I’m writing this entry exactly six months after The End of Life as We Knew It. On March 12 2020, while we were in Emerald Isle, NC for the Croatan Buck Fifty the world shut down. No one really knew how things would change, but we knew things would be different. Now it’s the middle of September and things are still up in the air, but looking optimistically hopeful. A lot has changed since March—both with bikes and in the real world. This post is Part 1 of The New Normal, roughly covering the months of March through June. Part 2 will focus on even more excitement from July until now.

When the COVID-19 shutdown first occurred, Social Distancing began and all group riding came to an end. No organized rides, no weekend social jaunts. Stay home, stay safe, and stay away from others. While I was sad to lose the camaraderie of my cycling friends, I was fortunate to always have my family, and my cycling social circle suddenly became exclusively my wife and kids. In many regards, this was a fantastic blessing.

Jonah had been shredding it up on a 10-year old Stumpjumper and Logan was getting by on a modern mid-level hardtail which was not well suited for the Virginia backcountry. It was time for some action. I found a great deal on a Transition Sentinel for Jonah and a Trek Fuel EX for Logan. Ian would get the Stumpy and now the three oldest boys had shred-worthy bikes, and it was time to have some fun.

Several years ago we started work on a MTB trail around our house. Unfortunately the priories of life never let me have the time to make it into the trail I wanted, but now suddenly with the world at a standstill the time was ours. The first order of business was simple clearing the neglected portions, but then it was time to make some features and improvements.

Our first major feature was wooden drop line. We chose a Goldilocks height of 36” to make it challenging, but not too intimidating. We also added a kid-friendly alternate line on the side.

The Rock Drop was Jonah’s brainchild. We had uncovered the line while making the return trail and it only took a little brushing and raking to define a landing zone. Honestly, it’s still a bit of a sketchy feature. We never took enough time to fully build a run-out, and weren’t able to get all the embedded rocks out of the landing. While no one crashed seriously off it (I destroy a rim and Logan slid out), it wasn’t quite as fun as we imagined and we generally moved on to other features. Maybe next summer with a little love it can get better.

We had a lot of deadfall over the winter, and I spent many hours with the chainsaw removing trees. After a little saw practice I was able to make a pair of balancing logs—one flat and one slanted. The old, hard Oak taught me a lot about sharpening chainsaw blades!

We also spent a lot of time digging and learning about dirt jumps. Turns out it’s a lot of work to move a lot of dirt.

The biggest feature we attempted was the Driveway Gap—again Jonah’s brain child. Our driveway is raised and cuts across a drainage with a culvert underneath. By bombing down one of the surrounding hills, you can shoot up to the elevated driveway and use it as a tabletop, then land on the other side. It took some time and courage, but all three of us were able to clear the gap at some point. Even little Eva sent it—although her landing wasn’t quite what she expected.

Aside from riding on the Homefront, we also took a number of socially-isolated trips to the GWNF. I could probably count on one hand the number of people we saw on those rides.

Logan and Jonah on Hankey Mountain near Stokesville

Jonah and Logan on Kaylor’s Knob at the Massanutten Western Slope

Logan and Jonah on Big Schloss near Wolf Gap

Logan and Jonah on Meneka Peak in Elizabeth Furnace

Jonah and Logan descending Puzzler on the Massanutten Western Slope

In early May, Bryce Mountain announced they would open for the season within the restrictions for Social Distancing—masks while indoors, distance while in line, separation on the lifts etc. We probably went every other weekend

Logan, Sabrina, and Logie in team kit at Bryce

Jonah, Logan and Ian pondering the beauty of Northern Virginia

At the beginning of June the three of us took an morning class with Harlan of Take Aim Cycling to work on jumping progression. Harlan is a fantastic instructor and I think we all learned a lot.

Logan and Jonah after our class with Harlan

The culminating event in June was a family trip to Stokesville, VA for a few days away from it all. We rode bikes, we hiked, we swam in the creek, and we had a blast. If you’ve never made it out to the Stokesville Campground, you need to add it to your bucket list. Such a magical place.

Little riders big fun at Stokesville Campground

Jessica fording the stream at the bottom of Tillman West, near Stokesville

The whole crew, with Jonah eating as usual.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a terrible event, and one that I hope we’ll never have to experience again. However, I am grateful for the perspective it gave me, and the opportunity to re-evaluate the priorities in my life and with my family—especially considering the changes that happened since June… but more on that in another post!

2020 Part 1: The Quaranteam