I just got back from Hatfield McCoy and I thought I'd post up a little report here. Most of our crew bailed on us, so it was just me and HardTaco this trip. Those other guys missed out, though, because we had great time, the weather was perfect, and the trails were awesome. I'll add some more pics and hopefully some helmet cam if it turned out over the next few days, but here are a few teasers in the meantime ...

We left before sun-up on Thursday, drove about 5 hours, and arrived. We stayed here:




We got on the trails early that afternoon and got a pretty good day in on Thursday, full day Friday, and another full day Saturday. I don't know how many miles we did overall, but we repeated very few of the trails except the main ones in and out, so there was quite a bit of variety.

We rode the Rock House Trail System a.k.a. "Browning Fork." This is where the fun starts.




We got things started off right with Trail 176. She is quite spirited and don't take no **** off no one.




Actually, most of 176 is very sweet, but this section was especially *hard*. That's a steel gas line on the right, which greatly limits line selection.




Trail 151 is a sweetheart, though.








For a good time, call Trail 188:















Dude, you won't believe this, but I think we are at Hatfield McCoy.




Trail 130 woos us with fast flowing single track that is to die for.

 

For Trail 199 you need to be on your "A" game. The bullsh!t stops here.





















That was awesome! So much fun, in fact, we turned the bikes around and ran 199 again from the other direction.



We did 199 last year also, but I remember it being much more difficult then, than on this trip. Except for one section, the one with the tree, I cleaned the whole trail, same with Josh. I'll chalk it up to another year of experience, including a couple more hare scrambles which I think help a lot on the skills area. That trail was not nearly the struggle it was a year ago. It was definitely way more fun this time, and not so much work. I do admit I was a little worried about it, remember the difficulty level from the year before, but there was no need, it was just a good technical trail, even if it is designated the most difficult trail in the trail system. Come back from this year, I think I'd have to rate 199 my favorite of the trip.

 

The scenery doesn't get much better than at the top of these mountains. West "By God" Virginia is beautiful, and there's no better way to see it than by dirt bike. IMHO, of course.







Can you tell I'm smiling?

 

what an awesome ride report!!! looks like a blast

 

Sweet Brian.
That place looks like top riding country.

 

nice to see you guys wearing neck braces!
I hope to get out in the capital forest this week.

 

We also had a great turnout to ride Allegheny National Forest this weekend...


http://rufcutriders.com/index.php?topic=867.0

 

I remember trail 199 from your report last time. I'll skip that one first time out
Looks like a nice trip.

M

 

My EXACT thoughts, 199 could wait a while for me.

All those other trails look delicious !!

Great RR, thanks !!

 

Hey Brian, I'm gonna add this to the ride reports page...Great Stuff!!!