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Post by Larry M on May 15, 2011 18:05:21 GMT -5
Rode 111 miles on Saturday, 5/14/2011. Even though the forecast was for rain most of the day, we only got the occasional sprinkles to keep the dust down. Rode with Tom D, Randy R, Lonnie W, Allen S, Carver O, and Bob T at Hilltop, WV. Yesterday, the guys rode 133 miles, for a total of 244 miles for the weekend. I didn’t ride with them on Friday, so this report is for Saturday only. Once again, Bob did an excellent job of mapping out our itinerary of unexplored trails. Except for the Windmill Gap dirt road to US 52 and the trail from Welch back to Hilltop, it was all new trails. We made one huge circle south to Anawalt Lake and west on to Gary, WV where we got lunch and gas. From Gary, we went north to an area called Berwind Lake. From there, we accidently went off our scripted tracks onto beautiful trails to Welch. Got gas again in Welch and took the Creek trail back to Hilltop. We hardly saw any other riders until we got near Pinnacle Creek campground. The trail from Stairsteps to Hilltop was incredibly rough. I was bouncing around like crazy. It was a good thing we went up the trails instead of down. You have to pick your spots going down the Hilltop to Stairsteps trail. I told Roger he’s got to call in a favor to get the trail bulldozed again. Got up Sunday morning real sore from all the great riding. Mind you, I only rode on Saturday. The rest of the guys rode two whole days. Don’t know how they got up and around at all. Attachments:
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Post by Randy_R on May 15, 2011 19:34:34 GMT -5
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Post by Lonnie W on May 15, 2011 21:00:16 GMT -5
Another great weekend for sure, I did find out 2 things I did not know. Bob will get up from a restaurant table without eating and Tom can ride fast if you make fun of him. Great job on getting us around Bob and Randy. They lead all most all weekend and of course I had to complain they we're going to fast but that's just what I do. See ya next time.  |
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Post by Randy_R on May 15, 2011 21:20:02 GMT -5
For reference -- the Sterling Drive-In has some issues. We stopped to eat and there was 45 min to an hour wait. We left and just ate when we got back to Hilltop. The Sterling did have some nice looking new furniture....
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Post by Bob T on May 16, 2011 9:32:52 GMT -5
The funniest part of the weekend was in the restaurant and we were telling Roger how bad the trail was to the Stair Steps. The worst it has ever been.
We told Roger he needed to get the Gas company to grade it again. He said he had all of the equipment we needed to fix it. Now you have to know that we were discussing if even a bulldozer could fix the big rock ledges.
We said we did know he had a bulldozer and he said no but he had some picks and shovels. All we could do but start laughing.
That trail needs a D9 with a ripper.
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Post by Randy_R on May 16, 2011 14:26:42 GMT -5
In another year the trail from the stairsteps to Hilltop will be full of bypasses. There are several new bypasses already but at the rate it's going it will be the entire trail. It's got some good tall ledges developing....
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Post by brianbrown on May 16, 2011 21:07:17 GMT -5
Bob, you've got to do something about that Avatar... I have a hard time concentrating on your typing with all that bouncing going on beside you...
hahah
("I'm not quite dead yet" .. Quote from Monty Pyton's Holy Grail Movie)
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Post by Bob T on May 17, 2011 14:51:06 GMT -5
Nobody has mentioned anything about Friday's ride so here it is. We cruised to Welch and went up behind the bowling alley. We went over to the Henry Ford Mine, a big disappointment. We then rode down to the town of Twin Branch and over to Hensley and up a road and took the Schoolhouse Rd trail. Very nice trail. The entrance is actually through a chain link fence gate in some lady's backyard. There had been some grading near the end so we took a round about trail for a while. We then headed toward Iaeger on a very nice wooded trail that ended about 1/4 mile from Iaeger and US52. We were high and the road was low. We then went up on some trails looking for the Welch-Gilbert trail and it appeared to be out of the way so we went back across School House Rd. No idea why they call it a rd, it is nothing more than a goat path most of the way. We then headed North and hit the Welch-Gilbert trail at a point were we were about 3/4 of the way to Gilbert. We then headed back toward Welch and got to a junction where there was a gate in our way. We had a minor communication issue and took a road bypass for about 5 miles. (the gate was unlocked). It was at this time that we rode through a heavy rain for about 45 minutes. We hit Welch for dinner at Sterling but there was at least a 45 minute wait to start cooking our order so we headed back to Hilltop and got back at 10:00pm. A 12 hour ride and 130 miles.
On Saturdays ride we came out of the trails south of Welch at the Pizza Hut on Hwy-103. I took us on the trail across the road that has the two steep hill climbs. It had not been ridden in a couple of years but we did find it. Some people had trouble making up the hills so Lonnie showed them the by-pass. We then hit the Exxon in Welch and took the McDonalds shortcut pack.
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Post by brianbrown on May 17, 2011 21:07:33 GMT -5
So what's up with Sterling Drive in now? why so long a wait
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