Aussie abroad

[GGEvo]

Been thinking about it of late and have decided I must do this.

Wanting to get to the US in the next few mths to spend a few days riding. Was thinking West Virginia as I am keen to head to Marshall Uni for a look and see.

Anyone from this area and keen to hook me up and show me a few trails.

When is the best time to go??? How hard is it to hire a decent bike (prefer a 2T gasser but not too fussy......)

I am no racer, just a trail rider who loves taking my ec300 for a bash around the bush!!

Love to hear from you if you have any thoughts or can help me with a few rides.

 

[mrkartoom]

Been thinking about it of late and have decided I must do this.

Wanting to get to the US in the next few mths to spend a few days riding. Was thinking West Virginia as I am keen to head to Marshall Uni for a look and see.

Anyone from this area and keen to hook me up and show me a few trails.

When is the best time to go??? How hard is it to hire a decent bike (prefer a 2T gasser but not too fussy......)

I am no racer, just a trail rider who loves taking my ec300 for a bash around the bush!!

Love to hear from you if you have any thoughts or can help me with a few rides.

I grew up there but haven't been back in years. I had miles and miles of fantastic riding areas as a kid, trails forever and more knarly hillclimbs than you could shake a stick at. I have never been to the Hatfield & McCoy riding areas, but if you were thinking about that you need to be checking out trailsheaven.com if you haven't already. It's on my To Do list someday when I get back there.

The site has local dealer lists and I'd bet one of them could let you know about bike rentals. Seems I heard someone a few years back mentioning renting a bike in Charleston or somewhere. If you go forget going to see Marshall Community College there's nothing there. Go to WVU to see a real uni. In fact you should head to Lewisburg and take 219 north towards the town of Marlinton and check out Pendelton and Pocahontas counties to see some beautiful country. Rent a street bike for that. Hey it's almost heaven!

 

[GGEvo]

Thanks for the reply mate. Will check out that website for more information. Flights are cheaper than I thought, I can get to Huntington, via Charlotte and LA with all taxed for under $2.5k. Probably gonna do this first week in November - is that time of year OK to ride??

 

[stainlesscycle]

i live in morgantown, wv... as mrkatoom said, don't know why you would want to see marshall, as there's really nothing there.....(well there's stuff there, but marshall is not a big campus..)
november is probably too late.. you'll want to do it may-october for optimal riding.

i would assume you could fly into pittsburgh or dc or columbus for much less. you'd need to drive approx. 3-6 hours from either of those to get to hatfield mccoy or huntington. anywhere you fly into you'd need to rent a car as it is....

as for renting a bike - i don't know of any rentals in the area....

if you get anywhere near me, i could show you lots of trails.

if you enjoy street or dirt riding, wv is one of the best states in the us for it..

 

[Clay]

Been thinking about it of late and have decided I must do this.

Wanting to get to the US in the next few mths to spend a few days riding. Was thinking West Virginia as I am keen to head to Marshall Uni for a look and see.

Anyone from this area and keen to hook me up and show me a few trails.

When is the best time to go??? How hard is it to hire a decent bike (prefer a 2T gasser but not too fussy......)

I am no racer, just a trail rider who loves taking my ec300 for a bash around the bush!!

Love to hear from you if you have any thoughts or can help me with a few rides.

Fly in to Nashville and I will use you as an excuse to go to Carter Mountain for a couple of days. There are three loops there. Two are 20+ miles and the other is 30+. I can prolly find you a bike too!
Clay

 

[GGEvo]

Thanks for all the help and tips guys, much appreciated. Clay I might look into Carter Mountain and see what it is like......

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[stainlesscycle]

north carolina has brown mountain and brushy mountain -georgia has highland park and durhamtown - all have a full days riding easy.

you can spend 4 - 5 days easy at hatfield mccoy.

 

[gasser]

Thanks for the reply mate. Will check out that website for more information. Flights are cheaper than I thought, I can get to Huntington, via Charlotte and LA with all taxed for under $2.5k. Probably gonna do this first week in November - is that time of year OK to ride??

Early November is a great time to ride in Tennessee. You could fly into Nashville,Tennessee go ride for a day or two at West Point then move on to Highland Park or Carter Mt. for a day then on to Livingston, Brimstone, Royal Blue or Coal Creek. Would make for a great week of riding. I'm up for it especially if you would like to help out when and if I ever get to go to your country.
Here are some links: www.coalcreekohv.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6zQQSdBrXc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVo_jgOzPk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5te6cKv304A

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Iqfqn27eg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dpp6ykThhg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SbRqBJrFPk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYWFoSZkcII

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK8_bQYjUUw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ-mIu3HD-k

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu5H0v1S4i8

 

[GGEvo]

You blokes are seriously awesome appreciate the help but now I have more riding places to look into !!

And of course, would love to return the favour to anyone travelling downunder - would be a blast!!

I'll keep looking into all the above, thanks again!!

 

[motogroove]

north carolina has brown mountain and brushy mountain -georgia has highland park and durhamtown - all have a full days riding easy.

you can spend 4 - 5 days easy at hatfield mccoy.

I'm probably going to be riding Hatfield McCoy some time around end of July, whenever Vintage days is happening. We're going to make a little adventure out of those two, with some other ride mixed in somehow.

I heard great things about Brushy Mountain, and even better things about Durhamtown Plantation. Durhamtown, evidently, has a large rental fleet, a very impressive "pro shop", and an extensive trail system with assorted motocross tracks scattered along the trails. I hope to try that in the fall or over next winter.

 

[gasser]

The youtube links are all of Livingston rides that's about 20 minutes from my house. West Point (Tennessee) has around 100 miles of marked trail and most is single track. It is leased by NATRA (North Alabama Trailriders Association). Carter Mt. is good riding but closed from mid September to early January. Brimestone, Coal Creek, and Royal Blue range from 60,000 - 160,000 acres each and less than an hour from each other. These 3 riding areas are roughly an hour northwest of Knoxville, TN.

 

[stainlesscycle]

I heard great things about Brushy Mountain, and even better things about Durhamtown Plantation. Durhamtown, evidently, has a large rental fleet, a very impressive "pro shop", and an extensive trail system with assorted motocross tracks scattered along the trails. I hope to try that in the fall or over next winter.

durhamtown is an interesting place - i went to durhamtown and highland park back to back.

durhamtown is geared so anyone can enjoy it - there's nothing too difficult - there's alot of singletrack, everything is one way (but laid out REALLY convoluted) - there's no hills - the area is totally flat. you can have a lot of fun there, and spend 2 days. if you do mx, there's ALOT of tracks (7 or 8?)


highland park is more challenging - i've been 3 times - 1 time when it was raining, and it was really really challenging. once when it was dry and there were still some tough sections. and once on a trials bike, and it was incredibly easy highland park was clearly designed from beginning to end. durhamtown is a mish mosh, but much more expansive. highland park is significantly smaller, and has enough trails for 1 day - 75% of it single track.....durhamtown has a lot going on.


cabin rental at durhamtown and highland park is cheap. camping is even cheaper...
both have bike rentals.....