Massanutten Ride

From Massanutten Ride 8/14/09

In a whirlwind of a day, John, Matt and I (Joe) loaded up and moved out to Massanutten Mountain on Friday (8/12/09) to see what kind of riding we could do -- and still pick up the baby from daycare.

John and I left around 6:45 am and arranged to meet Matt at the Elizabeth Furnace Campground sometime around 8:30. Checking in along the way, all seemed to be on course. There was a slight snafu on the meeting location (no cell reception once 'inside' the Mountain). But no biggee. we were on the bikes by around 10 a.m.

The chosen course, E. Furnace to Muddy Gap to Bear Wallow, starts off innocently with about 5 miles of slight uphill on a nice road. Very pleasant. Then down into Muddy Gap and along a semi-technical but mostly level trail along - and through-- a lovely mountain stream. It was tempting to just stay there all day and stare at the water and trees. But I guess we'll save that for another trip.

Onward we went to the road leading to Signal Knob. After a few miles on the forest road, we were supposed to turn left onto the Bear Wallow trail. But we all found the summer mountain air, nice packed road and gentle incline to be a quite comfortable ride. So up we went along the road, with good conversation, and all of us missed the Bear Wallow turn off.

The road grade began to steepen, and soon we found ourselves dropped to granny gear. John asked "is this the hill," and thinking it wasn't, I said, "no, this is the hill that leads to the hill."

Before long, the road was just about straight up, John was off the bike, walking (no pedal clips and some derailleur problems, he was amazing to stay on as long as he did). Matt and I struggled our way up, both stopping at one point to rest and make sure our hearts stayed in our chests. The road was good, but the steep gradient was tough, and the rocks were loose, making the riding tough. Finally, we saw the tower that sits atop Signal Knob. We whooped and congratulated ourselves for getting to the top, despite that we were supposed to be on the other side of the hill, along the trail we missed.

No matter, we enjoyed the beautiful view for a while, set out a course to backtrack down the steep hill and find the Bear Wallow trail turn that we passed by, and resume our plan from there. So down the hill we went - fun and scary, steep as it is. We found and turned onto Bear Wallow, described as "generally rideable," or some nonsense. Well, on Massanuttten, those words mean different things to different people. And to us, "generally rideable" apparently means that after about a quarter mile we'll be carrying our bikes up steep, unrideable trail. Up we went, hiking for about 30 minutes or so till we came to semi-rideable terrain. Up a few switchbacks, tough rocks, but better than hiking the bike.

From Massanutten Ride 8/14/09

At the top we regrouped. The sign said "Elizabeth Furnace 4 miles." We looked forward to some nice downhill as a reward for the tough uphill. I started us down, coasting about 30 feet, rounded a slight bend, cursed and stopped the bike.

Ahead of me were boulder fields as far down the trail as I could see. Rocks like that are scary enough when going uphill, but downhill they always seem scarier and more dangerous. Not wanting to risk it, we all dismounted and walked our bikes through, coasting along any short stretch that was not life threatening.

Fortunately, this part of the downhill did not last long. Soon we were all back on the bikes and riding a fun - super fun! - trail down slopes, over rocks and roots, around bends. We stopped along the way to make sure we were all right, the started out again.

At one point, after about 10 minutes of good crazy riding, I came to a trail interchange and stopped to check the map and wait for the others. I checked the map, stared at the woods, took a picture of myself in front of my bike, and realized that the others should have caught up by now. I started back up the hill and found that John had had a mild wipe-out followed by a flat tire. Matt was behind him and the two were stopped fixing it. (That goodness Matt was responsible). They finished up quickly enough, and we continued without problem.

From the Bear Wallow trail, we turned on to the Sidewinder Trail. The name proved apt as we wound up and down slight hills, then around some sharp and challenging switchbacks.

The Sidewinder Trail connected the Bear Wallow to the original road we began on. Since that road starting out was nearly all up hill, we now had a great, fast downhill finish back to the cars.

