Big Mountain Riding

Riding in our pristine National Forests

The weather on the second bigmountainriding.com all mountain adventure ride was pretty much the opposite from the inaugural adventure ride. Temps in the mid- to upper-80’s. Blue skies and dust in many places on the trail (Paradoxically, it was also muddy in places).

FYI for the number weenies out there, this isn’t gonna be your kind of site. Just to put it out at the beginning. That way no one is disappointed when they don’t get the exact kilometers of the ride, or the elevation change to the nearest 50-meters. Distance = unknown (5-10 miles); Elevation gain = 1,500 – 2,000 feet (based on computations from the USGS map).

I parked at the Appalachian Trail (AT) parking lot on US 501 just north of the intersection with US 130, in Amherst Co., Va., next to the James River. I had scouted out this ride back in March, on foot. The scouting trip proved my initial idea of using a trail called Peavine Mountain Trail was a no-go, as it seemed to be well-maintained Forest Service Road (FSR) even though on my old map it was marked as singletrack. However, the scouting trip revealed that there was an old section of the AT left over from where they had bypassed it. It went up over a ridge peaking at the Peavine Mountain Trail and then descended back down to the James River. So, I decided to ride this remnant as a loop, using a FSR to connect to the beginning of the left-over AT section.

Unmarked entrance to former AT section on left.

I packed my backcountry adventure riding gear, even though the temperatures this time made it a bit more difficult of a decision than the initial adventure ride, where the cold temperatures made it easy to pack on the extra gear in an attempt to stay warm. I threw a bee-sting pain reliever kit into my first aid pack, and debated taking out the space blanket, but how much weight does that really add? Fortunately I did bring a lot of water.

I crossed 501 and started the climb on State Road 812. The heat hit immediately after I pointed the front wheel uphill. I ground gears up about 200-feet of elevation gain and then the road dropped down to the creek bed level. I turned onto FSR 36, but only to cross Rocky Row Run and the intersection with the AT remnant.

I was not looking forward to the designed-for-hikers climb in the heat. As I entered the woods, I got my heart rate going quickly on the initial steep turn or two. The climb was lined with pine needles, slowly baking in the sun. I almost put my still-winterized heart through my sternum on a needly tight switch back – all out pedaling until I slid out both wheels at pretty much the same time.

Extra points for style?

I figured it was a good idea to not think about all the creepy crawlies that lurked under the needles. Specifically the ticks. That was my main fear – lymes disease carrying ticks. I was wearing soccer socks doused liberally in Cutter Outdoorsman repellent, in an attempt to deter ticks.

At the top, near where the trail peaked out at the intersection with FSR 36, a Pine tree lay along the trail. It is actually set up well to be turned into a log ride with the removal of a few limbs. I had noted it on my hike as well, and seeing it again I think I may bring my Sven Saw with me the next time I ride up there.

Pine log lying along trail - prime for turning into a log ride.

At the top of the climb, I paused roadside and donned my crash pads – a bit of overkill, but I figure better safe than sorry on these backcountry, big mountain rides. I knew the descent had some rocky sections, and the slipperiness of the pine needles on the climb had me thinking ahead to how they’d behave under tire on the down hill.

The underbrush was taking up more of the trail on each side than it had when I hiked there in March. And Rhododendrons are not friendly to knuckles. I clipped a few on my way down, crossing a few logs while trying not to think about the log mishap I’d had on the Whetstone Ridge Trail. I stopped to look at the scenic ledges alongside the trail right before the down hill got interesting. They make a good spot to lunch, as the creek below babbles away, and there is open rock for sitting.

Ledges trailside are a good spot for a break.

I didn’t feel much like hanging around, as I was not hungry, and it was hot. I remounted and worked down the hill to the first creek crossing, hoping for luck in the leaf-littered trail. Nothing shifted too much, and I enjoyed the little rock steps on the way down, and the few minor hairy spots that required trusting the bike on the looser trail surfaces.

Creekside I photo-opped my bike, Jack Rabbit Slim, and made sure I took in more water. I also busted the map out and decided that enough was not enough. I was now almost back to US 130, and I decided to climb back up to FSR 36 on Cashaw Creek Trail, which intersected with the AT remnant just before the next creek crossing, and then descend the AT drop again.  It looked like the Cashaw Creek Trail went right across the contour lines, but that there was some decent space between the contour lines, so I hoped for a doable climb.

I turned onto the unmarked and unlabeled Cashaw Creek Trail and started the climb on the fire road. The trail had spaced out berms for erosion, and had spin out marks occasionally from motocross bikes or ATV’s. Although the climb was hot, it was shallow enough to allow mostly middle ring climbing.

Cashaw Creek Trail

Cashaw Creek Trail would be a good singlespeed climbing route. The AT remnant is a bit steep for climbing. The trail climbed to an earth work – where the Forest Service bulldozes up a berm to block access to trails by automobiles – and then intersected with another trail. The USGS map I was using was 10-years old, and I was to find many an unmarked trail (and these are trails big enough for Jeeps). I paused here and decided to extend the ride even further. Enough was still not enough. I decided to take the Peavine Mountain Trail (FSR 36) south east to either the Blue Ridge Parkway, or the Pedlar ATV Trails.

