Asphalt adventure with a touch of mud

What a turn of events, fun but different from the original plan.

The original plan was for Moe and I to drive out to Schaeffer Farms in Germantown, Maryland. But that required having a vehicle, which we realized that morning we did not have access to. So, we decided to bike from my house (near Seven Corners in Arlington) out to the Centerville Power Lines mountain bike trail and eventually to Moe’s house in Manassas.

When we started, there was a light rain, almost a drizzle. It was in the 50s, so we had to wear extra clothing. And turn around for something else. And something else. After the third take, we were actually past the end of the first block from my house! Things didn’t seem all too great for a bike ride along Route 50 (technically US 50) to get to Fairfax Circle. We took as many of the service roads as possible, even taking time to go on a few rocky piles and construction areas along the way.

We stopped to take pictures along the way, especially getting through the area around the Beltway. Merging across lanes can get pretty dicey! As we got farther west, the storm system in the area was letting up, and so the weather improved drastically. After getting through Merrifield, the sun was out and the weather was up to the 60s.

Upon entering Fairfax Circle, we stopped for lunch ($5 for a footlong sub? We’re in!) and randomly ran into Moe’s dad who was there at the exact same time as us. Getting a quick bit of food in our stomachs, we set off again, this time onto Lee Highway (US 29). We took the highway all the way to Centreville Road (Route 28), then after I inadvertently played chicken with oncoming traffic, we took that to the beginning of the Centerville Power Lines.

I had my map of the trail, but no map could even find the path very well. The trail we came to was overgrown, hard to see in some areas (the trail was nowhere to be found in more than just a few places), and generally full of neglect. It was also weird that we were completely surrounded by neighborhoods and felt like maybe we were trespassing. We pushed on, determined to make the trail as fun as possible.

In a few areas there were water crossings, all of which were much deeper than at first glance. A couple of mud puddles were fun to splash through, and the trail split to the left at one point around a substation. But it was really hard to find the trail in some places. Luckily with the name, it was easy to follow the power lines. Unluckily, it was hard to find the exact trail we were supposed to be on, with many instances of us having to get off our bikes and walk through tall grass. My left knee started acting up again, causing great pain at certain parts, but I didn’t want to stop. Also, passing through a split tree almost ended the ride since I managed to bend my back derailleur almost to the point of breaking. I bent it back and it proved no problem for the rest of the ride, luckily.

Eventually the trail came up to Braddock Road and we were supposed to follow the road for a portion of the trail from one set of power lines to another. Not much as far as challenge goes, since asphalt is probably the flattest thing you could be biking on at any time! Needless to say, we anxiously awaited the power lines again, each of us almost running into a tree because we weren’t really paying attention to our surroundings.

Reaching the power lines again, the mountain biking began again. Since many had gone off-roading in their vehicles and the trail generally in bad maintenance, some of the slopes were much more difficult. That was actually a good thing, inserting some challenge into a rather hum-drum trail. Near the end, we came across a stream, about 20 feet across, shallow enough to entice us to try and ford the river. We each tried to get across, but if any of you have ever played Oregon Trail, fording rivers is impossible! We both made it almost to the other end until our momentum was just shot and we had to take a dip in the shin-high water. Did wash off some of that mud, though!

After getting back to the trailhead (if you can really call it that, it’s more like the power line tower next to Centerville Road), we set off to Moe’s. We were both getting really tired, and the rush hour traffic notorious on Centerville Road got dangerous when our sidewalk ended and we were forced to go along the roadway. Also having made plans for later that evening, we determined that we were never going to make it on time and had to stop about 4.2 miles from Moe’s house, getting a ride from his dad.

All in all, together we had done 20.5 miles of biking on the roadway, and about 7 miles biking on the trail. Moe himself had biked to my house before we began, so he ended up with an additional 8 miles for a total of 28.5 road miles. We had taken advantage of the many muddy areas, so we were pretty well covered.

My last thoughts on Centerville Power Lines: it’s easier to appreciate good, well-maintained trails when you try riding on a badly maintained trail like this one.