Total time on the bike was about 4 hours 15 minutes. Excellent challenging ride (and sometimes hike) on the beautiful Mountain. We left Elizabeths Furnace round 2:40 p.m. Because we were worried about getting delayed in rush hour on the Beltway, Lorrin left work a little early to pick up Eddie. That took the stress out of the return trip.

But as it turned out, John and I arrived back in Germantown at about 4:30, in plenty of time to get the baby by 5 p.m., and thereby bringing our whirlwind to a successful conclusion.

Thanks to all involved for a great day. It's a great model for a day trip to the mountains!

Here are the rest of the pictures.

Adventure Van, 1998-2009

By Paul

The world of adventure transportation lost a pioneer today as Adventure Van passed away at St. Darcars of the Diminishing Bank Account Hospital after a long battle against clunkeritis. After an early career as a family hauler, AV found his true calling in the formative days of adventure transport, and in his youth pioneered several first ascents, including the I-95 corridor route up










Mt. Washington and numerous expeditions into the wilderness of Shenandoah and Canaan Valley. Often underestimated due to his unassuming demeanor and low ground clearance, AV’s true abilities shown through with his ability to haul numerous clients with outdated, heavy gear over long distances, often over fire roads so rutted that vehicles of higher panache had previously deemed them unpassable. Perhaps one of AV’s more famous exploits in his younger days involved ferrying two clueless clients up and over Snowshoe Mountain in the middle of the infamous whiteout of 2004. Although the climb leader panicked and recommended bivouacking on the snow-covered slopes (a mistake that surely would have doomed the expedition) AV powered on and delivered all members to the safety of the mountain lodge. But AV truly came into his own during the golden years of ultra racing, during which he became the go-to member for support crews, and his exploits as a mobile aid station allowed countless Straggling Irregulars to achieve ultra racing glory. In later years, AV’s specialty of big expeditions with copious amounts of gear lost favor with the advent of the ultralight movement. Facing competition from more efficient transportation that focused on a low carbon footprint versus roomy comfort, AV soon found himself relegated to more mundane fare. This was further compounded by nagging transmissionitis – although numerous operations were attempted to alleviate his condition, most who knew him stated he never fully recovered, and the condition continually nagged him up until his passing. Eventually AV was forced to retire, hanging up his expedition swagger for adventures in baby sitting.

He will be sorely missed, as the new van has heated leather seats and might be too prissy to allow sweaty runners inside. The wake will be held at Dogfish at a date TBD. All willing to raise a pint to his honor are welcome. R.I.P.

40 Miles in West Virginia- a Race Report

In an impulsive moment in early spring, I signed up for this race after getting a bit overconfident about my training. I ran the Pittsburgh marathon (felt great), did little until a training run on the first half of the course (felt great), then pretty much stopped training. Life got in the way, and I only managed some shorter runs: a few 8-10 milers and very few other runs and my strength training was non-existent. Could we just call this an extended taper? Fast forward to race week and I was getting nervous. On one hand, I thought if it wasn’t too hot and I could get through 30 miles, I could gut out the last 10 (I don’t think ‘normal’ people have thoughts like this, but you ultrarunners understand, right?). On the other hand, AM I TOTALLY NUTS??? WHO TRIES TO RUN 40 MILES ON CRAPPY TRAINING?? So, I decided to enjoy the first half and then if I didn’t feel like going on, it would still be a fun weekend with friends. Some of you (Michelle, Megan) thought there wasn’t a chance in hell that I’d quit, but I tried to make it clear that this was a real possibility and I was OK with it.

To WV
It’s been 3 years since I’ve done this race and arriving in Canaan Valley reminded me why we keep coming back to do these things. It was great to see many of our WVMTR friends and feel that ultra-scene vibe again. Paul, Erik, and I had a nice dinner with Amanda, Bill, Joe, Lorrin, Eddie, Tony, and Mark and then headed back to the room to get ready. Erik slept well but I didn’t. The morning was uneventful and we got to the start as it dawned.