However, as I started downhill on what I thought was FSR 36, I encountered trees growing in the trail bed within a hundred yards, and I decided to check the map again, before I got too far downhill.

Don't forget to enjoy the scenery.

It was not the right trail. I rode the opposite direction until I intersected with FSR 36 at a scenic clear cut logging site, and then turned back and rode down to another intersection I had seen, that led in the direction I wanted to go. I rode over another big earth work and descended on overgrown doubletrack, taking a few more log crossings and dodging low-hanging limbs. When I came to a junction of another mostly-unused trail, followed shortly afterward by a creek crossing, I busted out the map and tried to figure out where I was. By now I had to admit I was just dead reckoning my way across Peavine Mountain, hoping that I’d see the ATV trails through the woods or hear cars on the Blue Ridge Parkway. My main concern was to not expend a lot of energy riding up a deadend trail. Riding down was OK.

On the map, the creek that should have been in the vicinity of where I believed I was was Cashaw Creek. If I was crossing a creek then the South Pedlar ATV trails should be off on the hillside to the Southeast. I took advantage of an open forest floor from a fire the year before, and cut down through the woods, paralleling the creek until I came to a likely crossing spot. On the hillside I could see an old trail bed, and I forded the creek and started up the hill, pushing through encroaching rhododendron bushes.

Overgrown, unlisted trails, Pedlar Ranger District.

Optimism swept over me and I started strutting a little, at least internally. I had hit right on the ATV trails, using dead reckoning! I could see another, bigger, trail bed up in the woods ahead. However, when I got up to it, I realized that it was another out of use road, and only looked in use because of the recent fire. The fire fighters must have used it to access the terrain. I flipped a coin mentally and went to the right. The wiry limbs of the rhododendron brush soon had me fighting to make headway and struggling to pull my bike through some patches. Not much of the road bed was rideable. However, I could see I was climbing up to a ridge, and I hoped that would give me some perspective.

Good news at the top of the ridge: I could see the red dirt swath of a major trail up to my left. I rode out along the ridge, dodging deadfalls and arrived on the ATV trails. I think if I would have turned left back when I flipped for which way to go, I may have intersected the ATV trail even sooner. Consulting the map again, I decided this must be the Lasso Trail on the ATV trails, which goes out and back to a hilltop. Oriented, I rode to my right, to the Southeast. I was glad to be on these ATV trails, which is saying a lot for me. At one point back in 1997, I almost finished my mountain biking days on these trails. And in April, too! Now, though, they were the sign I had been looking for, a quantifiable reference point.

You are here! The ATV trails provided a reference point.

My water supply was holding up well, and I started up a gradual climb, sipping water and popping an electrolyte pill. Soon enough I intersected with the main trail and turned to the right again, opting for the shorter trip to the parking lot. A good decision, as it also provided some excellent views, including one that let me know just how far it was to my car. I’ll nominate this sensation as a hallmark of big mountain riding. When the rider encounters a panoramic view and then realizes that over there, way over there, is where he has to ride. The following photo may illustrate this. I stopped to enjoy an overlook of the James River valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains skylining the scene to the Southwest. Framed in the middle of the scene was the Norfolk Southern Railroad bridge angling across the waters of the James right above the dam. And I had left my car parked in the AT trailhead lot right next to the northern end of that bridge. The only good thing about this particular knowledge was that I was looking down on the scene from at least 1,000 feet above that bridge, so the ride would be mostly down hill. The red arrow in the panoramic shot below points to where the car was.

Ride debrief continues below the photo …

Nice view. It's really that far back to the car?

Highlights of the downhill on the ATV trail were a few pumped front sides on the berm jumps that are scatted along this ATV trail system, and the encounter with a motocrosser, where I heard him climbing up to me and we happened to meet right at one of those berms. I pumped into the front side, like BriLo preaches, and aired it out past the moto man.

At the bottom of the trail, I paused to bake a little in the Rattlesnake parking lot and verify to re-familiarize myself with the trail system using the posted map. It was a lot of fun, getting air on all those down hill berms, and seeing some potential for trail side rock launches for a braver day.

Rattlesnake Parking lot of South Pedlar ATV trails

From the parking lot it was out onto US 130 for a mostly downhill run back to the parking lot. Luckily only one or two cars came along and I didn’t encounter any logging trucks going my way. They were working on the Snowden Bridge, and it all looked like a downsized James Bond scene in the making, with the dam behind the bridge, and the construction workers flagging traffic. I saw another biker – or at least his rig, an old Trooper with a Surly singlespeed on top. Maybe they were swimming or kayaking in the James.

Back at the car I wished I had put a Mountain Dew in Rocky Row Run to stay cool. I packed up and headed home via Big Island where I could pick up a Gatorade and replace some lost electrolytes.

A fun ride with options to expand and explore on the many unmarked, out-of-use road beds that are scattered through the woods of the Pedlar Ranger District. Would be even better on a cooler day.

©Big Mountain Riding

The soft-hued Blue Ridge Mountains.