Tag: Dirt Church

Six F3 brothers made the inaugural “Hey, it’s a thing” edition of Dirt Church, and three other fellers joined along.  It was kind of a sh*t show at first, and I’m blaming the Q.

Huh?  What?  We did an excellent job of being prepped and ready for the 0800 rollout.  Profit brought a spare bike to be demo’ed by Graham, who attends real Church with Profit, and is/was on the fence about buying a new MTB.  And three minutes into the ride, we picked up the Blackburns (Robert Senior and Robert Junior) whom YHC knows from his days as a rowdy BMXican.  Excellent dudes and excellent riders.  So nine began the proper ride together.  The plan was to start with gravel and then Sunsetter and do the regular DC route, but the Q committed a mortal sin and lost track of some of the PAX, and soon found some had fallen back before an important turn.  Two were dispatched to go looking and some calls were placed to find out that Profit was a Boy Scout and had a map that put his group where they shoulda been the whole time.  But the rest ended up bobbing when they should’ve been weaving and two groups were made of the one, at least at first.  We all did reassemble soon enough at the center of the Swift Creek Trails.

Eight** did all ride Blueberry Hill descent together and every one of us smiled.  I am certain of this, since I took a poll.

The terribly fit (Jenny Craig, Pullout, and younger Robert) were dismissed to climb Blueberry Return at their own pace (expected to be Mach two) while the older men ascended like mortals.  It was agreed that this may be the best trail in the Park, since the “Down” park kicks butt and the “Up” part doesn’t suck.  Somewhere up the hill, Robert’s massive power output proved to be too much for his chain, so we left him and his dad to affect repairs, and probably ride another twenty miles together.  The rest of us got up and out, since some had another Service to attend.  Couple guys left via Courthouse Road so as not to be sneaking in during the sermon, and the last four finished together,  taking the very rad BlueJay Way and Corkscrew to the bottom of the gravel hill… back to the car just under two hours since rolling.

We may need to tweak Dirt Church’s start time a bit.  Maybe 0730 to accommodate the riders who have time constraints?  Either way, next time the Q will know where his boys are the whole time.

**Clavin bailed after the Bell Lap climb, and we pray his wrists recovery quickly.

Four of the faithful slid into the last couple of pews for Dirt Church Sunday morning, riding a variety pack of bikes, and running their mouths pretty much the whole time.

The usual preamble of Fendley Station gravel loosened us up for Sunsetter’s flow.  We chugged up Bell Return to do some socializing at the top with some outa-towners on the world’s cleanest mountain bikes.  The requisite Blueberry Hill followed and we all made great time on that before we found a new way back on the long gravel descent on Loop B.  Just under thirteen miles and 650′ of climbing.

Profit, banking on a bunch of overnight rain and a strictly gravel ride, brought an excellent Kona cyclocross bike from his inventory.  It was the safe call, but the rain held off, and the rest of us brought MTB’s.  Even though the plan was to take it easy on him, he stepped up and took all the singletrack like a champion.   Mr. Roper kept him company most of the way on his old 26er, which may have taken it’s last lap, since a big new hotness will arrive on the brown truck sometime this week.  Roper will be unstoppable next Sunday for sure. Two singlespeeders set a pace for most of the ride, possibly setting a few PR’s (competitive, much?) on Blueberry uphill, but for sure talking through the whole ride.  John, who is Mr. Roper’s partner in crime, and YHC were at no loss for words, as is often the case.

Sunday services at Dirt Church kick off at 0800 from the road in front of Courthouse Church of Christ.  All are invited, regardless of skill level.

The Prodigal Son returneth, and a total of two were in the congregation Sunday morning.

The Sheik posted for the first time in recent memory, again for a two-wheeled activity, and joined YHC for thirteen point something miles of Pocahontas singletrack and gravel.  The later hour of this service agrees more with his constitution, the Sheik told me, as we rolled from Fendley Station to Sunsetter to Bell Return to Gateway One to Blueberry Hill.  That pre-dawn rollout from RAMM Gears is hard to make.  Recent surgery on his knee kept him from getting back out earlier, but thankfully he got back out.

Our pace was conversational and casual,  given the Sheik’s long absence from the flock.  One of the great things about mountain biking, though, is it’s just like… um… riding a bike… in that it comes back to you quickly after you’ve been away.  A few more Sundays, and he’ll be back in form.  By the way, his new bike kicks ass like a cross-eyed Rockette.

Trail conditions were about a seven out of ten: recent rains have left some low spots soft and muddy but nothing we wanted to ride was closed.   The Faithful at FofPSP and MORE (our local trail bosses) do a great job of keeping the trails in great shape.

Slide into the pews of Dirt Church on Sunday and it’ll do your soul some good.  If the trails are closed, it becomes Gravel Church and we stay on the fire roads. If you need your gear tuned before then, find me at @bvay on Twitter.

For the last four weeks or so, some PAX and some other dudes have been meeting Sunday mornings to make Pocahontas State Park’s newest trail system their collective b*tch.   Meeting at the Courthouse Church of Christ before their first service, we put ourselves in a spot to warm up (1.7 miles of gravel before hitting the trailhead) and to save on parking fees.

The Thang:

Fendley Station Trail and Loop A (gravel) to Sunsetter (a rad flow trail) to Bell Lap Return (also… rad) to Blueberry Hill downhill (even radder).  Escape out to fill bottles and then up to the Morgan Green Trail (old school leaf-covered single track) and then back to finish Blueberry Hill Return.  Then a single lap of the wackiness that is Freight Line, and then more gravel to the car.    18-20 miles depending on whether you had to turn around to find your friends or not.   900 or so feet of climbing.

Notes:

Sure is a lot of fun being on the Pocahontas trails these days… we are truly blessed to have access to the MTB resources we have!  YHC has ridden many of the Commonwealth’s trail systems, and gladly stays close to home.

Very glad these guys came out to continue the month-or-so-old tradition that is “Dirt Church”.  We’ve been kinda doing this every Sunday for a while… Mr. Roper and his homie and I started it one week, and then add Mongoose joined us for another… Then Lab Rat came with a friend, and Wheelie was there once and Johnsonville was there…  you get the idea, and I forget the details.

This week, we prepped via group text, and rolled out at 0800.  We warmed up with gravel.   I think everyone dug Sunsetter (YHC’s fave in the system).   We picked up BT’s homie, Nate, up the hill (these days, you can almost ALWAYS find someone you know at the top of the Swift Creek Trails) and dragged his ass around with us.  We went down the hill, over the creek, through the woods, and back up.   Good stuff.   I think BT has a little MTBer in him… we will see.  Best part of today’s ride:  NO ONE DIED.

We all know we all have limits.  The best part about riding mountain bike trails with friends is that we can always push ourselves to these limits, or beyond them, and become better riders, regardless of fitness and skill level. Ride your bike.  Just ride.

Dirt Church should be continuing going forward.  Sundays at 0730 or 0800.  Two hours of trails with bailouts available for the time-constrained.  YHC is always glad to Q anytime.