Athens
Bicycle Has Great
Day
at Wild 100
The
Athens Bicycle team made a great showing at the Wild 100 race
in Slatyfork, W.V., on Aug. 12. This year's race seemed to feature
more bushwhacking than ever before (it's legal in this backcountry
mountain bike event). Team member Craig
Watson placed first in the
100+ category, finding all six checkpoints faster than anyone else
on the mountain that day -- on a rigid single speed! Meanwhile, Pete
and I battled it out in the coed class, chasing Dirty Harry's
duo T.J. and Abby Platt around the mountain, ultimately grabbing first
place by less than 3 minutes after nearly 9 hours of racing. Shop team
member Kim Broughton not only achieved
her goal of finishing her first attempt at the race, she made it to
the prize table with a sweet third-place
finish in the women's solo category. Craig's monster effort was the
talk of the post-race keg party. Check out the results on Elk River
Touring Center's Web site.
One
of my favorite things about this race is finding out the routes that
people took after it's all over. You're allowed to get to the checkpoints
any way you want, as long as you don't use pavement (except for a
few teenie-tiny sections that are allowable as transitions from one
trail to another). For example, no one from the Athens Bicycle team
took the same route. If you're familiar with the area, you might
find the following route descrptions interesting. Plot them out on
this map to see where
everyone went -- the checkpoints (CPs) are noted in black marker
-- ignore the typeset #s that appear within black circles on the
map.
Route
#1: Craig
Watson (First-Place 100+)
> Props connecter trail from start/finish to Props Run Trail
> Props to CP1
> USFS 24 to Crooked Fork Trail
> Straight up the hillside to CP2 on Gay Sharp Knob
> Red Lick to Red Spruce
> Then stupidly took Gualey Mountain Trail to Right Fork to Tea Creek Mountain
Trail to CP3 (didn't know small section of Scenic Highway was legal)
> From CP3, along with Benji Klimas, took a fishing/bushwhack trail on the
other side of Tea Creek Trail for about 2 miles then crossed over to Tea Creek
Trail and hike/biked up that to CP4
> From CP4 I took
Tea Creek Trail to the shelter to the parking lot
USFS 24 to beginning of USFS 134 to CP5
> Down the back side of 134 to USFS 135 and USFS 24 to top of Props Run Trail
to CP6
> Down Props to the finish
Route
#2: Peter Kotses & Meredith Erlewine (First-Place Coed Team)
>
219 to Mine Road/USFS 24 right on Props Run Trail to CP1
> Backtrack on Props to USFS 24, right on Crooked Fork Trail
> Cross Scenic Highway, jump the fence and spend next ~40 minutes
bumbling around with Abby & TJ Platt and Patrick Riggin -- finally
find CP2
> Scenic Highway
to Red Lick North
> Crossed Scenic Highway onto Red Spruce Trail
> Left on Scenic Highway, right on to Tea Creek Mountain Trail and ultimately
to CP3
> Climbed Bannock Shoals to USFS 135
> Right on USFS 24, right on Tea Creek Trail
> Bushwhack in a northwest direction, looking for CP5
> Over an hour later, no CP5 in sight, we stop for some PB&J
> While chewing we here voices immediately below us
> Shimmy down ravine/cliff, plop directly into CP5
> USFS134 to USFS 24
> USFS 24 to 219 and the finish Route
#3: Kim Broughton (Third Place Solo Woman)
> Props connecter trail from start/finish to Props Run Trail
> Props to CP1
> USFS 24 to Crooked Fork Trail
> Crossed road, bushwack up cow field to
CP 2 (or was that a trail?) :)
>
Gay Sharp Knob to Scenic Highway to Red Lick North to Red Spruce
Trail. Got lost for ~30 minutes).
> Scenic Highway to Tea
Creek Mountain trail (woo woo!)
to CP
3.
> Bannock Sholes trail to USFS 135 to Bear Pen Trail
to Tea Creek Trail to CP 4.
> Tea Creek Trail to Tea Creek Connector to Gauley Mountain
Trail to USFS 24 to USFS 134 to CP 5.
> From CP 5 back down 134 onto Gauley Moutain Road (USFS 24) to 219
to finish.
I
don't have pictures from the race itself because I was out there
racing. But I do have some pictures of the following day's activities,
which included an awesome ride on Boundary Trail, one of the best
trails in the Slatyfork area, and a trip to The Hutte restaurant
in Helvetia, W.V. Click on the thumbnails below for larger versions of
the photos.
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Craig
takes the overall win. |
Pete
and I barely made it back before TJ and Abby |
Kim
nailed her first W100 attempt with a great finishing time! |
 |
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|
Craig
gets a shake from Gil. |
A
special surprise the next morning ... |
...a
ride on Boundary Trail! Here's Courtney |
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|
The
floor of the forest. |
Atira
climbs through the rhodo tunnel. |
Joey! |
 |
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|
The
trail ahead. |
Courtney! |
More
petals. |
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Joey
tiptoes through the flower petals |
A
trip to the overlook |
These
two look like they're ready for a wedding |
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On
the way home, a trip to the Hutte |
My
trip #1 to the Hutte buffet. |
Cobbler
for dessert |
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A
visit to the goats behind the Hutte. Logan loved them!
|
I
snapped a pic of Pete snoozing on the way home. The end.
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