Diane and I have owned our Xspec MTBs ( I like anacronyms) for eight months now. We have ridden 17 miles of the Creeper Trail, over 150 miles riding the New River Trail, and just about the same on the Withlacoochee Bike Trail here in Florida. That is plenty of time and distance on our bikes to get to know them, make some improvements, and know for sure that we bought good ones.
Improvements that we have made: gel padded seat covers, bells, (I have two of them, one is a tuning fork-like bell) small lights, white for the handlebars, red for the seat post. Diane made a bike basket for her bike, and I bought a handlebar-mounted tool bag for myself and put a multi-tool kit in it. I also mounted a tire pump to the frame. We bought water bottle cages, which I had to modify because Diane scratched her leg on hers when she got on her bike. I added derailleur guards to the bike, to protect the mechanism all the time but especially when the bike is folded and in the back of the car while resting on that side, which I try not to do.
I also purchased a double bike cover since the bikes are exposed to the weather all the time. The last improvement I made was to install ergonomic grips on both bikes to make riding a lot easier on our hands.
We bought helmets of course. Diane didn’t think she needed one until she read about Amy Grant taking a fall off her bike with a helmet on and still receiving a concussion. It could have been devastating if she had not had that helmet on her head. That story prompted us to make a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase a nice Schwinn helmet before our first trip out on our bikes. I replaced an old helmet of mine with a new Mountalk helmet that has a magnetic tail light. It came from Amazon. We also purchased riding gloves.
We don’t do any street riding at all, outside of Belle Parc where we are currently residing. I don’t trust automobile drivers to pay attention to bikers using a bike lane. Especially after hearing about nine street racers in Weston, Florida, riding as a group and run over by a driver who was blinded by the sun and didn’t see any of them. It is dangerous enough when the trails we use cross a street. I was almost hit when walking my bike on a bike crosswalk with traffic stop lights flashing. A speeding pick-up truck driver just ignored them and raced across the crosswalk right in front of me. Something told me to hold up.
The New River Trail is very popular with bikers, no wonder, it is a great trail, very well maintained, and rolls through some gorgeous mountain terrain. Just take a look at these pictures of the first and second leg we rode on, from Galax to Fries Junction and Fries Junction to Fries, you can select any image and have your own slide show:
We learned rather fast when to shift gears, and to take advantage of cruising downhill. We also learned that there are some, not many, rude people on the trail, like the fish poachers who were in an electric golf cart, and tried to run us both off the trail just because they could. Golf carts are not permitted on the NRT except by special handicap permit, which has to be plainly displayed on the cart. The couple that ran up my back tire, did not have a permit. We were also menaced by a homeless person who did not want to share a picnic shelter with anyone. I didn’t argue with him, I told Diane we needed to leave. We reported the incident to the rangers and they said they would investigate. The safety of all bikers, and hikers, on the NYT is taken very seriously by the rangers and ranger volunteers of which there are many.
One section of the NRT we rode, was from Buck Dam to Fries Junction. The ride was okay but driving the car to Buck Dam was a bit of a pain. The parking area was way down the end of a narrow twisted gravel road that was very slow going. We, being newbies, did not know that it is better to ride that section the other way around.
One of the most interesting sections of the NRT is from Ivanhoe to the Shot Tower State Park.
The Jackson Ferry Shot Tower, 75 feet tall, is built over a vertical shaft. It was used to make shotgun pellets. Molten lead is poured from the top of the tower through a metal sieve and then caught in a water basin 150 feet below. The fall causes the lead to “round out” and it cools in the water where the pellets are retrieved. It is open on the weekends and visitors can climb to the top. There is a great view up there. The next section of the trail heading Northeast is Foster Falls to Lone Ashe. That is as far on the Northern end of the NRT as we have traveled. We look forward to riding the rest of it. Shuttle service is provided from Foster Falls to the end, it’s a long way for a round trip and it is steep as well. The total distance that we have not yet traveled is 17 miles one way.
We have ridden some sections of the NRT more than once, and still, learn something new about it each time. The section from Gambetta through the tunnel to Fries Junction is an example. There are the remains of an engine turntable alongside the trail. I have not been able to find any pictures of the actual New River Line turntable. These images don’t really convey the size of this turntable, what it looked like, or what it did. I did find an image that may be pretty close, however.
We made our last bike trip on the New River Trail on October 6th, the day before our 50th wedding anniversary. I think I forgot to mention that we bought the bikes as anniversary presents for each other. I sold my golf clubs so that we could put the money towards the bikes and bike gear. That was not as big a sacrifice as it might sound. I would rather ride bikes with her than play golf, I have not enjoyed the game at all for a long time.
As part of our anniversary celebration, we made a special trip to Damascus, Virginia, ninety minutes to the west of us. We wanted to ride the Creeper Trail on a beautiful fall day. I called the rental company that most riders we knew recommended booking a shuttle ride from. They didn’t answer the phone, so I left a message. I then called another company, the Shuttle Shack to be exact, and they told me they were booked solid for the next week. That didn’t sound good at all, and then the gentleman on the phone told me “Wait we just got a cancellation for noon Thursday. Do you want their time?” Of course, I did! I would rather have an earlier time but who was I to complain? We decided to arrive a couple of hours early so we could get familiar with Damascus, and do a bit of sightseeing since it would be our first time there.
The drive there was gorgeous. The leaves were peaking and although it was cloudy, it never rained. We passed a whole lot of passenger vans pulling trailers loaded with bikes going up to the White Top mountain summit where the trailhead is.
When we arrived just two hours ahead, I decided to make sure we were parked in a safe spot and to check on our reservation. The girl behind the desk informed us we could go on the next shuttle if we wanted to. We wanted to.
It was an absolutely great ride…17 miles downhill all the way. We road along a winding stream, and crossed over 25 trestles. We also crossed the Appalachian Trail a time or two. We ate our picnic lunch at the Greenway Store and Cafe. It is a creekside/trail side with food, drink, and supplies for AT hikers.
We had a bit of a pedal when we left the cafe at the halfway point. We stopped there for some of the best Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream I have ever eaten. We also had to pedal the last mile into Damascus. We heard “passing on your left” a lot on our way down the mountain (more about that later).
We had planned to have dinner in town but all the eateries were jammed packed. This was the busiest week of the whole season on the trail, over 2000 bikes made their quick way from White Top down to Damascus that day.
The auto ride home was as pretty as the ride there. We look forward to riding the Creeper Trail again, more than once this year for sure. We will be going again in the fall, maybe for our 51st anniversary.
Part 3 will cover the bike trails we have been on in Florida, time to hit the brakes on part 2. I close with the following five images of a beautiful section of the New River. I took them on our last ride of the year. I have provided a map of the New River Trail for you to take a look at as well.
Derrick
Click the map for more information about the New River Trail.
