Solitude - an unpaved tour of Vinton Co.

I managed a Friday off of work after wrapping up a couple projects that needed out the door in September, making up for the Monday that wasn't off. Remarkably the weather looked fantastic. Cool morning starting out in the low 50's to a high of maybe 70. I decided to get up and take care of rotating the tires on Shelly's car while the fog burned off before heading out on a big ride.

Goals for the ride: just pedal, as far away from people and things as possible, for as long as possible. No training plan, not shooting for a Strava PR/KOM. No particular distance, time constraint, or pace. Just pedal.

I set up my Redline d440 for long day. A quick side note, I fixed the air leak in the fork. There are two o-rings that contain the air, one on the cap and the other on the piston. Both can be changed easily and thanks to MRP's customer support, I got the correct o-rings.

I started out the day with arm and knee warmers plus my Cadence Diablo vest. By the end of the day, the warmers were packed away. The vest is super light weight and the back is vented. As the temps came up, the zipper just came down.

The ride just meandered around picking as many dirt roads as I could with a plan or riding around Lake Hope. So many forest service roads and minimally maintained and rarely used roads, the kind where grass grows up the middle and the grades can hit over 20%. I saw very few people all day. The handful of cars were on pavement as I transferred from one B road to another.

A little about the bike. It is a 2008 Redline d440, steel XC 29er with Origin-8 Gary dirt drop bars, Gevenalle  CX levers and shifter for a 1x10 drive train setup. Wheels are Sun Ringle Black Flag Experts with Maxxis Pace 29x2.1 TR/EXO tires. The brakes are Avid BB7, 180 front, 160 rear. The front fork is a White Brothers Magic 80 with IMV damper. For big rides I also use a Revelate Tangle frame bag to hold things like food/pump and shed arm warmers. I mentioned in a previous post that this bike is no light weight. And while that is true, it sure is comfortable and stable on these rides. I rarely notice the weight until I have to pick up the bike anyway.

More on that fork: I have had this fork for years and I am the second owner. I have completed a full service on it twice and it still looks like new. Comparing it to a Reba or the X-Fusion Slide isn't fair. I would never call this fork plush. The IMV damper takes a hit to get it moving. I kind of liked that when I used it on my SS since it wouldn't pedal bob, but honestly, for off road a lockout works so much better and keeps the fork soft for when you want it. For a back road/adventure bike this fork rocks. It takes the hits of potholes and washboards without bobbing when you are mashing up that 20% grade without me ever flipping a lockout. Travel is "only" 80 mm, another bonus for this kind of riding.

The ride hit the parts of the Gravel Rouser classic with roads like King Hollow and Irish Ridge. But I also added in the loop through Waterloo State forest. Near Zaleski check out Bolster and Webb Hollow. East Raccoon, a minimally maintained road along the Raccoon creek that still had a couple of flooded spots from the rains recently, before climbing straight up to Atkinson ridge. Once at the top, hang a right and roll to the fire tower for a 360° view before rolling the ridge on Baptist Church Road and dropping to Wheelabout.

Madison Free Will Baptist Church in Zaleski State Forest

Be prepared to climb. This route was 64 miles with 6444 feet of climbing. So worth it though.