Dirt_Dad
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I've repeatedly had the good fortune of going with WV with a local. The sheriff of the county, the friend's dad who owns the bar, spklbuk, and now trikepilot. It's good to be in with the locals. It makes everything easier.
Trikepilot and I both bought Yamaha 2008 WR250Rs this summer. We've talked on and off about our experiences learning our new (to us) little bikes. He kept suggesting we do a ride and we finally met up at Seneca Rocks last weekend.
Turns out he's a local there. People at the store, or the neighbors around the house that someone had provided him for that weekend, he's got friends everywhere. Spent years as a climbing guide there and really knows his way around that area. It was a weekend where I could relax, follow a knowledgeable guy and have a blast.
First was Smith Mountain Road. I was aware of this road, but never done it. During the Romney event last spring thfraser took his group on this road. Everyone raved about it. I've been wanting to try it.
By the way, I took very few still shots. The one above was grabbed from my helmet camera. Trikepilot shared a few of his with me and I hope he doesn't get too annoyed at me if I post some of his here.
Smith Mountain is a cool mountain road with a few gates across it. Fortunately trikepilot knew that it was fine to just open and close them and keep going. Had I been alone I'm pretty sure I would have turned around out of fear of getting shot. As the video below shows, you're riding with the cows at some points along the road. Fun road. I see why everyone liked it.
Next was an attempt to find another landmark in the area. I believe we were looking for High Knob, but I may have that wrong. We started out Smoke Hole Road, a very famous paved twisty in the area, then turned off onto a dirt road. Up to the top of the mountain where the road first widened into a field on top of the mountain, then ducked into the woods. We quickly got into some woods riding. Which resulted in a fair amount of tree ducking. More shots from the helmet cam.
It was a fairly off-camber trail, and it would not have been too difficult to go around them. But to do so would have required us to make new tracks in the woods. Although there were no "No Vehicle" signs anywhere, we still weren't sure if we were welcomed on bikes in this area, so making new trails was not a prudent move. So we stuck to the trail, leaned our bikes way over and duckwalked under the trees. Leaving no evidence of our visit.
We never did find out intended sight, but it was more about the ride than the destination. I did have a scare at one point along this trail. I was paying too much attention to the leaf covered rocks and not enough attention to the fallen trees on the side of the trail. That all changed when I felt a thick stick against my throat. I had ridden between the branches of a fallen tree somehow managing not to impale my throat in the process. I had branches in front of and behind my neck. I never considered I could be taken out at 3 mph still upright on my bike. It messed with my head for a few seconds.
It was also during this section that I was wondering why was I not able to keep up with trikepilot? He's always told me he was pretty new to riding in general. I've never been a big fan of technical stuff, but still, how is he getting away from me? Later that evening he told me he had been a mountain biker for years, and riding the WR with real suspension was a piece of cake for him. That made sense to me. He learned those technical skills years ago with lot of practice on much stiffer bikes. I'm much more of a slow and deliberate rider when I find myself in technical environments. He'll crush me in a race in the woods.
Next up, a peek from the mountains down on Seneca Rocks. A view I've never seen before. Had to view it through the trees, not a good photo site.
Down the mountain, then up another on a pretty rocky "road." It was jeep passable, but just rock after rock. To the top and another fence. This time they did not want you passing through.
The colors were very close to peak in a lot of places we saw. Other area still have a couple of weeks to go.
Started down that mountain and took a turn, only to end up at another locked gate. We took a break, and trikepilot mentioned he could probably get the name of the owner of this land from the proprietor of the store in Seneca Rocks. <<Jumping ahead - trikepilot did talk to the owner of the store the next day and was told the man who owned the property was murdered by his own son the day before...maybe even while we were sitting at the gate...talk about timing>>
Back to the house for the evening. The porch of the house had a spectacular view of Seneca Rocks. The weather was perfect and fortunately one of us was a wiz with the grill (not me). After arriving back home my wife got a little annoyed with me repeatedly telling her how great the pork had been the night before. She likes to point out when I'm not being very smart.
Sunday was another perfect weather day. Up and over Dolly Sodds the colors were pretty nice.
Then out Rt 72. One of my favorite paved road in WV.
Finally over to an out and back I had taken Sails2xxs on during the Romeny event last spring. It's a fun little jaunt up and over the mountain down to the river.
I badgered trikepilot into taking a couple of action shots for me on that road. These next couple are his photos.
It was a good time. Like I said, good to go someplace with an expert on the area. Thanks to trikepilot for showing me around.
