T.H.U.M.B MTB Club

I have started this post many different times but have yet to finish it...this needs to stop. It has been a long time coming so I might as well start the story from the beginning...

Many years ago, Brian and a handful of friends of EPBC decided that we needed more sweet singletrack in our area. There are quite a few places to ride here in the Eastern Panhandle but not a whole lot of good trails besides rogue trails. We decided that we needed to start an IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) chapter to get things going. We had started laying down some trails in Poor House Farm Park outside Martinsburg and wanted to everything official. I took on the task of looking into the IMBA Charter. In doing so I discovered that a club needs to be in place with standing membership first. So we started to meet at the shop to grease the wheels and get something going. Needless to say that since I am writing this years later things didn't go too well. I am not ready to give it all up yet. I am ready for the second push!

THUMB stands for, "The Hillbillies Unite to Mountain Bike." That was a quick name I thought up, we can gladly change it but I know that some others like it too...My main goal here is to get a group of outdoor enthusiasts to come together to help create more outdoor recreating space not only for cyclists but also trail runners, hikers, and equestrians. Another obvious reason is to build a group of people to ride with! One of the problems that we are having is a unorganized effort. It is awesome that we are getting anything done in the woods but I believe we need a clear organized plan. I believe this club will help us be more productive and create great spaces to recreate.

I know a long term goal that many of us share is a trail system in Sleepy Creek. So much good riding up there already but its not what it can be...If we show our community that responsible trail building can bring so much good to our area I believe many doors can be opened for us in the Eastern Panhandle. I have been in contact with the regional director of IMBA and with a little effort on our parts we may be able to get them to help us with a presentation to our local government as well as help with our Poor House Project.

Trail work by THUMB

I will try my best to get some stuff going after the holidays, its such a busy time for everyone I know but I am passionate about this and want to get things going. I hope you will join me in trying to make the Eastern Panhandle more bike friendly, we do live in West Virginia, its a shame we don't have more places to enjoy riding our bike!  Stay tuned for news about a meeting...click the link below to our Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thumbmtb/

Please drop me a note below with any feedback or ideas, thanks and have a Merry Christmas!

Trail work by THUMB

First MTB Ride of 2014

It was cold today!

I know, I know...Its a little pathetic that it has taken me this long to get a ride in for the first time this year. I have a decent reason. Before my deployment I rode up at Raystown Lake and trashed my bike. I just finally got it on the stand in at EPBC to get it up and ride-able again. Brian and I, mostly him were able to throw it together for the ride today even though it still needs some work.

Brian EPBC

We had a decent group today for our ride. We rode at the Frederick Watershed...many of the trails were new to me and mostly all-mountain/ downhill trails. I am not too good at super technical rocks and natural obstacles. I am pretty efficient with a little technical mixed into cross-country riding but these trails were rough! The first 3 miles felt like 10 but overall the trails were in good condition and the ride was awesome! Today we climbed 2,000+ feet over 12 miles and my legs were done! I am looking forward to many more great rides this year! I hope I can get better at the very extreme technical trails. I think a lot of it is in my head! Oh and it was COLD today as well, you can see that in the photo... 

Post ride...brake lines need trimmed

Garmin Edge 200 (Final Review)

Well this post has been a long time in the making. I wanted to give this product a fair amount of time before I wrote what I thought about it, but I didn't anticipate it being this long. I have noticed that's initial review of the Edge has been one of the most viewed posts on my blog and thanks to those of you that are returning to read my final review. ( the Garmin I used for my review was purchased by me.)

In my initial review I spoke on the mounting and functionality of the Edge 200. I want to dive a little deeper now. This was also my first GPS enabled device I had used for cycling. I have used standard cycling computers on the past and they just left me wanting more information about my rides and a better look at my accomplishments in the saddle, I.e elevation, calories burned. I found these things in the Garmin Edge 200. This device is perfect for the guy that goes out on the bike to have a good time and collect data to upload on strava or track their fitness with different trackers. Strava is good to compare your riding to a friends or just random folks that ride where you ride.

I thought I was completely content with just knowing my elevation, average speed, calories burned, but after riding with the Edge 200 for a season I wanted more information. I have become a little more curious about my fitness these days. That being said I now want to track my heart rate to get a better picture of how the rides are benefitting my body. I also want to track my cadence which brings me to the cons of the Edge 200 in my eyes. The Edge 200 does not have ant+ capability. There are many different sensors out there from gain to track your riding and they communicate with different devices through ant+. Another con to some could be the data cable. Many Garmin devices now can upload to your computer wirelessly. This model does not do that. It never really bothered me too much because it must be plugged up to charge. Now there are some pros as well. I really like the style and ease of use of this unit. It is very easy to scroll through your information during your ride. Another pro would have to be the price. It is a fairly inexpensive unit. I believe it still retails for around $150. Some of the more advanced cycling computers out there are close to that minus the GPS capability.

With all that being said the Garmin Edge 200 is perfect for the average cyclist. It is all enough to through in your pocket too for the occasional runner as well. I used mine for runs many times. The Edge 200
Would be a great gift for any cyclist that is not concerned with tracking heart rate and cadence. Although I will end by saying that I didn't have any care to track those things either until I bought this product and started using it. The Edge 200 gives you just enough information but it left me wanting to know more.





I want to take this opportunity to say that I have a slightly used Garmin Edge 200 for sale. I have used it for a season but it is in great condition. I comes with all the original packing that I can find as well as two mounting brackets for the bars. Also the data cable too, can't forget that. I am wanting to get $85 obo for it. You can email me or just leave a comment if interested. Thanks for checking this out! Will consider shipping the product within the continental US. Free shipping on full price offer.