Getting a little crazier

With the rise of confidence daring may follow, and it sure did today.

Spreading like a virus, the fun of mountain biking at Fountainhead was again had by myself and Moe, with Peter joining us for his first trip there.

The temperatures were hot, reaching 80 degrees on this sunny day. We were ready for it, with extra amounts of water being carried. And I was wearing a knee brace for my left knee, to help until it fully heals.

Moe and I took a much quicker pace than we ever had, with Peter following us as closely as he could. He stepped up to the challenge, especially with encountering everything for a first time. The heat took its toll on our group, with more water breaks having to be made and Peter sharing part of his lunch with the woods early on in the trip. Farther along the trip, my left knee started to act up a little bit, and Peter’s left hamstring started giving him some trouble. But we kept on.

Getting to the “playground”, we decided to try everything out and add a little of our own to the mix. Peter learned to do the teeter-totters with the rest of us, and we had some fun. I turned my attention to the 40 foot log that had been too difficult to cross with determination. The log was between 6 and 8 inches in width that you could bike on, with diagonal ramps leading up to and from it. I got a good amount of speed and tried it, kept my balance, nearly fell off near the end, but made it! I felt so accomplished that we made a video of my second crossing of it. Then Moe built his own jump using a few logs and pieces of wood and tried it with success. Then I tried it. I forgot to pull up on the front and nearly flipped forward, doing an unexpected balance on my front tire with my back side almost coming over the top of me for a quick second! That was a quick lesson on taking jumps.

We came across a casualty along the path, with a man having to walk his bike back to the start after having broken off the part connecting his left pedal to the rest of the bike. People are really tough on their bikes, including myself.

Also along the trail we came across an obviously Washington Capitals bird, whose chirping was reminiscent of the “Let’s Go Caps!” cheer. We may not be in the playoffs anymore, but it’s clear there are some hockey fans in nature!

Among other random things, the lesson of wearing gloves was learned first-hand by Moe, whose hands fared much, much better through the trip than did mine or Peter’s. The frequent bumpiness was quite hard on the hands and wrists, so I will be using gloves next time I venture out on a mountain bike trail.

Having infected another person to Fountainhead’s greatness, I think it’s time to try another mountain bike trail, at least to mix things up a bit. There’s plenty out there, and we’re ready for everything that can be thrown at us!

Fountainhead: Round Two

Wow, what a difference some experience on a trail makes!

Having had so much fun the first time around and having spread the word about how awesome Fountainhead’s mountain bike trail was, I returned to the trail with friend Moe.

The weather was a bit warmer, with the sun having decided to come out and the temperature in the low 70s.

So, we got our bikes and equipment all set and headed to the trailhead, when we noticed Moe had forgotten his helmet. Helmets being required, and the trail being difficult, we set out to get another helmet…

…(series of events unrelated to mountain biking)…

…a few hours later, we were back at the trailhead, Moe sporting his new helmet. And we were off.

I noticed right off the bat that things were easier. My experience of having been there along with the trail being dry (as opposed to the moist first trip of mine) made getting around a lot quicker. I also quickly noticed that my bike ride of 48 miles not too long before had affected my left knee more than I originally thought, and it acted up. Going uphill became much harder since my left knee was still recovering from a strain, so there was a lot of walking up the hills.

It was Moe’s first experience on the trail, and he loved every minute of it. When we got to an area (I call it the “playground”) with teeter-totters and a 40 foot log you had to try and bike across without falling off, we decided to try going on them. Moe started us off by making it through both teeter-totters eventually. I was too scared my first time to try going on them, but after a few practice runs of almost falling off, I made it over both teeter-totters eventually. Basically you had to bike up one side, get past the midpoint, then keep your balance as gravity took over and set you to the ground so you could ride forward and off. The first teeter-totter was 1.5 feet wide, and the second was 1 foot wide with a steeper angle. The log was a different story, with neither of us being able to make it more than a few feet before bailing. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time playing here.

