Ride Report - Virginia IMBA Mountain Bike Festival

(Guest blogging - yet again ) Last weekend, while George kept a handle on things at the shop in VT, and our little boy enjoyed some quality time with the grandparents, I had the distinct pleasure of a road trip weekend. All the way from central VT to Harrisonburg for the Virginia IMBA Mountain Bike Festival.

I'm blessed to have a cousin who lives there, loves to mountain bike and is really involved in the local clubs - so it was easy to pop down for the weekend and fit right in. After I arrived I checked out some newer in-town trails for a short run and followed that up with some (definitely not available in Vermont) tasty vegetarian Vietnamese food and I was ready for my first day of riding in the George Washington National Forest.

We headed out of town and started our ride by climbing 9 miles up to Reddish Knob and a spectacular view of the mountains and West Virginia. Then, as the saying goes, it was all downhill, except for the uphill parts. One major rock garden on the way down (see first photo) and then loads and loads of swoopy smooth descending and more than a few embedded babyheads.

Sunday was the day of the big Shenandoah Mountain Trail Ride. Over 50 people joined this ride along the ridge of the great big Shenandoah Mountain. After a big, long fire road climb there's something like 16 or 17 miles of singletrack along the ridge. It's not particularly technical by VT standards, but the climbing is very respectable and the rocks and other hazards on the trail add a level of difficulty. If something happens to you in the middle of this ride - you are a long way from help.

Speaking of things happening. About two miles into the singletrack portion, I had a bit of a run in with a stick. In case you're wondering, stick vs. SRAM X0 -- stick wins and Mandy walks/coasts/carefully pedals back to the car while trying to figure out how to explain to her husband the demise of a particularly expensive piece of machinery.

Though I didn't get to experience the full epic ride - I've got a score to settle with the SMT and I'll be back and next time I'm bringing reinforcements.

Everyone that I met down there was super friendly and welcoming. The size and involvement of the cycling community is very impressive. There were tons of mountain and road bikers and they seemed to really identify themselves with the clubs and organisations supporting cycling. Even more impressive was the wealth of rides available in the George Washington National Forest and surrounding area. It's hard to tell when you're just visiting for a couple of days, but there seems to be enough to keep a rider busy for weeks. Thanks to Sue and Matthew for a fantastic weekend!