Photo of second half (Blue Ridge to Frederick)My friend Joe has been itching to do this ride for over a year and convinced Jay and I to tag along with him. Normally, this would be a fantastic road route; however, we were going to do it on mt bikes and incorporate as much quality singletrack as possible. Starting at the Totem Pole in Caledonia with some Michaux friends (Brett, Donna, Zach, and Larry) we climbed Secret, Raccoon Run, Snowy Mt., double track up to the Fire Tower, then Blue Blaze past the shelters down into Old Forge. Larry had stashed some beer here and we were joined by Travis. After a quick nip, we climbed up Sucker Punch, a new way to upper Rattlesnake Road. It was soft, but much better than the alternatives - that is unless you are continuing on to Frederick. We then rode Mackey Run, a nice technical piece of singletrack recently added to the Michaux portfolio. This dropped us out near Blue Ridge Summit where after a little road cruising, we tanked up on water and took a brief rest. This middle section featured some paved road cruising, steep climbs, a fire road jaunt near Camp David where we saw the fake pine tree bristling with electronic devices. Finally, we entered the Shed via Tower Road and a hike a bike. We had a beer to celebrate and then started on our way to Hamburg and beyond. Salamander, Sand Flats, Blue and we were back at Hamburg Road where I got some more water from a guy who was finishing his ride. He asked: "where did you guys start from - Gambrill?" I replied: "Caledonia State Park in Michaux." "Oh", he replied "is there trail the whole way?" Joe led us back to Gambrill State Park via Blue, Sheldon's Trail, Dave's Trail, Yellow. There was no Iceberg and no descent into the Valley this time - perhaps next time. We hit 44mph on the paved descent back into Frederick even on our Kenda Nevegals. Great ride, great company - see you next year.
I ate 4 cliff bars, two mini Milky Ways, six electrolyte capsules.
I drank 300 oz of water, one Dale's Pale Ale, and one Ten-Fidy & peed alot.
50 miles, 8 hours, around 6k of climbing (still working on that stat)
I forgot my phone/camera, but there are some photos here.
5 comments:
Beautiful country. I would love to do that. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for letting me tag along--it was a fun day! :)
Very nice! I wish I could have joined you boys. Next time I guess.
I live in the Fairfield area just started mountain biking. I am extremely interested in some of those trails you named before getting to the watershed...
Most of the Southern Michaux trails are accessible from Old Forge Picnic area. The folks at Gettysburg Bike & Fitness can get you a map or check their website for the Terror of Teaberry race course map.
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