[CraigCreekRider offline]

If you are planning on traveling to and riding in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and probably parts of surrounding states you may want to rethink it, at least temporarily. Huge parts of these states are out of power and covered with blowdowns from a major windstorm last Friday. I have been chainsawing the last few days just to clean up yards and roads. I shutter to think what the trails look like. Early reports are all bad. It will probably take a month or so to clean them up.

[ButchA offline]

That's true... I *tried* riding at Powhite Park earlier yesterday before it got way too hot, and as seen in my post about it, the place was TRASHED by the storm!

viewtopic.php?f=88&t=8341

It's going to take a while for the place to get cleaned up...

[trnsprt offline]

True, but in a lot of places the local trail maintainers have been walking trails and completing maintenance. It may take a while until EVERYTHING is back at 100% but most of the commonly ridden areas are back to rideable. Now the HEAT... that is a different story. I used to ride regularly in Tucson after work in the summer around 17:00. But that wasn't near as bad as this stuff here. Hot and humid. It's horrible. I don't know why I let my wife talk me into moving back to the East. No offense intended.

[CraigCreekRider offline]

Reports in now that Carvins's Cove is completely rideable now with just a few trees left. No doubt, the result of intense volunteer effort. Last I heard Douthat State park was closed but no new updates on that one. We did a couple of rides in the national forest last week and a lot of that stuff held up pretty well. Seems like the storm hit some areas hard and left others alone. Higher elevation stuff was fine, but down in the hollers Derecko took out a lot of stuff. Sorry for the negative tone of the thread, must have been the result of no power and chainsaw elbowitis.

[fleetwood offline]

CCR, I left town the morning after the storms. Saw lots of damage along I-64 heading west Saturday AM and received reports here and there about local trail damage. Man, what a mess.

I saw that Douthat SP opened back up yesterday, but it didn't say anything of the trails. Any idea how things are out there as well as the GWNF trails north of the park (Middle Mtn, Brushy Ridge, Little Mare)?

[fleetwood offline]

I received an update directly from DSP: trail system is closed until it can be fully evaluated and cleaned up.

[trnsprt offline]

@ CCR: Anyone volunteering to swing a saw in this heat has earned the right to be in a bad mood!

[CraigCreekRider offline]

I received an update directly from DSP: trail system is closed until it can be fully evaluated and cleaned up.

Doesn't sound too good for Douthat. The park crew there is not all that proactive about downed trees anyway. Supposed to hook up with some guys next weekend in the GNF near there. I'll give you the report afterwards.

[CraigCreekRider offline]

@ CCR: Anyone volunteering to swing a saw in this heat has earned the right to be in a bad mood!

And that was just my property and my dads property. Definitely not a good time of year for sawing, but I will do some trail work soon. Hopefully it will drop back off 100F too.

Just beware of moody old guy swinging a chainsaw.

[fleetwood offline]

I received an update directly from DSP: trail system is closed until it can be fully evaluated and cleaned up.

Doesn't sound too good for Douthat. The park crew there is not all that proactive about downed trees anyway. Supposed to hook up with some guys next weekend in the GNF near there. I'll give you the report afterwards.

I assumed that if the GWNF was as bad as everywhere else that it would take a long time to get cleaned up due to it's vastness. Do you work with the Forest Service or CAMBC or someone, or just go up all rogue-like with your chainsaw? I'd offer to help, but being a 5-6 hour round trip it may not be the best use of my time, especially considering there is more cleaning up to do here locally. Good luck and be careful out there.

[CraigCreekRider offline]

Supposed to hook up with some guys next weekend in the GNF near there. I'll give you the report afterwards.

I assumed that if the GWNF was as bad as everywhere else that it would take a long time to get cleaned up due to it's vastness. Do you work with the Forest Service or CAMBC or someone, or just go up all rogue-like with your chainsaw? I'd offer to help, but being a 5-6 hour round trip it may not be the best use of my time, especially considering there is more cleaning up to do here locally. Good luck and be careful out there.

Yea we are just doing a ride, not trailwork on the GNF. I expect a lot of bushwhacking will be involved as some of this route was not good before the storm. Plan is to go up Sandy Gap trail, across the top of Warm Spring Mountain and down Little Mare as a shuttle. Sandy Gap was a mess the last time I went up it so I would guess its worse now.

We are also in the process of forming a trail maintenance crew through Roanoke IMBA, but will probably work on some stuff closer to home first before we branch as far out as Clifton Forge.

[jtorlando25 offline]

I guess living in the corporate zombie mecca that is northern VA has its perks...these people LOVE mountain biking lol. Our local hotspot, Fountainhead was completely cleared by Thursday of last week. All the other trails are getting cleared as well, some taking more time than others but it's not due to any shortage of volunteers.

[8valvegrowl offline]

I almost felt bad for y'all down in the Mid-Atlantic as I swung my legs over my bike the past week, enjoying 35% humidity, bluebird skies, a nice breeze, and 75 degree weather. Then, I hit the singletrack and forgot all about it.

Sorry to hear about all the damage and ugly weather. Glad to hear things are shaping up and the nasty weather has broken.

Hazy, hot, and humid summers are one of the main reasons I left down there for VT. I rode at Patapsco on Memorial Day (and Emmitsburg, and Hashawha) while visiting the in-laws. Each day was a sweat-fest, phew!

[Jared13 offline]

Just beware of moody old guy swinging a chainsaw.

LOL!
Always good advice!


We had a storm tear through the central part of the state a few months back. The trail fairies worked their magic within a week or so. One of the perks having a few trails inside the city limits!

Amazingly, facebook helped also. They have dedicated pages for the trails and the people working posted when they were going out, what they did, and what still needed to be done. It kept a lot of folks from starting at areas that were already cleared out.

[CraigCreekRider offline]

Somebody snagged this picture as Derecko moved through Roanoke. 81 mph winds at the airport. Straight line winds but dark as a tornado. I walked outside for a minute and immediately got grit in my eyes. 15 minutes later it was over.