When We’re Not Biking, We’re Hiking

I visited Braxton County for Christmas, and ended up doing more than just riding while down there.

First off, what’s up with the weather? All week, it’s been in the 40’s and 50’s, when last year, we had 18 inches of snow!

December 20th, 2010

December 20th, 2010

Heck, Yukon Charlie can even tell you that I bought a pair of snowshoes this year, thinking that there was going to be a time where it no longer made sense to ride in the snow…

Well, in Braxton, there’s not a speck of snow, unless you count the morning frost on the grass and your car’s windshield. This weather just invites you to go out and do something, anything that makes you appreciate and thankful that it isn’t snowing.

First day, the girlfriend and I went on a dirty-road ride to some general store-esque shop that provides goods for the local residents, since the closest Kroger or something of that sort is 15-20 miles away. If you’ve ever been to Duck, West Virginia (Yes, Duck.)… I’m sure you’re familiar with Nottingham’s store, off of Route 4.

I took a ton of photos of Llamas, self-made town signs, and rope bridges to get to their home. Most of these pictures were taken with a disposable camera that I got from an Amgen Tour advertiser and decided to use it while I could still get it developed.

This footage shows the lovely scenery that exists in WV:

Here’s a few of the pictures I took:

The new bridge in Strange Creek

A rope bridge to cross to someone's house. This was behind the Strange Creek Baptist Church

The next day, we took the dogs out to the meeting point of the Elk River and Birch River, hiking around on the girlfriends cattle trails and tractor paths. Her dog was very excited, ran around in one of the really shallow areas, and we climbed a small waterfall and decided to take some pictures.

Waterfall!

She was ready to roam the whole farm!

I wanted to take some *film* photographs from the ledge!

While hiking isn’t my forte, and I don’t think I could do it on a day-to-day basis… It was fun romping around and exploring land that I’ve never ventured on before.

The refreshing part of this non-cycling excursion was just enjoying this weather!

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Wild, Wild West Virginia

The velomihottie’s brother came back from a Germany/Austria after a year of studying abroad. I guess he is back in the spirit of being American, because they took this photo.

This is how we roll in WV! Note, the legit revolver, not a plastic toy~

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Want More Frequent Updates? Check Facebook!

I’ve been posting things at least once a day on WV Cycling’s Facebook page. If you are the kind of person who wants to vicariously indulge in everything wvcycling, then this will be for you! I’ve also been doing a bumpersticker contest where people can win one of my new bumperstickers by correctly naming the location of which I took a photo of. So far, Michael Martin and Jared Yates have won one!

Link? http://www.facebook.com/WestVirginiaCycling

 

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Turn Your Head/Screen For Optimum Viewing Angle

Dirty MTB Route I found last year. Decided to try it on the MTB. It was rought, but refreshing, in this all-road season!

Here is the link to the route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/52806296

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Big Bear 2×12 Photos

Who all went out to Granny Gear’s Big Bear 2×12 24hr event? I hear it was a blast. I think JJ was there too, check his site to see if he covers anything.

*Note, this footage was from 2005, but it is the same course, I believe:

Solo Goat’s blog also will have some coverage in the next few days:  http://sologoat.blogspot.com/

Photos from Joey’s Bike Shop:

Facebook video of Gunnar and others: http://www.facebook.com/v/116485838439267

Early Results Link: http://www.iplayoutside.com/Events/2011/06/13257r.html

If you have any other footage or photos, post them or the links in the comment section!

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