Edging the slope on the Southern Traverse - copyright Shenandoah Mountain Touring

Story: from IMBA

Take a ride into history on the Southern Traverse Epic located in Virginia’s George Washington National Forest.

The rigors of boot camp may be the best preparation. With 3,000 feet of climbing over 32 epic miles, this ride promises to test your courage and endurance. The backbone of the Southern Traverse is the south end of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail, a 11-mile singletrack ridge-ride. The ridge is accessed by a doubletrack climb that ascends 1,800 feet through a picturesque hardwood hollow. The snaking trail follows the ridge south and is an amazing melody of smooth and fast downhills and technical rock gardens.

Ride the Southern Traverse from north to south to enjoy the sweetest of singletrack descents, and don’t forget to make arrangements with Shenandoah Mountain Touring to meet you at the end and shuttle you back to town for a draught of Wild Goose at Calhoun’s.

Location: The Southern Traverse is located southwest of Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the George Washington National Forest.

Length: 32 miles

Elevation: 1,600 to 3,800 ft

Climbing: 3,000 ft

Terrain: This ride has it all; twisty, smooth, steep, narrow, rough, mossy

Season: Open year round, occasional snow in winter, unpredictable mountain weather

Highlight: Shenandoah Mountain Trail, a 17-mile singletrack ridge-ride

Directions to Trailhead & Detailed Ride Instructions

Shop: Shenandoah Bicycle Company, Harrisonburg, 540-437-9000

Brew: Calhoun’s Restaurant and Brewing Company

Coffee: The Artful Dodger

Learn more about the International Mountain Bike Association at www.imba.com

It's East Coast Big Mountain Riding - From IMBA

Southern Traverse IMBA Epic – Driving Directions to Trailhead

Written by the guys at Shenandoah Mountain Touring

Starting at:
Shenandoah Mountain Touring
Located in the Shenandoah Bicycle Co. store
135 S. Main Street
Harrisonburg, VA
www.MountainTouring.com

From SMT head out of the parking lot onto main street (left only- heading north)
Take your 1st left on Water Street
Take your 3rd left on Rt. 42 – South High Street
Traveling south on Rt.42 through Dayton, Bridgewater, and Parnassus To Jennings Gap road Rt. 736
Take a right on Rt. 736 and travel for 3.5 miles to route 250
Take a right on Rt. 250 heading West for 7 miles to West Augusta and Rt. 629
Take a left on Rt. 629 heading south into Deerfield Valley
Turn right on FR 173 about 6 miles down the road
Cross the cattle grate and continue along the right-of-way dirt road
After crossing the creek for the 2nd time, stay left at the fork
Proceed through the closed gate onto National Forest land – please close the gate behind you
The parking area is 1/4 mile up on the left

To Jerkemtight – mid ride point

Continue on Rt. 629 through Deerfield (1.5 miles from FR 173)
Proceed about 5 _ miles past Fr 173 to a gravel road that shoots up to the right and looks like it may be a driveway
If you come to a trash dumpster and some forest service road signs you have gone to far Jerkemtight road is not marked and is about 3/4 of a mile behind you
Proceed about 1 mile up Jerkemtight road to an intersection. Jerkemtight continues straight following the creek up the hollow where a new logging road turns off on the right. Do not block the locked forest service gate!

To ScotchTown Draft – trail end

Take a right on Rt. 627 and 3 miles up to the saddle (crest of the road) where the trail awaits on the right.

Southern Traverse IMBA Epic – Detailed Ride Directions

Written by the guys at Shenandoah Mountain Touring

Our recommended days worth of riding on the trail will start out with a 4 mile climb on FR 173 out of Deerfield Valley (1205 ft.). The Fireroad climb is a nice steady grade that climbs 1,300 ft to the saddle (2590 ft.) of the mountain where you pick up the Shenandoah Mountain Trail singletrack heading south. The trail continues to climb up towards the summit of the Bump at 3634 ft. This section of single track has long straights that are tight, twisty and smooth with some super technical rock gardens scattered throughout the 11-mile piece.

The only bailout on the ridge is 11 miles in on Jerkemtight Rd. You will know you are there when you come to a field on top of the ridge with a pond. Jerkemtight Rd. is a forest service road that is steep and rough heading back down to the east for 5 miles and onto Rt. 629. Taking this bailout would take the cherry off the top because the last 5 miles of trail is the sweetest, but it would get you back to your vehicle (civilization) quicker in case of emergency.

