SkyMass++: Here There be Dragons

One day, while poking around in Strava checking out other people's stats and rides, I came across a route that I'd never heard of but looked extremely intriguing. The official route (if it is really "official"; I have no idea) is called Skymass, which is because the ride goes through Skyline Drive ("Sky") and the Fort Valley area of the Massanutten Mountains ("Mass"). Plus, Skymass just sounds cool.

The route I followed was created by some guy hopped up on Easter jellybeans, or at least that's what his ride title suggested. I called it SkyMass++, because it adds around 35 miles to the 80 mile Skymass route, and posted it to the Baltimore Bike Club calendar as "Here There Be Dragons", because I had never ridden the route before and had no idea what to expect. (Geek note for those that may not have already known this: in olden days before cell phones and GPS, people used things called "Maps" that were not based on millimeter-accurate satellite imagery; sometimes these "Maps" were incomplete, and the cartographers showed areas of unknown geography as blank areas labeled "Here There Be Dragons". I.E., we don't know what's here, so caveat emptor).

I posted it to the ride calendar because some company would have been nice, even if they slowed me up or I slowed them up. I got two emails from interested parties; one bailed because it was going to be too hot out (forecast was for 100 degrees in the valleys). and the other bailed because the ride start was too far away (2 hours from Baltimore). I had asked for a 7AM start time to try and beat the heat, but changed my mind at the last minute and decided that I wanted to start riding at 6AM. It was going to be REALLY hot, and I wanted to get as much riding under my belt as possible before the heat became a major player in the endurance game. With that thought, I posted a cancellation for the group ride (citing lack of interest and high heat) and decided to take American-style unilateral action and go it alone.

My headspace at 3:30AM

The ride starts in Front Royal, Virginia, which I have always viewed as the gateway to Shenandoah National Park. Front Royal is about a two hour drive away, and sits at the northernmost end of Skyline Drive, which wends its scenic way along the crest of the Shenandoah mountains. In order to reach the ride start at the time that I wanted to, I got myself up at 2:30AM, made breakfast (to be eaten in the car), packed my gear, and hit the road around 3:15AM.

I got to the start around 5:30 AM. While I was getting my act together, a group of cyclists rode by my in the pre-dawn light and asked me where I was headed. When I told the guy that asked me that I was headed over Woodstock Tower Road, he shook his head and said, "Pretty sure that's a gravel road up there, son." Well, I had kind of guessed that from looking at the satellite imagery of the route, so I nodded and kept assembling my gear. They rode off, and I finished putting my things together.

The Start!

For "expedition" rides like this, I tend to load down like a pack mule. I had a frame pump, spare tube, patch kit, secret link, multi-tool, and tire levers in the bike-repair department. I had energy gels, stroopwafels, extra sports drink powder, electrolyte pills, and electrolyte fizz tablets in the "food and health" department, and a phone, cash, credit card, and emergency cue sheet in the "misc." department. By the time I was done loading up, my jersey was bulging out the back and my saddlebag was about ready to pop. My new thermal water bottles were full of cold Perpetuem, my GPS was mounted, and my tail-light was blinking and ready to go.

I pushed off away from the car, and spent the first mile or so fiddling with my GPS. I had the entire course loaded, so I put it into turn-by-turn guidance mode, and set the on-screen parameters to display the cadence from my cadence sensor (I'd had it turned to a different mode for my mountain bike ride the previous evening). By the time I was really riding, the sky was getting lighter and I could tell it was going to be a fine day.

Farmlands at dawn on the way to Fort Valley

The temperature was cool and I found myself flying effortlessly along gently rolling picture-perfect blacktop, surrounded by lush farm country with green mountains off in the distance. After about 15 miles of the bliss, I made a left-hand turn and began traveling south through Fort Valley, with the Massanutten mountains rising up on either side. The road continued to be perfect for zipping along at a brisk 18-22mph, no headwind, no travel, and a very smooth road surface. Eventually I began to see a bit of haze in the air, caused by the wildfires that had been burning for a few days on the outer flanks of the mountains. The fires were well away from where I was, to the point that the smoke was pretty well diluted and did not cause any coughing fits.

Dawn in Fort Valley

Excellent roads in Fort Valley

As the sun just began to peek it's baleful eye above the tops of the trees, I made a right-hand turn on to Woodstock Tower road, the first major climb of the day. Heading almost due West, the road begins at a very steep grade and then mellows out a bit. The surface was old but good asphalt, and I began to question the words of the cyclist that I had spoken with at the outset. After a few short miles, however, he proved to be correct, and the road surface turned to dirt covered with loose gravel. This was not like the hard-as-asphalt dirt roads you find in civilized states like Vermont; this was good-ol-fashioned Virginia country road.

Fort Valley

My speed dropped to a crawl as I traveled up the hill. The rough surface not only caused the traction of my tires to drop, but it forced me to zig-zag around trying to find the hardest-packed spots of roadway to pedal in. I can usually clear an average of about 7-9mph on all but the steepest paved climbs, but this relatively gentle slope had me traveling more in the 4-6mph range.

The Massanutten mountain range is shaped like a giant ellipse; it's essentially a 35 mile long ridge on either side of the ellipse, with no real significant peaks on it. The Woodstock Tower climb had me crossing straight across the western ridge. The climb had about 1,000' of ascent to it. About 700' in, I joined up with a spot where, oddly enough, we were riding our mountain bikes the previous week. However, this time, when I got to the top I did not take the trail into the woods but continued down the other side of the mountain.

