Tour De Charlottesville (INT Backcountry MTB Workshop)

OVERVIEW

*This is not your standard intermediate Charlottesville trip so please read the description in its entirety*

Exactly a week ago (on our trip), Bryson and I came up with the idea for this trip and are super excited about it. The facts are simple, backcountry mountain biking isn’t the most accessible thing out there. Whether it’s the lack of immediate access to emergency services or the often committal nature of the backcountry, riders may be fearful of their first backcountry ride or simply not want to ride the backcountry at all. If you loosely fall somewhere in these categories, this trip is for you. Additionally, Bryson and I are extra excited about this trip as we want to improve our backcountry leading skills so this will be a great learning experience for all of us!

The plan is to ride all of our favorite trails in Charlottesville such as Ohill, Foxhaven, and Heyward. The route we have planned should be roughly 17 miles and 2500 feet of climbing (some of which will be on the road). We know these numbers might not mean much to everyone so please please reach out to us and we can try and give you more context. In terms of difficulty, the actual trails will be intermediate, the endurance however will be more on the advanced side for a Charlottesville ride. That being said, WE WANT YOU ON THESE TRIPS! You can always hike a bike when needed (I sure did this past Sunday) and we’ll always go at the pace of the group. Also, bailing early if needed will be an option as that’s one of the usual downsides of the backcountry!

*As you may expect, priority for this trip will be given to people with no or little backcountry experience first*

Schedule: (The ride may only take 3 hours or so but we wanted to have plenty of buffer room)
10am – meet at shrack and get ready
10:15am – bike bike bike bike bike
1:45pm (maybe earlier) – return to shrack and return stuff

You bring:
-water 2L: We can put 1-2 bottle cages on each bike, if you would like to carry more on the ride, bring a backpack. Let me know in the trip questions if you’d like bottle cages on the bike.
-any snacks you need
-a way to carry your water and snacks – let me know in the trip questions if you’d like to borrow a club pack.
-closed-toe shoes

We bring:
-bikes
-helmets
-tools
-our improving knowledge of leading long trips

**Please please reach out to us with any questions (you can find our numbers by clicking on our profiles)**