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September 2017
FEATURES 13 SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE OUTDOORS Female raft guides voice their concerns about an unspoken problem facing the outdoor industry. 18 SUP FIRST DESCENT Paddleboarder Chris Lechner completes an SUP first descent of the 139-mile Little Tennessee River. Along the way, he uncovers history beneath the water and wisdom from unexpected sources. 23 YEAR OF THE BIKE From tool to toy, the bike has served many roles over the course of history. Follow along on this two-wheeled tribute to learn how the bike came to be and what it’s doing for our communities and economies 200 years later. STEVE YOCOM
DEPARTMENTS 8 QUICK HITS 94-year-old woman from Charlotte, N.C., becomes oldest marathoner • Trout fishing lures money to the mountains 10 FLASHPOINT If you get lost, should you help pay to be found? 43 THE GOODS Biking badass Tristan Cowie picks his favorite gear. 62 TRAIL MIX Americana Aces—Fresh records from favorite roots songwriters. COVER : A VINTAGE BY NEA L PA L U MB O
39 FULL SUSPENSION AND FLY RODS Fly guy Travis Hall ventures on his first bike fishing adventure. It rains hard, a rod breaks, and then unexpectedly, The Infamous Stringdusters’ Travis Book appears. 55 SWEAT SHOPS Are boutique fitness gyms like CrossFit, Orange Theory, WellFit, Madabolic, Hard Exercise Works, and SoulCycle offering better workouts? BRO puts them to the test. 59 SINGLESPEED AIN'T DEAD Consigned to kids’ bikes for the past century, the single speed made an impassioned comeback in the early 2000s, and for a dedicated few, the spirit of the single speed lives on.
800-933-PARK (7275) | www.virginiastateparks.gov
35MM SHOT OF CYCLIST ROGER BIRD IN DAVIS, W.VA. S E P T E M B E R 2 017 / B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M BRO_Sept_2017_00881.indd 1
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CONTRIBUTORS
PRESIDENT
BLAKE DEMASO
ED ITOR I N C H I E F
WILL HARLAN
will@blueridgeoutdoors.com PUBLISHER
LEAH WOODY
leah@blueridgeoutdoors.com A RT D I R E C TO R
MEGAN JORDAN
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Editorial & Production S EN I O R E D ITOR JEDD FERRIS jedd@blueridgeoutdoors.com
TRAV E L E D ITO R
JESS DADDIO
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LAUREN WORTH
lauren@blueridgeoutdoors.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER
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09.17
FIRST BIKE YOU EVER OWNED? STEVEN MCBRIDE My first real mountain bike was a Schwinn High Sierra from 1980ish. I still have it. But my love of riding on wheels started with a Big Wheel. I went through two of them. I wish I still had one. TRAVIS HALL My first real bike was a baby blue FatBoy—a BMX fixie made by Specialized. It was the envy of the neighborhood gang for approximately two weeks before it was stolen from my friend's garage in true "Leave It to Beaver" fashion.
C ON T R I B UTO RS
WADE MICKLEY, GRAHAM AVERILL, LAURA INGLES, DAVE STALLARD, JEFF KINNEY, ASHLEY KAIRIS C O P Y E D ITO RS
JULIA GREEN, ROBERT MCGEE Advertising & Business SE N I OR AC C OU N T E X E C UT I V E
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KATIE HARTWELL
katie@blueridgeoutdoors.com B U S I N E S S MA N AG E R
MELISSA GESSLER
RANDY JOHNSON My first real bike: A Schwinn Paramount. It was so expensive I paid it off over six months with a high school job at a county library. Every weekend I visited it, gleaming in the bike shop's front window.
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WILL HARLAN A used bike that my dad pieced together. All summer, I raced imaginary cyclists up the hill to the light pole. LEAH WOODY All I wanted for Christmas when I was 13 was a pink and grey Huffy 10-speed. Instead my parents got me a green Giant mountain bike. It may have changed the course of my life.
melissa@blueridgeoutdoors.com CIRCULATION MANAGER / AC C OU N T E X E C UT I V E
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EVANS PRATER A Kona Kapu road bike. I put so many thousands of miles on that thing, rode it in 8 triathlons... Then someone stole it off my front porch! JOHNNY MOLLOY Schwinn banana bike in glitter gold DAVE STALLARD First bike I rode—some banana seat jalopy, circa 1979. First bike I really owned—Huffy 3 dirt bike. I tore the Mojave Desert up. MASON ADAMS A chrome blue ’80s BMX bike with pegs on the back that could accommodate a passenger or provide alternate foot placement while catching air from a neighborhood gutter drain.
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QUICK HITS
0 9 .17
hiked up to 26 miles a day to help him deal with adjusting to life back in the states. “You learn to hide your problems, but getting out in the woods and hiking for hours makes that difficult,” he told the Wilkes Journal-Patriot. “You can’t run away from your problems and it helps you to find your way back to life.”
SHORTS BLUE RIDGE BRIEFS BY JEDD FERRIS
NORTH CAROLINA RUNNER BECOMES OLDEST WOMAN TO FINISH HALFMARATHON
When Harriette Thompson of Charlotte, N.C., crossed the finish line at the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon in June, she became the oldest woman to finish the distance. Thompson, 94, completed the 13.1-mile course in the southern California city in 3 hours 42 minutes 56 seconds, making history among close to 21,000 other runners. Joined by her two sons and granddaughter, Thompson wore purple to represent the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She’s a cancer survivor who also lost her husband to the disease. Appropriately, at the end of the race she was treated like a rock star, standing onstage with conscious hip-hop artist Michael Franti while an adoring crowd chanted her name. Thompson, a former concert pianist who performed at Carnegie Hall, was also given props by elite runner Meb Keflezighi, who told the San Diego Tribune, “She has proven what music and exercise does for the body and soul.” VETERAN THRU-HIKES MOUNTAINS-TO-SEA TRAIL
Jude Rodrigue, a former Army Calvary scout who served in Iraq and now lives in New Bern, N.C., thruhiked the 1,175-mile Mountainsto-Sea Trail in his home state with help from Warrior Expeditions, an organization that outfits veterans for adventures to help them cope with the lingering effects of combat. On his journey from the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina to the coast in the Outer Banks, Rodrigue 8
KEY PIECE OF LAND PRESERVED IN THE ROAN HIGHLANDS
illustration by WADE MICKLEY
BY THE NUMBERS BIG BUSINESS OF NORTH CAROLINA TROUT FISHING Trout fishing is a big economic booster in the mountains of western North Carolina, according to a recently released study by Responsive Management and Southwick Associates for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Here are some key numbers from the report, “Mountain Trout Fishing: Economic Impacts On and Contributions to North Carolina’s Economy,” based on trout angler activity in 2014.
76%
1.6 Million
of anglers satisfied with their trout fishing experience in N.C.
Total days spent fishing by approximately 149,000 trout anglers.
3,600
$239.8 Million
Approximate number of jobs supported by trout fishing.
710,665 Days fished in hatchery-supported trout waters, the most frequently fished waters. This was followed by delayed harvest trout waters (390,085 days) and wild trout waters (276,804 days).
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amount spent by trout anglers in N.C.
$383.3 Million amount of the total economic effect of trout fishing in N.C. This number combines the direct spending of anglers on fishing gear, food, and lodging during trips, as well as spending by trout fishing businesses.
A prime tract of land has been preserved in Tennessee’s Roan Highlands. The Southern Appalachians Highlands Conservancy purchased 324 acres in the scenic area near the Tennessee/North Carolina border that will protect part of Hump Mountain, a pristine grassy peak in close proximity to the Appalachian Trail. The $1.6 million land purchase was funded with a mix of federal grant money, a bridge loan from the Conservation Fund, and a generous donation from philanthropists Fred and Alice Stanback. The land will be open to the public in the near future when the Southern Appalachians Highlands Conservancy turns it over to the government for it to become part of the Cherokee National Forest. TWO RESORTS, ONE TICKET
West Virginia ski areas Timberline Four Seasons Resort and Canaan Valley Resort hold some of the top slopes in the South. During the upcoming season, skiers and snowboarders will be able to access the terrain at both resorts, located just four miles apart in the Allegheny Mountains, with a single lift ticket. By combining forces, the resorts can now offer a total of 84 runs, with options for all levels, at a single price, and according to a press release the daily rate will be “an average of all midAtlantic prices.”
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FLASHPOINT
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WHO SHOULD PAY FOR WILDERNESS RESCUES? IF YOU GET LOST, SHOULD YOU HELP COVER THE COST OF BEING FOUND? BY JEFF KINNEY ON A COLD WINTER DAY IN JANUARY 2017, A
pleasant day hike in the Shining Rock Wilderness area in Haywood County, N.C., turned into a life-threatening ordeal. As the Citizen-Times reported, two men went missing for three days in the snow-blanketed forest after losing their way on the unmarked trail. Although they didn’t have food, water, or adequate clothing, and temperatures had dipped below freezing, they stayed put and built a fire after calling 911. Volunteer rescuers quickly realized they were out of their depth and wouldn’t be able to find the men before they succumbed to the weather. So they teamed up with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the North Carolina Emergency Management Helo Aquatic Rescue Team, the National Guard, and other organizations to probe the trackless wilderness from the air, using helicopters with nightvision equipment. After a massive effort that cost more than $14,000 and involved some 200 rescuers from 46 agencies, the men were located, having suffered only minor injuries. Stories like this can make you feel conflicted: It’s great to read about a successful rescue, but it’s also easy to criticize the victims, second-guessing choices and identifying mistakes that seem obvious after the fact. And then there are the costs involved, which can reach into the tens or even hundreds
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residents to be more of thousands of dollars depending responsible,” he says. on the terrain, necessary equipment, “In some cases, subjects have no number of rescuers, etc. However, education or experience that would although expensive rescues make tell them what the alternatives are headlines, they typically cost less than in the decision making process, or you might think. Robert Koester, which alternatives carried more or CEO of dbS Productions LLC, a less risk.” search and rescue training, research, Costs aside, Jill Gottesman, a and consulting firm, pegs the average conservation specialist with the cost of a rescue in Virginia at about Wilderness $900, based on Society’s data from the DON’T BECOME A Southern International VICTIM Appalachian Search & Rescue Jeff Caldwell of the Virginia office, says that Incident Database. Department of Emergency local search For the National Management offers this advice: and rescue Park Service in no matter how much experience teams have 2012, the average you have, don’t wing it, and let successfully bill wasn’t much other people know what you’re up partnered with higher at $1,804. to. “Always make a plan, and let management Still, some argue someone know exactly where you agencies to help that to encourage are going and when you will return,” he says. “Stick to the plan, and rescues go more responsible check back in upon completion.” smoothly with behavior in Even the best-laid plans sometime the least amount the outdoors, go awry. If that happens to you, of environmental individuals who Caldwell says, STOP (sit down and damage. “We are get in trouble stay put, think, observe, and plan). really lucky to should have to pay have the whole at least part of the spectrum of recreational opportunities cost of their own rescues. [in Western North Carolina], from But many experts disagree. “I remote Wilderness to roadside picnic think making subjects pay for SAR areas, so we have to prepare for safety response would not encourage people needs across the board but don't want to make better choices and is full to detract from the incredible outdoor of unintended consequences,” such experiences that people are seeking,” as discouraging calls for help when she says. Gottesman added that the people are really in trouble, Koester Forest Service should provide more says. National Association for resources—including for search and Search and Rescue Executive rescue—in the Nantahala-Pisgah Director Christopher National Forest management plan. Boyer agrees. “We do More money is always welcome, not have any evidence but it won’t make up for all the that a financial penalty outdoor enthusiasts who rely too would encourage
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much on technology and not enough on common sense. Several experts say that a lack of basic outdoor education and preparation for the conditions of specific trips accounts for the majority of rescue situations. “I think we see people relying on technology as their safety plan,” says Charles Laird, emergency services coordinator for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. “Technology like cellphones have made our daily lives easier and safer in some ways, but it has also increased our use and dependence on that technology. When those support systems are no longer available, folks that rely on them can find themselves in trouble pretty quickly.” So before becoming judgmental the next time we read about another victim of a wilderness mishap who needed to be bailed out, let’s remember that it could easily be us—if not out in the boondocks on a high-risk expedition, then maybe on a short hike in the summer heat close to home after neglecting to bring enough water. While there’s never an excuse for tackling wilderness challenges unprepared, forcing people to bear the financial burden if they run into trouble will only lead to more victims.
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September 12
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OCTOBER 5 ON SALE NOW Tickets: SprintPavilion.com, Downtown Visitor Center, 877-CPAV-TIX
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EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE
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HARASSMENT IN THE OUTD00RS
by JESS DADDIO
It might be 2017, but the sexist attitudes of decades past are still prevalent in our society and they’re playing out on rivers and trails in ways you never have imagined.
LAST YEAR, AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT furnished
by the U.S. Department of the Interior showed that women in the rafting industry have been the victims of sexual misconduct for years. The report zeroed in on the Grand Canyon River District in response to a letter of complaint filed by 13 former and current National Park Service employees who had experienced or witnessed “discrimination, retaliation, and a sexually hostile work environment.” The subsequent investigation unveiled much more than that. Sexual propositioning, inappropriate physical contact, and verbal harassment were rampant, the report found, and the resulting disciplinary action was either
JO-BETH STAMM, inconsistent or SECOND FROM RIGHT, insufficient. SAYS SHE FEELS MOSTLY EMPOWERED BY THE Since the release RAFTING INDUSTRY, BUT of that investigation, THAT IT'S HER GUESTS WHO HAVE QUESTIONED thousands of women HER ABILITIES THE MOST from all facets of the JESS DADDIO outdoor industry have stepped forward to share their stories. In 2016, over 2,500 women responded to a harassment poll conducted by Runner’s World. The results showed 43 percent of women answering, “always/often/sometimes,” to the prompt, “How often, if ever, does a stranger whistle at you, comment on your body, needlessly honk at you, S E P T E M B E R 2 017 / B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M
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or give you other similar unsolicited sexual attention?” Similarly, Outside Magazine found earlier this year that 53 percent of women have been sexually harassed while recreating, and of that percentage, 93 percent have been catcalled, 56 percent have been followed by someone, 18 percent have been flashed, and 4 percent have been attacked. All of that negative energy is bound to have consequences. Women who choose to take their adventuresport further, either competitively or professionally, must battle the misperception that women are weaker. That same Outside study found that 69 percent of women have been condescended to as an athlete. Another 82 percent felt that people expected less of them athletically due to their gender. This is not okay.
