Zhu’s Reflections on Rowdy Dawg

Mark Zhu grabbed his camera, left his bike behind, and headed out to Pandapas Pond for two days of Rowdy Dawg.  Mark snapped some exceptional photos of the 2011 participants, and we asked him to reflect on his two days and share a few of those photos.  Enjoy!

Rowdy Dawg Day 1

It seems like it was just a few days ago when I could walk out my door in a T-shirt and shorts in the morning.  But on the first day of Rowdy Dawg, the temperature dropped to a staggering 35 degrees, and I was bundled up for a winter blizzard.

Thankfully by Saturday afternoon, mother nature knew we had a bike race going on and decided to take pity on us.  I arrived at the Gateway Trail, AKA Old Farm Saturday afternoon armed not with my two wheels mayhem, but rather my camera in hope of capturing the excitement.  As cheesy as it sounds, bombing down old farm may feel like a blur, but a photo will be remembered for much longer.

To those who have ridden or hiked on Old Farm, the trail is rough and technical and not intended for the faint of heart.  The steep gradient, single track is littered with deep rooted roots, teeth rattling rock gardens, and tricky switchbacks that will test the rider’s courage as well as their equipment.

I pulled into the parking lot and happened to run into Theresa, a proud mother of one of the racers who was also photographing the event that day.  We grabbed our gear and huffed up the trail to find our spots with clear view of the riders and good lighting.

At 4:10pm, the first rider set off for the descent followed by the rest at 1minute intervals.  There were at least 30 riders that day, so I prepared myself to sit on the side of the trail for a good hour or so.

As I waited for each rider to come by, I enjoyed the silence and tranquility of being in the woods between each run.  Taking in the cool, fresh mountain air and the beautiful colors that Virginia had to offer.  That silence would be interrupted every minute or so by cheering spectators followed by the rider bombing down the trail.  I’d frantically grab my camera, fire a few shots, then await for the arrival of the next brave soul to challenge the wrath of Old Farm.

 

Rowdy Dawg Day 2

The following day was the longest running, and one of my favorite MTB race here in Blacksburg, the Rowdy Dawg XC.  There are two main categories; XXC, and regular XC.  Regular XC riders tackle one, but quite challenging lap, while XXC riders have to do two excruciating laps.

I drove up the service road at the crack of dawn and located a spot to catch the XXC riders.  Mother nature had once again cooperated and granted us with another day of perfect riding weather.  Despite of the warm forecast, the morning air was quite chilly and finger numbing.  I parked my car on the side of the road, grabbed all my gear and entered the trail head leading to Trillium trail that’s located on the Brush Mountain side of Pandapas.  There’s something about being on the Pandapas trail in the early morning that makes the experience magical.  Aside from the occasional bird chirps and creaking trees, the woods was tranquil and saturated with crisp, morning air.

As the sun penetrated the thick woods and casted it’s warm beam onto the trail, the first rider appeared in the distance.  It turns out to be our local star Zack Morrey.  Moments later the remainder of the XXC riders rode past one by one.  Immediately after capturing pictures of the remainder riders, I packed up my gear, and headed to the next spot.

I chose one of my favorite spots, a double stream crossing on Poverty Creek.  It’s very unique due to the variety of terrain it has to offer within a span of 200 feet. The trail first drops on a short, steep descent, followed by a wheel locking hairpin right turn.  It then drops you down to one stream.  Up, immediate tight left turn, then another long stream crossing that’s littered with rocks.  After that, by now the soaking rider will ascend out of the stream into a rock garden that they will have to navigate with their slippery wet tires.

As I wrapped up the lighting and camera, the first rider rolled by and begun the exciting day of photographing both the XXC and XC riders.  Though my feet were soaked and almost frozen from standing there hours on end, it was well worth capturing the smiling faces of riders young and old.

Rowdy Dawg once again did not disappoint to those of whom took up the challenge.  For those of you whom have never had the pleasure of experiencing the amazing event, I’d highly recommend on checking it out next year.

Six Hours of Dirty Dawg

We mountain bikers finally decided to make the Dirty Dawg mountain bike race even more unique. Mountain Lake already offers so much in trail diversity so why not spend six hours riding those trails. So, The Six Hours of Dirty Dawg was born. 

The course is short but will provide riders with 4.5 miles of dreamy, single-track riding.  Most of the trails are lined with waist high ferns and twist in and out of house sized boulders.  There will be tear-jerking descents – and maybe tear-jerking climbs followed by rewarding views toward North Carolina and West Virginia.

Dirty Dawg will certainly be a race to remember.  Come out as a solo rider or as a duo team.  After the race join us for dinner and camping in the cool summer air above 4000 feet.

The race is scheduled for July 24, 2010, from 1 pm to 7 pm. Check out the Six Hours of Dirty Dawg race blog for more info on all the course, registration and camping options.  Please register online prior to the race.