Alleghenies Adventure: Report 3

Day No. 3 of the “Choose-Your-Alleghenies-Adventure” trip involved a full day of mountain biking on the Allegrippis Trail System, a new singletrack mecca in the hills overlooking Raystown Lake near Huntingdon, Pa. It was just months ago that Evan Gross participated in the grand opening of this 32-mile trail network. Today, Gross, who works for Rothrock Outfitters, was our guide for a grand tour of the trail.

We filled water bottles, switched pedals around at the trailhead and then clipped into our bikes, including a Surly single-speed Karate Monkey, Salsa’s El Mariachi, and Scott and Haro rigs. Autumn trees framed a trail snaking ahead into the woods.

For the next few hours, including more than 20 miles of singletrack covered, the crew swooped on the Allegrippis Trail System’s endless rolling terrain. Some trails, dubbed rollercoasters, seem to trick gravity, hardly necessitating any pedaling or braking at all. The rises and dips — which were built by machine and hand labor to IMBA standards — keep riders coursing along at a steady speed where little effort is required, sometimes for a mile or more at a time.

Long climbs above Raystown Lake, a clear-water reservoir, ended atop flat bluffs with epic views. Autumn trees, rock-cuts, islands, and lake water stretched like a painting below.

But the day was not without misadventure. A flat tire, a broken chain, and one over-the-handlebars biff wrapped up a long day on the trail. The crew finished in the day’s last light, the sun fading over Raystown Lake and shining golden through trees as the group pedaled and climbed — and swooped on the coasters — until the end. A few photos from the day below.