WHAT HAPPENS ON THE RIVER STAYS ON THE RIVER
Unique to the situation of raft guides
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is what happens after work hours. Raft guiding is a seasonal job lasting anywhere from three to six months. Most guides live in temporary housing, in the form of tents or cabins, alongside other employees and on company property. The distinction between work and play is blurry at best. “It’s challenging just in that you’re living and socializing with your work partners,” says 33-year veteran guide and former ACE Chief of Staff Dave Bassage. “In most of the business world you’re not socializing with the people you work with in quite the same way. [As a raft guide] you may be working with your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, whereas in the real world you would be unlikely to face that challenge.” For 22-year guide and Active Southern West Virginia Executive Director Melanie Seiler, the close-knit feel of raft guiding was something she treasured early on. The daughter of Susie Hofstetter, former owner of Songer Whitewater (which has
B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S / S E P T E M B E R 2 017
since merged with Adventures on the Gorge), Seiler practically grew up on the New and Gauley Rivers. “Raft guides felt like an extension of family,” she says. “They felt like uncles and brothers and sisters who were always looking out for me since I was a little kid.” But soon, even Seiler’s love of the guide culture was put to the test when a male guide smacked her on the butt while she was pulling herself back into his raft. She was just 16 at the time. “I can still feel that emotion,” she says. “I felt like I was in a vulnerable position. I was fully exposed. To get smacked in the rear end made me see red. As soon as I could stand myself up in the boat I smacked him across the face as hard as I could.” Before Seiler had the chance to tell her mother what had happened, the guide beat her to it. Hofstetter stormed out of the office, berating her daughter for treating a Songer employee so rudely. There was no mention of the guide’s action that had cause Seiler to react in the first place.
She kept quiet. It could be argued that Seiler’s situation was different in that her mother was her boss, too. But that uncomfortable encounter with the guide, and the subsequent absence of disciplinary action, is a story that’s all too familiar to female raft guides. In the Grand Canyon investigative report, a Human Resources officer with the River District attributed the widespread and mostly unreported cases of sexual harassment to the “laissez-faire’ attitude of what happens on the river stays on the river.” The U.S. Department of the Interior found that victims who do file complaints, or refuse sexual advances, face retribution. “Women on river trips [are] forced to ‘walk the line’ between ‘not being hated and not being desired,’” said one Grand Canyon employee. The guide who smacked Seiler’s butt was eventually fired after he exposed himself to another female Songer employee. But it was only then that Seiler finally felt comfortable enough to tell her mother the truth.
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THE WAY IT IS
“Literally the first week I showed up in Fayetteville I was told that to survive in this industry, you have to be okay with sexual harassment.” That’s 32-year-old Karen (she asked us to not use her real name), a longtime raft guide who has worked the rivers of West Virginia for the past decade. When Karen trained in 2007 with the Boy Scouts of America, she trained under two male guides. One was very encouraging and professional. The other operated a “massage tent” in the evenings. He was not a licensed massage therapist. “When you’re a trainee, you’re just another conquest,” she says. “It’s so much more difficult for women who are just starting. We have to just brush [harassment] off, because you’re either getting trained by these people, they’re paying you, or they’re your guests.” Another guide, let’s call her Mary, felt similarly uncomfortable during her 2013 training experience. One of three ladies in a training class of 24, Mary, then 21 years old, appreciated
LAT
45.034169° N
that the outfitter made an effort to have at least one female trainer overseeing the instruction. She might have appreciated it more, though, had she actually had the chance to ride in the woman’s boat. “It’s easier to learn from a female raft guide, but I was hardly ever in her boat,” she says. “The other guide always made sure I was in his boat. He would always make comments on my body. It was weird. I’m just meeting this person. Then you learn everyone’s like that and they say, ‘just brush it off,’ or, ‘that’s just the way it is.’” That first season for Mary was challenging. Even after she checked out (being approved to take commercial rafts downriver), she was rarely scheduled on the Lower New. When the next season came around and she was given the sweep kit (which includes items like a radio and first aid kit and signifies a position of leadership), she was ecstatic. Finally, she was being given the chance to prove herself. Around the same time, a male
LONG
Trip Leader (TL) started paying extra attention to her. Mary thought the coquetry was benign enough. She started sweeping every other trip on the Lower New. Her confidence soared. But then, the TL’s ulterior motive became apparent. Mary started to feel signaled out. She stopped engaging in the banter, and he took the hint, but not subtly. “One day he came and took the sweep kit from me and said, ‘I’ll be carrying that this trip,’” Mary remembers. “He said, ‘I don’t think you’re going to need that anymore.’”
BETTER, NOT EQUAL
What Mary experienced was the quintessential definition of retaliation, but between the lines, there’s another troubling problem: women are not viewed as natural leaders. “If girls are starting to become TLs before their male counterparts, it’s because they’re girls,” says 30-year-old Liz (who also requested anonymity). Liz has been guiding for seven seasons and trip leading for three of those, but
she says that male guides still question her leadership. “The guys think it’s not that [women] are becoming TLs or sweeps because they have skill. It’s because they’re girls and they have boobs. It’s a lose-lose situation. If you get promoted, you’re discredited.” Samantha Belcher, 30, couldn’t agree more. Belcher is no longer a fulltime guide, but for seven seasons, she worked at Adventures on the Gorge and River Expeditions. For three of those seasons, she was a TL, but even with the added title and responsibility, she says she often struggled to feel like an equal. “I feel like in rafting, in order to gain respect, you have to be better than your male counterparts,” says Belcher. “You literally have to work harder. Even if you run the same lines and you run them cleanly, you’re not as good. You have to be better than them in order to prove you are equal.” That mindset is deeply engrained in the rafting culture. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Susie Hofstetter was the only woman who owned a rafting
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outfitter. The other company owners didn’t question if she was business savvy enough to survive. They outright ignored her. And that was just fine by Hofstetter. “These guys really weren’t going to change,” she says. “They have changed over time, almost 40 years later, but at that time I was just a girl to them. They didn’t think much of my ability or anything like that, which actually worked to my advantage. They didn’t pay much attention to me in a competitive way, so I was able to kinda keep under their radar.” Eventually, they couldn’t help but notice. In its prime, Songer was taking 17,000 people downriver each season. Her business seemed to be doing better than ever, all amid a slew of family tragedies including the death of her 21-year-old son and an emergency hysterectomy. “Finally [the other owners] were seeing that I could work hard, that I could get results, but it was tough,” she says. “I was very resentful of having to work harder to earn that respect
because I had the personal issues going on and then I still had to kick their butts. I couldn’t do just as good. I had to do better.”
THE GUEST DYNAMIC
Not all female guides have felt that pressure. At least, not from their peers. Jo-Beth Stamm has been a guide since 2006. She trained with North American River Runners (NARR). The vibe there was supportive and encouraging for women, she says, not demeaning. Even now that NARR has since merged with ACE Adventure Resort, guides who worked for NARR are still self-proclaimed NARRtians, a testament to the tribe cohesiveness she felt. Partly due to NARR being a small company, Stamm was pushed into a leadership role early on. By the fall of her second season, she was already a TL on the Lower Gauley, a position most guides don’t assume until their second or third seasons at the earliest. Despite the backing she felt from her fellow guides, Stamm says by and
large, it’s been her guests who have been the most patronizing. “I feel like I experience more challenges from my guests because I’m a woman,” says Stamm. “If a male TL says to a group, ‘Here are your guides, pick your poison,’ inevitably, you’re the last guide picked and then your crew feels like they got ‘stuck with the girl.’” One experience that continues to bother Stamm took place in the summer of 2016. Her TL for the day assigned guests to guides, versus that damning “pick your poison” approach. One of her guests was a woman in her late 40s. Stamm immediately sensed her hesitation. “She walks up to my boat and says, ‘Are you sure you can get us down this river?’ I just start rattling off my experience, that I’ve been doing this over 10 years, trying to make her feel confident but assuring her that it’s okay if she’s nervous.” Next to Stamm was a third year guide, waiting for the next trip. He was lounging casually in the back of his raft, completely unaware of the
conversation that was playing out next to him. Stamm’s guest-in-question took one look at the male guide and abruptly asked, “Well you’re coming too, right?” Stamm was floored. “I asked her why she wanted him to come and she said, ‘I just need to know there is someone here who can keep me safe.’ I mean she’s looking at a dude who is sleeping in the back of his boat showing zero interest and feeling like she would be safer with him than with me. I literally told her, ‘We need to start over.’” Plenty of female guides have felt similar frustrations with their guests, but more often than not, those guests are male. Karen, the 10-year guide who trained with the Boy Scouts, is 5’2", 115 lbs. Early on, her guests were hardly shy about expressing their doubts. “They would actually voice complaints that women shouldn’t be working on the river. They were openly disappointed,” she says. “It doesn’t happen as much now, but there will still be skepticism. I’ve learned a lot
GET TUCKER’D TUC K E R C O U NTY WE S T VI R G I N IA
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of posturing and I think that helps a lot. I come out of the gate strong and I have this whole persona that I’ve carefully crafted to shut them down. You have to shut them down, but in a way that they still give you money [tips] at the end of the day.”
THE DELICATE DANCE
That persona that Karen’s talking about is considered an essential survival tool among female raft guides, but it’s also one of the most difficult skills to master. Raft guiding in general is largely associated with the party scene. Guests are usually on vacation, after all. But for female guides especially, walking that line between engaging in the bawdy banter and experiencing outright harassment can be hard to distinguish and harder still to draw a clear line in the sand. Compounding the problem further is the fact that everyone’s boundaries are different. “It is a kinda vulgar environment,” says former ACE Adventure Resort Chief of Staff Dave Bassage. “There are lots of dirty jokes, lots of flirting, lots of things that would be viewed as sexual harassment in the common workplace but is viewed as acceptable in the rafting world. There are some women who will tell raunchy jokes and be as outrageously flirtatious as the guys and there are others who take offense. Where the line is crossed is when someone expresses discontent and somebody else refuses to change that behavior as a result. That’s where I draw my line.” “Honestly when I came out here, I kinda liked the raunchiness of things,” says Liz, the 30-year-old, seven-year guide. “It was fun and light-hearted and people had a good time. It was different. But I have been in situations where I’ve actually felt threatened by people that I thought were my friends. Then it’s the question of, was it meant to be a joke or is it actually crossing a line? You have to shut it down with no shades of gray. It’s black or it’s white.” But to draw that line, women especially run the risk of losing the respect of their fellow guides and crew or, worse, of having their concerns
dismissed altogether. And if you think the disparities solely exist between genders, think again: female guides can often be just as harsh, if not more so, as the men. “In this community, there are women who are misogynists because masculinity is so celebrated,” says Samantha Belcher. “There are definitely older female raft guides that will tear down the younger female raft guides because that’s what they went through and they see it as socially acceptable. I’ve even seen them make comments that are similar to what guys would make about your body or your size or ability.”
CLOSING THE GAP
The problems of sexual harassment and workplace inequality are far from being solved, but the industry has come a long way. When Dave Bassage was training as a guide in 1984, there was no employee handbook, let alone a policy on sexual harassment. Now, companies like ACE Adventure Resort take harassment seriously, showing educational videos to all 400 of their staff, many of whom are not river guides. “The videos relate more to an office environment, so it’s not a perfect match for the outdoor industry,” says Bassage. “I think the topic of how to properly deal with harassment can and should be emphasized more and I think it should be addressed specifically to our industry, including some role playing and scenarios about what may or may not be acceptable.” There’s no doubt there are more men than women currently guiding on West Virginia’s rivers, but the new wave of 2017 trainees showed a glimmer of change. Megan Becker, a 24-year-old first-year guide from Shepherdstown, W.Va., was the first to check out in her training class of 32. The next three who checked out were also women. Becker doesn’t have a background in whitewater. In fact, she says, she had “a serious fear of water,” and decided learning to be a raft guide would be a good remedy for that. Even so, she says she has had nothing but positive
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experiences as a raft guide thus far. “There were definitely days where my confidence was down and I didn’t trust my own instincts,” she says. “The other guides will joke with you about it if you mess up, but it’s all in good humor. They’ve never been cruel about it.” A second-year male guide did make the comment that Becker was receiving good crews because, “you’re a pretty girl,” but beyond that, she says she hasn’t felt undermined or demeaned from her peers. In fact, the company’s river management came to her defense when some of her fellow trainees expressed discontent that she was getting more work than they were. Collectively, the eight women we interviewed for this article have nearly 70 years of experience on the water, and all but a few continue to guide full-time through the season. Even in the face of uncomfortable scenarios, these women continue to push forward and take charge of the only thing they can control—themselves. Their hope for the rafting industry’s future is that there will be strength in numbers. Companies like ACE Adventure Resort and Adventures on the Gorge already make efforts to recruit an equal amount of male and female trainees. Their websites feature photographs of
THE SWEETS OF THE EAST, A WEST VIRGINIA-BASED WOMEN'S COMPETITIVE RAFTING TEAM, COMPETE AT THE INTERNATIONAL RAFTING FEDERATION'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AT FIBARK 2016 IN SALIDA, COLORADO JESS DADDIO
female guides, but even still, argues Melanie Seiler, it’s not enough. “There are a lot more women than there used to be,” says Seiler, “but how many females out there have not gone through with raft guide training because they didn’t want to deal with a male dominating industry? There needs to be a female river manager at every outfitter who can provide that perspective and help balance out the industry.” All of the women agree that the industry is not entirely to blame for the current state of affairs. Society’s portrayal of gender norms in the media has a lot of influence still to this day, so when commercials feature bearded men as raft guides or movies showcase male characters saving female leads, it’s no wonder those same stereotypes are playing out on the river. “While those things exist and they’re present and they’re not going away, there is such a larger part of the rafting community that is positive and that’s why I stay,” says Liz. “I have so many allies, not only female but also male, at my company and the community is supported. There is a want and acknowledgement from some people that things need to change and we need to treat women better.”
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NATIVE RIVER A solo stand-up paddleboarder journeys the 139-mile length of the Little Tennessee
FIRST DESCENT: DR. CHRISTOPHER LECHNER OF ASHEVILLE, N.C., BECAME THE FIRST PADDLEBOARDER TO COMPLETE THE LITTLE TENNESSEE.
by CHRISTOPHER LECHNER // DAY 1
Rabun Gap, Ga.
The river begins as a small rivulet in the middle of a cattle farm in north Georgia. I crawl under barbed wire and steel mesh fences, like crawling through a war zone, for two miles. For most of the first day, I carry my paddleboard over downed trees, beaver dams, and vine entanglements. Finally, I pass under Highway 441 and the Little Tennessee River starts to look more like a river, as wide as a driveway with a few rapids. I move past old bridge pylons and soon feel the river returning to a native state. Weeds are interspersed with rhododendron and laurel. Osprey nest in the trees, and woodland ducks paddle with me. I finish the day battered and exhausted. // DAY 2
Franklin, N.C.
