Posts
485
Joined
3/19/2009
Location
San Juan Capistrano, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
6/29/2019 10:56pm
Not really riding the whole way - I am planning a multi-day trip on a drive from Charlotte, NC to the Finger Lakes region of Upstate NY. I'm planning to mix in some MTB rides, some sight seeing, touristy things, and camping each night on my drive. This is something that has been brewing in the back of my mind for years. Each summer, I make the drive up to the Auburn, NY area to visit family. Every year, I just beat up blacktop for 11+ hours and don't really make it a journey.
I'm sharing this to get suggestions from locals or others in-the-know of what else to do, better places to ride, places to see, and places to stay along the way. I'll be camping in a tent, so state park recommendations would be appreciated. I'm looking to keep it more on the outdoors side than the city/tourist flavor.
June 28 - After work I'll be making my way from Charlotte to Wytheville, VA. I plan to ride somewhere around there and check out the Big Walker Lookout if there is time.
June 29 - Make my way to Fayetteville, WV to get near the New River Gorge Bridge. I was going to ride the New River/Coal Country Trails followed by some local exploring around the bridge/gorge. I think there is a ski-lift/tram system there as well.
June 30 - Headed to Snoe Shoe WV. Any suggestions?
July 1 - Fork in the road for me on which direction I'm going to go. I wanted to drive through Morgantown, WV to see where RacerX is located, the make my way to Pittsburgh. Thinking of riding either the S'Side Park or the Frick Park trails
July 2 - I'm either headed to the Pocono's or to ride the IMBA Epic in Ellicotville, NY.
Any suggestions? I'll be taking my D3200 every step of the way to photograph all the cool stuff I stumble into along the way. I'll post anything cool in here when I have internets.
I'm open to any and all suggestions. I'm running off internet research and the MTB Project app to find things to do and see.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Jay
I'm sharing this to get suggestions from locals or others in-the-know of what else to do, better places to ride, places to see, and places to stay along the way. I'll be camping in a tent, so state park recommendations would be appreciated. I'm looking to keep it more on the outdoors side than the city/tourist flavor.
June 28 - After work I'll be making my way from Charlotte to Wytheville, VA. I plan to ride somewhere around there and check out the Big Walker Lookout if there is time.
June 29 - Make my way to Fayetteville, WV to get near the New River Gorge Bridge. I was going to ride the New River/Coal Country Trails followed by some local exploring around the bridge/gorge. I think there is a ski-lift/tram system there as well.
June 30 - Headed to Snoe Shoe WV. Any suggestions?
July 1 - Fork in the road for me on which direction I'm going to go. I wanted to drive through Morgantown, WV to see where RacerX is located, the make my way to Pittsburgh. Thinking of riding either the S'Side Park or the Frick Park trails
July 2 - I'm either headed to the Pocono's or to ride the IMBA Epic in Ellicotville, NY.
Any suggestions? I'll be taking my D3200 every step of the way to photograph all the cool stuff I stumble into along the way. I'll post anything cool in here when I have internets.
I'm open to any and all suggestions. I'm running off internet research and the MTB Project app to find things to do and see.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Jay
Other than that maybe think about staying east after snowshoe instead of going to Pittsburgh check out raystown lake in PA.
Both the KTM and Honda rigs have been parked there for days.
Maybe give them a call, super nice people, who knows they might give you a tour.
I hear Davy has his 125 in the lobby or something.
Ps, if you do the Racerx thing, right down the road look up Coopers Rock Park. Hellof an observation deck/area.
More on Frick -- there is a whole other "side" to Frick park that is not officially maintained by the Park. Locals refer to it as the "slags" because it's built on top of old slag piles from the Steel Mills. You won't find these trails on any map, but you can see them on Strava.
Also in Pittsburgh, North Park offers the holy grail of Western PA mountain biking, a 6 mile trail called the Red/Blue/Phundstein trail. North Park also offers other mountain bike trails, probably close to 30 miles in all, plenty to explore.
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/3284825/rainbow-and-pfundstein-red-blu…
I'm local to this area. If you have questions let me know. I'm happy to help.
I have to leave town on July 2nd for a trip, but if you end up in Pittsburgh on the 1st and want a local to show you around Frick, I can do that.
The Shop
Arrowhead is now on the list. I think I'll camp there too. Looks like a cool area.
Casting - as I solidify my plans, I'll let you know with a PM. Still trying to finalize the trip.
Off to Fayetteville WV manana
The New River Gorge and bridge are really damn impressive. I hiked out to Diamond Point overlook to find that the only thing between you and an 800ft fall is common sense. Great area to visit
It was raining on the way, but Sunday afternoon turned out decent.
Snowshoe is an incredible place. The sights were incredible.
I made the mistake of not renting a downhill bike. I rode my 29er carbon hardtail xc bike.... Big mistake. There is a lot of stuff that you can get through if you let the bike roll over it. However, without a lot of rake going downhill is a recipe for going over the bars.... Twice. Then I backed it down. I have nothing to prove and the goal changed to getting out of there will all of my teeth.
Still glad I went
On Monday I was off to Raystown Lake in PA. Thank you for this recommendation. What a beautiful area. The bike trails were loaded with speed and flow. The lake itself is gorgeous. I could have spent a few days there. My buddy from NY drove down to meet me so we rode one side of the trails on Monday and the other side this morning.
So that's that. I'm back in CNY visiting family, giving my legs 2 days off before a race in Pittsford on Thursday morning.
Thank you to all that made suggestions on where to stop. I had a lot of fun exploring new areas, staying in areas with no cell signal, and just breaking away from the day to day crap of real life.
Having that tent and bed setup in my truck made set up and tear down a 15 min job each day. It's so easy I have no reason to not take these kinds of trips more often.
Post a reply to: MTBing my way from Charlotte to Upstate NY