The Jerkemtight juncture is a tricky one at 3550 ft. There are 2 different singletrack trails heading off the west side of the ridge and 3 jeep trails heading in different directions. The 2 singletrack trails seem to be dropping off the west side of the mountain. The Shenandoah Mountain Trail is the one that heads more southerly. Marshall Draft trail in the one that drops straight down the western slope towards sugar tree road. The Shenandoah Mountain Trail only drops a bit to meet up with the ridge again and some of the sweetest down hilling toward Scotchtown Draft. The northern jeep road will take you to the summit of North East Peak at 3811 ft. and the southern one takes you to Wallace Peak lookout tower at 3795 ft. The road to the east is Jerkemtight Rd. heading 5 miles down to Rt. 629.

The Trail skirts around North Sister Knob at an elevation of 3292 and then coils you up onto South Sister Knob at 3088 for a screaming fast 1100 ft descent to Scotchtown Draft Rt.627. I suggest a small break here to try and stop smiling to keep your face from cramping. Take a left on Rt. 627 and another left on Rt. 629 and enjoy about 10 miles of beautiful rolling country roads back to the trailhead.

An abbreviated ride is to proceed up the Jerkemtight FR for 5 miles on your bicycle and pick up the Shenandoah Mountain Trail on the ridge. This would eliminate a possible bonk in “no mans land”- the 11 mile section of ridge that will put your tongue on the ground if you are not fresh and fit.

If you are looking for big mountain single track on the east coast the Southern Traverse is it. The Traverse is the southern most section of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail located in the George Washington National Forest’s Dry River and Deerfield Ranger Districts. The trail works its magic along the spine of the massive Shenandoah Mountain. Shenandoah Mountain is a massive 90+ mile long mountain that is the border of Virginia and West Virginia for the northern most 60 miles of its ridge. Shenandoah Mountain Touring www.mountaintouring.com offers tours and shuttle service for the trail and the surrounding hundreds of miles of trails.

Take-Away Box:

Why it may be your next Big Mountain Riding machine: Can do it all, pretty much! Rails the descents, climbs with agility, great balance, feels lighter than it is.

Why it may not be for you: Low Bottom Bracket – or at least feels that way. You’re a regular jumper – frameset not up to frequent big hits

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The HiFi stretching its legs in Moab

For years, bike companies and magazines touted this bike or that as the “one” bike that could do it all. As someone on a budget, I loved the idea of a bike that could handle most of the standard trail conditions confidently, however I don’t think most of these bikes lived up to the hype until 2006-07. I test rode a Giant Trance, and it performed everything well. However, it wasn’t exciting. A great bike needs the design and capabilities to excite.

Enter the Gary Fisher HiFi. While there are other bikes out there that probably excite more, and can handle even more (i.e. the Yeti 575), the HiFi does it all and costs less. I’d say I regret not waiting a year to buy the one with the black paint job with a Fox fork, but then I would have missed out on a great year of riding. And, I love the Manitou Minute fork. I actually have one on my Klein too. This Minute with the thicker stanchions is rock steady. The whole bike is rock steady. In the first six months of owning it, I placed the best I ever had in an epic (100KM) race, took it to Moab for a week and rode local trail features I had never imagined being able to ride.

Tips for getting the most out of this versatile bike: I use the ProPedal feature on the Fox rear shock almost every ride. Yes, the bike will climb with the shock fully open, but the stiffer setting makes those long climbs just that much more bearable. And with practice, your hand will find the lever without looking down. The bike has great low speed handling. Leverage this to get through super technical climbs. It’s a very consistent bike – learn how it reacts, and then learn to trust those reactions. Now that you know what it can do, you can push the limits. For example, I manual the front end a lot to compensate for the lower bottom bracket. The fork can take the abuse, so I manual off of step downs where possible to ensure that I clear the chain rings. I chipped a tooth off the big ring in Moab dropping off a stone step down.

Problems have been few: At just under two years, the rear triangle broke mid-ride. And not the carbon seat stays. I think the asymmetrical chain stays are under a lot of torque forces. Gary Fisher replaced the part for free inside of two weeks from start to finish. Additionally, replace the stock tires with something with more grip if you ride in loose or wet conditions. I ride an old set of Panaracers 2.1″ with a tried and true tread design.