Heavy rains fill the swollen river, 18
affording me quick passage over downed trees. I meander through farmland that gradually gets wilder as feeder creeks come in—including the mighty Cullasaja entering from Highlands in the east. These often unrecognized feeder creeks determine the health or sickness of a river. Author Wilma Dykeman said it best: “How right that we should say a spring is fed by veins— tiny threads of water leading from many sources—and that we can destroy a spring by probing too deeply for its delicate feeders.” // DAY 3
Lake Emory Driftwood Island to
The day is clear, the sky a deep blue, and the sun is rising across the river, which flows into the ever-widening mouth of Lake Emory ahead, becoming slow and shallow. A large muskrat scurries into a hole as I contemplate the pros and cons
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of this artificial impoundment. Some argue that the lake acts like a giant filter, collecting sediment and allowing the free-flowing river below the dam to run free of toxins produced by upstream farms. But I find this argument to be weak and unsupported. Natural flowing rivers evolve complex systems for managing sediment and dispersing toxins gradually, using biologic filters and natural barriers. The advantage of the native approach is that sediment moves downstream, avoiding the stagnation and hypoxia of man-made reservoirs. When rivers are dammed, trout are replaced by catfish and carp, and many fish species die out because of the lower oxygen levels and the loss of clean sandy bottoms to lay their eggs. Some species dwindle or become extinct because they can no longer migrate upstream. Given enough time, Lake Emory will fill in and become a swamp. This is
straightforward physics. I finish paddling the four miles of Lake Emory above the dam. As I approach the shore, I see a bloated deer carcass bobbing in the water. The native Cherokee find meaning in daily occurrences like this. Is this dead deer telling me something? I stop and help the county officer hook the carcass and pull it out of the river. The Cherokee people believe the deer is an animal of great power and intuition, and they would have given its death a meaning. Around the communal fire, the elders may have said that the Deer had sacrificed himself because the Great River is no longer flowing and has become putrid and sick because of our selfishness. Even the Beaver knows that a dam is only for a time and must be pulled down and moved to let the water flow free and breath again. Below the dam, there is no boundary between pasture and
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river. Cattle wander in and out of the river, and the stench of manure is heavy in the air. Black plastic from farmers’ fields are wrapped around tree branches and limbs along the river. For years to come, the microparticulate degradation of this plastic will kill and contaminate the subsurface food chain, including minnows, crayfish, nymphs, and other river insects. I feel sick and helpless. I pass through a small riverside community with a long suspension bridge and spot a v-shaped stone fish weir near the ancient Cherokee town of Cowee. It sweeps me downstream into the center of the river where the fish nets would have once been placed. I arrive at a small island at dusk. It is a good place to camp. In the twilight, the island’s heaped-up driftwood takes on gargoyle shapes and sinister postures. I nestle my paddleboard on the lee side of the island and snuggle and balance it between the driftwood. I string my tarp overhead to keep out the rain. I soon have a roaring fire flickering light and dancing shadows over my island home. I fall asleep to the drizzling of rain. // DAY 4
The Cherokee Riverbank
on the
I awake to the honking of geese. The smell of woodsmoke swirls around my head. I am cocooned by the warmth of my sleeping bag. Insects hatch over the water in a milky white haze that hovers over the river. Fish swirl, birds dart, and the morning river sounds symphonic. Before making coffee, I check the fishing pole. I feel a childlike joy as the rod tip bends and bobs with that unique fish rhythm. I reel in a steel gray catfish the length of my forearm. He is muscular and healthy, and I realize it is the sparkling river that highlights and beautifies him. This is breakfast. The morning sun has not yet broken as I take him to the other side of the island and find a flat rock. I pin him down, give thanks, and
slice the filet knife just behind his sharp pectoral fin. I flip him over and quickly repeat a symmetric cut and then snap his spine. He shudders once and lies still on the bloody stone. I grab the rubbery skin with my pliers and pull it off in one swift motion. I throw the head and skin in the river and keep the entrails for cutbait. I place the two pink filets in a Ziploc bag filled with flour, salt, and pepper and shake it up. I soon have two sizzling catfish fillets frying over the open fire next to a pot of steaming black coffee. I paddle off into the Needmore section, the last piece of native river before Lake Fontana. I remember a story I read about the naming of the little riverside town of Needmore. Early settlers in the 1820s were always traveling farther west down the Little Tennessee River to the nearby town of Almond. They would say “I need more milk” and other essentials, and soon the name Needmore stuck. The Needmore section is wide and open and feels like a western river. The granite rock juts out of the riverbed obliquely, creating a series of rapids and a maze of channels to navigate. Sometimes I am forced to make tight hairpin turns to avoid shallow rocky shoals. This is the most challenging section of the river on a stand up paddleboard because of the swift water pouring over sharp hidden rocks. My rudder catches a few times, threatening to catapult me forward, but I manage to stay upright and dry. I have not fallen off the paddleboard. Just before the last rapid, I see a Cherokee man standing on river right wearing a grizzly bear t-shirt and hand-crafted earrings. He waves, and I paddle through a maze of rocks to the sandy bank and introduce myself. He tells me his name is Dean Swimmer, and he is full blood Cherokee, descended from a famous medicine man and healer with the Cherokee Nation “many moons ago.” “What brings you to the river today?” I ask. “This is where I come to think,” he replies. I step on shore and tell
him about my river trip. He smiles and walks me to the edge of the river. Then he bends down and pulls up a leafy plant 'sochan' and says, “Here, your body needs this.” As I chew on the natural lettuce, he points out some other edible plants and explains that the native Cherokee along this river relied heavily on plants for nutrition and medicine. He turns and gives a blessing and a warning: “Everything you need to know can be learned from this river. A time will come when you feel like you are making no progress. The river may require something of you. The river is always teaching. Listen!” I step on the paddleboard so overwhelmed by this encounter that I almost fall off in front of him. I feel sheepish and smile. He smiles back and I paddle off into the last stretch of whitewater. // DAY 5
Lake Fontana
The first four hours of paddling across Lake Fontana are quiet and uneventful. I move around houseboats and notice areas of flotsam filled with garbage. Plastic bottles accumulate in tidal zones embedded in a thick brownish gray foam. At 11am, a gusting wind blows suddenly from the west. I am still paddling my sluggish inflatable paddleboard, which was perfect for navigating the shoals and rapids but is now punishing me on this windy lake. Stroke by stroke, I pull against the wind, my body acting as a sail pushing the wrong direction. I am carrying an 80-pound pack which adds to my troubles. Waves over two feet high batter the bow, and I resort to tacking across the lake searching for refuge behind shoreline trees. I normally paddle at three miles per hour, but today I move at one mile per hour and I still have ten miles to go. I settle in to this punishing routine and remember the words of my Cherokee friend, Dean Swimmer: “Sometimes you will feel like you are not making any progress.” I smile at his prophecy and remember my
swimming mantra, “one stroke at a time.” I refuse to give in to the wicked wind of the west. My leather cycling gloves protect my palms but not my fingertips. I pull the T-grip of my paddle with such force that the skin splits on my left index and middle fingertip, making a bloody mess. Gradually I let go of frustration and accept the gusting wind and pain. I notice details: the sound of water lapping against the bow, the shape of the water as it rises and falls, sunlight dancing like diamonds on the surface, sweet shoreline smells. Even the dull pain in my back and sharp pain in my fingertips becomes interesting and observable. I enter the zone, a place where time slips away and each moment becomes a thing unto itself, no longer tethered and encumbered by expectation. The last 10 miles to the Fontana Dam are fairly straight, making the wind even more difficult, but I finish my marathon: 26 miles of flatwater paddling against a 15 knot wind. I camp below the lights of Fontana Dam. The campground is a postage stamp of green sitting vulnerably at the bottom of a massive fortress of concrete. At night it hums and glows with a pulsating light that feeds my alien dreams. I awake early and climb down the embankment of artificial white boulders to a river that looks fake as it pours out of the concrete. It saddens me to realize the Little Tennessee River has been sacrificed for this dam. I remind myself it generates 238.5 megawatts of clean energy. I leave the darkness with renewed determination to search for remnants of the original river. The native Cherokee were driven out of this valley and impounded in Oklahoma in 1838. The native Little Tennessee river was dammed and impounded in 1944. Two thirds of the original Little Tennessee River was seized and enclosed. All rivers were once native and wild. This river existed long before white settlers came to America. The building of dams mark our effort to harness the energy found in nature. It may be time to evaluate
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the long term ecological consequences. The next 26 miles of river cuts through a steep gorge from east to west and then opens up into a wide valley near Lenoir City, Tennessee. This river valley was home to the Overhill Cherokee and included many important towns like Citico, Tallassee, Tanasi, and Chota. High granite walls enclose the valley, and the Little Tennessee River once flowed in the center filled with native trout and wildlife. The Cherokee enjoyed the protection afforded by such isolation. The height and narrowness of the granite walls also make it ideal for harnessing energy. The Cheoah Dam was built in 1919 followed by the Calderwood Dam in 1930 and the Chilhowee Dam in 1957. These dams are spaced approximately 8-10 miles apart and generate significant energy because of the physics afforded by the steep gorge. Native and nonnative trout species thrive in these cold waters. The turquoise green water merges with the green mountain laurel and rhododendron along the banks and the blue sky above. This is punctuated by wildflowers, white and pink laurel blossoms and white clouds floating in the sky and reflected in the water. It feels like I am paddling in a kaleidoscope. Eagles nest in the trees above and swoop down on fish swirling at the surface. The isolation of this place is awe-inspiring. I peer into the depths and see occasional clean-cut tree stumps—ghost-like remnants of the original river. I remind myself of the Cherokee villages and burial sites directly beneath my paddleboard. My silent reflections are broken by the cry of an eagle. // DAY 7
No Trespassing The Chilhowee Dam is owned and operated by a private company. In September of 2015 they closed the dam for repairs. It is still not open 20
almost two years later. They drained the reservoir back to the original level of the Little Tennessee River, exposing buried bridges, roads and ancient Cherokee settlements. I was fascinated and excited about this opportunity to paddle native river that had not been seen since the dam was built in 1957. But the company
repeatedly refused my letters, emails, and requests to paddle this 10-mile stretch. I considered paddling or swimming it anyway, but then I remember what Dean Swimmer said just a few days ago: “Listen to the River.” And what I heard it saying to me was this: “You honor the Cherokee people by staying off the reservoir and the exposed sacred lands. You honor the private company by doing the same.” // DAY 8
Tellico
I replace my inflatable paddleboard with a sleek catamaran style paddleboard and start the 33 mile crossing of Lake Tellico. The river widens grotesquely into a large muddy bayou. How did it change from
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turquoise blue to muddy brown in the equivalent of a city block? The water looks like a chocolate milkshake, and black torpedo shapes are lined up in groups just under the surface. Carp as big as small alligators feed in the weeds. I catch a catfish, but then I consider the lake. There are five
// DAY 11
Echoes of the Past
On my final morning, I explore partially exposed farm silos flooded by the lake. I put on my bathing suit and goggles and dive down to the base. I feel around in the mud and come up with two pieces of wood. I clean off the mud and notice streaks of red barn paint. I keep these artifacts to remember this journey. I return to the water and dive down through a small hole at LECHNER OFTEN CAUGHT the base of the silo and come up AND CLEANED FISH TO SUSTAIN HIMSELF ON THE inside. It is dark with a halo of 11-DAY SUP JOURNEY. milky white sunlight at the top. It echoes with the past as I slowly climb the narrow rebar ladder. I check each rusted rung carefully before giving it my full weight. I reach the top a little shaky and look out across the lake at a string of orderly mansions and manicured lawns. I imagine a different scene 40 years ago when a small river wound gently through a pastoral valley. I climb down and paddle around the corner to see the Tellico Dam for the first time. The structure is surprisingly small in proportion to the area of land main chemicals that contaminate it flooded. It is inconspicuously tucked Lake Tellico: PCBs, chlordane, off to the left side of the lake. I float DDT, dioxin, and mercury. several feet from the dam and peer Recommendations from the cautiously over the metal release gate Tennessee Valley Authority are to at the Tennessee River far below. eat smaller and younger fish, discard The Little Tennessee River is skin and fatty parts, and avoid bottom referred to by some as the ugly dwelling fish. This large catfish fails stepsister to the more pristine the test and gets released. Tuckaseegee and Nantahala Rivers. Later that night, camped on the Even their names are more beautiful, banks of the lake, I awaken, startled rich in Cherokee history. Tuckaseegee by growling and snapping just behind means “place of the turtle,” and my tarp. I quietly duct tape my filet Nantahala means “land of the noonday knife to the end of my 8 foot paddle sun." What does Little Tennessee and turn my headlight toward the mean? Dean Swimmer taught me growling: five shaggy coyotes turn that Kituwa is the true name of his toward me and freeze. They start people and it means “people of the deer whining and then turn and run. I pack clan.” I will remember his ancestral up camp in record time. As I step on river home fondly, not as the Little my paddleboard, a six foot black snake Tennessee River but as the Kituwa slithers beneath my feet. It is 3am. I River, “river of the deer clan.” paddle about 12 miles in the dark. BlueRidgeOutdoors
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7TH | INFINITY DOWNS FARMS IN NELSON COUNTY, VIRGINIA 22
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CELEBRATING THE
BI(KE)CENTENNIAL
200 YEARS OF BIKES by JESS DADDIO
A MAN MOUNTS A PENNY FARTHING BICYCLE IN 1920 COURTESY LIBR ARY OF CONGRESS
FROM TOOL TO TOY, THE BIKE HAS SERVED MANY ROLES OVER THE COURSE OF HISTORY. FOLLOW ALONG ON THIS TWO-WHEELED TRIBUTE TO LEARN HOW THE BIKE CAME TO BE AND WHAT IT’S DOING FOR OUR COMMUNITIES AND ECONOMIES 200 YEARS LATER. S E P T E M B E R 2 017 / B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M
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DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF EARLY BIKES; AN EARLY BICYCLE SHOP COURTESY LIBR ARY OF CONGRESS
HISTORY BIKE
OF THE
The first two-wheeled contraption was invented by German Karl Freiherr von Drais in 1817. After the historic 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, crops failed throughout Germany, making it nearly impossible to keep the country's main transportation, horses, alive. The "hobby horse" was Drais' solution. This early version of the bike looked not unlike something out of the Flintstones—made entirely of wood, the unwieldy “swift walker” had no pedals and was powered much like a present-day Strider kid’s bike. Near the turn of the century, bicycles began to resemble those of today—two same-sized wheels with pedals attached to a rear crank. 24
That bike, known as the “safety bike” (or Rover Safety), initially had tires made from hard rubber, but by 1894, pneumatic tires, that is tires with inflatable tubes, were being used. The modern bicycle was born. That same year saw the bicycle becoming not only a utility tool but also a means of exploration. Annie Kopchovsky (aka Annie Londonderry) was a Jewish mother from Boston who became the first woman to travel around the world by bike. Her journey was inspiring, unconventional, and probably exaggerated. Nonetheless, Londonderry’s achievement became a symbol for women’s rights. Her subsequent fame helped bring about changes in women’s antiquated and restrictive fashion. By the end of the 19th century,
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bicycles were a common sight in American cities. After an 1894 railway strike in California, young men were employed to deliver telegraphs and mail by bike, thereby introducing the first two-wheeled employment, that of a bicycle courier. To this day, bike messengers are still used in urban areas for delivering mail, food, and everything in between. When Maurice Garin won the first ever Tour de France in 1903, his steel frame La Francaise weighed in around 39 pounds. It had wooden wheel rims and wonky drop bars. Garin’s bike was a fixed-gear single speed, which meant there was no coasting on the downhills. Freewheels (which allowed coasting without pedaling) and multi-speed rear derailleurs didn’t come along
for another couple of years, and early versions of the multiple-geared derailleurs required riders to dismount and manually shift the chain. During the 1920s and ‘30s, some of the bike industry’s biggest names like Shimano, Campagnolo, and Schwinn entered the scene, bringing with them a host of innovations like the first quick-release hub and cable shift derailleurs. Bicycles, it seemed, were here to stay. But as World War II came to a close, so too did America’s infatuation with bikes. Cars soon replaced bicycles as the symbol of freedom and fortitude. For decades, bikes were delegated as children’s toys, shelved as soon as the kids could drive.
