Virginia Creeper Trail Bike Ride

Get ready for some pictures! We got back today from our weekend trip to bike the Virginia Creeper Trail in SW VA.

One word:

GORGEOUS!

I am not exaggerating when I say this is by far the coolest outdoor thing I've done in this region aside from the Grandfather Trail at Grandfather Mountain.

Brad and I brought our bikes but after a semi-disaster that morning where something happened with my front brakes -- we decided I would rent.  I'm sure glad we did this -- as you'll see later on in this post.  Our group included -- Brad and myself, and a girl that I work with and a group of her friends.

Sadly, I did not take too many pictures in the town of Abingdon as I would have hoped too but there's no doubt I'll be back.  Just think - cute, smalltown VA.

Here we are the morning of the ride.  We're ready to get our 34.3 mile bike ride on!!!

We stayed in Abingdon and rented our bikes there.  You then pay to get on a shuttle that takes you up the mountain to Whitetop in the Jefferson National Forest where they drop you off so you can ride back down.

The shuttle ride was about 30-or 40-minutes which had Brad thinking WTF? I'm about to ride back on a bike?

 When we got to Whitetop there were Christmas tree farms everywhere! It was the same where we hiked last weekend which happened to be very close by.

 The trail was part of an old railroad and is considered one of the best bike paths in North America. I believe it!

 
 A little way into our adventure! Brad refused to wear a helmet.  He was too 'cool'.  After my bike accident back in August I wasn't chancing it.

 The first 17-miles is all downhill into Damascus, Virginia and is by far the most scenic of the trail --but the whole thing is to die for. You bike along the river the entire trail and it is total whitewater!

 Part of the group. Pictures don't do the trail justice but you can imagine.  There were bridges all along the way including a few covered ones.

 There were also several ice cream stands and other places to stop and rest and take in the mountain air. Most of them haven't reopened for the season quite yet.

 Another shot of the river..Just amazing.  Another note about the Creeper Trail -- the Appalachian trail runs along it too so we saw several 'hairy' people coming off the trail.

 Not sure why blogger didn't post this one the right side up.  This is where we stopped in Damascus and had lunch.  We were 18 miles in by this point.  I was thinking -- 18-miles doesn't feel too bad.  It was the most downhill of all the ride though.

 
 Covered bridge. 

 Me and my co-worker Karen.  She's quite the trip planner!

 A metal horse along the way.  You can also hike and ride horses along the Creeper Trail too.

 Another 8miles down the road and we ventured off the trail and stopped at the Abingdon Winery. It too was along the river.

 Cute little place!

 We bought a couple of bottles and shared outside on a picnic table.  That's when a rain storm rolled in!

 We all ventured in and let it pass before getting back on our bikes.  Here's a group shot of our entire crew.

 The last 8-miles was flat but then started uphill towards the end.

 Beautiful!

 
 30 miles into the 34.3 Brad's $25 Craigslist bike broke and couldn't be fixed! Holy shiznat! He walked it down for about 2-miles while cursing.  I rode slowly with him while the rest of the group got the hells out of there.
After 2-miles we saw Chris(pictured here)riding back down the trail with another bike next to him.  Brad's reaction? "He was like my knight and shining armor!"

Brad hopped on the bike and left his POS in the woods. We HAULED ass the last 2miles to get off the trail just as a MAJOR storm that including hail, thunder and lightening rolled in.

 Talk about a close call!! The storm even knocked out power to the local grocery store and our hotel! After taking a hot shower and getting cleaned up we went over to Karen and the crew's rental house where one of the girls made homemade pizzas! YUMMY!

 
 We then all relaxed by the fire pit and downed a good amount of wine! HAHA! A perfect end to a FANTABULOUS day!

Guess what? I'm not even too sore today except for my butt! One thing is for sure -- I'll be back to do the Creeper Trail again.
Good Times..Good Times!