Lewis County – Opinions?

I seem to write off Lewis County / Weston as a place I do not enjoy to ride. I’m not exactly sure as to how I came to this conclusion, but looking back on my Garmin/Strava course history, I have much regard for rides in this area.

The southern end of Lewis county has one of the nicest aquatic scenery in North-Central WV. Stonewall Jackon Lake, and Stonecoal Reserve lake have so many opportunities for swimming, boating, fishing, and just cruising around while enjoying the view. Like much of West Virginia, you’ll find a lot of farmland, or highly rural locations in Weston. ( http://app.strava.com/rides/5084552 ) In the north, you start running into rides that will bring you into nearing Clarksburg areas. ( http://app.strava.com/rides/6825136 ) Luckily there is I-79 running vertically through this area to use as a landmark for orientation.

While bikes aren’t permitted on I-79, the turnoff points often are opportunities to grab a bag of peanuts, or a gatorade if need be.

Lewis County also has beautifully “flat,” nearly valley-like terrain, surrounded by rolling hills.

Rt. 19 From Jane Lew to roughly Walkersville is dreamy, and I’d like to bet follows the rules of railroad grading, if that makes any sense to you.

Oil Creek Road from Roanoake to Burnsville is also another fun little stretch, but be warned, it isn’t the smoothest road out there.

From the Weston Walmart to Jane Lew, on Hacker’s Creek road is also another enjoyable route. This gives you the opportunity to see Jackson’s Mill, too!

The Girl really enjoys Life’s Run Road off of Hacker’s Creek. ( http://app.strava.com/activities/4308591 ) The terrain is fun, and has a touch of challenge, but the farm animals, scenery, and architecture gives many opportunities to catch your eyes.

This is our fun ride that we start off, and memorialize a local cyclist who tragically died: ( http://app.strava.com/activities/6815969 )

Random ride: ( http://app.strava.com/activities/4308591 )

There are also some pretty sweet climbs in the area:
Georgetown Road is a terrible climb either way:

http://app.strava.com/segments/1005582

http://app.strava.com/segments/1005601

Here are some nice climbs in the southern area:

http://app.strava.com/segments/1077238

http://app.strava.com/segments/1077321

Lastly, Linger Run… Ugh

http://app.strava.com/segments/1005602

http://app.strava.com/segments/1005604

Photos:

 

Genuine Innovations: Above and Beyond!

I contacted Genuine Innovations last week about my Ultraflate Plus CO2 inflator starting to fail due to the O-rings in the inflator being crushed a bit. This was causing about one out of every 3 of my CO2’s to prematurely release, and fail.
Here’s my email to them:

How did you hear about us: Bought one of your products from an IBD

Subject:  Gasket failures

Comments:  Dear GI, Love your products, and have been an evangelizing fan of your inflators for almost a decade. I still have this guy, (http://www.mcguckin.com/images/2203626.jpg) the Ultraflate Plus in the older colors. I’m wondering if you sell repair kits for the inflator, because any of your threadless co2 cartridges I use have… like… a 50% chance of success of not leaking. I’ve peeked into the puncturing area of the inflator, and the gasket next to the puncturing piece seems to have met its match. :sadface: This is a problem… I have a ton of your non-threaded canisters, since the 6-pk is several dollars cheaper than the threaded ones at my LBS, and everyone and their mother is still feeling the repercussions of this wonderful economic downturn. What can I do to fix my little inflator?

I was hoping they would send me an O-ring or two that I would niggle the old one out, and replace with a new one.

Here is there response:

FROM:    DJ Lopez
TO:    lalahsghost@yahoo.com

Message flagged
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 11:23 AM

Good morning sir,

I will send you some o-rings to the address below,

Kind regards,

Dj Lopez – customer service
dj.lopez@innovationsaz.com
www.genuineinnovations.com
p.520-295-3936 ext 133 f.520-295-3938

2700 e. bilby road
Tucson AZ 85706
http://www.genuineinnovations.com/

Genuine Innovations , #1 In CO2 Inflator

 

Well… They did send me some O-rings…

Take a look:

 

To me, this kind of customer service really goes above the call of duty. I wasn’t expecting this kind of care at all.

 

Thanks Genuine Innovations!

W.Va. DOT sets bike meetings around state (repost)

Found on http://www.register-herald.com

The West Virginia Department of Transportation is having public meetings throughout the state to gather input for a bicycle plan to make strategic connections between neighboring states, state regions, municipalities and points of interest.

The meetings will focus on the geographic region where the meeting will be, but will also present and receive comments on the other regions of the state.

All meetings will be from 4 to 7 p.m. There will be brief presentations at 4, 5 and 6 p.m., followed by an opportunity to give your comments in a workshop-style setting.

In southern West Virginia, the public meeting will be May 21 at Lewisburg City Hall, 942 Washington St. W.

Other meetings are scheduled May 3 in Ranson, May 7 in Charleston, May 8 in Huntington, May 10 in Parkersburg, May 14 in Wheeling, May 15 in Morgantown and May 22 in Elkins.

Written comments can be dropped into a comment box at the workshop or mailed to Robert Pennington, P.E., Director, Program Planning and Administration Division; West Virginia Department of Transportation; Capital Complex Building Five, 8th Floor; 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.; Charleston, WV 25305-0430.

Original Link: http://www.register-herald.com/features/x611946668/W-Va-DOT-sets-bike-meetings-around-state

WV Rave 2012 Update

Lora from Habitat WV shared a link to a video from 2011′s WV Rave ride. Thought I would post it for everyone to see~

It’s Too Cold To Be Doing This

Went on a really fun ride in Lewis County / Weston today, and ended up by Stonecoal lake. The waterfall was flowing very fast, and since we were ahead of schedule, Tiffin and I decided to stop for a photo opportunity.

Last year, the waterfall was trickling like a leaky sink by August, so it is always exciting to see it flow this fast!

Click for Larger Image

Thank God for this beautiful weather, and I hope the snow stays away! I need to lose a couple pounds!

International Tube Patching Day

From now on, February 17th will now be known as International Tube Patching Day. This is the one day a year that you take all those punctured tubes you collected over the year, and patch the ones that are able to be repaired. This year, I had 13 tubes, 15 punctures (damned thorns during MTB rides always got me before I went tubeless)

The largest portion of tubes this year was Road, with eight tubes. Surprisingly, I didn’t have a flat since July… so I’m thinking I used several of these tubes on the cross bike too. There were three cross tubes, and two MTB tubes to count them all up.

Instead of buying like ten of the little Park Tool patch kits, I ended up finding this, and it has lasted 2.5 years. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/bicycle-tire-tube-repairing-patches-with-glue-26263 Can’t beat it for $3.37 shipped.

 

Oh, also in international tube repair day, it is a good idea to perform some maintenance on your pumps, whether it be frame pump, floor pump, or mini pump.

At Trek’s price of $6.99 a piece, I theoretically saved myself $96.32. That’s a set of tires! See? It’s worth patching!

What _____ Think I Do – Cyclocross Edition

Cyclocross is a zany bunch, and East Coast vs West Coast vs Euro have many different views on things…

Tell me what you think:

Click for larger image