Mountain Biking - Off-road in Virginia USA

I am to visit Virginia for a short time at the end of feb 2002 and am very keen to "get out and ride" in the shenandoah valley or appalachians (gwnf??). I am keen to meet up with group for singletrack day riding.
contact me with suggestions etc...
cheers, tim

Check out the ride calendar for the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts, MORE, at www.more-mtb.org They usually lead a couple of rides a month in the GW or Frederick Watershed areas.

Where in VA? I'm in the southwest corner and we have a ton of good riding down here, if you don't mind a little snow now and again.

Geronimo,

The southwest corner of Va? Ever hear of Honaker? I'm in the northern Va area now but I still have family in Honaker. Beautiful area, and talk about some climbs!

You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy!

I cant say as ive heard of honaker. I'm at VT in blacksburg but originally from up there in Fairfax. Right now I'm waiting on a frame to build a thinly disguised DH bike with 3 chainrings.... the hills down here are too much fun.

Crash -

You want to check out the areas of the George Washington National Forest West of Harrisonburg, VA

Get in touch with these guys, they can help you out w/ info
http://www.shenandoahbicycle.com/

Also, check www.mtntouring.com

Tons of trails near the Todd Lake campground area. Some of the best riding you will experience on the east coast, no exaggeration.

Originally posted by Geronimo
I cant say as ive heard of honaker. I'm at VT in blacksburg but originally from up there in Fairfax. Right now I'm waiting on a frame to build a thinly disguised DH bike with 3 chainrings.... the hills down here are too much fun.

Honaker is a couple hundred miles southwest from Blacksburg. When you said the southwest corner I thought you meant the "corner". Blacksburg is a major metropolitan area compared to Honaker. I'm working in Fairfax, Reston to be exact. The hills are where it's at. There is nothing more fun than getting someone new to the area on those hills and watching them sweat it out going up and seeing their eyes bug going down.

riderx, did you come out for the shenandoah 100 last fall? I was one of the people working checkpoint 4.

hardball, I can only assume you've found wakefield, fountainhead and the shorty trail off baron cameron court. I will be back up in that neck of the woods in march, we should get together for a ride.

If you're going to be down around Bristol, I think there's some good off-road riding around Damascus. (Lots of good stuff for roadies, too.) To get some info, you might call one of the outfitters on this page:
http://www.damascus.org/outfitters.html

Originally posted by Geronimo
riderx, did you come out for the shenandoah 100 last fall? I was one of the people working checkpoint 4.
No, wasn't at the SM100. I usually get down for the MTB fest., but I missed it this year. I usually get down a few times a year for a bike weekend camping trip. We camp at the Todd Lake campground, right down the road from where the SM100 starts.

Can you point me towards some info about Blacksburg? Looking to relocate from Balto. sometime in the not to distant future. Want good riding nearby, some culture, decent jobs - all in a place without the size of Balto. Any info would be appreciated (websites, your own opinions), especially what the tech jobs are like down there.

Thanks.

Roanoke might be more your size, Norfolk-Southern has a major office there, as well as various banks and cable companies. www.bev.org and www.blacksburg.va.us are two sites for B-burg. There are usually university jobs avail from time to time. I'm not sure what your resume' looks like but a friend of mine is departing from university network support at the end of the month. The riding is pretty sweet down here. just out of town is the national forest, lots of pretty long climbs (1.5 - 2 miles/ 1000'+ elevation gain) screamer downhills, and fairly technical trails in general. Up near Roanoke there is also some good terrain. the local shop has some maps of various areas online www.eastcoasters.com drop me a mail if you are headed down this way, I'll give you the guided tour.

Thanks for the info Geronimo. Charlottsville has been a consideration, it's about the size city I can deal with, but it looks like the riding is a little ways out. Right now, I'm 10 min from downtown Baltimore and the best trails in the area are 3/4 of a mile from my back door. Trying to find a similar situation where ever I go.

Asheville NC is also pretty swank riding and has lots of class.

The trailhead here is a 2 mile spin (mostly downhill) from my backdoor. It's a nice warmup for the 1.5 mile climb that starts the off road stuff. Most of the climbs here are approx. 1000' in elevation gain and cover 1 to 2 miles. Lots of variety and will certainly hone your technical skills.