Third Annual ATV Rider Reader Ride

With a reader's ride under his belt and a working knowledge of West Virginia and its Hatfield-McCoy Trail System, ATVR contributor Dave Wilmot volunteered to put together a repeat performance for 2005 that promised to be even more fun than '04's event. Secretly thinking he was out of his mind, we wished him good luck and told him to keep us in the loop. The plans were moving along smoothly until Hurricane Katrina hit and jacked gas prices up to European levels overnight. Of course, no event ever goes as planned, and no planning ever goes easy. We were expecting to show up in West Virginia and spend the week in near solitude.

Things turned out much better, and some 60 riders made the trek from at least seven states to join us in the cool autumn temps for some fun ATV riding on the groomed Hatfield-McCoy trails. Besides the editors who flew out from California, the longest distance traveled was by a father-son duo who drove 18 hours from Texas. We never realized we were so popular. Oh, wait, they just came to ride the gorgeous trails with a bunch of like-minded folks. That was the general attitude of the whole crowd—our ride was a good excuse to get away from home and get in some quality ride time—such was the case of one big group from Connecticut where any place to ride is sorely lacking.

We had a little social gathering to introduce ourselves, go over the plan for the next three days, set a few rules and then have fun meeting some of our readers.

The first day arrived way too early; Wilmot had us on the schedule to be in the town of Man ready to hit the trail at 10 a.m. Not bad until we saw that it was almost a two-hour drive from the Twin Falls Resort by Pineville. Oh, we were leading the herd of trucks and trailers there, too—the "Get Lost with the Editors" ride was starting before we even found the trailhead.

Alas, after a slight miscue caused by the driver (yours truly) not listening to his navigator (Mark Rolland), the trip was uneventful. East Coast Editor Thad Josey and Jim Brook, a friend of ATVR contributor Brad Bowlin, took off first with a guide and fast guys in tow; then we let the casual-pace guys go while we waited for a last-minute electrical gremlin to be exorcised from one of the machines. The group that chose us were in for a treat and so were we. They turned out to be great fun, and most joined us again on day two. Without any idea what we were in for—this was our first time on the Rockhouse Trail — Rolland, Bowlin and I collected our flock and proceeded to navigate from Man to Gilbert for lunch on the Rockhouse trails. Along the way we forced our merry band to be photo models—telling them they'd thank us later—and to suffer through several delays as I tried to figure out which trail to take that all would enjoy and still get us to our lunch destination. We made it to Gilbert with no problem and were amazed that we could ride on the street as well.

After a good meal and 20 questions from the editor, the gang and I headed back to Man and our vehicles. I bumped up the pace to keep things fun, and we made short work of the Rockhouse trails.

Following a parade through Pineville, we rode the 6 miles in the subfreezing temps to the Castle Rock (Pinnacles) trailhead for another day of riding. After thawing under the sun a bit, we split up the staff among all the groups: Rolland with one; Bowlin and buddy Brook handling a second; while Josey and I hijacked a bunch to go bang out a fun ride and see what kind of mischief we could get into. Our goal was trail No. 23, a blue that promised us a challenge and some awesome scenery. In keeping with the "get lost" theme, we located a trail not on the map (No. 25) and decided to try it. A smart move, it was one of the best at Pinnacles, and the mud guys got two big mud holes to wallow in and test their mettle. After a bag lunch at the trailhead, we headed out in various groups to get in a bit more time on the fun trails. We wrapped up day two by heading "downtown" to check out Pineville's Autumnfest and all the kids in their Halloween costumes. The chili cook-off was a big hit with the staff—the hot dishes staved off the chill of the fall air.

We ended the ride with a Poker Run that drew a healthy dose of contenders—we counted 40 players—seeking to win some of the smattering of goodies donated by the magazine and local dealers. The staff manned three of the five checks and hung out relaxing in the beautiful West Virginia forests for half the day. Josey and I took the long way back and missed the prize handout, but judging by the number of smiles around, it's a good bet many folks had a good time. We wrapped up the event with another get-together and handed out more stuff to the crowd. Overall, the ATV Rider Reader's Ride was a hit with those who made the journey to Southern West Virginia. We enjoyed meeting the people from all over the eastern half of the country and exploring some new trails with them. Besides the images we shot, Wilmot broke out his camera and captured more images of people having fun and West Virginia scenery. You can check out his work and even purchase it at Wilmot's site.

2005 Reader's Ride Photo Gallery