Back onto the trail, we ran into a couple of other bikers on the trail, all much more experienced than we were. Haha, we had to stop many times while watching them pass through the most difficult parts without a sweat!

With Moe having gone fast through a certain part, I stopped to take a leaf out of my back tire. Suddenly I heard rustling in the leaves a few feet from me and looked up to see a black snake move at a speed of 10 mph away from me along the trail! I shouted out to Moe to get his camera, and he started inching closer to it to get a picture. As he got closer, the snake started shaking its tail just like a rattlesnake, showing it’s discontent. I’m thinking the entire time of all the times I’ve watched shows like “When Animals Attack” as Moe inches closer for a better picture, when the snake decides to move away from both of us at its same quick pace! We found out after our trip that the snake was a black rat snake, a non-poisonous snake that mimics a rattlesnake with its tail for self-defense.

Still paranoid about seeing the snake, every time we ran over a stick that rustled some leaves we thought of it. It still didn’t stop us from having a good time, though. Getting near the end, we pedaled non-stop through the finish and were proud of ourselves. Fountainhead was still a challenge, but I’m much more confident about it.

Fountainhead: A Kick in the Pants

Feeling motivated this morning, I decided to head down to Fountainhead Regional Park (part of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority) to try out their famed mountain biking trail. This trail was made exclusively for mountain biking, and no hikers/equestrians/anyone else are allowed to use the trail. So that meant it had to be good, right?

Absolutely!

My expectations were more than surpassed when I started the trail itself. I found the very first part to be a sudden jump forward into a technical ride, made more difficult since everything was a little moist from the previous rain.

I found that the trail was very well made, with the path using every feature of the terrain surrounding it to provide a network of loops, giving the rider the option to turn back many times. I decided to do every loop that was thrown at me, and that proved to be quite a task! There were countless tree roots to run over, along with rocks and the occasional strategically placed bridge, though even the bridges had little parts to watch out for, like drops on the other end. Every now and then I’d come across a fallen log, etched out to give just enough clearance for those able to lift their bike tires up high enough. I found myself passing these particular obstacles with a 50% success rate. Partway through the trail, I came across a little “playground” of sorts, with a seesaw, a bike-jump bar, and even a log with the top flattened to see how long you could stay on it without falling off.

I, of course, being my beginner self, crashed a few times. The first crash was when I was going down a hill that seemed to slope diagonally to the right and I felt my back tire give out, then the rest of me gave out. Was quite a surprise, but as you can tell, I survived. The rest of the crashes mostly were me coming to a quick stop and having to jump off the bike almost. The only casualty I faced was the snapping of the wire for my bike speedometer, so I’ll have to replace that. My front fender, shaky on my first outing with it, stayed intact and didn’t fall off, even when I crashed.

I was the only person on the trail, and with the sky being overcast time seemingly stood still for me. The only sounds other than the splashing of my tires as I passed through a puddle or the metallic sounds of my bike going over multiple bumps were those of a few birds, including a woodpecker, and a squirrel that decided to run within 2 feet of my front tire (must be an adrenaline-junky).

All in all, once I had made it to the finish, I had gone about 7.78 miles of trail. My favorite part of the trail might be the fact that there were few parts to “rest” so the entire trip kept me on my toes, holding onto my handlebars ready to brake at any surprise.

I do not recommend this for someone who is just getting into the sport of mountain biking, but if you can get a few good rides in, definitely try this trail out. I can’t wait to return and see if I can get some revenge on this behemoth!

Extra Lake Trips and a Dark Ride

Wow, what a fun ride that was! Mountain biking is back on my repertoire of outdoor activities as of Tuesday!

Accompanying me on this adventure were friends Moe and Peter.

The weather turned out excellent, turning from a cloudy 50 degree morning to a nearly clear 70 degree afternoon and mild evening.