Switchback descent into Woodstock

The descent into Woodstock was sketchy as all get-out. The road was not extremely steep, but had the same loose-gravel surface as the ascent. There were also some (ok, a lot of) harrowing 170-degree switchbacks. Thankfully, the switchbacks had little elbows of pavement installed on them, which greatly reduced my chances of flying off into the woods. After about 8 of these, I was back on the paved road for the descent into Woodstock.

Downtown Woodstock

In Woodstock, I made my first water stop of the day at the local Sheetz gas station. For those of you who have never experience the splendor of a Sheetz, they are a large Mid-Atlantic phenomenon that serve as a fueling station, rest stop, social gathering center, and mini-restaurant all in one. I bought a couple bottles of water and a granola bar, put the shades on, turned the taillight off, and kept rolling. 30 miles in now.

The route continued South after Woodstock, eventually turning back East and climbing to another crossing of the Massanutten range. This one was only about 750' high, and was paved the whole way. That made things nice and steady, just grinding out the pedal strokes one after another. I crossed into Fort Valley, cut straight across, and climbed out the other side. The descent on the East side of the Massanutten was a blast; I reached my top speed of 47mph on the steep, well-paved road. With spirits high and the legs only starting to feel the slightest bit toasted, I flew downhill towards Luray and my second stop of the day.

As I approached Luray, I starting seeing folks in time trial helmets. Weird. Then I saw some police, and a volunteer fiercely trying to user her flag to wave me into making a right hand turn. I remembered that today was the Tour of Page County stage race; they had a time trial and criterium in Luray that day. Only I could drive two hours, ride 50 miles, and somehow find myself in the middle of a time trial. Go figure.

My lunch plans for Luray were scuttled, as the deli that I wanted to grab a sandwich at was closed until 10AM, and I had reached it a little bit ahead of schedule at 9:15AM. I stopped at the local visitor center on the way out of town and filled up my water bottles before attacking the long slog towards the mountains. This was my least favorite part of the trip, even though it was quite scenic. Long, flat segments of road, with a very slight headwind. At this point, some 55 miles in and the sun just starting to beat down on me, I was starting to feel that super-early wakeup time.

Elevation profile going into the big climb

I kept going slower and slower. Thinking that I was just losing energy and feeling demoralized, I ate a waffle and a gel to try and perk myself up. However, as I noticed my cadence continue to slow, I thought to myself, gee, I wonder if I'm getting near to the climb. I looked down at the elevation profile and lo and behold, I was indeed starting in on the very broad shoulder of the climb up to Skyline Drive. I dropped a couple gears and settled in, knowing that the next 2,000' of climbing were going to be quite long.

Beginning of Redgate Road

The climb started out on a wide, paved road with an almost imperceptible grade. I was expecting dirt, but I didn't know when. The wide road turned into a very narrow paved lane (the bottom of Redgate Road), and a sign notified me that I was entering Shenandoah National Park. So far, so good - I was still moving along at a pretty decent 9mph clip. Then the pavement went away.

Middle of Redgate Road

My pace dropped to a crawl, even slower than what I had been doing up Woodstock Tower road, because now I was starting to get fatigued. I ground on, up and up and up. The road seemed to go on forever, with endless switchbacks. Here is where I thought to myself "No amount of wishing is going to make your crankset compact". I unzipped my jersey, as it was hot and I was starting to get soaked in sweat.

Skyline Drive! Finally!

Despite the heat, the struggle on the rough gravel surface, and the battle against gravity, the climb was still enjoyable - it was in the middle of the woods, there were no cars, and it was very pretty. After what seemed like an eternity, I came across a couple hikers (who eyed me a little oddly, riding a road bike on what was close to being a hiking trail), and a trailhead that let me out onto the blessedly smooth surface of Skyline Drive. After the plodding pace up Redgate Road, Skyline Drive felt like hopping on a conveyor belt. I still had quite a bit of climbing to do, but it became a simple matter of grinding it out - no thought required. Which was good because by this point, my capacity for thought was starting to become diminished.


I pedaled my way a few miles to Skyland, which is a sort of hotel / cabin / restaurant establishment. I availed myself of their ice cold water fountain, and then purchased what was one of the best cookies I have ever eaten. I even got to sit down to enjoy it! The temperatures at 3,500' were nice and cool, and a gentle breeze came in off the Shendanoah valley. It was very pleasant, and I probably could have sat there all day. Eventually I dragged myself back onto the bike.

Epic cookie at Skyland

After Skyland, the ride became a blur of slowly spinning up long but gentle hills, and cruising down stupendously long descents. I stopped again for water at Elk Wallow wayside, and continued the trek towards Front Royal and the car.

The descent into Front Royal was about 8 minutes of zipping downhill at 35-40mph. After so many long descents, my neck was starting to get tired from being tucked into an aero position! At one point, I actually had to slow down because the cars in front of me were going too slow. As I lost altitude, I could feel the temperature creep upwards, and by the time I reached my car, it was sizzling hot. I was glad to have made it into the mountains before that heat kicked in, because it was brutal!

I tiredly got my gear situated, and began the long drive home. It had been an epic day, one of the best I have ever had on a bicycle, and something that I would jump at the chance to do again.

Smoke from wildfires in the Massanutten Range

Garmin Data