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Author Archives: Matt Jones

SERS: Southern Traverse

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This SERS ride took place at the IMBA EPIC Southern Traverse with Jason Hiser, Ted Gayle, David Stackhouse, Josh Wall leading a group of 10. It was truly an EPIC ride. There were multiple flats and a not so good mechanical that required a little work just to make it a single speed but we all worked together and made it happen. A great ride….even with all the stinging nettles, briars, locust tree thorns, occasional tricky rock gardens, and the rain shower that lasted for the last half of the ride (not in the forecast) everyone still (for the most part) had a nice smile … Continue reading →

Video:Bryce Downhill Park

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One of our members, Jay Speidell, visited Bryce Resort for a little downhill riding. He came back with some great video. Here is his report: I went to Byrce around 10am and met another member, Christopher Little, who was riding with his family and some friends. I split off and did about 18 runs. Trail conditions were dry despite recent rain and extremely fast.There are several trails, but after riding them all I did most of my runs on just two. Brew Thru: The most popular trail, extremely fast and flowy. Lots of jumps and banked turns and plenty of opportunities … Continue reading →

SERS: Carvins Cove

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 Ride recap from Josh Wall: On June 1st the third SERS ride of the season took place at Virginia’s other mountain bike Disneyland, Carvins Cove (the other one being Douthat).   The ride was almost derailed by a trail running marathon but luckily we only ended up seeing one competitor at the back of the pack.  We got in three big climbs and descents and everyone liked the Buck downhill so much we ended up doing it twice.   Two new surprises at the Cove were an extremely cool bike repair station at the trail head that had a rack, pump and … Continue reading →

SERS: Sherando

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Jason Hiser set up a great ride from Sherando Lake, up White Rock Gap to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and descending through Torry Ridge and Slacks. This ride required some solid climbing legs, but allowed 4 miles of relaxed and scenic climbing on the Parkway to break up the the rocky climbs. Descents were fast and rocky. Jay cleaned the big hike-a-bike section on Torrey. Everyone took the ride at their own pace, and there were plenty of exhausted smiles at the end of the day. It was a perfect day to be up in the mountains. Hiser ended up missing … Continue reading →

SERS: Narrowback

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Jason Hiser lead a group of ten up Narrowback. The ride began with a long gradual climb to the ridgeline. The return route off the ridge follows the same route, giving a preview of the series of drainage features (read: jumps) that need to be negotiated (read: launched) on the way back down. Once on the ridge, the trail continues through technical, rocky downhill sections down to a fireroad. The fire road continues along the western side of the ridge to a trail junction leading back to the top of the ridge. The ride included two good climbs, and tested downhill riding skills … Continue reading →

Bicycles: Commuting Here and Abroad (Virginia Festival of the Book)

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This coming Wednesday evening at 6pm the Virginia Festival of the Book presents Ralph Buehler, author of City Cycling and academic research papers such as “Making Cycling Irresistible.” Ruth Stornetta of Bike Charlottesville and Scott Paisley will be on the panel.

This is especially pertinent with the rapidly developing plans to re-design West Main Street and to design the new Belmont bridge, not to mention the city’s Strategic Investment Area of ‘south downtown’ and the city’s small area plans. The city has re-committed this year to the Complete Streets principles (you can find a link to this document on the city’s webpage or at www.cvilletomorrow.org), but how do we help insure that all of this community input and planning leads to real on the ground improvements for all members of the transportation mix? Continue reading →

City Council adopts “complete streets” policy

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article from The Cavalier Daily   Plan passes 4-1; aims to improve quality, utility of Charlottesville streets | Feb 11 2014  Charlottesville City Council adopted a “complete streets” resolution earlier this month to ensure future roads will accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and tree-lined roadways. “[The new policy will] ensure that transportation infrastructure investments support the making of an attractive, healthy, and safe, walkable and bike-able Charlottesville,” according to Council’s agenda. The street design policy was initially proposed by councilmember Kathy Galvin in September. “Context Sensitive Streets simply means that the design, engineering and building of our streets should fit the context … Continue reading →

Trailwork: Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve

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The first Saturday of each month is dedicated to expanding the trails at the Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve. Albemarle County has invited us to participate in building singletrack in the 600 acre park. The park is currently open to the public, and has 5-6 miles of trail ready for use by hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians. The trails are extremely steep, and following the Little Flat Mountain Loop will take you to the Shenandoah National Park Boundary. Nate Lopez, an employee of Albemarle Parks & Rec has been constructing beautiful rock switchbacks to wind the newest section of singletrack down through massive … Continue reading →