We had to pack all of our food and water needed for 125
miles of riding, along with
all of our camping gear. It was an
overnighter. I layed out all of my kit on the table the night before we left and thought to myself "man, that don't look like much stuff". This will be the first ride i have ever done like this so it will be a learing experience. I was stoked to do a trip like this .
We had to drive two vehicles because this ride was a point to point ride, not a loop like most of rides. So after getting t
he car dropped at the end point in Galax Va, we loaded up all of the gear, which wasn't much, in the other car and headed back to Abbington. W
e stayed at some crappy hotel and packed our gear and hydrated properly there for the big day ahead.
Monday morning when we rolled out of bed the sun was
bright and the air was cool at about 34 degrees. We had breakfast continental style and hit the trail, literally. We started out on the Virginia Creeper trail for about 20 miles until we got to Damascus. Once we hit single track up we went on super steep, washed out trail. Climbing this hill with all of your gear was pretty tough since we really hadn't become acustumed to the load yet.
Once we got up to the ridgeline the trail was very nice and flowed well. I could go on but I will skip about 50 miles of boring trail description. At one point we cross a paved road about 6 miles miles from out camp. On this road we spotted a ranger station with some good ol' boys hanging out on the front porch. My first thought was " I bet they have got some beer or know where some beer is". Jef talked me in to going over and asking them if there was a sto
re near by. We got some good news... 1.5 miles away beer awaited us at a local store!! We cuised in to the town, scooped up a six pack each and stuffed them in our already full packs. Off went back into the woods with our brew in search of our campsite. At about 61 miles we find our home for the night.
Once we got to camp we set up our hammocks and got a fire cracking quickly. All of our meals required
boiling water so fire was a must. Our fire also provided us with some much needed heat for the night since the temps were in the l
ow 30's. The beers tasted great and went down quick. We stayed up for a while and laughed, telling stories about past riding trips and random campfire conversations. I hit the hammock about 10:00 ready for some zzzzz's. Well I got a couple hours of sleep and then the cold set in. I woke up about 12:00 freezing in my bag. My toes were frozen and I spent the rest of the night in the fetal position trying to stay warm but it didn't work. 
Burrr, I wish I would have slept on the ground because it would have been warmer than the hammock.
Burrr, I wish I would have slept on the ground because it would have been warmer than the hammock.Tuesday morning we woke up and ate some breakfast, packed our junk, and off we went. We knew we were in for a long day but felt it good to get moving and warm up a bit. The start of the second day was sweet. The trial was really fast, rolling hills with some cool purple plants blooming along your sides. As the day went on the trails got tougher and tougher and everyone
was feeling beat. No mechanicals, just a long day on the bike.
.
We got done late on tuesday afternoon. I checked Jef's computer, 124 miles!! We grabbed a shower and walked into town for a good hot meal. We were too tired to even think. I know our waitress thought we were some spaced out dudes. We didn't care, we just wanted some food and a beer. Well until next time, keep the wheels spinnin'...
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