|   Thanks for the Eliz. Furnace ride mtnpat!!! (EPIC LONG READ) | Gill-Again
May 20, 2002 6:59 AM | | I had a great time. I actually dreamed about the Bear Wallow downhill last night.
--- Ride recap --- (not for the weak of heart LONG)
Corey (jehu) and I headed out to the trailhead on route 66 with plenty of time to spare, only to realize I had forgotten the directions (hey, it was way early). We turned around and backtracked to get the map. End result, we no longer had plenty of time to spare...
Arrive at the trailhead about 15 minute late - not bad considering my screw up. We go through the introductions and chat a bit, then head out. It's a bit cool out, but with a LONG fireroad climb ahead of us, I decide to ditch the jacket in my already way overloaded hydro pac (I swear that thing must have weighed 30 pounds). We begin the first climb and casual chatting gradually turns to more labored chatting as our lungs strain.
Just as I thought my legs would give out, we turn off of the fire road onto the Mud Hole Gap trail. Nothing like four stream crossings in a couple hundered yards to get you on your toes! The reason for the trail's name quickly became evident as there were numerous mud bogs to navigate.
After playing through the mud a while, we pop back out onto the fireroad in search of the elusive purple trail. Much of this section of fireroad points downhill, so Corey, Jill, and I let gravity exert it's force on us and accelerated to terminal velocity.
With our eyes tearing from the speed, we cameto a "T" in the road and had to grab a douple handfull of brakes to stop in time. Hmm, Pat didn't mention anything about a "T" in the road... I wonder which way we're supposed to go? Just as those questions were forming in our minds, we hear Pat yelling from way back up the fireroad that we missed the turnoff for the purple trail. D'oh! Note to self - don't ride ahead of the group ride leader when you don't know the trail!!! We pedal back up the fireroad and join the rest of the group at the trailhead. Apparently in our quest for speed we rode right by it.
We wait for a bit at the trailhead to catch our breath and have a couple gulps of water. The purple trail seems to go straight up the mountainside, but Pat tells us "it's only steep for the last 100 yards". Note to Pat - a half-mile DOES NOT equal 100 yards (heh, heh)!!! We made the grind to the top and stopped for a powerbar break. Then the payoff for the climb and fast, swoopy, and rocky downhill that bled the elevation gain off entirely too quickly.
This downhill dropped us back onto the fireroad and we continued the climb up to the reservoire, where we decided to stop for lunch. After snagging a quick meal and watching Corey poision the water supply by dunking his feet in the reserviore (heh, heh), we took a trail that doubled back, went around the far side of the reserviore and dumped back onto the fireroad.
At this point Dan and Randy decided to do the mile long hike-a-bike to the top of Green Mountain instead of following us to the top of Signal Knob and the ridgeline trail over to the top of Green Mountain. The rest of us continued on to the top of Signal Knob.
We soon learned that the hike-a-bike route was the smart call as the trail from Signal Knob over to Green Mountain was a leg butcher - just gentle enough of a slope to let you think you could ride it, but just enough steepness to make you blow up every couple hundred yards.
Corey, who had been riding at or near the front of the pack, was lagging behind and bonking bad, so I stopped to see if he needed anything. After wolfing down a power bar I gave him, there was an immediate spike in his energy level. The "crunch" part of that Vanilla Crunch powerbar must have been tiny rocks of crack or something, because suddenly Corey was powering through some pretty hairy sections of the trail.
Just as I could feel the last faint echoes of power leave my legs, we were at the top of Green mountain and about to begin the infamous Bear Wallow trail - four miles of uninterrupted, gravity assisted, twisty, smooth with just enough rock gardens to keep you honest, downhill bliss. This was the payoff for the whole day of mostly climbing. This was the crown jewel of Elizabeth Furnace. This was the trail that gave me a concussion last time I rode it and this was the trail that seperated a buddy of mine's calf muscles from the bone - a trail to enjoy, but not be taken lightly.
