I'm back from my first Shenandoah 500, a 2-day, 500km dual-sport event organized by the Northern Virginia Trail Riders. This year's event was awesome, as we had perfect weather: sunny and 75-80 degrees both days. I looked at the event as a great way to pick up more trail-riding skills, and I definitely pushed it up another notch (though I'm still far from being an expert).
My friend Matt arrived Friday with a trailer and we finally got the KLRs loaded after a 30-minute comedy of noob-errors. Neither of us have any experience trailering bikes, so it was move this strap, untangle that strap, loosen this strap, tighten that strap before we had everything cranked down to our satisfaction.
We arrived at Natural Chimneys campground by 5pm Friday, and after unloading and setting up camp we rode the bikes over for inspection. This event required everyone to have street-legal bikes, current tags, plus proof of registration, plus have quiet pipes (well, they were a little lax with that one!). Here's inspection...
...and here's my rollchart before loading...
I'm new to rollcharts...and though I see their functionality, I thought my GPS was easier to use. (The event organizers hope to "Go GPS" next year.) Here's the official event t-shirt...
Though the weather was perfect, everyone knew dust would be a factor. This photo below isn't a trail---it's a riverbed! And every creek and river looked just like this one---it's been a bone-dry summer and fall. This sight might be common in the Southwest, but not in the East.
The rider's meeting was held Saturday morning. There were at least 200 bikes in the event, maybe more.
A quick look around showed that trail riding isn't just a young folks' event. This guy looks like he's thinking "Geez, it's the Geriatric 500!" (Note all the gray and bald heads.)
This guy was in his mid-70s and out there tearing it up with everyone else!
Another "senior" rider...
While the rider's meeting went on, I wandered around and got photos of bikes, figuring you might enjoy seeing a representative sample of what was there.
KLRs were pretty well-represented. I probably saw close to 20 total, maybe more...
These Huskies are badass-looking bikes, period.
Of course this one's no slouch either, LOL.
The '08 KLRs seem to be catching on fast---there were several at the event...
I didn't like them at first...but I have to admit they're starting to grow on me. They definitely stood out (for better or worse) among all the other bikes...
But the good ol' tractors still ruled...
Needless to say, probably one-third of all bikes there were KTMs.
I thought I'd see more BMWs, but this was the lone F650 out of 200+ bikes, and I saw **no** big GS1150's or 1200's (thus proving my theory that they've become the new "soccer mom" grocery bike, LOL)...
Suzuki DR's and DRZ's vastly outnumbered just about everything else...
No, this one didn't actually do the ride (but it would have been fun to see!)
I loved this KLR paint scheme:
The new staring down the old...
And yes, there was even one lone Wee-Strom! (But man, I wouldn't have wanted to ride one on some of those trails! I heard this guy did the whole route...)
I don't even know what the heck this was (but I'm sure many of you can identify it)...
The rider's meeting continued with explanation of signs along the way, including the ever-important "WRONG WAY" sign...
The meeting was over shortly after 9am, and everyone headed for their bikes.
Then all pandemonium ensued as 200+ riders roared out of the camground...
This poor girl picked the wrong weekend for a quiet campout, LOL...
Saturday's ride route was 160 miles, Sunday's 140. From here on, I didn't get as many pics as I wanted, mainly because a) I was in "trail survival mode," LOL and b) we had so far to go I wasn't inclined to dally much for photos. The routes both days covered a huge area of the George Washington National Forest straddling the Virginia/West Virginia border west of Harrisonburg. The ride was a mix of Forest Service roads and trails and county blacktop roads. Here's the area (shown in color) on a map...
The ride started out with a spin up to Reddish Knob at 4200', offering some pretty spectacular views...
Reddish Knob, being accessible by a paved road, is apparently a huge hangout for James Madison University students. This Saturday morning, the JMU girls' swim team was suddenly abused by a huge pack of dirtbikers as they were trying to pose for team photos, LOL.
While up on top I spotted this guy on a '67 Ossa!
And here's Janet from New Jersey, one of 2 or 3 female riders in the whole event. She joked later about telling her coworkers she spent the weekend in the woods with 200 guys, LOL.
The ride continued along a mix of rocky trails, gravel roads, and blacktop. On many of the trails, the operative word was DUST...
The dust was so thick at times you couldn't see ten feet ahead. I was amazed at the morons who rode at breakneck speeds in tight packs (separated by not more than a bike length) on twisty gravel roads in basically zero visibility. They might be good riders, but bein' good doesn't magically enable you to see through dust. Thankfully only a few of the dirt roads were bad. Otherwise, the trails and scenery were fantastic. Here's a representative sample...
Here's the town of Sugar Grove, in what has to be one of the most beautiful valleys in the region...
Right near the top of the infamous (for sportbikers) Rt.33 pass is a fantastic double-track that runs north just below the crest of the ridge, called Hall Springs trail. Here's what it looked like...
Here's my riding buddy Matt trying to absorb it all...
All in all this was a fantastic event. We lucked out with weather, 'cause last year's ride (which I didn't do) was a muddy, rainy, hypothermic nightmare! The ride was incredibly well-run. The NVTR has been doing this for a while and they've got it down. The camground at Natural Chimneys is great (water and power at every site, even for tent campers). Meals were good, and all served by various local volunteer fire departments. I'll tell ya, local VFD's are the glue that bind these small rural communities together!
The ride was billed as "big bike friendly," and for the most part it was. I say "for the most part" because there were a couple of trails that tested everyone, and one in particular resulted in my only dropped bike of the day---a steep switchback with a trailbed of nothing but loose baseball-sized rock. I forgot the cardinal rule I've only recently learned: MOMENTUM IS YOUR FRIEND! I stalled in 2nd gear halfway up the corner and BANG went down. thankfully there were plenty of riders around to help me pick up the bike (which I could have never done otherwise as it fell pointing downhill--ugh!) The "Bradley Armored Fighting KLR" sustained no damage whatsoever.
I can't recommend this ride enough, and anyone who already rides offroad or is interested in dual-sporting, this is a fantastic learning opportunity. It's amazing how much improvement there is in your skills after riding all day offroad. For example, I had little experience or practice standing on the pegs. By the end of the weekend, I was standing for 30 minutes straight and taking corners, practicing weight shifts and whoops.
My only negative comment about the event (which will cause some to roll their eyes I'm sure) is that I naively thought squids were a pavement-only phenomena. WRONG! There may be more dirt-squids than there are pavement squids. Many riders in this event didn't hesitate to pass on blind lefthand corners on narrow trails at speeds in excess of 20mph faster than what others were riding...and they generally (like pavement squids) rode in tight packs. But hey, no harm done.
For me, the ride gave me even more respect for the KLR: not as a dirtbike, but as the ultimate do-anything bike. Several times as I was crashing across rocky streambeds and climbing ridges I marveled at the fact that this was the same bike that I rode 5,000 miles to Newfoundland last fall. On Thursday before the event, I had done a bunch of work to the bike, including spooning on my first tires and replacing the rear shock spring with one more suited to my weight. The upgraded suspension was great and easily swallowed any rocks, potholes and ledges this ride threw at it.
Can't wait 'til next year's ride!
Scott
