.

I parked right off the gravel Tillman road where the trail dead ended at the road. Route was a road ride dropping off to a rough double track till the ST split off climbing up to Wolf Ridge. What a grunt. My body gives what I can talk it into giving. I stopped a few times to catch my breath and walked some until I made the ridge. Then the ridge ride was a treat in back woods riding; the trail needs to be brushed back just to get thru, let alone seeing the tread. Rocky chunk. Part way down the ridge the trail has been reconstructed to eliminate the fall line route. Machine built wiggle and waggle down to rejoin the old trail and back to van. I drove the 6 miles of drying out well maintained gravel road to the TH where I am. I put the solar shower on the hood while I was riding. The hood absorbs heat that transfers to the bag. Today I had a warm shower.

A couple rode into the TH on 29 hard tails. Their ride was bodacious and all on a hard tail. Ouch.

Tomorrow I plan on riding the rock gardens of Lookout again.

I download my bank account into Money and reconcile the transactions. I assign an category to each. I asked for the money spent on bike in June: $2,281. Great big month but digging new wheels, a 2X10 drive train, carbon handlebar, new shorts, and a new Wingnut pack to pick up @ sister Lynn’s in Ohio. YTD $4,333. This bike life is not cheap.

Saturday night I am camped in a deserted trail head parking lot on the eastern edge of the George Washington NF. Life is good. The side door is closed to shut out the chill.