Oh, and yes. This bike can goad you to go faster than you may be ready for. On Moab’s Porcupine Rim Trail, my brother and I passed a motocross bike in the r-r-ruff on the downhill running from the rim overlook back to Sand Flats Road. A pinnacle moment for a mountain biker. The guy about fell off his motorbike when we flew past on his left :-0 That’s the kind of bike this one is. Surprisingly competent and tougher than it looks. Great for true all mountain riders who need to pedal up to rail down.

© Big Mountain Riding

The Mission 3 likes the steeps

Vitals:

Cost: $1300 frame and fork, $3750 as tested. Weight: 34 pounds www.diamondback.com

Eric McKeegan tests the top dog in Diamondback’s Mission line, the Mission 3, which is built to favor the descent-loving side of big mountain riding Modern all mountain bikes designed for big mountain riding can handle climbing chores almost as easily as they do descending. (Of course, it’s up to the rider to provide the power and/or mojo.) That said, some bikes are built more for the climbing side of all mountain, and some are set-up more for the steeps. The Mission 3 is one of those, with 2.3″ tires front and rear, and up to 150MM (5.9″) travel front and rear. Unfortunately, all this rough-and-tumble capability comes at a price in weight, the Diamondback Mission 3 tips the scales at 34-pounds (15.4 KG).

Like a good all mountain rig should, the Diamondback Mission 3 encourages chutzpah and aggressive riding. Eric found himself taking the rough way home, plowing through rocks and roots and looking for jumps. The bike also proved worthy in the park, and handled his trip to the indoor park with guts. The bike also features the Truativ Hammerschmidt system up front (an integrated system including the front sprockets, shifter and crank arms.

Components highlights: The Fox RP23 rear shock works well with the Knucklebox suspension system to keep the center of gravity low, eat up small and medium bumps and deal with the occasional big hit. Up front is a new Fox 32 TALAS RL, with 3 travel settings, 110, 130 and 150 MM (4.3″, 5.12″ and 5.9″) with a functional on-the-fly adjustable lever, giving the rider some good options depending on the trail. Shifting: SRAM X.9 rear derailleur and shifters, Truativ Hammerschmidt. Stoppies: Avid Elixir CR 185 f/160 r. A nice touch is the carbon Easton handlebar, the Easton Monkey Lite CNT.

Read the whole Dirt Rag Review of the Diamondback Mission 3.

© Big Mountain Riding

A Rock Gardener’s Delight: Virginia’s Sherando Lake Recreation Area

Big Mountain Riding elements: Big elevation changes, East Coast flow, extended rock gardens, mountain views

The views are great from the trails at Sherando Lake Recreation Area

To make the most of the week of beautiful weather we’re having, I headed up to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a big mountain riding adventure ride at Sherando Lake Recreation Area. Sherando is best-known for its scenic 25-acre lake and campground. However, it also features some very gonzo mountain bike trails. Peppered with rock gardens and featuring more natural flow than many East Coast trails, the area boasts some epic rides. The first time I visited the park it was a late-fall ride and before we were done, I had puked from the bone-rattling ride and cool air (the Gatorade breakfast hadn’t helped either) and one of our party broke a rib. On that ride my style suffered from a trashed 100mm fork as well, which made the rock gardens a special torture. We also found one of the biggest climbs in our area, Mills Creek Trail, with 8 progressively tighter switchbacks on the way up a steep valley side.

On this day I planned on avoiding that particular climb, and having fun by cherry-picking a few of the more “fun” trails. After parking at White Rock Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway several miles south of the turn-off for the park (somewhere in the middle of the ride area, vertically speaking) I started off by railing a quick 2.5 mile creek side descent to Sherando Lake. Fortunately I happened to see an approaching group of hikers well ahead of time, and I halted and let them pass. After pleasantries, it was back to the sheer joy of dropping a smooth single track where gravity carries the rider over the rocks and roots in a flow like the stream running next to the trail. I pumped over a few obstacles and put the puzzle pieces together for a successful crossing of the stone-filled stream bed as the trail flattened out.

