Weekend camp and ride – INT and ADV+ backcountry MTB in Stokesville

OVERVIEW

It’s been way too long since the last time Titov and I spent the whole day on bikes. If you have any interest in joining for this endeavor, we’d be stoked to have you. If you don’t want to ride 63mi – worry not! We thought it would be fun to get a bigger group to camp out together Friday night, and Sujith is going to lead an intermediate ride Saturday.

For the INT ride, one option is to do the Narrowback loop. It’s super intermediate friendly and has two flowy and fast descents. That would be about 17mi 2000’, and roughly follows this loop: https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/3771756. And that’s just one option – there’s lots of INT or slightly harder riding in the area. We’ll see what everyone’s feeling, and can give you some advice on what to ride.

For the big ride, here’s the route I have planned out: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44360294. It failed once (thunderstorms/knee injury/lost water bottle) but it’s bound to work this time, right? It should take all day (hopefully under 12 hours so we descend Wolf Ridge in the light), with approx 63 mi 11000’. It includes lots of technical climbing and descending, and is often in fairly remote backcountry areas. Definitely reach out if you’re interested in joining, our numbers can be found by clicking our profiles.

For camping, we’ll keep it real simple. We’ll eat dinner in Cville so no need to bring stuff to cook, unless you wanna get fancy and have a hot breakfast. Just bring a bed pad, weather-appropriate sleeping bag, and tent or other shelter (we can help coordinate sharing).

Here’s the plan:
Friday 8:30 pm: meet at shrack, pack up bikes
10pm: arrive at dispersed site on Tillman Road

Saturday (split up by INT or ADV+ ride)
INT
8:30 am: wake up
9:30 am: bike
1:30 pm: back at TH (approximate, depends on what route y’all choose)
2:45 pm: back in Cville
ADV+
5:45 am: wake up
6:30 am: bike
6 pm: back at TH (also approx, many things can happen on a big ride)
7:15 pm: back in Cville

**You bring**
– Phone with MTBProject or Trailforks downloaded, with the Virginia region downloaded within the app
– Water: 2-3L capacity (we can put a bottle cage on each bike; let us know if you want this)
– Food: breakfast, trail snacks
– Appropriate clothing and footwear
– gloves are recommended for keeping the fingers working in chilly temps and protecting your hands from scrapes if you fall – $10 Mechanix work gloves are great
– a bag to carry your water and food: the club has some daypacks and hip packs if you need one (let us know in the questionnaire)
– anything you need for camping other than a tent, water, and stove (sleeping pad, sleeping bag, change of clothes, etc)

**We’ll Bring**
– Bikes/helmets
– Bike rack(s)
– Pumps, tools, etc
– Bike lights