Allegheny Mountains Loop Extreme

Starting off in the middle of Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA, the AML X is one beast of a ride. Traveling over one huge ridgeline after another, the route more or less works its way up the VA/WV border until it ends at the Maryland border, then turning around, riders must yoyo back down the same route they just came making for one physically and mentally challenging route. Throw on top of that the ever present chance of crazy fall weather and you have a bikepacking route that is on par with any of the other classic bikepacking routes around the country. The scenery and views on the AML X, especially in the fall when the leaves are changing, are simply unbelievable! This is a short synopsis of my ride on the AML X this fall.

Day 1

With the threat of Tropical Storm Nate coming in that weekend, everyone was a bit apprehensive as to what might happen when it arrived. The beginning of the ride started at the War Memorial on Virginia Tech campus so a few minutes before 6 in the morning, everyone started to arrive. Talk was light as everyone was anxious to get riding. Finally, at a few minutes after six, the ride began.

The pace started off easy for the first few miles in the cool, brisk temps. I rolled for a few minutes with Ed Bridge having a nice conversation. Later I would learn what an amazing guy he is. The terrain for the first twenty or so miles was fairly mellow. After a while, the pace started picking up with the guys on gravel bikes taking up the lead. Being on a singlespeed, I just had to sit back and watch them go hoping I could pull them back when I got to the mountains. Somewhere along the way, I passed Kevin Greten on the side of the road with some sort of mechanical. I asked if he was good, he said yes, so I continued on.

Right after the start of the first climb, Mountain Lake, I caught Ed and then Robert Knapp. I was feeling good so I stood into it and before I knew it, I was at the top. I now knew I was in the lead but was aware it probably wouldn't last long since there was a huge, long, flat stretch of road into Paint Bank and my singlespeed was no match for those gravel bikes in the flats. After bombing the huge downhill off Mountain Lake, I started to work on the stretch to Paint Bank. About halfway through it, I looked back, and sure enough, here comes Robert barreling towards me like a runaway train. He blew by me and before I knew it, he was disappearing into the distance. I continued my trudge to Paint Bank for a resupply of food and water. Robert was just leaving when I rolled up so I grabbed what I needed as quickly as I could and took off in pursuit.

The next few miles to the next major climb, Peters Mountain, were of the rolling paved variety. I was getting so immersed in my surroundings that I almost missed my turn onto the gravel road up to Peters Mountain. This road was an amazing stretch of gravel as it rolled up to the base of Peters with nice mellow sustained climbing followed by beautiful, flowing downhill. Somewhere along this section, I caught back up to Robert, passed him, and continued on. I came to a sharp left turn and my beautiful dream of gravel quickly turned into a straight up, steep reality check of what happens when you let your guard down. This is one of those climbs that starts making you question your gear selection. Shortly though, I was at the top and ready for my downhill reward. After an exciting downhill I reached the town of Callaghan for my next and final resupply till I got to Davis, WV. Chris Tompkins, route creator and promoter, was there taking some pictures and shooting a little video.

I grabbed all the supplies I would need for an all night run and continued on with the next segment. After riding a few miles of pavement, the route went back up onto the ridges of Allegheny Mountain. In my opinion, this is where the ride really begins with long sustained climbs, huge, bomber downhills, and little to no water as I would find out. After climbing up and down Allegheny several times, the route finally pops out in the small town of Bartow, WV. During the day, there is a resupply called Trent's General store but by the time I got there, everything was shut down.

My plan had been to get to Davis before stopping, but I had run out of water for quite a few miles on Allegheny and when I get dehydrated, my stomach eventually goes south. After leaving Bartow, I started making my way up Middle Mountain and that's when my stomach decided it had had enough. After emptying the contents of my stomach several times, I finally struggled to the top of the mountain, found a flat spot, and called it as day at 175 miles in.

