Last Minute BIKEPACKING this weekend

OVERVIEW

The student returned wearily to school. For many, this was a new year, a new start, but despite societal premonitions of renewal, the student was more and more tired of his studies. Books were becoming boring; he felt his mind wandering — wandering, it seemed, to a snendy-er place. A place with trails. Yes, a place with old trees, gnarly rock, and dope singletrack. The background hum of Alderman lobby grew silent as the student fancied a sound, a particular sound, the sound of Maxxis tires slashing into tight camber. The student looked about him, then stood up and left the library. He would study no longer. He would tarry no more. He would go outside and BIKE!!

Ya dig? We’ve got Monday to get all the homeworks done, so let’s spend the weekend galavanting on two wheels. See below for the pertinent details, which I’ve unabashedly plagiarized from Bill’s previous trip:

“Over the course of two days, we’ll attempt to tackle the 52-mile Slate Springs Loop in George Washington National Forest. This route follows primarily dirt roads and relatively smooth doubletrack around and over the summit of Reddish and Flagpole Knobs

Prerequisites:
–You must have been mountain biking at least a few times or have some other equivalent riding experience. There are no technical trails on this route, but you need to be comfortable handling the bike on a chunky dirt road.
–I’m going to arbitrarily, but strongly, suggest you have at least three nights of backpacking experience. This will be equally as challenging as a backpacking overnight, with some additional challenge/complexity introduced by the bike element.
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THE PLAN:
Thursday/Friday – I assign you a bike and give you your bikepacking bags so you know how much space you’ll have and start packing
SATURDAY
-7:00AM Rally at the Shred Shack to load your bike up for real
-9:00AM Depart, grab some Bodos
-11:00AM Wheels rolling from Wolf Ridge Parking lot in GWNF
-Pedal 26 miles Northwest to the summit of Flagpole Knob. Will probably take us 4 hours
-Set up camp for the night, pop wheelies, look at the stars
**It may be cold and windy overnight – pack a warm sleeping bag and pad
SUNDAY
-Wake up, drink coffee, eat brekkie, load up bikes
-Pedal 5 miles to the summit of Reddish Knob, then gradually descend for 20 miles back to the car, with the option to drop bags and ride a little singletrack if we’re
feeling up for it and have time
-Waffle House???
-Return to C’ville by 5:00PM (subject, as always, to the possibility of unexpected delays)
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CLUB PROVIDES:
-Bike
-Frame bag, handlebar bag, and seatpost bag
-Helmet
-I’ll assemble our repair kit with any spares we may need
-I’ll get us a stove and tents which we’ll divvy up Saturday morning
-First aid kit (just so we’re clear: you could totally crash and break yourself doing this if you’re careless, but we’ll have plenty of time to take the descents at a comfortable pace)

YOU NEED:
-Everything you’d normally take backpacking, except the pack. You should have a pretty good idea of what you need if you’re signing up for this trip, although I am glad to discuss the finer points with you
-Daypack: Enough capacity for some layers and personal items, but small enough to bike with all day (club has a couple bags small enough for this). Highly recommend one with a chest strap for biking
-Sturdy shoes: Something you can comfortably pedal and hike in. We’ll likely have to push our bikes for a short section
-Comfortable Riding Clothes
-3L water capacity, ideally in a hydration bladder
-Food: Something you can make with just boiling water

Recommended for biking:
-Gloves (mandatory if it’s cold – $10 Mechanix work gloves are great)
-Sunglasses
-Windproof layers – it can get really chilly going downhill because of the wind
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Driver Needed – Someone with a hitch to carry a bike rack ideally. Gas reimbursed etc.

THE LOOP: https://bikepacking.com/routes/overnighter-harrisonburg-va/

BIKEPACKING 101: https://bikepacking.com/bikepacking-101/
^^An AWESOME resource, mandatory reading”