I am a pretty lame blogger because the updates are getting farther and farther apart. And maybe my life isn't quite as interesting as it used to be when I was racing all over the world. But I still get to ride my bike in very beautiful places, like Canaan Valley!
I got to ride with the BWB boys on their Tuesday ride. The trails on Canaan Valley Institute land are really fast and fun. The days of losing a shoe or demolishing your drive train are hopefully over there.
Driving up there, I was a bit astounded to see the Corridor H pilons all the way to the base of Mt. Storm. I drive a car and like to get places pretty easily, but when I saw the scar on the land and thought about how small the world is getting it made me a little sad. I want people to have work and come see beautiful Canaan, but at what cost ? Plus there are so many windmills in that area now. The viewshed is changing for sure. Now why can't some of the power generated there stay there . Why can't these small towns have their own windmill for sustainable and affordable power?
Oh, I forgot, maybe my life is pretty exciting...I get to do the Giro D'Ville this weekend. The Giro is a local event put on by some latte lovers and italiano wantabes in Charlattesville, Va. It is a four day ride with a TT, two 8 hour days and one 6 hour day in around Sherando. A sag brings your camping and other gear every night to the new camp spot. Long live Pink!
It is still Canaan.Just add water. I'm sure you can still lose shoes, wreck drive trains, and break frames!
ReplyDeleteGood luck this weekend.
Yes, scarring of the mountains is indeed a bummer although I prefer wind to many of the other alternatives. I just finished reading "Lost Mountain" about strip mining in the Appalachians and I highly recommend it. Even though I felt I knew a good bit about the topic, it's a real eye opener. We can't mountain bike if we destroy our mountains. We need to appreciate what we have and preserve it the best we can.
ReplyDeleteKeep the rubber side down.
-Joe
I am not a huge fan of corridor H or what I like to refer to as the Robert C. Byrd highway to nowhere. H is going to go through pretty much every piece of singletrack between Elkins and Parsons. It is a selfish reason for not wanting that damned highway completed, I guess I am selfish.
ReplyDeleteI will able to see windmills from my house soon, up on Laurel Mt. Not real happy about that either. I would be way happier about it if Elkins got any share of that power but alas we don't and we won't.
JOEY