I had the privilege this past weekend of leading our newly formed Sunday School class down the VA Creeper Trail on Saturday afternoon (10-13-07). We rode from White Top Mountain to Damascus, a total trip of 17.5 miles. We had 10 people join up for the ride who were Juli ‘Blue’, Erin, Jeff, Ryan Jay, Richard, Rachel, Kathryn, Daniel, Lanelle and I. This was our first big outing together and it was a great time of fellowship!
We had a beautiful trip up and through Shady Valley from Elizabethton to Damascus. Most of the leaves were just starting to turn and the air was crisp. The sky was blue and not a cloud in sight. A great day for a bike ride to say the least!
We arrived in Damascus with plenty of time to get geared up and on the shuttle that would be taking us up to White Top Mountain. We had a few minor mishaps while trying to get ready to shuttle up and we ended up having to wait on another shuttle, because our original shuttle had to leave on time. Fortunately the good people at Adventure Damascus rounded us up another shuttle to take us up to White Top Mountain.
Once we got to the top, via the shuttle, we all geared up and jumped on our bikes to start down the trail. As we began to leave the parking lot at White Top, I was greeted by none other than the World Kayak Charlotte Ambassador, Andrew Lowd. Andrew had just finished up his ride down the trail with his Scout Troop and was running shuttle back down to Damascus. He said they also had a good time. I found it to be quite a coincidence that two World Kayak Ambassadors were both on the VA Creeper trail, leading groups down the trail at the same time… I guess we have to find something fun to do in this drought!
Anyway, once I said goodbye to Andrew our group started riding down the mountain. The first three miles of our trip down to Green Cove was quick! Everyone zipped down the trail without incident; except for our fearless Sunday School Teacher, Lanelle. With-in the first ½ mile from the start of our trip, Lanelle found herself riding into a drainage ditch before the first bridge. She recovered very gracefully without crashing, so life was good for her!
We all gathered back up at Green Cove and check to make sure everyone was doing well. Rachel needed a quick seat adjustment, so I fixed that for her. Then we all headed on down the trail to continue the ride.
Erin, Kathryn, and Daniel hit the Turbo Boosters and took off from the rest of the group. I spent the next 5 miles going from the front of our group to the back making sure everyone was OK. Then sprinting back to the front to make sure everyone knew to reconvene at Taylor’s Valley, which is only 7.5 miles from Damascus. I finally caught up with Daniel about ½ of a mile from Taylor’s Valley. I told him to hold up when he got to the Caboose in Taylor’s Valley, so we all could gather again. I turned around and headed back up the trail to pass along the message to everyone else.
I rode about 1.5 miles back up the trail before I got to the back of group, who was Juli ‘Blue’ and Jeff towing the baby Ryan Jay in the bike trailer. I found out that they had a rather scary moment a few miles up the trail. The trailer apparently hit a rock under some leaves on the trail and flipped sideways with Ryan Jay. Ryan was fine and did not have a single scratch, thanks to the 5 point harness system that was installed in the bike trailer. He was strapped in like a NASCAR driver! Jeff said Ryan was asleep when the incident occurred, so he did not even know what happened until Juli flipped the trailer back up-right. He was just mad that he got woke up from his nap.
Once we all got back down together with the rest of the group at Taylor’s Valley, momma Erin flipped out after hearing the news of her son’s incident. She soon realized that there was no harm to him, so life was good again. We all headed on down the trail and stopped once again at the 5 mile marker from town to take a group photo.
Photo from Left to Right: Daniel, Kathryn, Wesley, Juli ‘Blue’, Erin, Rachel, Richard, Lanelle, Jeff, and Baby Ryan Jay.
As we rolled into town I had everyone stop at the intersection of where the trail crosses Highway 91 to gather back-up. I was not there to witness it, but some how Rachel decided she was going to be Miss Pro Mountain Biker and try to Manuel over a rail road tie. Keep in mind that Rachel has not been on a bike in about 15-20 years… Well, here planned assault over the wooden tie did not work out to her advantage. She crashed over on her left side and received some nice road rash with a small contusion below her kneecap – Carnage! When I rolled up to the scene of the accident, Richard told me what had happened. I quickly got out my first aid kit to play paramedic. I got her cut & rash clean-up and bandaged her contusion. We then all jumped back on our bikes and headed into town to finish the ride.
After we got into town and dropped off the rented bikes, we headed to our cars to load up the remaining personal bikes and freshen up to go eat. We went to the local Italian Restaurant in town to eat some supper. We had a great time fellowshipping over dinner and the food was OK.
We finished up our dinner and started back toward Elizabethton in caravan. On our travel back home we came upon an accident that had knocked over a power pole on Highway 91, about ¾ of a mile from the Carter/Johnson County Line. The electrical line had fallen across the road and was preventing traffic from passing. So we had to turn around and head back into Shady Valley to head home via Mountain City on Highway 421.
After about 700 + curves and a 45 minute detour, we finally arrived back at the church to drop everyone off to their cars. We said our goodbyes and it was the end of a super fun and eventful day! I just thank the Lord for a safe trip and no major injuries.
I’m really looking forward to this coming weekend, because my best paddling friend Andrew Bentley is coming back into town for Kayaktoberfest on the Nolichucky. It should be a great time! Plus there is some rain in the forecast this week to help bring up the river levels, so PRAY FOR RAIN!
Have a nice day!
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