The Weather and the Trails
We discussed the weather forecast in the car on the way to the start. A line of strong storms was supposed to come through then the humidity was to lift and we would have a nice day. Well, the rain started by mile 2 and continued for hours. There are many reports out there about the weather and trail conditions so I won’t belabor this point. The rain felt nice and the temperature was great. It was eerily dark under the canopy in those early miles. The weather itself wasn’t the big story— it was the effect those storms had on the trail conditions that made for an epic day. The trails turned to streams, mud, and more mud, and water crossings that are typically benign became quite dangerous. On the trails themselves it wasn’t uncommon to be knee deep in water. This is a tough race in good conditions; the wet, muddy conditions just made it that much harder.

The Race
I started off with Cathy and Tony and we were in the normal line of runners on the singletrack trying to find our own paces. We all settled into our own rhythms and made our way up the early climbs. Joe had started off easy and caught up to me before AS 2. He was taking it slow, and I was moving well on the early climbs so we could stay together. We couldn’t help but constantly remark on the trail conditions. It was, in a word, insane. We discussed how jagged rocks are tough enough to run on, but cover them with 6 inches of murky water and they become impossible. We yearned to SEE the rocks again. We got through AS 2 only 15 minutes ahead of the cut-off, then to AS 3 also just 15 minutes ahead. The water crossing before AS 3 was very tough for me—I fell in the fast moving water and was helped across by another runner, who I (overdramatically, perhaps) said I probably owed my life to. After that scare, we got to AS 3 (Hi Michelle, Megan and Bill!) and continued on through some more crazy hard rain and wind. We got up to the road (Hi Lorrin, Paul, Eddie, Erik and Jim!) and then to AS 4, still 15 minutes up on the cut-off. The sun peeked through at this point and the breeze was nice. I still felt good. Joe was moving better but didn’t seem to mind holding back. We got to AS 6 (mile 27) only 15 minutes ahead (but only 5 minutes ahead of the old cut-off of 1:30 PM). This was a little discouraging because I thought we’d be able to make up some time on the road- but I just didn’t have the legs. As an aside, I think Joe and I running together helped both of us stay positive. When one of us slipped into negative thoughts, the other put a stop to it. So that was good- I don't know how well I would have fared being all alone out there!

We turned the corner onto the trail, right into 30- 40 mph headwinds. It was muddy and boggy again, so slow going. Within the first few miles, I realized I was slowing down. ALOT. I told Joe that I thought I reached the limit of my training. And by about mile 30, I told him I was thinking of stopping at 32 and getting a ride back from Pam. Thanks so much to Joe for being super-encouraging… he didn’t get all 'you can do it, don’t quit' because I think he understood how I felt and he knew how tough it was out there. He said even if I only did the “HS 50k” it was still a great accomplishment, but he thought I could finish (and had time) if I wanted to. I urged him to go on but he thought he’d stay with me until AS 7, but Cathy happened upon us right after this discussion. She was moving well but said she was also feeling the conditions. She had made up time on the road to catch us but didn’t seem like she wanted to go ahead.

Joe decided to pick up his pace and took off. I told Cathy to go in front and I thought I’d see if I could keep up. Running with her gave me some renewed strength and a burst of energy and I was able to keep up. When we got to AS 7 (Hi Pam!), I didn’t even think about stopping. We grabbed some aid and rolled right through. We had about 2:40 to do 8 miles, which included 4 tough miles and 4 easier miles.

We ran as much as we could, hiked the ski slope, down the buttslide, passed a few guys, and onto the road and to AS 8. We adopted a run/walk regimen to get through the roads. We ran anything that was slightly down, walked anything slightly up and then ran 2 minutes/walked 1 minute on the flats. This, along with our chatting, made the time pass and before we knew it, we were turning into the resort. We knew we’d make it under 12 hours. I had said to someone earlier it would be frustrating to make it 30 or 35 miles in those conditions then NOT at least be an official finisher and get the damn shirt.

The Finish
I was never so happy to get to a finish line (with the possible exception of Baker Trail 07) and see my guys and my friends and then go celebrate our finishes. What a day! Truly epic conditions—this is one to remember! We’ll be back next year!