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THE
BIKING BOOM
Between 1960 and 1970, the bicycle eked its way back into the market, thanks to wanderlust-deprived adults yearning for a more intimate way to see the world. In 1960, 3.7 million bicycles were sold in the United States. Just 10 years later, that number had nearly doubled to 6.9 million. In 1962, the first bikeway was created in Florida. Paul Dudley White, President Eisenhower’s doctor, dedicated the new bike friendly path, boldly stating, “The American public is a slave to the automobile.” Cycling, he believed, could change that. Indeed, cyclists were changing that by pushing the limits on how far and how fast they could ride a bike. Velodromes, or indoor tracks, like the Dick Lane Velodrome in Atlanta (built in 1974), had long been at the core of the cycling scene, but road riders were hungry for more. Stage races and long-distance road tours became their answer. In 1975, the Assault on Mount Mitchell was born. In its early years, the Assault saw so much interest that National Park Service and Mount Mitchell State Park officials forced ride organizers to cap the number of cyclists at 800. Elite cyclists began noticing the Southeast’s rolling terrain and mild climate. Time trial and criterium events in places like Rock Hill, S.C., date back to the late ‘70s. The Spring Races, which started in 1981, established the Upstate as a cycling destination. Almost 20 years before Tour de France domestique George Hincapie moved home and forever sealed Greenville, South Carolina’s place among the world’s top cycling destinations, professional cyclists like Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong had already experienced the city’s potential thanks to the Tour DuPont. Formerly the Tour De Trump, the Tour DuPont was a high-stakes cycling stage race that was created as the North American rival to the Tour de France. President Donald Trump
AN EARLY BIKE RACE NEAR WASHINGTON, D.C. COURTESY LIBR ARY OF CONGRESS
himself was an early sponsor of the East Coast race for its first two years (1989 and 1990), but later, the DuPont chemical company assumed sponsorship until 1996. By then, bicycles were a mainstay of American culture. Once the mountain bike made its debut, the possibilities for two-wheeled travel were limitless.
DAWN OF THE MOUNTAIN BIKE For Mike Palmeri, original owner of Cartecay Bike Shop in Ellijay, Ga., bikes were everything. During his time as part of the Schwinn BMX Team, Palmeri and his teammates rode track bikes on the velodrome to train for upcoming events. When the first mass-produced mountain bike, the Specialized Stumpjumper, entered the market in 1981, the team started training on mountain bikes instead. That changed everything. In 1983, Palmeri showed up at what many consider the region's first mountain bike race: the course was a 13.5-mile trail called River Loop, which still exists today. “It was like a big party. It wasn’t really about the mountain bike racing,” says Palmeri of that ’83 race. “Nobody cared who won. You rode with hiking boots, that was the shoe of choice, blue jeans, and maybe an old road jersey or something. There were no primadonnas. It was just a big hippie party.”
“Everyone at first thought it was just a fad, but the popularity grew pretty quickly,” says Barry Jeffries, owner of Dirty Harry's Bikes in Verona, Penn. Seemingly overnight, the mountain biking culture mushroomed. Former dirt bike riders brought the spirit of adventure. BMXers came with nextlevel bike handling, and roadies burnt out on chasing pavement showed up in spandex kits, freakishly strong and psyched. These biking outliers had finally found their calling.
TAKING TRAILS
MIDDLE: INGAURAL CANAAN MOUNTAIN SERIES IN DAVIS, W.VA., JULY 1983 JOHN HARGADON
BOTTOM: MIKE PALMERI IN EARLY BMX GEAR
TO THE
Laird Knight moved to Davis, W.Va., in the fall of 1982 and opened up Blackwater Bikes the next spring. That first year, Knight struggled to even S E P T E M B E R 2 017 / B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M
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All Out Blaze 2 EXC LUS IVELY AT MERRELL .C O M AND THES E PARTIC IPATING RETAILERS RIDERS AT THE WEST VIRGINIA FAT TIRE FESTIVAL, ELK RIVER TOURING CENTER, SLATYFORK, W.VA. COURTESY SUE RIPPY
order mountain bikes for the shop, let alone find people to buy them. In order to survive, Knight knew he was going to have to concoct a reason for mountain bikers to come to him. He created the Canaan Mountain 40K. "That race had 12 people in it, and it turned out to be a lot more than 40K. Either bikes broke down or people broke down. Nobody finished, including me.” That unfinished sufferfest put Davis and Canaan Valley on the map. Attendance soared for Knight’s increasingly grueling races, as did the Valley’s reputation as a mountain bike
destination. In 1988, Knight hosted the first Mid-Atlantic National Off Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) Nationals with tremendous success. Over 400 people showed, doubling Davis’ population in a mere weekend. Two hours south, Gil Willis and his wife Mary opened up the Elk River Touring Center in Slatyfork, W.Va., at the base of Snowshoe. The summer of 1985, they bought a fleet of mountain bikes for visitors to rent, one of the first businesses to do so east of the Mississippi. Surrounded by thousands of acres of national forest, and in close proximity to the
ROGER BIRD, SEATED IN CENTER, 1994. COURTESY ROGER BIRD
Greenbrier River Trail, it wasn’t long before Elk River Touring Center became another Mid-Atlantic biking hub. Their signature event, the West Virginia Fat Tire Festival, was a mainstay of the West Virginia mountain biking culture for over a decade. Before Tour de France winner Floyd Landis hit the big time, even he was seen racing the trails around Elk River in jean shorts. In 1992, Knight rocked the mountain biking community with the introduction of a relay-style, throughthe-night, 24-hour race. It started at noon on Saturday and went until noon Sunday, which made Canaan Valley’s already brutal terrain that much tougher. By 1995, more than 1,000 racers were competing at 24 Hours of Canaan.
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CHARLOT TE, NC · CHAPEL HILL , NC GREENSBORO, NC · GREENVILLE, NC RALEIGH, NC · WILMINGTON, NC WINSTON SALEM, NC · CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA
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THE OF
From 1981 to 1995, the mountain bike saw incredible upgrades and improvements. Riders could now have bikes with full suspension, disc brakes, and integrated brake and gear levers. The sport was looking less counterculture and more mainstream.
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It helped that in 1996, mountain biking was introduced to the Olympic Games, which were set for Atlanta, Ga., that year. "The Olympics took and legitimized mountain biking to the world," says Shenandoah Mountain Touring and Stokesville Lodge owner Chris Scott. Trail builder, race promoter, access advocate—Scott is the rightful “Godfather of Mountain Biking” in Virginia. In 1999 he started the Shenandoah Mountain 100, tapping into the same camaraderie of endurance races that was key to Knight’s 24-hour success. Trail access soon became an issue. Around 1987, the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park forbade mountain biking, and that led to a domino effect all throughout northern Georgia and the Southeast. “Before that time, any trail had been open to mountain bikers,” says Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) Executive Director Tom Sauret. “Land managers didn’t know what a mountain bike was." Enter the International Mountain
SEPTEMBER 22-24 FAYETTEVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA
Bike Association (IMBA), the nationwide representative voice of mountain bikers. The launch of IMBA’s Trail Care Crew in 1997 marked the beginnings of mountain bikers’ reputation as dedicated trail stewards. By the late 1990s, the change in land managers’ attitudes toward mountain bikers was palpable. After years of advocacy and relationship building, Roanoke’s riders finally opened up Carvins Cove in 1999. Hikers, equestrians, and bikers helped defeat the threat of development in DuPont State Forest, opening up a flood gate of enthusiasm for cycling in the mountains of western North Carolina. The early 2000s were graced with miles upon miles of singletrack and greenways being incorporated into urban centers like Roanoke, Greenville, Knoxville, and Charlottesville.
TWO-WHEELED CHANGE Recent studies show that cycling alone contributes $133 billion annually to the economy. Additionally,
the Outdoor Industry Association’s latest report found that Americans spend $97 billion on cycling and skateboarding gear every year. With numbers like that, cyclists’ impact on economies locally and nationally is impossible to ignore. “Cyclists now are seen as constructive problem solvers who just don’t complain about things but actively change them, ” says Kyle Lawrence, President of the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition. For 35 years, the coalition has been actively promoting bicycle friendly initiatives in the greater Harrisonburg area, including the construction of greenways and availability of bikes for youth in the public school system, as well as trail maintenance in nearby national forests. Sue George, a retired national and collegiate level cyclist, founded Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club (CAMBC) in 2003. She says it was important for such a fastgrowing sport to be taken seriously, especially by local and national political leaders. CAMBC members swarmed the nation’s capital in 2005 for the first-ever IMBA 24 Hours of
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D.C., a 24-hour lobbying campaign that demonstrated, if nothing else, the sheer scope of the mountain biking population. “Before CAMBC, we had a lot of smaller groups riding together in a fun way but not necessarily in a way that promoted the advocacy of the sport,” says George. “Now we have this greater sense of responsibility in giving back to the community and that’s come with the maturity of the sport.” George is hopeful that the explosion of National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) leagues will continue to nurture responsible, sustainable growth well into the future of cycling. Founded in 2009 in California, NICA leagues are now available for high school students in 19 states, including Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia. Today, overuse, trail ethics, and access issues dominate the conversations on bike forums and club meetings alike. Developments
like the e-bike are of particular controversy, threatening to pit cyclists against cyclists: some consider these bikes as a formidable step forward in urban commuting and exercise for the elderly, others are worried these motorized bikes will dismantle decades of trail advocacy. Another peril on the horizon? Money. Recreational Trails Program and Clean Water Trust funds have traditionally been the financial means for many regional trail projects. Under the current administration those funds may very well dry up in the months to come, which means clubs like the SVBC and SORBA will need to get creative. Fortunately, there are more stakeholders in the sport than ever before. “We have shifted the argument from health and environmental protection to where now, we see recreation as the new conservation,” says SORBA Executive Director Tom Sauret. “Economic impact numbers do perk up the ears of some of our political leaders.”
According to the League of American Bicyclists, North Carolina’s Outer Banks invested a one-time sum of $6.7 million in bicycle infrastructure. The result has been an annual nine-to-one return, with a conservative estimate of $60 million generated each year through bicycle related tourism. An average of 680,000 cyclists visit each year, which supports over 1,400 relevant jobs in the area. When Greenville, S.C., cut the ribbon on the Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail in 2011, the greenway was an instant success. The Greenville Health System’s Three Year Findings survey on the Swamp Rabbit Trail indicated that businesses were seeing upwards of 85 percent in sales and revenue increases. The trail, which connected downtown Greenville with nearby Travelers Rest, was a boon for development. Now businesses looking to relocate near the trail have a hard time affording trailside property, let alone finding a site that’s still available.
September 16
The Swamp Rabbit Trail was one of several recent examples of privatepublic partnerships. Many ski resorts are opening their slopes to mountain biking in the summer months. And in Louisville, Ky., area residents there are anticipating the opening of the Parklands, a 4,000-acre piece of property that will have 50 miles of linear trail experiences. The $130 million in funding for the park came not through any grants but private donations. As big bike brands like Trek continue to buy up formerly independent bicycle retailers, bike shops are going to have to do more than service bikes. They will continue to be hubs of advocacy, fundraising, youth cycling development, lobbying for bicycle friendly initiatives, and gateways for progress. The golden years of bicycles aren’t over—they’re just getting started. “The bike is king now,” adds Chris Scott. “We just need people to step up.”
Old Fort Railroad Day Old Fort, NC
October 13
Little Switzerland’s Fall Craft Market
October 14
Mountain Glory Festival
December December 2
Little Switzerland, NC Marion, NC
Blue Ridge Artisans Show & Sale Marion, NC
Appalachian Potters’ Market Marion, NC
Details and other events are online.
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BIKE THROUGH HISTORY THESE 10 RIDES HELPED SHAPE THE PRESENT-DAY BIKING SCENE.
ROAD
ASSAULT ON MOUNT MITCHELL WHAT IS IT? A 102.7-mile road ride, not race, from Spartanburg, S.C., to the summit of Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. WHY RIDE IT? Established in 1975, this route showcases the best of the Carolinas and maintains the spirit of adventure fundamental to the bicycle’s continued success.
PEDAL THROUGH PETALS WHAT IS IT? A six-mile road tour through the gardens of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Va. WHY RIDE IT? Lewis Ginter founded the Lakeside Wheel Club in 1895 at the site of the present-day Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The club is no longer in existence, but it marked the beginnings of Richmond’s vibrant cycling scene and in 2015, the garden served as the starting point for the UCI Road World Championships.
BICYCLE RIDE ACROSS GEORGIA A one-week road tour from Athens to Brunswick, Ga. WHY RIDE IT? This non-competitive tour has been taking place every year since 1980 and is the second oldest across-state bicycle tour in the world. Experience some of the same terrain Tour de Georgia’s elite cyclists competed on during the early 2000s. WHAT IS IT?
VIRGINIA CREEPER TRAIL WHAT IS IT? A 34.4-mile recreational rail-to-trail connecting Whitetop, Damascus, and Abingdon, Virginia. WHY RIDE IT? Created in the early 1980s, this rail grade gravel bike path was revolutionary for its time. Once an active rail line, the Forest Service saw an opportunity to make the defunct pathway into a recreational resource. Many abandoned train tracks have since been removed for
this same purpose (for example, the Swamp Rabbit Trail in South Carolina and Great Allegheny Passage in Pennsylvania), spurring an entire sector of accessible bike riding for novice cyclists, families, and commuters.
MOUNTAIN
CANAAN MOUNTAIN BIKE FESTIVAL WHAT IS IT? A four-day mountain bike festival in Davis, W.Va. WHY RIDE IT? Approaching its 10-year anniversary, this multiday mountain bike festival pays homage to the Canaan Mountain Series with throwback events like the Run What Ya Brung Trials while helping to inspire a new generation of mountain bikers through Sue Haywood’s Ladies Lunch and Skills Tour and kids’ rides. You can get a taste of the old school mountain biking vibe here through the Saturday group rides and the Sunday bike hash, a do-notmiss part of the event.
MASSANUTTEN HOO-HA! WHAT IS IT? An enduro and crosscountry mountain bike race on Massanutten Resort’s western slope trails. WHY RIDE IT? One of Virginia’s first mountain bike races, this event has been a staple in the scene since 1989. Massanutten’s other signature event, the YEE-HA!, began the following year. Massanutten hosted the UCI Downhill World Cup in 1997 and continues to be a leading venue for downhill and cross-country races alike. The resort’s partnership with the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition was ahead of its time. Formally cemented in 1999, the private-public collaboration is a model for the future of cycling. The rad trails are just the icing on the cake.