Oh, by the way, the cover shot of this video is another trikepilot photo from Smith Mountain Road. Good looking stuff.
Seneca Rocks WR250R
Trikepilot and I both bought Yamaha 2008 WR250Rs this summer. We've talked on and off about our experiences learning our new (to us) little bikes. He kept suggesting we do a ride and we finally met up at Seneca Rocks last weekend.
Turns out he's a local there. People at the store, or the neighbors around the house that someone had provided him for that weekend, he's got friends everywhere. Spent years as a climbing guide there and really knows his way around that area. It was a weekend where I could relax, follow a knowledgeable guy and have a blast.
First was Smith Mountain Road. I was aware of this road, but never done it. During the Romney event last spring thfraser took his group on this road. Everyone raved about it. I've been wanting to try it.
By the way, I took very few still shots. The one above was grabbed from my helmet camera. Trikepilot shared a few of his with me and I hope he doesn't get too annoyed at me if I post some of his here.
Smith Mountain is a cool mountain road with a few gates across it. Fortunately trikepilot knew that it was fine to just open and close them and keep going. Had I been alone I'm pretty sure I would have turned around out of fear of getting shot. As the video below shows, you're riding with the cows at some points along the road. Fun road. I see why everyone liked it.
Next was an attempt to find another landmark in the area. I believe we were looking for High Knob, but I may have that wrong. We started out Smoke Hole Road, a very famous paved twisty in the area, then turned off onto a dirt road. Up to the top of the mountain where the road first widened into a field on top of the mountain, then ducked into the woods. We quickly got into some woods riding. Which resulted in a fair amount of tree ducking. More shots from the helmet cam.
It was a fairly off-camber trail, and it would not have been too difficult to go around them. But to do so would have required us to make new tracks in the woods. Although there were no "No Vehicle" signs anywhere, we still weren't sure if we were welcomed on bikes in this area, so making new trails was not a prudent move. So we stuck to the trail, leaned our bikes way over and duckwalked under the trees. Leaving no evidence of our visit.
We never did find out intended sight, but it was more about the ride than the destination. I did have a scare at one point along this trail. I was paying too much attention to the leaf covered rocks and not enough attention to the fallen trees on the side of the trail. That all changed when I felt a thick stick against my throat. I had ridden between the branches of a fallen tree somehow managing not to impale my throat in the process. I had branches in front of and behind my neck. I never considered I could be taken out at 3 mph still upright on my bike. It messed with my head for a few seconds.
It was also during this section that I was wondering why was I not able to keep up with trikepilot? He's always told me he was pretty new to riding in general. I've never been a big fan of technical stuff, but still, how is he getting away from me? Later that evening he told me he had been a mountain biker for years, and riding the WR with real suspension was a piece of cake for him. That made sense to me. He learned those technical skills years ago with lot of practice on much stiffer bikes. I'm much more of a slow and deliberate rider when I find myself in technical environments. He'll crush me in a race in the woods.
Next up, a peek from the mountains down on Seneca Rocks. A view I've never seen before. Had to view it through the trees, not a good photo site.
Down the mountain, then up another on a pretty rocky "road." It was jeep passable, but just rock after rock. To the top and another fence. This time they did not want you passing through.
The colors were very close to peak in a lot of places we saw. Other area still have a couple of weeks to go.
Started down that mountain and took a turn, only to end up at another locked gate. We took a break, and trikepilot mentioned he could probably get the name of the owner of this land from the proprietor of the store in Seneca Rocks. <<Jumping ahead - trikepilot did talk to the owner of the store the next day and was told the man who owned the property was murdered by his own son the day before...maybe even while we were sitting at the gate...talk about timing>>
Back to the house for the evening. The porch of the house had a spectacular view of Seneca Rocks. The weather was perfect and fortunately one of us was a wiz with the grill (not me). After arriving back home my wife got a little annoyed with me repeatedly telling her how great the pork had been the night before. She likes to point out when I'm not being very smart.
Sunday was another perfect weather day. Up and over Dolly Sodds the colors were pretty nice.
Then out Rt 72. One of my favorite paved road in WV.
Finally over to an out and back I had taken Sails2xxs on during the Romeny event last spring. It's a fun little jaunt up and over the mountain down to the river.
I badgered trikepilot into taking a couple of action shots for me on that road. These next couple are his photos.
It was a good time. Like I said, good to go someplace with an expert on the area. Thanks to trikepilot for showing me around.
Oh, by the way, the cover shot of this video is another trikepilot photo from Smith Mountain Road. Good looking stuff.
Seneca Rocks WR250R
