An annual trip to The Acorn Inn for several days of hard riding is a regular tradition for several of my riding buddies. This year I was invited and jumped at the chance to spend 4 days just riding my bike with a group. The ride camp was organized by David Wolfel and included Tim Arnade, Jim Bronson, William (Bill) Luecke, Donald (Don) Martin, Mike Griffith, and myself. We were also joined on rides and dinners by local rider Frank (Fred) Wittwer, bike shop owner Scott Paisley, and the Acorn Inn owners Kathy and Martin. By the end of the 4 days we had ridden 180 miles and climbed over 16,000 feet over 12 hours of riding.
I found the riding in this area to be great, not too much traffic, routes were challenging, and the scenery was great.
Day 1 - the fun begins
Our group left Northern VA around 9am and we each made our way to the Acorn Inn, the home base for our training camp. I was staying at Devils Backbone brewery Basecamp in my camper so I headed there to setup camp before meeting up with the group at the Acorn Inn. We ended up heading out for our first ride at 1:50. With rain storms brewing around us we ended up making last minute changes to our route plan to attempt to avoid getting wet. Our ride ended up being 44 miles with a challenging climb up Campbell Mtn. and a fast and fun descent down from Reeds Gap. We dodged rain for majority of ride but got caught in downpour towards end. We tried to wait the rain out under cover at Devils Backbone but ended up having to finish the ride in the rain.
After cleaning up, the group met for dinner at Devils Backbone brewery with Fred and his wife joining us.
My camp at Devil's Backbone for the 3 nights
Kicking off our 4 days of riding
Before the rain
All smiles before our grueling climb up Campbell Mtn.
Day 2 - The Beatdown continues
We headed out around 10am. Everyone was a little spent from the climb on day 1 so we set out for a modest 52 mile route. The ride was mostly short punchy climbs and Mike G. had us chasing him up most of them. A short climb up Brent's Gap towards the end of the ride gave us all a chance to empty the tank.
We hit up another brewery for dinner, this time Blue Mountain Barrel House Brewery.
Group photo before our Day 2 ride, Bill's hidden behind my big head.
There's Bill
At Blue Mountain Barrel House Brewery
Day 3 - Blue Ridge Parkway Goodness
On day 3 we made our way towards Rockfish Gap where we climbed up Old Turnpike Road and made our way through the very dark Blue Ridge Tunnel. From there we made our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway where we continued to climb. When we reached Raven Roost overlook we realized we had lost Mike G. who accidentally took a wrong turn off the Parkway. At Reeds Gap, the group split: Bill, Donald, Fred, and myself cut the ride short via the Reeds Gap descent, while Tim, Jim, and David pressed on to complete the original longer route. Mike G. was found back on the Parkway and finished the full ride with Tim, Jim, and David. Due to his wrong turn, Mike G.'s ride came in longer than the group's: 73 miles with 7,574 ft of elevation gain.
Post Ride, Bill, Donald, and I went to Blue Ridge Pig for lunch. The BBQ was good but the Potato salad was probably the best I’ve ever had thanks to little mayo and yummy Dill drizzle on top. During lunch, the rest of the group stopped and joined us as they finished their longer routes.
For our last dinner, we met up with Blue Wheel Bicycle Shop owner Scott Paisley and Acorn Inn owners Kathy and Martin for dinner at Dr. Ho's Pizza.
Start of the last ride with the full group
Before an adventurous trip through the very dark Blue Ridge Tunnel
Blue Ridge Parkway views. Where's Mike G?
Blue Ridge Pig BBQ
DAY 4 - A gravel camp closeout
For our last ride we switched gears and transitioned to our gravel bikes. Donald and Mike G. had departed the day before but we were joined by Scott Paisley who knew the roads and led us on a great ride. All of our rides for the week had been warm but this seemed to be the hottest and most humid day.
Our ride started at the White Hall Community Building which had plenty of room for me to park with my camper. The ride was a fair ways from our base camp so I had packed up camp before the ride and headed straight home after the ride.
Great roads and views
One last group photo