RYAN LEECH IN STAGE 2, ON HIS WAY TO 3RD PLACE IN THE ENDURO AT THE 2017 MASSANUTTEN HOO-HA! IAN MCALEX ANDER/ MASSANUTTEN RESORT
KNOXVILLE URBAN WILDERNESS
ENTERPRISE SOUTH NATURE PARK
WHAT IS IT? A connected system of parks and private land that totals over 1,000 acres and 50 miles of trails just 10 minutes from downtown Knoxville, Tenn. WHY RIDE IT? An impressive example of the synergy between city officials and passionate locals, this expansive trail system came to be through no shortage of volunteer hours and painstaking negotiations. Officially opened in 2012, Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness has since paved the way for other bike projects such as a new bike park in 2016.
WHAT IS IT? A 1,300-acre ammunition plant-turned-county-park just 15 minutes outside of downtown Chattanooga, Tenn. WHY RIDE IT? Formerly owned and operated by a private corporation, Hamilton County’s purchase of the property in 2000 was a landmark achievement in increasing recreational trails opportunities for Chattanooga residents. SORBA Chattanooga and Hamilton County cooperation has led to the construction of over 20 miles of mountain biking trails, and the city itself has transformed from the “Dirtiest City in America” to an adventure basecamp.
CARVINS COVE NATURAL RESERVE WHAT IS IT? The second largest municipal park in the country, with over 12,000 acres and 60 miles of trails just 15 minutes from downtown Roanoke, Va. WHY RIDE IT? When Roanoke area riders finally secured access to this chunk of mountainous land in 1999, the central Virginia mountain biking culture exploded. This was a pivotal moment in Roanoke’s history, and the subsequent attention the city received from the mountain biking community undoubtedly led to Roanoke becoming one of the region’s top cycling destinations.
BIG SOUTH FORK NATIONAL RIVER AND RECREATION AREA WHAT IS IT? A 125,000-acre tract of national park land across the Cumberland Plateau with over 300 miles of singletrack open to mountain bikers. WHY RIDE IT? In 2012, the Big South Fork was the first park in the nation to receive the International Mountain Bike Association’s (IMBA) elite Epic Ride designation. Its early acceptance of mountain bikers has been a model for other national park units looking to incorporate bikers into their user plans in the future.
—Jess Daddio
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TI G HT LINES FAL L FLY FI S HI N G GU I D E 2 01 7
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ith the cooling temperatures, the waters of the Blue Ridge beckon you to cast a line in its creeks, rivers, and lakes. Whether you’re researching new areas to fish, or need a pro to guide you, or are new to the sport, our Tight Lines Guide is your go-to resource for fishing in the Blue Ridge. Make the most of your fall fishing adventures with the following destinations, guides, and outfitters.
Where Good Nature COMES NATURALLY
www.visitwaynesboro.net | 540.942.6512
WAYNESBORO, VA
WAYNESBORO, VIRGINIA Where Good Casts Come Naturally Why Fish Waynesboro?
A spring-fed river and the perfect topography make Waynesboro a hot spot for anglers all over the country. Virginia boasts only two urban trout fisheries, and Waynesboro has one of them. The gentle South River, sheltering trophy-size rainbow and brown trout, winds through historic downtown and regularly calls fly fishermen into its currents.
Go-To Resources
The South River Fly Shop is located just one block from the South River. With its country store atmosphere and provision of all things fishing, they will set you up with gear from the best brands in the business, instruction, and even guided day trips. For maps of the South River, go to visitwaynesboro.net. For a regional perspective on the fishing options, check out fishvirginiafirst.com. VISITWAYNESBORO.NET
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THE PEACEFUL SIDE OF THE SMOKIES ALBEMARLE ANGLER
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The Most Diverse Fly Fishing in East Tennessee
Fishing Charlottesville in the Fall—Beginners and Experts Welcome
Why Fish East Tennessee?
Why Fish Central Virginia?
East Tennessee provides some of the most diverse fly fishing opportunities in the United States. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a fly fisherman’s wonderland, and is literally minutes from Townsend, Tennessee.
Fishing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Fall
ALBEMARLE ANGLER
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the largest tracts of wild country in the eastern United States. Over 1,000 miles of cold, clean trout streams drain the Smokies’ green slopes. Rainbow trout are common throughout the park and the larger brown trout are present in many watersheds. Native brook trout—holdovers from the Ice Age—still swim in the highest elevation streams. These are all wild trout streams and the fish are decorated with brilliant colors. Fall allows fishermen ample opportunities for fishing with nymphs and dry flies. Fall also brings a return to cooler temperatures and is the busiest time of year, with good reason. Bright fall foliage and great weather make autumn a prime time to fish. Conditions are best early October through late November. Fish will rise to small dries in the afternoons. Experienced fly fishermen may successfully cast to large brown trout in excess of 18 inches. This is a rare opportunity but several anglers get a few shots every season. The national park offers a variety of fishing ranging from small backcountry streams that are only accessible by hiking in, as well as roadside access to larger streams in the lower elevations and small brook trout streams in the highest elevations.
R&R Fly Fishing
Ian and Charity Rutter operate R&R Fly Fishing and have been guiding anglers of all skill levels since 2003. They are an invaluable source for fishermen, and have produced numerous articles and books on fly fishing and are sought-after casting instructors and speakers. To get out on the water or learn more from the Rutters about fishing the pristine wild trout streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, visit RandRFlyFishing.com or call 865-4480467, or follow them on social media. SMOKYMOUNTAINS.ORG
One of the many wonderful qualities about Charlottesville, Virginia is the local fishing opportunities for beginners to experts alike. It is also centrally located to many of the state’s most celebrated waters. As the summer temps begin to drop, mature smallmouth bass will continue to hunt bait-fish and crayfish. to pack on enough calories for the Virginia winters. The Rivanna, James, and Shenandoah Rivers, are only a short drive from town and provide phenomenal smallmouth fishing. Musky are another target species that become more accessible as the waters of the James and Shenandoah Rivers cool. The Charlottesville area is also blessed with many nearby native brook trout streams. The early fall can produce some incredible trout fishing in the east slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The North Fork of the Moormans is a native brookie stream that is a breathtaking hike as well as a great fishery. Other productive trout fisheries in the area include the South River, the Rapidan and any blue line in the mountains with flowing water!
Want More?
During the months of September through May, the Albemarle Angler provides four separate sections of trophy trout water that they stock and manage. These sections of water can provide a wonderful fly fishing experience, as well as yield some incredible fish. They also run guided trout float trips on the legendary Jackson River, one of Virginia’s best kept secrets—a tailwater and one of the most productive trophy brown trout fisheries in the state. During the fall and winter, the Jackson can provide a fishing experience unlike any other in Virginia. Any anglers visiting the area and or any of these fisheries are encouraged to stop by the shop. They are more than willing to give the current conditions and fly selection for the water you wish to visit. The Albemarle Angler also provides a year round guide service with accomplished and eager guides, waiting to put you on the water. ALBEMARLEANGLER.COM
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HUNTER BANKS FLY FISHING
What Starts on the Water Has the Potential to Go Anywhere Why Fish Western North Carolina?
The rivers around Asheville, North Carolina hold some of the finest fly fishing opportunities in the country. The diversity of fish species is matched by the variety of anglers, creating a dynamic community that makes Western North Carolina an unforgettable destination. You can wet a line for native brook trout in high mountain streams, search for trophy brown trout in world-class tailwater rivers like the Watauga and South Holston and chase the everelusive musky on the French Broad River. This variety fuels a fishing community as unique and diverse as the waters they fish. The energy of this group coupled with the diversity of fishing opportunities is driving the region’s emergence as a premiere fly fishing destination.
A Learning Experience
Hunter Banks Fly Fishing has been serving the fly fishing community of the South East since 1985. During this time, they have helped countless beginners move beyond the misconception that learning to fly fish is too difficult. Once a rod is in hand, their friendly and skilled fly fishing instructors have clients casting like professionals in no time. They also provide top-notch instruction on fly selection, knot tying, and water reading. They teach on the water with the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. Hunter Banks also understands that fly fishing doesn’t have to replace your other hobbies. It enhances the experience with those activities. Are you a frequent mountain biker? Ever thought about combining mountain biking and fly fishing? Strap a Tenkara rod to your pack for a quick and easy multi-sport adventure!
Let Them Be the Guide
Thousands of miles of river are within a quick morning drive of the Hunter Banks shops. With a familiarity of area water that only locals could have, their guides will select the perfect stretch of river to ensure all of your trip expectations are met. If you’re looking for an immersive fly fishing experience, they offer the full-day fly fishing school. These trips include all necessary equipment, lunch, and instruction on fly casting, gear and tackle selection, essential knot tying, fly selection, reading water, and sustainable fishing practices. If you’re pressed for time, choose their half-day fly fishing school. You will still walk away with a solid understanding of the most important aspects of fly fishing. HUNTERBANKS.COM
Thousands of miles of river, teeming with trout, and not a soul in sight. It's not the Rocky Mountains. This is Western North Carolina.
We spend hours stalking these banks, casting, mending, learning, sharing our knowledge of this place we call home. We know what starts on the water has the potential to go anywhere.
It's time to join us in the mountains. Start building your experience by visiting hunterbanks.com.
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VIRGINIA STATE PARKS What a Catch! Experience the Best Fishing Around at Virginia State Parks VIRGINIA STATE PARKS
Of 37 Virginia state parks, 28 of them offer unbeatable fishing opportunities.
Big Lake Fishing
Claytor Lake, Lake Anna, Smith Mountain Lake, and Buggs Island (Staunton River and Occoneechee state parks) all have one thing in common—here you’ll find bass, striped bass, and a healthy population of panfish.
Tidal River Fishing
In Virginia, you have your pick of freshwater and saltwater tidal rivers. Leesylvania and Mason Neck state parks offer access to the freshwater portion of the Potomac River where some of the best largemouth bass can be found. Westmoreland (lower Potomac), Belle Isle (Rappahannock), and York River
(York) state parks are great options for saltwater fishing. Fishing changes, but you’ll generally find striped bass in the spring, fall, and early winter, and flounder, spot and croaker during the warmers months.
Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean Fishing
Are striped bass, flounder, spadefish, and cobia your preference? Kiptopeke and First Landing state parks offer direct access to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, both of which are a boater’s dream. You’ll also find downriver, small lake, and trout fishing in some of Virginia’s mountain, piedmont, and coastal parks. Do you believe in “the early bird catches the worm?” If so, rent a yurt, cabin, lodge, or campsite and stay overnight so that you can be sure to hit the water bright and early. Visit our website to catch the skinny on fishing at Virginia State Parks and the many other outdoor activities the state parks offer. VIRGINIASTATEPARKS.GOV
BER 2017 Gear Journal - SEPTEM ’s Chrono ShirtON La Sportiva MenN WE AR FOR FO UR DAYS
TH IS IS A SHI RT YO U CA �ER STI L� WEAR OUT TO DIN A BACKPACK TRIP AN D VE HA WE H E OUT (W HIC WH EN YO U FINAL�Y HIK OR, TES, DO ESN ’T HOLD OD NU MI IN DO NE). IT DRIES TH IS IS TH E Y AL� SIC BA . INKLES ITSELF AN D MAGICAL�Y UN WR N’T WEAR IT D I’VE TOLD BEN HE CA PERFE�T VAN SHI RT, AN RO W PLENTY OF TIMES. FOR A FIF�H DAY IN A
We’re coming back to the East Coast! Colorado was a whirlwind filled with backpacking, peak bagging, and a whole lot of van living. Our favorite things about Colorado include dry air, chilly mornings, and green chili. Our least favorite things are unwavering afternoon showers, cactus, and the temperature of the high alpines lakes (cold, too cold). We’re looking forward to fall colors, carving van pumpkins, and drying gourds on the dashboard—here we come east coast fall!
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TH E LIFESTRAW IS SAVING E PROCES�. BE TW E�N TH IN U HYDR ATING YO �ORT TO GE T CLEAN TERS PROGRAM AN D EF TH EIR #FOL�OWTH ELI CONTRIBUTING G A LIFESTRAW MEANS YIN BU E, OB GL E TH ON WATER ACROS� , CLEAN, COLD WATER . IT ALSO MEANS CRISP TO TH E GREATER GO �D GO WRONG. ANY HIKE; YO U CAN’T
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THE PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST SPRAWLS ACROSS
FULL SUSPENSION AND FLY RODS BIKEFISHING IN THE BLUE RIDGE by TRAVIS HALL
some 500,000 acres, and it's especially renowned for two activities: mountain biking and fly fishing. The singletrack that criss-crosses this temperate rainforest beckons mountain bikers from all over the country, and its trout streams are legendary. So it stood to reason that a multi-day adventure combining the two pursuits would be nothing short of pure Pisgah gold. When I began planning a “bikefishing” excursion, I was told there was one person that I needed to talk to: fly fishing guide and mountain biker Aaron Motley of Hunter Banks Fly Fishing in Asheville and Waynesville, N.C. A Clemson, S.C. native and an exceptional mountain biker, Motley was one of the first members of the now highly-accomplished Brevard College Mountain Biking Team. He routinely uses his hardtail to gain access to wilder and more remote stretches of water that would otherwise require miles of arduous hiking. When we began plotting our adventure, he immediately recommended Pisgah’s South Mills River. The South Mills River area encompasses approximately 17,120 acres of the Pisgah National Forest— 8,629 of which are considered roadless acres. In 1990, Congress listed the South Mills River as a National Wild and Scenic Study River. In 1996, the U.S. Forest Service also recommended it for Wild and Scenic classification. If it ever comes to fruition, the South Mills will become North Carolina’s longest wild river.
