Dirty DOGS Allegrippis Trails Weekend at Lake Raystown

DateJune 11-13, 2010
HostsBrenda and Larry Isherwood
WhereAllegrippis Trails in Hesston, PA
Who (else) Mark Cook & Cheryl Prudhomme, Ed & Pat Gifford, Tom Fritz & Beryl Brodsky, Jeff Winnick & Wendy Samuelson; Non-DOGS mountain biking friends on tandems: Dale & Donna Yarasavage, Chuck & Elise & Kyra Hereth; Non-DOGS mountain biking friends & family on singles: Amy Isherwood, Jay Boesner, Joe Scheneck & Dawn Casey and Tony Wei.

The 20 attendees on mountain tandems and single bikes made our first attempt at a Dirty DOGS Weekend a success! The Allegrippis Trails system is the most tandem-friendly trails we have ever experienced. The not too technical & not too hilly terrain has rolling dips to ease the uphills and, for those that dare to ride fast enough in the downhill direction, able to "get air". We would say this is the best off-road tandem roller coaster riding trails we've ever seen! The trails are well marked, which lends one to be able to "relax" and "enjoy" the trail ride. :-)

We arrived on Wednesday and enjoyed the lake on Jay's boat and then tested some trails on Thursday since we have never ridden here before. Most camped at Seven Points Campgrounds, which the trail runs through, with one team at a local motel, and one team in a cottage at a very nearby campground.

Friday consisted of most arriving in time to do a short/medium "get to know the trails" ride in the early afternoon, with dinner on your own (most cooked at the campsite), with a meet & greet at the campfire at dusk.

Saturday had most doing the medium/long ride on the trails while some chose to do some shorter or different rides on their own on the trails.

After the ride, while showering before dinner, a late afternoon 10 minute shower passed over quickly. Most went to the local Pub, Boxers Cafe, for a simple but tasty dinner with the best homemade fries we've ever had. We then visited the nearby Overlook of the Dam on the 28 mile Raystown Lake Reservoir... which flows backwards (from south to north).

We then again had our group campfire and roasted some jumbo marshmallows & share snacks & drinks. The sky was clear & dark, allowing us the pleasure of seeing shooting stars & passing satellites, not to mention the tons of stars that filled the night sky.

Sunday had some teams more than worn out and heading home by noon. Others took the opportunity to do some more local touring & trail riding before packing up & heading home.

If you get the chance to visit this area with or without an offroad bike it will be well worth your time. The US Army Corp of Engineers Lake Raystown Recreation Area has lots to do for those that enjoy many outdoor activities.

When we arrived home, there was an article in Mountain Bike Magazine about how great these trails are and that they plan on adding more trails to the 35 miles of trails that they just completed last year.

We look forward to riding these wonderful trails again!

Video clips(!)

Whoop-de-doos to Overlook

Sidewinder Trail

Hydro-Loop

Eagle to Sleek Dog Trail

Doe to Buck to END

Newbies Amy & Jay - 1st Tandem ride


DOGS Home Page

Generated automagically on Sun Jun 20 21:00:28 2010 from 100611.pho dated Sun Jun 20 21:00:26 2010 by /home/dmk/bin/pho.pl, $Id: pho.pl,v 1.5 2008/11/15 21:11:45 dmk Exp $.
Copyright © 2010, Brenda Isherwood (text, photos); Pat Gifford (photo)