Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
The cycling group in our retirement community is planning to ride the Huckleberry Trail between Christiansburg and Blacksburg, VA, in June. Since I suggested it and knew nothing about besides what I’d read, I decided to make it my destination for my second Bikepacking shakedown outing. The closest state park I found is Claytor Lake State Park near Dublin, VA, 30 minutes west of Christiansburg. As before, I packed almost everything I needed in my bike bags. Since I had the car, I did bring a small cooler with some things but this is the last time for that. I limited my camping to one night as the day before, when I wanted to go, it rained and I’m not yet ready to endure rain. However, what I neglected to check was the forecast for temperatures. Turned out, the high would be 55° with the lows dipping to 31° overnight! Yikes! And, yes, I was cold but I did survive.
I rode the Huckleberry Trail on the next day, Tuesday, on my way home.
The cycling group in our retirement community is planning to ride the Huckleberry Trail between Christiansburg and Blacksburg, VA, in June. Since I suggested it and knew nothing about besides what I’d read, I decided to make it my destination for my second Bikepacking shakedown outing. The closest state park I found is Claytor Lake State Park near Dublin, VA, 30 minutes west of Christiansburg. As before, I packed almost everything I needed in my bike bags. Since I had the car, I did bring a small cooler with some things but this is the last time for that. I limited my camping to one night as the day before, when I wanted to go, it rained and I’m not yet ready to endure rain. However, what I neglected to check was the forecast for temperatures. Turned out, the high would be 55° with the lows dipping to 31° overnight! Yikes! And, yes, I was cold but I did survive.
I rode the Huckleberry Trail on the next day, Tuesday, on my way home.