THE ADVENTURE
On the morning of the trip, I met Aaron at an Ingles parking lot in the speed trap town of Mills River, N.C. to procure essential provisions: trail mix, local craft beer, and vacuumsealed salmon. Then our talk turned to the
photos by STEVE YOCOM
Colorado home, Travis lives in the nearby town of Brevard, North Carolina, and aside from being a heralded musician, he’s known around those parts as one hell of a mountain biker. We chatted for awhile with Travis, who had just come off a road stint and a show at Red Rocks with Ryan Adams. Then he pointed his bike in the direction of Squirrel Gap and took off on what Strava would later tell me was a thirty-plus mile ride. Slightly star-struck, we pedaled onward in the opposite direction, where dog-hobble undergrowth, multiple river crossings and—we hoped—copious wild trout would await.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR FLY FISHING THE SOUTH MILLS RIVER
With approximately 15 fishable miles from the headwaters near the Pink Beds area off of Highway 276 to the end of public access near Turkey Pen Gap, the South Mills River is known for two things—a clarity that rivals the region’s purest corn liquor and the above average size of the wild trout that call it home. Anglers familiar with the river will tell you that Rainbow Trout average 10 to 13 inches in length, making them a bit larger than the 8- to 10-inch fish typical of other trout streams in the area. As they’re wont to do, the wild browns of the South Mills can get even bigger, sometimes reaching 16 inches or more. The larger fish typically reside below the Wold Ford gauging station where depreciating elevation levels combine with multiple feeder creeks to create a wider, more fishable stream. Regardless of the season, your arsenal of flies should include everything from hare's ear and pheasant tail nymphs to copper johns and yellow stimulators with a distinct red head. Streamers can be effective for eliciting strikes from some of the larger browns mentioned above.
weather. Rain, it seemed, was all but certain in the forecast. Such conditions come with the territory in the section of Pisgah we were headed for, which routinely receives as much as ninety inches of annual rainfall. The forecast did little to dampen our excitement. We secured our bikes—full suspension Specialized outfits provided by Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Asheville—and began our caravan toward the South Mills River Recreation Area. We arrived at the trailhead at the Wolf Ford Gauging Station just off of Forest Service Road 476, and we began loading our bikes with camping equipment and fly fishing gear. When fishing the South Mills, Aaron relied heavily on a traditional 40
FINDING COPPERAS ROCK
Japanese fishing method known as tenkara. First popularized in the United States by Daniel Galhardo, who founded Tenkara USA and is an avid bikefisher in his own right, the tenkara style is tailor made for the trout streams of Southern Appalachia. It puts the focus on simplicity by taking the reel completely out of the fly fishing equation and allows for easier casting on tight-quartered, rhodo-choked streams. Once the tenkara rods were securely strapped to Aaron’s pack, we hit the trail and begin following the course of the clear-flowing, rhododendron cloaked South Mills. “Biking is the only way I go back in here,” Aaron tells me as we negotiate typical Pisgah singletrack, complete with rock ledges and
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downed logs. “It’s the perfect combination of two of my favorite adventures, and it affords me access to spots that other anglers seldom take the time to reach.” About three miles in, we arrived at a suspension bridge where the South Mills River Trail meets Squirrel Gap. It looked like a tantalizing place to wet a line, but our attention was diverted by the late arrival of our cohort, BRO digital publisher Dusty Allison. From the other side of the bridge, Dusty was wheeling up with a riding partner he found somewhere along the way. As fate would have it, that riding partner turned out to be the bass player for the Infamous Stringdusters, Travis Book. Unlike the rest of his bandmates, who call the state of
After a strenuous six-mile ride made even more difficult by heavy packs, we finally arrived at our intended destination—Copperas Rock. This imposing rock feature soared 70 feet above the west side of the South Mills. A plentiful population of wild trout danced in the gin-clear pools below. Dusty was the first of our group to net one. Like Aaron, he’s a devotee of the trusted tenkara method, but since his rod had been compromised by an overhanging limb during the grueling ride in, Aaron set him up with his 12-foot IWANA rod from Tenkara USA, complete with the deadly combination of a size 12 Parachute Adams and Frenchie nymph dropper. Within a matter of minutes, Dusty had hooked the first wild Brown Trout of the trip. The trout, which sported colors more vibrant than those I’d seen on more familiar delayed harvest haunts, was ultimately enticed by the Frenchie, attacking it with a type of aggression unique to brown trout living in remote, wild places. Dusty’s fish set the tone for another 24 hours of stellar fly fishing, top notch mountain biking, and priceless camaraderie.
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WHAT TO BRING
1. TOPEAK BIKEPACKING SERIES 2. SPECIALIZED EPIC CARBON WORLD CUP 3. LIGHT AND MOTION SECCA 1800 4. TENKARA RHODO 5. SMITH ROVER MIPS
WHERE TO GO VIRGINIA
WHITETOP LAUREL CREEK (ACCESSED VIA THE VIRGINIA CREEPER TRAIL)
If you’re looking for a more moderate bikefishing adventure, you’d be hard pressed to find a better destination than Whitetop Laurel Creek via the Virginia Creeper Trail. Stretching for 34 miles through the heart of Southwest Virginia, just outside the Appalachian Trail town of Damascus, the Virginia Creeper Trail has long been famous among bikers, but it also offers quick and easy access to Whitetop Laurel, one of Virginia’s best trout streams.
WEST VIRGINIA
NEW RIVER GORGE
The New River Gorge National River is home to some of the best fly fishing East of the Rockies, and the trail systems found along its banks offer unrivaled opportunity for bike-in angling.
Try the Glade Creek Trail, which provides streamside access to 5.6 miles of the popular Glade Creek trout stream. FOR MORE INFO VISIT NPS.GOV/NERI
NORTH CAROLINA
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK (NORTH CAROLINA SIDE)
Typically, mountain biking is not an option within the boundaries of a national park, but the Deep Creek area on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a rare exception. Both Deep Creek and Indian Creek are accessible by way of moderate, stream-side trails where mountain biking is permitted. Set up a base camp at the Deep Creek Camping Area and enjoy these two pristine Smoky Mountain streams in conjunction with a mellow mountain biking journey. FOR MORE INFO VISIT GREATSMOKIES.COM/ DEEPCREEK
Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Getaway in Ellijay, there are few trails in the area that combine biking and fishing better than the Mountaintown Creek Trail. “Mountaintown Creek trail is a must do for fly fishing as well as biking,” Gates says. “It is one of the most remote and beautiful trails in our area, and it has a thriving population of native trout.”
AARON MOTLEYS 10 TENKARA TIPS •
Bring a spare tip or a second rod.
Pull your leader and break a fly off versus pulling with the rod and breaking everything.
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Dry fly desiccant powder.
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One fly box is really all you need.
One knot, the improved Clinch Knot, will suffice.
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5x and 6x tippet should be your only go to. Remember, this style is supposed to be simple.
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NORTH MILLS RIVER AREA
Like its South Mills counterpart, the North Mills River Recreation Area of Pisgah National Forest offers ample bikefishing opportunities. Set up a base camp at the Mills River campground before setting off to explore the North Mills and its multiple tributaries such as Big Creek, Middle Fork, Fletcher Creek, and Spencer Branch.
GEORGIA
Make multiple pre rigged leaders of different lengths on a Tenkara line holder to adjust quickly.
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Look at what’s around you before you cast, so you are less likely to catch a tree.
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Don't be afraid to cast a two fly dropper system on Tenkara.
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MOUNTAINTOWN CREEK
Always bring a net!
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THE GOODS
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THE BEST IN BIKING GEAR PISGAH STAGE RACE CHAMP TRISTAN COWIE SELECTS HIS FAVORITES BY GRAHAM AVERILL
P
isgah National Forest’s singletrack is legendary largely because of its brutality. Nobody knows this better than Tristan Cowie, mountain bike racer and cycling coach at Carmichael Training Systems in Brevard. Last year, the 29-year-old North Georgianative earned podium spots at two of Pisgah’s most daunting endurance races, placing second at the Off Road Assault on Mount Mitchell and winning the Pisgah Stage Race. “Pisgah is always a challenge, even if you’re an experienced rider,” Cowie says of his backyard singletrack. We asked Cowie to detail the mountain bike gear that helps him master Pisgah on a daily basis.
HINCAPIE MAX JERSEY (CUSTOM) It’s basically a really tight-fitting jersey that’s almost see-through because it’s made out of mesh. In the summer, it’s awesome because it’s so light and breathes so well.
WAHOO ELEMENT ($329) You should always bring a print map too, but loading some terrain maps in your computer will allow you to check for alternative routes during the ride. A short cut home if it starts to rain? Yes, please!
SPECIALIZED S-WORKS 6 XC MB SHOES ($400) They don’t have as much foam as other bike shoes, so they don’t hold much water and they dry fast, which is key for Pisgah because there’s always a stream crossing somewhere on the route. The power transfer is great, too. It’s like having another gear.
SPURCYCLE BELL ($49) I use this bell all the time. People respond quickly to it, and it’s more polite than yelling at a hiker or horseback rider.
ROCKSHOX PIKE RC FORK ($580) Pisgah is technical, and I kept breaking cross country forks, so I switched to this fork with more travel. And then you need to learn how to adjust it. Having properly adjusted suspension allows your bike to work more efficiently. MAXXIS ARDENT ($58) Because Pisgah is so technical, I run a more aggressive tire up front, then a more slick, faster-rolling tire in the back because most of the climbs are on gravel. The Ardent is high-volume, with an aggressive tread and all about traction.
MORE GEAR BASU E-ALARM ($15) This compact, lightweight alarm is small in size but big in sound, delivering an ambulance-level continuous siren for repelling bears. It can also deter criminals, too. Worth its 1-ounce weight on your evening run. LIFESAVER 4000UF WATER BOTTLE ($150) When disconnected from a reliable source of clean water, the LifeSaver Bottle 4000UF allows you to use water from natural sources such as ponds, lakes and rivers, to stay hydrated, while protecting you from waterborne viruses, bacteria or cysts. The replaceable cartridge can filter up to 4,000 litres of water. KING THE WOOL SOCKS ($18) The lightweight wool blend socks are warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and odor-resistant. Designed by the legendary King family of cyclists in Charlottesville Va., the socks feature a seamless toe and just the right amount of compression for your foot and ankle. They’re not just for cyclists; these socks perform well hiking and running Southern Appalachian singletrack, too. S E P T E M B E R 2 017 / B L U E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M
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Find out why at Virginia.org/Outdoors
Carvins Cove Natural Reserve
Fall 2017 Giveaway! ENTER TO WIN A VIRGINIA ADVENTURE GETAWAY TO WINCHESTER AND A TREK FX BIKE FROM BLUE RIDGE CYCLERY! WINCHESTER GETAWAY > Two nights at the Japanese-themed Pembroke Springs Retreat B&B where you will enjoy authentic spring-fed Japanese baths.
TECHNICAL SOCKS From King Technical Apparel
> Fly-fishing package for two (beginners to advanced anglers welcome) with Shenandoah Valley Fly Fishing Adventures. > Gift Certificate to Alesatian Brewing Company on the Old Town Walking Mall.
ENTER TO WIN: BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM
TREK FX BIKE - From Blue Ridge Cyclery Or up to $359 credit towards a Trek bike of your choosing!
TOP 10 BIKING ADVENTURES in Virginia’s Blue Ridge
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CARVINS COVE
#BlueRidgeDay 800.635.5535
VisitVBR.com
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the best routes in the world for cycling, and 80 miles of “America’s Favorite Drive” wind through Virginia’s Blue Ridge. The scenic beauty of the road, combined with broad ranges of elevation, provide an incredible cycling experience.
As the 2nd largest municipal park in the United States, Carvins Cove boasts 12,000 acres of forest and nearly 60 miles of mountain biking trails, including cross country singletrack, free ride downhill trails, and extensive fire roads. It’s earned a reputation as one of the premier spots for mountain biking in the country.
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MILL MOUNTAIN PARK Make your away along the hundreds of miles of amazing hiking trails in the region. For one of the best hikes, check out McAfee Knob and discover the 270-degree view that makes it the most photographed spot on the Appalachian Trail.
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ROANOKE VALLEY GREENWAYS
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Over 30 miles of paved Greenways wind through the Roanoke Valley, offering wonderful options for riders of all skill levels. Many portions of the Greenway system are located along the Roanoke River and near public parks, serving as great places to relax.
EXPLORE PARK There’s beauty around every twist and turn of the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of many scenic roadways in Virginia’s Blue Ridge. With eight access points, the Parkway is an easy way to take in the breathtaking natural beauty of the area.
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TRANSAMERICA BICYCLE TRAIL The final portion of this 4,228-mile cross country ride makes its way through Virginia’s Blue Ridge before continuing east to the Virginia coast. The route, also known as U.S. Bike Route 76, winds along the mountains and countryside through many of the region’s historic small towns.
BIKING EVENTS There are always great biking events on the calendar! Between weekly beer rides organized by local biking clubs, and exciting events like GO Cross Presented by Deschutes Brewery, GO Outside Festival and Demo Day at Outdoor Jamboree, we love celebrating our unique cycling culture in Virginia’s Blue Ridge. Visit VisitVBR.com/events for more information.
BIKE SHOPS The pros and specialists at our local bike shops will have your bicycle back to 100%, or can help you find the perfect new bike for conquering the Blue Ridge Mountains. Find all the biggest brands and gear at East Coasters Bike Shops, Cardinal Bicycle and Starlight Bicycles.
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ART BY BIKE Art by Bike is a local, self-guided riding experience that weaves through the city of Roanoke and offers visitors the opportunity to see a variety of unique public art pieces. This 8.5 mile ride combines the city’s historic neighborhoods, vibrant downtown district, and emerging arts scene in one fun adventure!
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BIKE RENTALS & GUIDED TRIPS Whether you need a bike for a couple hours or want to spend an entire week on the trails, renting a bike is easy in Virginia’s Blue Ridge! The experts at Roanoke Mountain Adventures and UnderDog Bikes will set you up with the bicycle that fits your needs and provide all kinds of helpful info, including the option to plan a guided biking trip.
BIKING IN VIRGINIA S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
said no biker ever.
Come explore Patrick County, Virginia. Picnics at a covered bridge or along the Blue Ridge Parkway, canoe rides, traditional mountain music, artisan studios, local wineries, bed and breakfasts, camping, hiking, mountain biking, and fishing are just a few of the attractions awaiting you. From the rugged outdoors to 5-Star luxury, there is so much to discover in Patrick County. www.visitpatrickcounty.org
IC DeHart Mountain Bike Trails
VISIT SHENANDOAH COUNTY S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
SHENANDOAH Planning a weekend of hiking or wine sampling in the Shenandoah Valley this fall? Make Shenandoah Downs, the area’s newest attraction, part of your weekend!
Harness racing every Saturday & Sunday from September 16 - October 15 Wager 10 races daily from 1-4 PM FREE parking & Admission! Enjoy a festival every Saturday—craft beer, wine, seafood, food trucks & more! Shenandoah County Fairgrounds Woodstock, VA (I-81 at Exit 283 between Harrisonburg and Winchester) shenandoahdowns.com
FALL ADVENTURES IN VIRGINIA S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
Please Drink Responsibly.
Get
OUTSIDE and grab life by the handlebars. Scenic mountain towns built on southern hospitality, history and culture.
LexingtonVirginia.com RockbridgeOutdoors.com
Blue Ridge Parkway
FALL ADVENTURES IN VIRGINIA S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
Add Bedford to your must-do list! A mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, Bedford offers an abundance of choices for your next adventure. From the Blue Ridge Parkway to Smith Mountain Lake, miles of trails and shoreline await! Falling Creek Park, spanning 250 acres, offers mountain bike trails, disc golf, and a world-class skate park. 877-hi-peaks | visitbedford.com |
VisitWinchesterVA.com #DiscoverWinchester
@visitbedfordVa
FALL ADVENTURES IN VIRGINIA S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
F
ollow a winding road through the mountains west of the Shenandoah Valley to an enchanted place that has welcomed visitors for centuries. A place where eagles soar, artists dream, musicians play and weary travelers are rejuvenated.
Make your dreams come true in the County of Bath
DiscoverBath.com
540-839-7202 #CountyofBathVA
More Boat Launches than stoplights.
Mecklenburg County is made for exploring. Open roads connect charming towns. Our State Parks and Wildlife Management Areas are ideal for hiking and biking. And 17 public launches make it easy to explore the rivers and lakes.
More of what matters. More Mecklenburg. visitmeckva.com | #moremeck
PLAYING IS FOR THE YOUNG AND YOUNG AT HEART. STAY THAT WAY.
Never stop playing.
