Epic Recon #2 (Non Race Report Redux)

This weekend I had the rare opportunity to have a Sunday all to myself. Sunday is usually a trip to my Dad's with B-Man, but Wifey had a special "Mommy & Brennan Day" planned, so I did what any dirt worshipping, knobbie tired heathen would do. I headed to the mountain for some Epic Recon on the Dos Niner.

Epic Recon #2 is/was the second part in my quest to gather info in an effort to put together a 60 to 100 mile mountain loop of forest roads, double track, snow mobile trails, and single track. I'm tiring of being a mountain biker who rarely rides in the mountains. Suburban park single track, race courses, ghetto trails, rail trails, road, etc., have their place, no doubt, But to me there's nothing like being on a long ass ride in the mountains. So Sunday I set off to find the key to my future "epic".

The plan was to first explore some forest roads and trails down from Hidden Valley on the East side of Route 31. Then later cross 31 and take Tunnel Road in search of the bridge over the Turn Pike. As I mentioned before, I plan to one day link the Laurel Mountain, Linn Run and Hidden Valley area of the mountains together for a BIG ASS loop that could range anywhere from 60 to 100 miles.

I knew it was gonna be a long day in the saddle, so even though the Mamasita would have flown up the forest road climbs, I went with my "go to" bike. My rolling Orange Julius- The '08 Dos Niner. This sort of ride screams for a soft tail. 1 inch of travel in my rear and 4" in front. I even rolled with a CamelBak Blow Fish topped with 100 oz. of Heed. Damn! It's been a long while since I rolled with that much liquid on my back. I also had a couple bottles of my "not at all patented" Carbo Pro/Endurlyte/Gatorade cocktail, a Snickers Charged bar (My last one! And I think they're now extinct!) and few Gels. Throw in pump, couple tubes, some Co2s, and a camera and I was rolling Sherpa style. I would never carry this much gear on a Hundie or Marathon given that there are aid stations every 25 miles. But this was solo, and would be a 4 to 5 hour trip, So Sherpa Style it was!

First I headed down Tower Road and then hit Cherry Trail. It's mostly double track with some rock here and there and few ribbons of dirt. All was rolling smooth until I came to a stream crossing with a bridge out. Luckily there was a nice little plank bridge the workers had made, so I was able to scoot across without getting soaked 2 miles into the ride.

Once I got to the end of the trail I headed up Jones Mill Run Road. This was very reminiscent of roads on the Wilderness 101. So after a few miles of climbing I realized I was heading the wrong friggin' way! So I had to back track a few miles. Frig! The good part was that I was able to bomb down all the stuff I just climbed up at 30 mph. At least until I got back to the exit of Cherry and the road started to climb again. The climb was easy enough. It was pretty gradual so it was mostly middle ring stuff.

Then it was a hard left on an unnamed trail, which was mostly down hill to Pump House Trail. The ride was getting a little confusing, because there were many more signed trails there that were not on the map. Some map consulting and good luck soon had me on P.H.T.. It was a wide single track, sort of double track, but filled with loose rock, some roots, and what seemed to be small stream (must have been a spring) running down the left side. I can imagine this trail would be a real bee-otch in early spring or after heavy rains.

At the top of Pump House Trail I made my way up to Red Oak Trail. Red Oak is wide trail with a mix of double track, some service road rock, and a couple bands of dirt. Most of Red Oak seemed to be a steady but doable climb that finished with descent to Jones Mill Road. Once back on Jones Mill I started to climb again (big shock). My plan was to spin Jones the whole way to Koring Trail (gas line) or take it the whole way to 31. But as I made my way up I spied some single track on the left. This was the best single track of the day. Twisting through some pine, with some nice roots to spicy things up. (EDIT: after looking at the map it looks like I could have hit more single track by heading down Koring after I exited Red Oak.). The trail eventually drop me out at the intersection of Tower Road/Jones Mill Run Trail and the wide grass trail back to the upper parking lot for the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail.Then it was a nice bomb down Tower Road to Route 31.

After crossing the road, eating a Snickers and consulting my map a few times, I got on a wide snowmobile trail that would lead me down to Tunnel Road. The miles on Tunnel to me were even MORE reminiscent of the Wilderness 101. Lots of service road climbing, steep in parts and it seemed to go on a bit too long! But all climbs seem to do that, don't they? I was sort of stoked, because this just the sort of riding I've been looking for. Riding in the mountains is just the mental enema I needed! Plus, having done 4 hundies I realized that it was hard for me to train for them when I spend most of my time riding in circles or on my road bike. Having these roads and climbs to link various types of single track is just what my inner coach ordered. Lastly these roads will provide great riding for when the trails are too muddy and the brain is giving the double bird to thoughts of road riding.

I continued on Tunnel for sometime. I then spied the L.H.T. on my right. What? I knew that I should have zigged past the gated double track by the radio tower instead of zagging down Tunnel another 1/4 mile. Oh well, I at least knew I was close to the bridge!

I made my way down the double track, past a huge ass radio tower and there it was (insert sounds of trumpets here) the bridge over the PA Turnpike, My gateway to big miles and rocky single track. Wait a minute! (insert sound of giant WTF? scream here). "Horses and Bikes Prohibited On Bridge". WHAT? You can walk across it with a 500lb. back pack on, you can ride your snow mobile across it, but you can't ride a bike on it?? Yeah right! There was no mention about walking across with your bike, so that's what happened. Plus I gotta tell you I really don't foresee the po-po leaping out of the bushes to arrest me for going across a bridge. I would almost think they had mean ATVs? Or Maybe they are considering it part of the LHT which prohibits bikes and horses??? Either way I went to the other side and rode up hill a little way. I was a bit confused on how far to go to meet up with Felgar or Hickory Flats. There were no signs, and it was getting late and I STILL had some miles to go to get back to the Soob.

I headed back to Tunnel Road and some Big ringing down the hill and some standing up hill to get back to the Soob and home before my cut off for Wifey to call Search and Rescue! HA! I didn't bother with the snowmobile trail on the way back and just took Tunnel to 31 and spun 31 to the parking lot. I finished the day with 35 miles. It was more like 30 since about 5 miles surely were back tracking down Jones and a few small missed turns. I spent a hair over 4 hours in the saddle and close to 5 on the day if you count stopping to consult my map, eat, pee, take pics, etc.,

There is much more that can be/could be/will be done. If I can get familiar with the single track closer to Hidden Valley and work out a link to Seven Springs that doesn't involve a ton of pavement... It'll be huge! Strike that, reverse- It'll be EPIC!

Later.