I decided this was the time to munch my last powerbar and conjure up the last small bits of concentration I could muster from my oxygen-deprived brain. After down hiking the first hundred yards or so ove virtually unridable terrain, we pointed the bikes down and eased our fingeres off the rake levers. I was in the lead, followed by Corey and Jill. Pat was relegated to sweeper duty. About half way doen, I decided to squeeze through a chute between a large rock and a larger tree. Most of me made it through and my shoulder decided to test the willingness of the tree to move. The tree won. Corey took that opportunity to pass by on the better line that I only noticed when I was stopped to pull bark from my flesh. That's about the last I saw of him, as he's d@mn fast on those downhills.
The further down the trail we progressed the smoother and faster it became, till we hit the fireroad again and the ride was over.
Final ride recap -
Mechanicals - only one flat
Injuries - none except for cuts, scrapes, and small bruises
Ticks - several
Sore legs - many
Smiles - ALL!!!
Thanks again Pat for organizing this ride! |
| re: furnace epic | rideLIKEjehu
May 20, 2002 7:22 AM | | great write-up gil! i don't think i've ever bonked that hard before. i really thought i was just going to curl up on a rock and sleep it off... thanks for the crunchy crack!
I thought i'd done a thorough check, but felt another b@stard tick crawling up my neck last nite after i got home...
corey
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www.egoinc.org |
| re: furnace epic | Gill-Again
May 20, 2002 8:43 AM | | I was and am amazed that I didn't pick up a single tick. I can't believe that I didn't get any poison ivy as many times as I dabbed (with my arms). I never saw any around the trail, so maybe Pat was right that it just doesn't grow around there. If that's the case, I think I'll do a majority of my riding out that way this summer!!! |
| Wasn't me | mtnpat
May 20, 2002 8:59 AM | | ...that made the poison ivy comment. I did say that I never get it, but then again I don't dab with my arms (heh, heh). |
| Hmmm... | Gill-Again
May 20, 2002 12:18 PM | | Must have been one of those voices in my head then (heh, heh) and don't knock the arm dabbing till you try it. It makes for some up close and personal introductions to the surrounding rocks. I met quite a few yesterday. |
| rocks of crack | mtnpat
May 20, 2002 7:29 AM | | Same trail that dislocated my friends shoulder back in February, making us walk 1 1/2 hours to get out, with him in extreme pain the whole time.
Props must be given to Dennis for making the entire climb to the tower without so much as a dab!!!
What's a rake lever (heh heh)? |
| I got your "rake lever" right here... | Gill-Again
May 20, 2002 8:44 AM | | I still owe you for that mudpuddle dousing!!!
When we riding again? |
| I got your "rake lever" right here... | mtnpat
May 20, 2002 8:57 AM | | Got a road bike?
Every Wednesday night, Skyline Drive, Front Royal (of course), 6:00pm. No mud puddles there, just hills, deer and black bear. |
| Sounds awesome, but... | Gill-Again
May 20, 2002 12:11 PM | | I doubt I could ever make it out there by 6pm. Thanks for the invite though! |
| Sounds deliciously brutal. | Bikebreath
May 20, 2002 7:33 AM | | I went last Sunday, Mother's Day. We skipped that extra purple section and went straight for Signal Knob. I have a ride report and I was just waiting for the pics. You'll see it one day.
Nice report, Gill. Move to the head of the class.
Bb, [ felt the effects of that ride for 3 days. ] |
| I hear ya... | Gill-Again
May 20, 2002 8:46 AM | | Funny thing is that the body parts that are the sorest are my arms. Serious arm pump on those downhills! |
| you did it all on the Big Hit, right? | gonzostrike
May 20, 2002 7:47 AM | | only a wuss would have opted for the Truth. heh heh heh.
how long did the whole epic last?
can you, JohnH & I ride it in the Fall?
over... |
| I guess I'm a wuss then (heh, heh) | Gill-Again
May 20, 2002 8:51 AM | | I left the FSR in the garage where it belongs (at least on a ride like that). It took us 5.5 hours total, but that includes a stop for lunch at the reservoir.
We can definitely do that ride this Fall. When the leaves are all over the trail, the conditions are just that much harder. It's always fun not knowing if there's a suddent dip in the trail or if that pile of leaves is just that or a rock in disguise. |
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