In the park, I looked over a notice board description of the trails and chose the Blue Loop Trail as a way of getting back up to above my starting point. I saw I could make a loop of it using Torrey Ridge Trail and the Slacks Trail back to White Gap Trail. AVOID the Blue Loop Trail – or at least the 1-mile segment connecting the lake with Torrey Ridge Trail. It is short, steep and stepped. Loose gravel covers the first 1/4 mile or so, and then stone stairs and rock gardens take care of all but the last 1/4 mile or so, beyond Lookout Rock. Lookout rock is worth the view, though I’d recommend coming down from Torrey Ridge Trail to see it and not up from the campground.

The sandy beach of Sherando Lake below Lookout Rock

Having gained the ridge, it was a 3-mile roller coaster climb up to the Slacks Trail. However, this is the easy section of the Torrey Ridge Trail … The 2.5-mile run down the Slacks Trail is one of the joys of mountain biking. It flows well, and is more than 95% down hill. Two rock gardens spice things up, both rideable, I believe. Although I’m still smarting from going down in the second rock garden (later in the day, in the rain). This trail is so good that I climbed all the way back up to Bald Mountain to do it again, after lunch.

Following a lunch break at the car at White Rock Gap (forewarned is forearmed, I had a cooler full of treats), I pedaled up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Bald Mountain. Originally, I had planned on getting there via the White Rock Falls trail, right across the road from White Rock Gap, but it was marked for foot travel only. The Parkway was a better idea anyway, as traffic was light on a weekday and I could use the big ring for a great deal of the climb. At Bald Mountain, I turned in on the Fire Road, rode for less than a mile and turned right up to Bald Mountain. The Torrey Ridge Trail dropped off to the left near the end of the double-track. It started innocently enough, and I encountered another hiker and asked about the rest of the Torrey Ridge Trail, which descended all the way down the ridge beyond the lake. However, after leaving the hiker, less than 1/2 a mile into the trail, I hit the first rock garden. And this was followed by one of the most extensive rock gardens around. A long, downhill affair with several stages. I had encountered it before, and been thwarted. As I was this time. Too psychologically intimidating.

The bigger they are the harder they fall - that's the trail, folks!

After walking (on trembling chicken legs down through the rock garden, I pedaled it out to the Slacks Trail in the cool Appalachian rain and railed it all again, except for taking a could-have-been-a-lot-worse spill in the second rock garden. I put a foot down on the downhill side too near the edge of the trail, turned my ankle on a rock, and did a tumble in the rocks. Miraculously, I came away with only a banged knee and hip bone. No flowing blood or big bruises. That’s why all good rock gardeners wear protection, my friends. So they don’t end up gazing down horrified at their own bones protruding from their leg or arm. Rocks play for keeps.

Sherando Lake has a great mix of trails for those willing and able to climb for the reward. I’d recommend parking at White Rock Gap or at the Slacks Overlook, as they are in the middle vertically. However, if you have shuttle vehicles, you could park one at Bald Mountain and another down at the end of Torrey Ridge Trail, or at the park itself and get some fun downhill runs in. Big Levels trail also goes off of Bald Mountain, and is an old favorite.

Trails covered on this adventure ride: White Rock Gap Trail, Slacks Trail, Blue Loop Trail, Torrey Ridge Trail

Other big mountain riding favorites in the area: Big Levels Trail …

© Big Mountain Riding

Getting There:

Sherando Lake Recreational Area
96 Sherando Lake Road
Lyndhurst VA 22952

From Interstate 64: Take exist 96 off Interstate 64 just east of Stuarts Draft, Virginia. Go South on State Route 624. The road number changes to State Route 664 at Lyndhurst, Virginia, but there is no distinct turn. Continue South on State Route 664 approximately 8 miles to the entrance to the Sherando Lake Recreation Area on the right. The gate house is approximately 1/2 mile ahead. If the gatehouse is closed, continue through the recreation area to the group camping area at the end of the road.

From the south or southwest: Sherando Lake Recreation Area is accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can get to the Parkway via Route 664 (Wintergreen Resort) or from I-81 N: Take exit 213 for US-11 toward US-340/Greenville, Follow signs for 340 and turn left on US-340, Turn right at Draft Ave/VA-608, Continue to follow VA-608 until it turns into VA-610, follow 610 to Torrey Road, turn right on Torrey Road, Park entrance is on the right in about 4 miles.