The story below is an excerpt from our May/June 2014 issue. For the rest of this story and more like it subscribe today, view our digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
“Otherworldly” is how cyclists describe the scenery at West Virginia’s Space Race Rumpus cycling festival June 13-16. Biking the rocky ridges of Pocahontas County is awe-inspiring, yes, but cycling a surreal landscape of giant, flower-shaped telescopes at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory ratchets the experience up.
Taller than the Giza Pyramid, Green Bank Telescope serves as a landmark for Rumpus rides, and a focus for the science side of the weekend of races, rides, skill-building, music, local brews and starry science. Rides range from kiddie races through the telescopes and Greenbrier rail-trail jaunts to motocross and grueling mountain bike races and road rides.
Kids’ activities, behind-the-scenes tours of telescopes, blues music and catered dinners round out the weekend. Unique trophies are crafted in the NRAO machine shop. Camping under the telescopes is gratis.
For more information, visit gb.nrao.edu/rumpus or call 304-456-2164. NRAO’s 17 miles of biking and hiking trails are always open to visitors, though electrical devices such as digital cameras and bike computers are forbidden in the national radio quiet zone.
