Rock House earned new respect today after a very nice day of riding. Not without incident mind you, but still a nice day of riding.
This morning we left Gilbert and headed to the aptly named Man, WV. To make the trip more interesting I thought we take some trails we don’t usually ride. As Big A would say, “here’s the thing…” Apparently, the Hatfield McCoy Trail Authority decided to start using a different kind of sign to indicate trails that are closed to trail riding. Sadly, these new signs are the same size and color of signs that indicate underground gas lines. In the hills of West Virginia, underground gas line signs are quite ubiquitous. After the first thousand or so, they blend into the scenery like poison ivy and toothless women.
The first time I missed one of these signs, we suffered no ill effects. But not long after I did the same thing again. This time we ran into a giant landslide at the very end of a very long and very wet trail. This meant we had to do the same miserable trail again in the opposite direction. This was made worse by the fact the Hans was getting hungry for lunch, which means he whines like a little girl, complains of hunger pains, and rides right on my tail revving his engine to try to get me to move faster. Just joking... he wasn't right on my tail. But I digress…
Back on track, we were headed to Man. Along the way, Todd’s demon possessed machine decided to throw a chain. If it was a horse, it would have likely received a merciful bullet in the head. But alas, he needed it to get home, so he put it back together and we finally made it to Man… Wendy’s for lunch, gas at the Speedway and back on the trails we went.
After Man we headed out to do the trails on the western half of Rock House. Going up one of the longest hill climbs of the trail system, Todd’s demon possessed machine did it again. This time the chain came completely off… the master link separated. Miraculously, as Andy, Rich, Hans and I waited at the top of the trail unaware, L-Dub, Toodles, and Howie managed to find the pieces of the master link on the trail and reassembled the chain. When he arrived on top of the hill, Todd asked, “what is the quickest way back to the trailhead?” Unfortunately, we were as far as physically possible from the trailhead. But, we safely made our way back to Gilbert without any further issues after a full day of riding.
The weather was amazing and with the exception of a very worn out trail 19, the trail system was great. All and all a good day on the trails, and another fun set of memories from Appalachia.
This morning we left Gilbert and headed to the aptly named Man, WV. To make the trip more interesting I thought we take some trails we don’t usually ride. As Big A would say, “here’s the thing…” Apparently, the Hatfield McCoy Trail Authority decided to start using a different kind of sign to indicate trails that are closed to trail riding. Sadly, these new signs are the same size and color of signs that indicate underground gas lines. In the hills of West Virginia, underground gas line signs are quite ubiquitous. After the first thousand or so, they blend into the scenery like poison ivy and toothless women.
The first time I missed one of these signs, we suffered no ill effects. But not long after I did the same thing again. This time we ran into a giant landslide at the very end of a very long and very wet trail. This meant we had to do the same miserable trail again in the opposite direction. This was made worse by the fact the Hans was getting hungry for lunch, which means he whines like a little girl, complains of hunger pains, and rides right on my tail revving his engine to try to get me to move faster. Just joking... he wasn't right on my tail. But I digress…
Back on track, we were headed to Man. Along the way, Todd’s demon possessed machine decided to throw a chain. If it was a horse, it would have likely received a merciful bullet in the head. But alas, he needed it to get home, so he put it back together and we finally made it to Man… Wendy’s for lunch, gas at the Speedway and back on the trails we went.
After Man we headed out to do the trails on the western half of Rock House. Going up one of the longest hill climbs of the trail system, Todd’s demon possessed machine did it again. This time the chain came completely off… the master link separated. Miraculously, as Andy, Rich, Hans and I waited at the top of the trail unaware, L-Dub, Toodles, and Howie managed to find the pieces of the master link on the trail and reassembled the chain. When he arrived on top of the hill, Todd asked, “what is the quickest way back to the trailhead?” Unfortunately, we were as far as physically possible from the trailhead. But, we safely made our way back to Gilbert without any further issues after a full day of riding.
The weather was amazing and with the exception of a very worn out trail 19, the trail system was great. All and all a good day on the trails, and another fun set of memories from Appalachia.
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