Day 2

I woke up several times that night shivering wanting to get going but my stomach just wasn't having it. Finally after about 6 hours, I was finally starting to feel some relief. After a while, my nausea turned into hunger and I was feeling like a new man. Unfortunately, I thought for sure that since I had stopped so long, I had been passed. I had no way of knowing that both Robert and Kevin had dropped out. For the whole rest of the way to Maryland I was chasing nobody but thought I was chasing somebody. Getting to the alternate route to the Dry Fork river crossing, I decided to go for the river crossing since it was shorter and had been extremely dry and then take the main route on the way back. The river crossing was a little crazy not because the water was deep but because the rocks were like slimy bowling balls. After riding 200+ miles, walking on these river rocks was anything but easy. After successfully crossing the river, I continued through some of the most beautiful places in the U.S. making the time absolutely fly by. When I got to Davis, I was running on fumes. I stopped at the gas station, grabbed two pizzas and continued on to the Maryland border and the turn around to come back the way I come from.

Back through Davis, grabbing two more pizzas and supplies for the long haul I continued on. The weather was so perfect, I wondered briefly where the tropical storm was. A ways past the Dry Fork, it was starting to get dark. Up ahead I saw what look like a bike light. Sure enough it was Ed Bridge. We talked for a couple minutes. He was ready for the haul to Davis. I advised him to take the main route across the Dry Fork since doing the river crossing at night might be a little crazy. Unfortunately, I would later find out that Ed would have a crash on the way down to the Dry Fork because his brakes failed. Thankfully he was okay.

I continued on across Middle Mountain and crossed paths with Honcho at almost the exact spot I had spent the night before. He was setting up the tent getting ready to camp for the night and said he was having a great but tough ride. After a couple minutes talking, I continued on my way. I arrived at Bartow again at night after hours so I continued on to the climb up Allegheny Mountain. It had started raining on and off and I was starting to lose my motivation to continue on. I put on my rain gear and found a nice pile of leaves and passed out. I woke up a couple hours later shivering with rain water running down my rain jacket and pants completely soaking me. I wanted to get up but just couldn't make myself get up and start riding in the pouring down rain. I guess Nate had arrived.

Day 3

Tropical Storm Nate

After giving myself a serious pep talk, I finally got myself going. I still had 150 miles to go so it was going to be a long, wet, muddy day. It was so dark, windy, and foggy, I could barely see the road I was riding on. Several trees had been blown down over the road up Allegheny, so I knew it was starting to get serious. I finally topped out, got onto highway 250, slowly made my way down the mountain, turned onto county 600 and was instantly greeting by a nice helping of peanut butter mud. This would be the theme for the rest of the day. Even though the rain let up after several hours, the roads were a nightmare. I pretty much had to walk up every hill on Allegheny because the roads were so soft. Eventually, I got off Allegheny and back onto pavement where I could cover some miles. Got to Callaghan, stocked up, called Chris and told him I was going to try and finish that day, and took off for Peters mountain. Up and over Peters, mostly hiking, and on into Paint Bank. I ate a whole block of cheese and continued on the never ending valley ride to Mountain Lake climb. The road conditions on Mountain Lake were considerably better than roads earlier in the day so I was able to make the climb without walking. Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Nate decided to unleash his full fury right as I crested. I was so looking forward to the bomber descent off the mountain. Because of the storm, I was reduced to 10 mph and barely being able to see the road. The final miles into Blacksburg were some of the longest, wettest, windiest miles I have ever ridden. At times, it was raining so hard I thought I was going to exhume too much water and drown. At one point right outside of town, the visibility was so bad, I ran right off the road into a ditch full of water and flipped over the bars right into the water.

After all the excitement, I finally made it back to the War Memorial and the finish soaked and frozen. Back at the parking garage, as I was drying off and reflecting on the experience I had just been a part of, none other than Ed Bridge showed up with a big fat hot burrito. He had been worried about me out in the storm and had come to where we had parked at the garage to make sure I finished safe and sound. Truly awesome and heart-felt! Thanks Ed, you are what the bikepacking community is all about.