It’s always play time in Abingdon. visitabingdonvirginia.com • 888.489.4144
FALL ADVENTURES IN VIRGINIA S P E C I A L A DV E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
Outdoor Program
Study & Explore
Backpacking Climbing Whitewater Expand Outdoor Leadership Skills
Earn College Scholarships for Outdoor Adventure Team
Discover The E&H Outdoor Program | Request Info. Visit Us. Apply. | www.ehc.edu/BRO
MADISON COUNTY VIRGINIA
Come to Madison for the hiking, history, artisans, scenery, the fishing, the Taste of the Mountains, Music and Apple Harvest Festivals, the brewery, wineries, or your destination wedding! Stay in a B&B, cabin, camper, RV, lodge, vacation rental house, tent or even a yurt!
We have it all away from it all. MADISONVA.COM
ARE YOU READY? MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR OCTOBER 21! Start the day with a race across the New River Gorge Bridge in the Bridge Day 5K. This 3.1 mile race boasts 400+ racers and breathtaking views.
Then, watch as daredevils BASE jump 800+ feet into the New River Gorge, or get in on the action yourself.
HEART PUMPING ADVENTURE AWAITS.
OfficialBridgeDay.com 800-927-0263 54
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SWEAT SHOPS A bonanza of boutique fitness gyms are sweeping the South. BRO put them to the test. by NATALIE STICKEL AS I WALKED ACROSS THE PARKING LOT
to a crescendo of grunting, clanging weights, and erupting cheers, I’ll admit I was a bit intimidated. While I’ve never been a fan of the ellipticals, rigid circuit training, and meathead culture of traditional gyms. I've preferred to focus my fitness outside on activities I actually enjoy. But I couldn’t discount how many times I’d been told places like CrossFit were different. I approached my free intro session with nothing to lose, and left with a taste of sweat and a few tears, a little bit closer to discovering why “boutique” or specialty gyms are gaining traction in the fitness world. I wasn’t the only first-timer in attendance that day, as I shared my tour, workout, and consultation with two other newbies. Our coach (as CrossFit likes to call its instructors) said this was common, and it seems to reflect national trends. According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), participation at specialty gyms grew by 70% between 2012 and 2015. They represented 42 percent of the health club market in 2014, and their popularity continues to climb. In an effort to see just what all the fuss is about, BRO sent staff to test out CrossFit, Orangetheory, SoulCycle, MADabolic, Hard Exercise Works, and other boutique studios. Through
our firsthand experiences and current industry research, we hope to give you a better grasp of the forces fueling this rising phenomenon and why it’s loved (and loathed) by fitness fiends and the workout weary alike.
THE APPEAL
Part of their growth can be explained by the niche’s lower overhead when compared to traditional gyms. Boutique studios are typically smaller operations and employ fewer staff members than goliath facilities like Gold’s Gym. Interestingly, however, much of their success is due to the preferences of younger generations. CHALLENGE First, millennials are more likely to shun traditional gym equipment for the unconventional challenge of unique obstacles. In fact, the immediate difference I noticed between the CrossFit location I visited and a national gym chain was the presence of training equipment like ropes and obstacles, rowing machines, and even an outdoor lot for flipping tires. COMMUNIT Y Next, according to the IHRSA’s 2016 Health Club Consumer Report, while Gen-X seems satisfied going solo and hitting the treadmill, millennials
prefer the group feel of cross-training and yoga classes. Indeed, the most common response to my asking seasoned 20- to 30-something CrossFitters, “Why do you keep coming back?” was “because of the community.” This feeling of camaraderie also transcends certain cohorts and extends beyond fellow participants to the trainers and other staff members. While observing the group classes, it quickly became clear that this investment in each others’ success fuels a growing community; it’s the sense that trainers are committed to participants’ success that motivates many to return. INTENSITY Furthermore, many favor highintensity interval training (HIIT) for the alleged benefits of a more effective full-body workout in less time. One of our staff members, Martha Evans, gave Orangetheory a try. She says the studio’s highintensity personal workout in a group format is encouraging, emphasizes individual help from coaches, and includes a heart rate monitor that tracks workout progress. “I feel like seeing my heart rate on the screen along with the rest of the class is really motivating. You get an email a few minutes after each class with
your performance summary including the time you spent in each heart rate zone, along with calories burned and ‘splat’ points.” The foundational theory behind Orangetheory’s motto “Work for one hour, burn for 36” is known as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, or EPOC. According to their website, “Our one-hour workout is designed to produce 12 minutes or more of intensities at 84% or higher of maximum heart rate. This program design produces workout ‘after burn’ effect, which is an increased metabolic rate for up to 36 hours after the workout.” The vehicles for this philosophy are splat points, which indicate minutes spent in the highest heart rate zones. The goal is to earn 12 splat points per class. Mary Mac Motley spent the better part of two decades as an avid runner, averaging seven to eight miles per day and teaching bootcamp-style classes at various gyms. Fitness took a backseat, though, when she tore her PCL playing tennis and then started a PhD program shortly thereafter. “These two events changed my life, and I basically quit all exercise for about six years,” Mary said. “I gained weight and lost muscle. This year, after many people I love were diagnosed with cancer, I decided to motivate myself. I chose Hard
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Explore more of the Virginia Capital Trail from Richmond to Jamestown SettlementÂ
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Exercise Works (HEW) because it is known for being hard core. The program changes daily, and having once been super fit, the atmosphere is inspiring and seems doable.”
THE DOWNSIDE
Despite the many reasons specialty gyms are appealing, there are reasons past participants and some exercise professionals have become opponents. The dark side to the draw of community is that these gyms are often accused of feeling rather cult-like. This can be a turnoff for some first-time attendees, and I felt like a confused outsider when trying decipher CrossFit jargon and acronyms during my visit. While seeing your stats change over time and compared to others’ can be a real motivator, for some, it’s more about how they feel and the physical markers of increased strength and stamina. In either case, these internal and external forms of feedback can cause participants to push themselves to (and past) their limit, making injuries more common at this type of gym. INJURY Instructors largely encourage beginners to take it slow and only increase reps, weight, or workout length when they are ready. However, formats like CrossFit’s Workout of the Day (WOD), the goal of which is to complete as many sets as possible in a specified time frame, may inadvertently encourage participants to rush, leading many to sacrifice form and risk injury. One study found that the injury rate in CrossFit is approximately 20 percent, with men more likely to sustain injury than women. While “the involvement of trainers in coaching participants on their form and guiding them through the workout correlates with a decreased injury rate,” some participants have been vocal about a lack of individualized attention, especially during the WODs. It’s quite possible these structured highintensity workouts can prove a little too hard core.
EXPENSE Another significant turnoff is the price tag. Many gyms charge $20 to $40 per class, while monthly unlimited memberships can climb to $200 per month. Additionally, many studios specialize in a specific type of workout (such as SoulCycle) when compared to larger facilities’ diverse group and individual offerings and typically longer operating hours, leading critics to question why so many are happy to pay extra for fewer choices.
IS A BOUTIQUE GYM RIGHT FOR ME?
Those new or returning to exercise often benefit the most from a customized regimen and guided workouts, while fitness veterans almost seem to run on autopilot, like they could perform a routine in their sleep. While beginners can certainly benefit from this format, specialty gyms also often attract dedicated athletes training for endurance races. My CrossFit coach also pointed out that many of his trainees are servicemen and -women getting back in shape for active duty. So, it would seem that boutique gyms have struck a profitable balance by appealing to a wide range of skill levels. Most of this can be attributed to group exercise. In the words of Shawn Dolan Ph.D., group fitness “participants do not need to know how to develop a safe and effective workout. They simply have to show up with a positive attitude, participate, and most importantly, have fun. An exercise class structured with a purpose can be beneficial for people with limited knowledge about safe and effective exercise programming.” It’s important to remember that not all boutique gyms are created equal; many have different philosophies on what’s most effective and why. SoulCycle offers a different experience from CrossFit or OrangeTheory, for example. So, while a better understanding of the differences in effectiveness between these modalities requires more
ORANGE IS MY NEW BLACK
I’m a hiker and adventurer, but I’m still pretty out of shape. Orangetheory Fitness was the first time I’ve ever enrolled in an organized workout class. I walked overweight, with zero core body strength, and little endurance. Orangetheory is all about highintensity training. We wear heart rate monitors that track our beats per minute and percent of max heart rate. The goal is to spend 12 or more minutes in the orange or red zones. I can look up at the large screen anytime during the class and see what zone and color I'm in. By the end of week two, I was much more comfortable on the treadmill, I’d learned the proper way to row, and the weight room was becoming a not so scary place. Surprisingly, in the third week, I found myself looking forward to class. I felt so much better mentally, physically and emotionally. By week six, I lost over five inches and six pounds. What has kept me going? There is a great sense of community in each class. We high-five and cheer each other on. I recently participated in their Peak Week Challenge, and in the female 40+ age group, I had the fastest 500 meter row. Even more exciting, I actually ran for 24 minutes without stopping. That's a big accomplishment for me. —Martha Evans
research, one study highlighting the differences between CrossFit gains and weightlifting over time helps to shed light on the benefits and drawbacks of this trending style of training. Published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology, this study compared the physical fitness of regular CrossFit participants to those utilizing traditional resistance training. It followed men between the ages of 20 and 32 of similar body composition, half of them CrossFit enthusiasts and half weightlifters.
They were evaluated for relative arm strength, endurance, and lower body explosiveness. The results? While the CrossFit practitioners exhibited greater endurance and jump capacities, the weightlifters showed more relative upper body strength. CrossFitters also had significant improvements in VO2max. Here, it becomes a question of your personal goals. What do you want to improve? Athletes hoping to improve endurance and stamina might stand to benefit more from a CrossFit-style regimen. If you’re looking to increase strength, however, you might want to steer clear; the study shows that CrossFit and similar workouts have the potential to negatively affect strength development in a phenomenon known as the interference effect, sacrificing improvements in maximal strength in favor of gains in explosive strength.
FITNESS FAD OR REVOLUTION?
Specialty fitness studios are nothing new. CrossFit has been around for nearly 20 years, and it is still attracting aspiring athletes and converting big-box gym rats. It’s not likely that specialty gyms will fade out as quickly as the latest diet trend, but the luxury tag of boutique studios could prove to be their achilles heel. A few YMCAs are starting to offer more diverse classes like barre, TRX, and even something called ‘punk rope,’ looking to provide a similar culture at a much more palatable cost. After saying my goodbyes and thanking my CrossFit coach, I walked back to my car, mulling over my workout and overall experience. While the community vibe is certainly attractive, the near-constant feedback, competitive drive, and pricey membership aren’t for me. I can see why specialty gyms attract a wide range of people, and while I hope it helps them reach their fitness goals healthily and happily, I think I’ll stick to sweating it out on the crags and trails.
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ADVENTURE DOG
PHOTO CONTEST
The submissions poured in for our 6th annual Dog Photo Contest presented by Ruffwear, showcasing four-legged friends from all over the Blue Ridge and beyond joining their owners in all sorts of outdoor pursuits—from mountain biking and hiking to fly fishing and car camping. While every dog that entered received a flurry of votes, one pooch in particular—an energetic and loving 9-month-old Australian Shepherd named Lola—stood out from the crowd. We caught up with Lola’s owner Christina to learn more about her adventure loving canine companion.
2017 WINNER! LOLA
Where was the winning photo taken? It was taken when she was 12 weeks old on a side trail at John’s Rock in Pisgah National Forest. What is Lola’s favorite outdoor activity? It’s probably a tie between running around at the dog park, especially with her best doggie friend in the world, Rory (another Aussie), or just going for a hike in the woods of Western North Carolina. If she is feeling brave she also likes to go for a swim.
Any crazy personality quirks? She loves to have her back scratched. So when she is really excited she shakes her whole body, folds herself in half, and pushes right up against you so you can scratch her and she can lick you at the same time. Is Lola an off- or on-leash kind of a dog? She is an on-leash girl right now, but we are working with a trainer so that she can be an off-leash kind of girl. What’s Lola’s all-time favorite treat? Aside from baseboards and Chacos, she really loves french toast chewys.
Helinox Chair Zero
take it everywhere 1lb skin & frame weight
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YOU WILL KNOW ENDLESS BIKE COMPANY’S
SINGLE SPEED AIN'T DEAD
CONSIGNED TO KIDS’ BIKES FOR THE PAST CENTURY, THE SINGLE SPEED MADE AN IMPASSIONED COMEBACK IN THE EARLY 2000S. FOR A DEDICATED FEW, THE SPIRIT OF THE SINGLE SPEED LIVES ON. by JESS DADDIO
SHANNA POWELL, OWNER OF ENDLESS BIKE COMPANY, AT THE 2014 PISGAH ENDURO. STEVE BARKER
owner Shanna Powell when you see her. If the fairy dress doesn’t give her away, the cat ears attached to her helmet will. In 2008, Powell bought Endless Bike Company, a cottage bicycle drivetrain parts manufacturer for single speed bikes. There was just one problem: she had never ridden a single speed before. “I was just so new to bikes in general that I hadn’t formed an opinion [about single speeds],” says Powell, who had only started working at a bike shop two years prior. “I didn’t know the difference from one bike to the next.” Soon after the ownership transfer, Powell hopped on a single speed at Bent Creek Experimental Forest near her home in Asheville, N.C. Nearly a decade later, she still prefers single speeds to geared bikes. For ease of use, affordability, and low maintenance, Powell argues that beginner riders should start with a single speed from the get-go. If the bike is equipped with a gear appropriate for the terrain, she says, riding a single speed is not much different than riding a geared bike. True, you might be coasting more than pedaling on the downhill, but a strong single speeder knows how to utilize momentum to her advantage and can crush a climb faster than her geared bike counterpart. “I choose to ride a single speed because I think it makes you a better rider,” says Powell. “It forces you to use your bike and your body rather than just shifting.” In general, says Powell, single speeders are the most inclusive subclass of cycling, hinging on the simplest of principles: having fun. And most devout single speeders are characters in one way or another. They have to be. If they’re not taking the brunt of geared cyclists’ jokes, they’re heckling each other. It comes with the bike. More often than not, cyclists who hear “single speed” think either next-levelbadassery or stupid pain. The truth lies somewhere in between. Take New River Bikes owner Andy Forron, for example. At this year’s Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race (PMBAR), a 50- to 80-mile self-supported orienteering suffer fest, Forron and his teammate crushed the competition, finishing first in the single speed category
and third overall. In jorts and a purple jersey (and a rigid frame with matching purple handlebars), he hardly looked the part. “I wouldn’t put it past Andy to show up in jean shorts and a cutoff shirt,” says Powell. “He’ll be the one standing around at the race beforehand and everyone will be like, ‘Who IS this guy?’ And then he will rip their legs off.” Serious, but not too serious. Or, hell, slap the bag and let’s party. Despite the simplicity of their bikes, single speeders are a mysterious breed. We sat three of them down, Andy Forron (Fayetteville, W.Va.), Rich “Dicky” Dillen (Charlotte, N.C.), and Watts Dixon (Greensboro, N.C.), to get a better idea of the inner workings of a single speeder’s brain. Whether or not their responses lead us closer to the truth is debatable. YOU’VE ALL BEEN RIDING SINCE CHILDHOOD. DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST BIKE? AF: I got a mountain bike for my seventh birthday. I really wanted a dirt bike but I didn’t get that. Some piece of sh*t with a banana seat, yellow and brown because those are the best colors for action.
