Spring MABDR - Southern Half

[kos1]

DAMN trip was awesome. The VA sections easily blows PA out of the water and I could not have asked for better weather for this trip. 70's during the day and low 50s at night made for perfect riding weather. The only downside was the nearly 6hr ride to the start. Waze couldn't even fit the whole trip on the map.

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66 near 495 was easily the most dangerous part of the entire trip and nearly got side swiped by a minivan. Thankfully I was in the right lane and the shoulder wasn't walled off with jersey barriers yet despite all the construction going on. 81 south with all the truckers was largely un-eventful... except for a big ass turkey that Kamikaze'd out of the woods and into the front of a semi just ahead of me. Feathers everywhere.

Rolling into Damascus, VA I quickly realized I underestimated how busy this little town would be with thru-hikers. The AT goes right into this town and I was showing up during peak season for the north bound crowd and finding someplace to stay was tough. Finally found a room at the Virginia Creeper Lodge with an awesome deck overlooking a stream and pasture. I would recommend this place for anyone looking for a place to crash after a 6hr ride.

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[kos1]

The next day I substituted the first couple miles of the MABDR for the Iron Mountain Trail which starts right in town at the end of 4th street.

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The road to the left is someone's driveway and got to talk with that guy as I was airing down my tires. I knew it would be fun when he said the trail can be tougher than a helmet but it started out innocently enough with a couple of puddle splashers.

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It started to get a little steeper and little rockier

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then it got a bit tighter with a seriously steep drop off. The camera really does not do it justice. I'm glad it was dry as slipping a tire off the side would be all too easy. There were more than a couple traverses exactly like this in between some absolutely awesome sections.

[kos1]

Getting steeper

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and a bit rockier/ rootier

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.

There were a couple really steep sections with undercut roots and softball sized rocks which were awesome but could have been more fun on a smaller bike with more aggressive tread and without the saddle bags. I'm not sure if it kept going further but I exited at NF-90 and quickly picked up the normal route.

The rest of section 1 doesn't stand out too much in my mind other than tight switch backs on dirt/ gravel roads which were largely empty except for the random car. Speaking of which I was <5 minutes away and the first person on scene of a pickup in a bad situation.

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I initially pulled up slowly in disbelief not knowing if this was fresh or just left here by a local because I didn't hear a crash. Cautiously looking inside, not knowing what I would find, and HOLY SHIT someone is waving back at me. The lady was very well composed for just flipping her car and was dialing the sheriff. 45 minutes later everyone showed up and they got her out through the windshield. That was her next to one of the EMS personnel.

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[kos1]

Section 2 was were the fun really started to pick up. The trails and scenery were great and I completely forgot to take any pictures of this entire part.

Section 3 was the best part of the entire trip. The George Washington national forest was beautiful and the trail never seemed to end. The trail here was the least maintained section and a blast to ride. I was having such a good time that I forgot to take pictures... again. Did stop to take a quick video of this good looking guy.

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I could never get close enough for a picture so I did a drive by.

Later on there were even a few water crossings, each getting a bit deeper than the last. First and second one weren't much

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But the third? I was warned was going to be a bit deeper than the previous crossing and higher than usual with spring run-off so I stopped to diagnose the situation.

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[kos1]

This was actually getting kind of deep. My guess is that the best line was still about 18"- 20" deep

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Things I did not know before entering the stream: Dousing the engine in ice cold mountain stream water will rapidly cool the engine significantly lowering rpms.

Things I realized 10' in to the stream: Dousing the engine in ice cold mountain stream water will rapidly cool the engine lowering the rpms causing one to stall out.

My boot depth finder registered those 18"-20" before I was able to get it going again by revving the shit out of my bike the rest of the way out. My water crossing experience was basically the puddles I splashed through earlier in my report so this was a good learning experience.

The middle of section 3 included a fairly long and easy jeep trail but still a great way to finish off the section. You could really carry some speed through the corners to let the back end kick out and WTF. Another one!

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You can see the skid marks where they came flying through the corner. Thankfully no one was inside this time and it didn't look like there was any blood in the cockpit so I assume everyone was OK. I slowed down a bit on my way out in case I found the driver walking out but also realizing one of these nuts could come around a blind corner and hit me.

Section 3 ended with a fast drive through seneca rocks NF on surprisingly smooth asphalt with endless turns.

[kos1]

Section 4 was the final leg for me and down right boring compared to the forest roads from earlier. I should have stopped to play around green ridge and just taken the highway home but I finished out the rest of section to Shepherdstown and headed home. No pictures again, just a lot of picturesque farmland and paved roads. All-in-all I would do the sections 1-3 again. I don't think I can say the same for the PA portions.

[Bucho]

AWESOME!

Thanks for giving us a little ride report. I'm glad the Iron Mountain section turned out to be really cool. I definitely want to do that if I do this trip (or a version of it)

[John F]

Thanks for posting this. I’m hoping to do the MABDR this year on my new to me sort of ADV bike, and maybe the NEBDR on my DS bike. Did you camp or hotel it? And if I can find the time, it’ll be later in the year when the water depth is down.

[Laoch]

Iron mountain trail sign says no motorized vehicles. Is that part of the route? I can't see Adv bikes on that goat path.

[aai]

Iron mountain trail sign says no motorized vehicles. Is that part of the route? I can't see Adv bikes on that goat path.

Jojo, friend of mine whom you met at the Christmas ride just sent me these pics Bruce, they took a mini track loader and cleaned up a lot of the rocks on iron mountain. This section is from Chilhowie area to Damascus. It’s open for DS bikes from what he’s told, approx 15 mile section




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