Dowell's Draft Trail started near high valley farm fields and climbed steadily and immediately into the forest on an excellent established bench for 5 miles to Hankey Mountain. The payoff was to be a rocky outcrop with view. Nice enough in the end, but the real payoff was a beautiful, leaf-covered single track ride which never climbed too long without a rest and was nearly buff up to the last 0.5 miles. Forewarned, I parked the bike and hiked the last bit and up the scree pile to the lookout. I certainly was surprise halfway through my hike to hear "Pssst - you seen anything - deer or bear?" A hunter was traversing the hill just below the trail. We had a nice whispered conversation, but I was no use to him in bright green jacket (it was after all muzzle loading season) and noisy bike shoes, so I went to bag the summit and he his prey.
Half the time down, and on to ride a section of the Shenandoah Mountain Trail south of the Ramsey's Draft Wilderness I ended at previously. With the weather forecast to turn nasty the next day, I was having to compress my trip, so I drove to the pass and started at the Confederate breastworks there. Here I would be riding a piece of American history. Fortifications were built at this pass by the South to prevent the Northern army from invading the Shenandoah Valley from the west. Which they did before being driven back across the pass by Stonewall Jackson. This was another really smooth, rolling, and long established piece of single track gracing a scenic ridge. I dearly wished I could continue further than the several miles in, but the wilderness boundary was well posted as closed to bikes.
So I turned back to try my hand at the Road Hollow Trail descent highly recommended at the shop. It was a hoot - nicely done, steep but never too steep, and flowing. One humorous clamber over a rock nose and a small shelf ideal for the wheelie drop I've never mastered were all that broke the flow. Bummer the climb back to up to the car was paved US-250, but I didn't have time to ride the additional single track/two track to complete the entire ride. I wanted to at least stop by Spruce Knob in West Virginia on the way home that night and look at those trails since I wouldn't be able to ride there as I'd planned (what with the forecast of 40's and rain the next day).
So ended my adventure in George Washington National Forest. I had a good time on this trip. Harrisonburg is a happening place for biking, and is only getting better. Much of what they've done has only been in the last few years, and it's a lot. It's an hour drive to the best riding, but they are surrounded by it. The single track I rode in the forest was excellent stuff. My only frustration as a Midwesterner was how hard it is to create a loop without lots of road riding. Like in Rothrock State Forest In Pennsylvania, you tend to climb roads to access a ridge, cruise the ridge, then bomb the descent. That's how it is in the East I guess, but I'd love to go out for 20 or 30 miles of continuous single track and end up where I started. It's a lot of work building in the mountains, but imagine the ride. The alternative here is to choose ridge trails and ride them out-and-back, or point-to-point or ridge-and-descent combinations with a shuttle. And out-and-back isn't bad - most trails look and ride pretty different going the other way. Shuttles require more planning and two cars or a hire. So a different kind of riding. And different's good - you get the pleasure of something new, an appreciation of what you know, and perspective on the best features of each.More photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jbp1111/GeorgeWashingtonNatForestRideFromUs250?authkey=Gv1sRgCN_G5LCZ2c7OowE#
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