RD:
WD: I also had a Schwinn with a banana seat, and then eventually some form of a BMX bike. It was bright yellow. It got run over by a dump truck.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO RACING SINGLE SPEEDS? AF: I started racing when I was pretty little. I got dragged around to all of the local races when I was 8 or 9. That morphed into doing longer races, and then 100-milers, and then those stupid ones where I don’t sleep for a few days. Now I like to do PMBAR because I can beat Rich and Watts. I started mountain biking sometime in college in the late ‘80s. When I moved to Charlotte, my horizons opened. I started racing in Pisgah and doing 24-hour races. Once I learned how to hate myself, that’s when I started single speed racing.
RD:
WD: I went to a lot of races very early on, but I never raced because I was f*cking terrified. I don’t know why. I rode a lot but I didn’t want to race. Then in my middle school and early high school years, I became obsessed with the idea of doing Ironman. When I
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got back on a mountain bike, it was always a single speed. The bicycling scene, as vibrant as it may appear sometimes, is just as boring as every other facet of society, so I was looking for something that was not as boring as everything else I had seen. WHEN DID SINGLE SPEEDS PEAK IN POPULARITY? AF: It seemed like it got really popular about five years ago. Now it’s kinda back to the same people that were doing it in the ‘90s. It’s certainly not what it used to be. You can’t even buy a single speed from a lot of the major manufacturers anymore. Yeah about six years ago. Everyone had a single speed in their quiver then.
RD:
WHAT APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT RIDING A SINGLE SPEED? AF: I just started riding single speed because my geared bike broke and I never fixed it. I remember looking at the simplicity of the bikes without all the shit on them. There was a mystique to it. We didn’t know what could be done on a single speed. Once I started riding single speed I couldn’t get back on any of my other bikes because they all sucked. I’ve bought some geared bikes in the last decade and the last one I owned for 47 days. The local shops know not to sell me bikes with gears because I told them to stop me if I ever tried to do it again.
RD:
Early on, going to all those races and watching, the guys racing single speed were always the biggest characters. It was a lot more nuts back then. They were wearing costumes, like full braziers on a 24-hour race. They stood out and it definitely left an impression and I knew that was more my style. WD:
SO WHAT IS CONSIDERED PROPER SINGLE SPEED ATTIRE NOW? RD: No matter what you wear, everyone still has the right to make fun of what you’re wearing. If you wear jorts, you get shit for that. If you take your shirt off, you get made fun of for that. You better have some 60
thicker skin if you wanna play the game. They’re gonna dig shit up forever and hold it against you so be prepared. WD:
What about those cargo shorts?
If there’s a zombie apocalypse and I’m out riding around, I’m gonna need to put stuff in my pockets so I’m gonna keep those cargo shorts. Just a few pairs. I need a place to put my water.
RD:
DO YOU HAVE A SINGLE SPEED HERO? WD: Heroes always disappoint. There are no heroes. WHY IS RIDING A SINGLE SPEED BETTER? AF: It’s really quiet. Usually. And it’s really simple. You don’t have to screw with it, you just ride it. There’s nothing to break off or hang off. It limits the things I have to think about because I‘m not very good with options. It’s like a Mexican restaurant that just has burritos. If it’s a shitty burrito then I just eat my way through and if it’s a good burrito then yay. I just want to ride my bike. I don’t have to think about what I’m doing. I just need to go faster or slow down and I don’t want to think about much more than that.
RD:
WD: I like Rich’s answer. I do enjoy the challenge of riding a single speed. When Rich and I did the TransSylvania Epic, we were the only people on rigid bikes. It sucked at times. It was challenging. But we still had tons of fun and finished all of the sections and it levels the satisfaction even if you didn’t win by any stretch.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE FOR ME: TO RIDE A SINGLE SPEED YOU MUST BE... AF: Normal? RD:
21 or older.
WD:
Humanoid.
AND THIS ONE: YOU SHOULD ONLY RIDE SINGLE SPEED IF... AF: You wanna have a good time. You’re not excited about electronic shifting.
RD:
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WD: You’re looking at Interbike coverage and everything makes you go, “Ugh this is horrible.”
WHAT IS SOMETHING ABOUT THE SINGLE SPEED CULTURE THAT MOST OF US CAN’T UNDERSTAND? RD: Whether you stand on the podium or not, you just came there to have a good time. But even when you win you don’t have a sense of accomplishment because you’re like, “If so-and-so had showed up he would have beat me anyway.” There is no satisfaction. You’re just always unhappy. Deep down we’re just racing bikes which is really dumb. We could race lawn mowers and it wouldn’t be much different. I’ve got a push mower. WD: Honestly I don’t even like racing. I like beating people. I like being in front of someone, but I don’t like when someone is in front of me. If there are seven of us all riding together in a race, it sucks. I want to beat all those people but I don’t want to have to race them.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE PRESENT-DAY SINGLE SPEED COMMUNITY? RD: Dead. WD:
D-E-D.
Okay, for real, we’re making fun of it seriously. There are just certain things that bother me like the guy who shows up on a single speed because he can’t beat anybody else. We can’t make up our own rules but we have social media now and we can shame people. We can ban cargo shorts on the podium.
RD:
WD: I think if you ban cargo shorts, the whole mountain bike scene would die.
Okay, bring your cargo shorts. As long as we get to make fun of it.
RD:
WD: Riding single speeds is all something we like to do, but we’re not like, “SINGLE SPEED FOREVVVVER.” On some level everyone is guilty to some degree of putting themselves in a category like mountain biker, road biker, single speeder. We’re real people and we are
able to look past something as banal as riding a one-geared bike in the woods as a way to define who we are. What I’m trying to say is, we’re all really deep and complicated people. Like, really deep. SO ARE THERE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SINGLE SPEED ENTHUSIASM? RD: There’s the calculated go-to-bedon-time single speeder with a power meter and a training schedule. Then there are those of us who want to put in some effort but not more than what’s required. We might not drink too much the night before a race. Then there are those who drink way too much the night before and don’t even finish the race and don’t care that they don’t finish and those are beautiful people. DO SINGLE SPEEDERS HAVE A MANTRA? RD: Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion. Working hard because you’re stupid is called single speeding. WD: Or maybe something existential. Like a Sartre quote. Everything is meaningless. AF:
I just like to ride my bike. Yay bikes.
WHAT DOES A SINGLE SPEEDER BRING ON EVERY BIKE RIDE? AF: Gummy bears are definitely important. And a good time. Beer and two hard-boiled eggs. There’s something about stopping and drinking a beer and eating two hardboiled eggs that makes me feel like life doesn’t suck. Or if you can steal bacon from work, that’s good, too.
RD:
WD:
Their neuroses.
DO YOU HAVE A DREAM SINGLE SPEED BIKE? AF: A titanium beach cruiser with a dropper post because I want a button on my handlebar like everybody else. What’s my dream bike? A dream bike would be like a four-pound single speed with rockets on it, but then everyone would make fun of me, so there is no dream bike. I have no dreams.
RD:
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THE BEST BIKE TRAIL THAT YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
THREE BIKERS BECOME THE FIRST TO RIDE THE ENTIRE 323-MILE SHELTOWEE TRACE by JOSHUA PATTON
THE SHELTOWEE TRACE IS A NATIONAL
Recreation Trail spanning 323 miles through the Daniel Boone National Forest and Big South Fork National River Recreation Area in both Kentucky and Tennessee. It’s Kentucky’s long trail and a premier thru-hike in the area, showcasing a side of Kentucky that most people don’t know. Scott Hess, Wes Murphy, and I decided to attempt the first end-toend bike ride of the Sheltowee in March.
On a cool, early spring morning, we set off down the trail headed south. The first day was gorgeous, but on the second day, rain punished us the whole way. We finished south of the the Red River Gorge area and stopped at Miguel’s Pizza to camp and have the best meal of the trip. Early on day three, we carried our bikes up 2,000 steps in Natural Bridge State Park to the ridge top, where we were met with a beautiful view and inspiring start to the day. But then, while riding through backwoods singletrack, Scott got a rip in his rear tire sidewall. It was small, and the repair was fairly easy, so we were able to put in nearly a 50 mile day. We started day four on an old ATV trail that had a good amount of flow. However, it also had a lot of fork-deep mud holes in the middle of the trail that we had to avoid. Up to this point, the terrain was very average, nothing too crazy. Sometimes we would push uphills because, with the weight of the bike, it was easier to save energy that way. But as we neared the halfway point, we began to have a serious issue: Wes’s knee. Through the pain, he pushed on to our camp spot for the day. We discussed if completion was a doable thing with half of the trail still to go. The terrain was only going to get steeper and more technical as we went farther south. All of our stomachs started to turn with worry about completion. Day five was our coldest morning at just over 20 degrees. Wes’s knee was still giving him some issues, and later that morning, he said, “My knee is killing me. I got it duct taped, but it’s popping, tearing, and grinding.” He decided to ride to our cache spot and reevaluate there. Before the ride, we planted a storage box off the trail near a highway intersection. The cache had a restock of food, fresh clothes, and a couple other supplies to restock on. A tricky part about the Sheltowee is having very few places to restock along the way. The cache was the only way. If it had been stolen, our trip would have ended.
The time was now to ask Wes his decision to continue or bail. After a hearty breakfast and a lot of ibuprofen, his decision was to continue. It was relief for us all, as we were all in it together. We camped for the night just off Laurel Lake before diving into what would be the most difficult section of trail. It has awkward rock features that are difficult when riding, let alone bikepacking, and lots of downed trees due to heavy winds in the area, along with narrow and technical creek crossings. All of us were able to bunny hop over downed logs, even with all of our gear weight. Some of the most scenic and beautiful landscapes are found through here, but we were happy to be past it and into Big South Fork, where we crossed the state line into Tennessee. The final day was cold, constant rain. Then the small tear in Scott’s rear tire completely opened up into a massive hole. Away from any roads, or civilization in general, we had to make due with what we had. After going through our bags, the best option seemed to be a Sam Splint, the medical device used for broken bones. We used it to create structure for the sidewall, packed with pieces of old tubes and held together with zip-ties. Far from perfect, it was somehow holding air. With about 30 miles left, I got a flat on a descent and ripped my tire in a very rocky and fast section. Sidelined again, I used the last of our tubes. Scott’s tire needed to be inflated every quarter mile, and eventually he had to push the bike for two miles to reach the Bandy’s Camp Visitor Center. According to our map, we still had 20 miles to go. But when we asked the visitor center ranger about the rest of the trail, he informed us that bikes were not allowed on the remaining 20 miles. We had never been so delighted to be denied access. It took a minute for it to sink in. Was it real? Did we just complete it? After 7 days, 7 hours, and 2 minutes, we had just bested the Sheltowee via bike.
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TRAIL MIX
Americana Aces: Fresh Records from Four Roots Songwriters BY JEDD FERRIS
CHECK OUT NEW RELEASES FROM THESE artists
pushing the old sounds of folk forward.
TYLER CHILDERS
Purgatory
DAVE RAWLINGS
Poor David’s Almanack
Once a wandering street busker, LaFarge has spent the past decade becoming an established Americana hero with eight albums to his credit. His latest, Manic Revelations, blends LaFarge’s bevy of roots influences—delta blues, Dixieland jazz, and ragtime, among them—into a cohesive sound propelled by his six-piece band, the Southside Collective. It’s his lyrics, though, that are particularly sharp on the new record; the songwriter’s whirlwind of thoughts covers everything from gun violence (“Riot in the Streets”) to selfimprovement (“Better Man”) to trying to avoid an overwhelming maelstrom of social media negativity (“Silent Movie”). “It all moves so fast,” LaFarge says about his songwriting process. “I don’t know if finding meaning is the whole point. You’re just following a feeling.”
Long known for his steadfast supporting role alongside musical partner Gillian Welch, Rawlings has been taking an occasional turn in the spotlight since the release of the 2009 debut under his own name. His latest, released last month, has familiar shades of past work. On the old-time-style tracks “Money is the Meat and the Coconut” and “Lindsey Button,” Rawlings and Welch deliver the powerful front-porch minimalism that they perfected on the latter’s records two decades ago. When the duo sings together, the harmonies are so transcendent it makes immediate sense that they always stick together, no matter who takes top billing. On this record, though, the Tennessee-based Rawlings takes some opportunities to stretch beyond his normal acoustic formula. “Cumberland Gap” sounds like a lost Fleetwood Mac gem and “Guitar Man” cruises with the gritty crunch of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.
Written after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, album opener “Riot in Streets” details the social unrest in LaFarge’s home city through a stomping, vintage soulrock groove. LIVE: September 24 at the Pilgrimage Music & Culture Festival in Franklin, Tenn.
“Guitar Man”; embracing the aesthetic of Neil definitely suits Rawlings’ craggy voice. LIVE: Welch and Rawlings only have dates scheduled on the West Coast through October.
POKEY LAFARGE
Manic Revelations
KEY TRACK:
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KEY TRACK:
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WILLIE WATSON
Folk Singer Vol.2
Rawlings produced the latest album from Willie Watson, a former member of Old Crow Medicine Show who now mostly makes his way as a solo act. To be released September 15, Folk Singer Vol.2 picks up where its predecessor, Vol. 1, left off, with Watson interpreting staples from the American folk canon with fast-plucking fingers on guitar and banjo. Many of the songs are familiar, including “Walking Boss,” “John Henry,” and “Take This Hammer,” but Watson’s stunning antique voice makes them shine with new perspective. Although he mostly plays alone these days, Watson makes room for guests on his latest. The record features appearances by Welch, gospel group the Fairfield Four, and his former Old Crow bandmate Morgan Jahnig. KEY TRACK: On opener “Samson and Delilah,” Watson gets a vocal boost from the Fairfield Four, turning a Rev. Gary David blues tune that was often covered by the Grateful Dead into a rousing gospel number. LIVE: October 13 at Galaxie Outer Space in Louisville, Ky., and October 23 at Songbyrd in Washington, D.C. BlueRidgeOutdoors
Last month marked the release of this highly anticipated debut from Childers, a burgeoning Appalachian tunesmith with witty blue-collar insight. Produced by fellow native Kentuckian Sturgill Simpson and Johnny Cash’s former engineer David Ferguson, the new record showcases Childers’ authentic songs delivered through classic country, edgy bluegrass, and gritty backroads rock. With a youthful drawl, he documents scenes from the rural South, invoking familiar topics from the beauty of the mountains to the ugly side of drug use. Childers has been working the regional music scene since he was a teenager, playing bluegrass jams, Kentucky dive bars, and small festivals. Following a fateful gig in Nashville, he was introduced to Simpson, and the Grammy-winning modern country outlaw agreed to lend a hand with Childers’ new album. With additional help from fiddle wiz Stuart Duncan and pedal steel player Russ Pahl, the record’s 10 tracks have a dusty vibe that helps illustrate the vivid imagery in Childers’ lyrics. KEY TRACK: Sung with just an acoustic guitar, “Lady May” was written for Childers’ wife. It’s a stark, backwoods love song, full of heart and free of any cliché. LIVE: September 30 at the Hoopla Festival at Devils Backbone Brewing Company in Roseland, Va. GoOutAndPlay
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