M
Michael Dart
Guest
I had scheduled this last weekend for group rides to kickoff my bringing MORE (Mid-Atlantic Off Road
Enthusiasts) to Richmond on Saturday and Sunday. Friday I received a email from my friend Mark that
we were getting visitors from West Virginia, the famous Jr expert DH'er and Snowshoe resident Mikey
"Swiss" Valach and J-Rod (who is a national junior snowboard champion and beginner DH'er). The rides
were piling up!
Saturday morning began with a freeride session at Forest Hill Park. Mikey and J-Rod each had new
bikes to try out, a SC V-10 and Giant Team DH respectively. Mikey is a very smooth rider and I
learned a lot from him on some lines we had worked out at the park. Mark had the idea to show Mikey
a very technical chute on the west end of Bells Island (in the middle of the James River downtown)
so we all rode over there. As we did it started raining which gave the WV boys an instant advantage.
Mikey sized up the chute. His first line which lined him up better for a turn forced him to pull up
hard over a hole and overshoot the turn. The second attempt he took a smoother but tighter line
inside the drop. He then did a trackstand and a hop to get the bike pointed the right way and
continued down over the rocks to a final wheelie drop off the last rock. Sweet. There is a smoother
drop next to it about 8 feet tall. ( I can roll it easily on my XC bike) Mikey decides to launch off
the lip and land flat at the bottom. OW! But the V-10 sucks it up well.
I left them at about 11:30 to go to the group ride at Pocahontas SP. Six other riders showed up but
the Northern VA MORE guys didn't show up because of a line of T-storms they saw on Weather Channel
radar. What they didn't know they had already blown through and the sun came out again. We had a
great ride. The rain had made the trails perfectly tacky with excellent traction to rail the
corners. The few spots that had been muddy from the winter had been packed down smooth again. Kind
of self healing trails. ;^) It is actually a tribute to the care we used installing the trails to
avoid trouble spots.
Saturday evening about 7 I took Mikey and J-Rod out for an urban night ride. A couple of other local
friends made it too. We hit the various highlights of Richmond City riding starting off with some
warm-up wall drops at Tredegar, going up to the "white walls" which are some slightly slanted
concrete retaining walls with a transition built up to them by some BMX'ers. You can ride the wall
for about 15 feet. Or you can ride up to the top of the wall and drop in back to the parking lot. We
then went down to Kanawa plaza to jump the set of 8 steps and ride some of the walls.
Sunday's group ride was small. My friend Richard and Steve (who I sold my LTS to), Mike from
northern VA and myself. Steve is a hoot, a total newbie who isn't afraid to try anything. I could
just listen to him yelling and tell exactly what he was going over. He endo'ed several times, it
seems he couldn't get the timing quite right on his bunny hops. We just finished the "beginner" and
"intermediate" loops when we ran into this total poser, John Harlow. Sheesh you think you know a guy
from AM-B and he turns out to be this Barney on a rusted Huffy. Hehehe...just kidding. He really
rides a nice Giant NRS1 and has a fine GF to ride with. We finished out the "expert" loop with them.
It was good to finally meet you John.
I think if I had scheduled one more ride I would've found all by belongings in the front yard soaked
with motor oil when I got home. ;^)
Mike
Enthusiasts) to Richmond on Saturday and Sunday. Friday I received a email from my friend Mark that
we were getting visitors from West Virginia, the famous Jr expert DH'er and Snowshoe resident Mikey
"Swiss" Valach and J-Rod (who is a national junior snowboard champion and beginner DH'er). The rides
were piling up!
Saturday morning began with a freeride session at Forest Hill Park. Mikey and J-Rod each had new
bikes to try out, a SC V-10 and Giant Team DH respectively. Mikey is a very smooth rider and I
learned a lot from him on some lines we had worked out at the park. Mark had the idea to show Mikey
a very technical chute on the west end of Bells Island (in the middle of the James River downtown)
so we all rode over there. As we did it started raining which gave the WV boys an instant advantage.
Mikey sized up the chute. His first line which lined him up better for a turn forced him to pull up
hard over a hole and overshoot the turn. The second attempt he took a smoother but tighter line
inside the drop. He then did a trackstand and a hop to get the bike pointed the right way and
continued down over the rocks to a final wheelie drop off the last rock. Sweet. There is a smoother
drop next to it about 8 feet tall. ( I can roll it easily on my XC bike) Mikey decides to launch off
the lip and land flat at the bottom. OW! But the V-10 sucks it up well.
I left them at about 11:30 to go to the group ride at Pocahontas SP. Six other riders showed up but
the Northern VA MORE guys didn't show up because of a line of T-storms they saw on Weather Channel
radar. What they didn't know they had already blown through and the sun came out again. We had a
great ride. The rain had made the trails perfectly tacky with excellent traction to rail the
corners. The few spots that had been muddy from the winter had been packed down smooth again. Kind
of self healing trails. ;^) It is actually a tribute to the care we used installing the trails to
avoid trouble spots.
Saturday evening about 7 I took Mikey and J-Rod out for an urban night ride. A couple of other local
friends made it too. We hit the various highlights of Richmond City riding starting off with some
warm-up wall drops at Tredegar, going up to the "white walls" which are some slightly slanted
concrete retaining walls with a transition built up to them by some BMX'ers. You can ride the wall
for about 15 feet. Or you can ride up to the top of the wall and drop in back to the parking lot. We
then went down to Kanawa plaza to jump the set of 8 steps and ride some of the walls.
Sunday's group ride was small. My friend Richard and Steve (who I sold my LTS to), Mike from
northern VA and myself. Steve is a hoot, a total newbie who isn't afraid to try anything. I could
just listen to him yelling and tell exactly what he was going over. He endo'ed several times, it
seems he couldn't get the timing quite right on his bunny hops. We just finished the "beginner" and
"intermediate" loops when we ran into this total poser, John Harlow. Sheesh you think you know a guy
from AM-B and he turns out to be this Barney on a rusted Huffy. Hehehe...just kidding. He really
rides a nice Giant NRS1 and has a fine GF to ride with. We finished out the "expert" loop with them.
It was good to finally meet you John.
I think if I had scheduled one more ride I would've found all by belongings in the front yard soaked
with motor oil when I got home. ;^)
Mike