Mountain Biking Near the New River Gorge – Mission: Find Old Abandoned Mining Towns

OVERVIEW

This is going to be pure adventure: flying through some trails near the “grand canyon of the east” in search of abandoned mining towns, dodging WV hermits all stoked up about Bridge Day while pre-gaming in their huts, and following a leader who has no idea where he’s going. Its true – many WV hermits do live in huts and I’ll bet they pre-game big!….Though I’ve biked some of this last year with the intention of finding the mining towns, we had to abort mission due to time. This year, however, we’ll start at the off road trail head at Kaymor (where we’ll camp) instead of at Songer white water (many road miles away) like we did last year.

We’ll be riding many, many miles off road over, around, and through the usual obstacles (plus hermits/huts 🙂 so do NOT sign up unless you have trail riding experience and are in good shape. Remember: the club has 5 nice front suspension Gary Fisher Tassajara mountain bikes. If you need to use one because your bike is at home or you don’t want to use the crappy commuter that leaves your hands vibrating for days after taking it on the trails, let me know (there will be a question about it after joining).

We’ll leave C’ville Friday late afternoon and head for the WV with a ~3.5 hour drive. Please eat before we leave or bring some $$ to stop on the way. We’ll camp at Roger’s camp ground near Kaymor mines (the club has camp gear if you need it), then rise early, zip into Fayetteville to the Cathedral Cafe for some of the best pre-adventure breakfast you’ll ever eat, Check out Bridge Dat, then hop on the trails, ride for a good 5-6 hours (I’m guessing here – this is why you need to be in shape and sort of know what you’re getting into), then grab some chow at Dirty Earnie’s BBQ grill. The club pays for some of the food costs, but bring some $$ for additional food ($10-$20 will be plenty).

Bridge Day (WV’s biggest 1 day celebration where they allow B.A.S.E jumpers to hop off the New River Bridge – world’s 2nd longest arch bridge) is Saturday. I’ll probably stick around that night and do something like hike, kayak, or more biking on
Sunday. You’re welcome to zip back to C’ville after the ride, but you may have to drive if that’s the case.

The Club provides: bikes, helmets, water bottles, and bike transport if you need them, gas $$ (up to $60) and food $ ($2/person/breakfast; $6/person/dinner)

You should bring: water, water, water! Snacks, a lunch for the trails, dinner or ca$h for the ride over, ca$h for extra food costs, your gear if you have it, spare tires if you have them.

THE END