First stop was Wakefield Park to travel around Lake Accotink. Along the way, we tested out many different off-road trails, some even ending in small ponds! After exploring a bit, we headed to Lake Accotink to loop around the lake. The ground was still moist after the previous day’s rain, so there were plenty of puddles with which to test out my new front and back wheel fenders. The back fender, which is also a frame for storage, worked wonderfully. The same could not be said for the front fender, which popped off the front fork numerous times until I just stored it in my backpack. Looping around to the beach/recreation area, we checked out the dam that was there.

Upon reaching the dam, I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses whilst taking a picture earlier on the trail! I quickly biked around a third of the lake back to find it, then caught up with Moe and Peter to retrace our steps to the dam. Once again at the dam, our next task was to tackle a really steep hill on the trail going up from the left side of the dam. Switching into a lower gear and building a lot of momentum won the day for me with the hill. Peter and I took a water break while Moe checked out the train bridge in front of the dam. After joining back up, we saw some fun little paths that posed a few challenges for my novice self, with me having to take a few “second looks” before trying them. All in all, it was a good time, and we played around in a creek for a bit before deciding to head back to the car to drive up to Great Falls.

After taking a little break to drive up to Great Falls, we set out on our next ride. At the visitor’s center, we decided to “get some water” from the falls. This meant climbing down on the rocks to get water from the flowing water, risking falling into the water and drowning (7 people each year drown at Great Falls). With Moe there, this wasn’t a problem. We climbed our way out to the side of one of the massive waterfalls, and you could see how great the volume of water was being moved through that area. After getting some water and posing for pictures, we headed onto the trail.

The sun was setting around this time, but we decided to keep pushing forward. We saw many, many deer along the trail. Each time we would spot one, then another would show its white tail, then another until we would see up to 8 of them at once! Our goal was to travel along part of Difficult Run, aptly named. In order to get there, we had to push up a long, arduous hill that got even the best of me, though I was disappointed that I was only 100 feet from the top when I had to stop to catch my breath. After reaching the top, we headed down the other side and reached a road that we would have to travel on for about a quarter of a mile. At this time it was dark enough to warrant use of our lights. Luckily I had both my bike light and my caving headlamp, and Moe had his own headlamp. Entering the road, I stayed last since I had a good taillight, for good reason too. After going around a somewhat blind curve, we were about to be passed by a few cars when the first one didn’t notice we were on the road and we heard a bit of a skid and were glad no one came any closer to being hit.

Getting off the road, we made our way onto the Difficult Run trail. Visibility was severely limited to our lights, and finding the correct path became harder amongst the network of paths that all led the same way. We stopped because we saw some toads hopping around in the mud (their camouflage worked pretty well), then passed under a bridge as the darkness covered everything around us except for the dimming sky. Legs feeling weaker, we took a break at the top of a hill and bore witness to a pretty amazing view of the Potomac River as it was flowing towards the capital. Also, the picnic table we sat at featured a Stick Death drawing showing the use of a rocket launcher. We decided to head back along the horse trail since Difficult Run would live up to its name and be difficult to navigate back on. After some seemingly endless uphills, we reached the hill that I could not reach the top of without a break, but luckily we would be going down it this time. A very fun dark flight down the hill ensued, with us going just fast enough to be able to still react to the intricacies of the slope. Luckily it was actually very smooth so it was fairly straightforward. I made sure to hit the last few long puddles before we returned to the visitor’s center and the car.

I will surely be sore on Wednesday, but at least I have made my first trip to Great Falls Park and my first time mountain biking in a few years. Can’t wait for the next trip!

A fun new idea

Hi. My name is Bob Svercl, and I decided to start this new blog for all the outdoor things that I love to do.

I've mostly gone road biking, caving, camping, and hiking, but would like to add more experience in other outdoor realms such as rock-climbing, mountain biking, and even trail running.

I never found getting exercise indoors to be any fun. I mean, if you had the choice between biking 10 miles sitting in an air-conditioned room and had to see the same old stuff around you or biking 10 miles outdoors and seeing lots of wildlife, trails, and breathing the fresh air, wouldn't you choose the outdoors?

Hopefully I'll also have pictures from each of my trips to better record these adventures.