ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 25, 1995 TAG: 9512280026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: HOLIDAY
1 - Putting your new bike to use
If you received a bike for Christmas, you can put it to use on New Year's Day. The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club has scheduled its annual President's Day Ride beginning 10 a.m. At noon, the annual Big Lick Hillbillies ride take off for mountain bikers.
The President's Day Ride is a 15-mile loop around Roanoke at a 12-mph pace, which means it is attractive to a variety of riding levels. Participants should meet at 10 a.m. at the Forum Shopping Center, off Virginia 419 on Starkey Road. At the conclusion, riders will gather at the new Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea at the Forum. The leader is Billie Abshire, 343-7632.
The Big Lick Hillbillies ride starts at noon at the Carvins Cove boat dock parking lot. Riders of all skills are invited. The longest ride will be 23 miles, circumnavigating the cove, while shorter self-guided rides are available. Information is available from Kyle Inman, 981-1034.
5 - Wow! What a ski season.
The Roanoke Ski Club's Jan. 5-7 trip to Snowshoe-Silver Creek is being called ``Ski Appreciation Weekend,'' and there is a whole lot to appreciate about the ski season thus far.
At Snowshoe-Silver Creek, in Pocahontas County, West Va., the natural snowfall has passed the 80-inch mark, twice the normal amount for this time of the year. Cold temperatures, often in the single digits, have allowed snow makers to pound out powder for the holidays. The base has passed the 50-inch mark.
Other resorts in West Virginia - Canaan Valley, Timberline and Winterplace - offer excellent skiing, and the same can be said for Bryce Resort, The Homestead, Massanutten and Wintergreen in Virginia. The 1995-96 season is on the way to becoming one of the finest in memory, but Joe Stevens of Snowshoe puts things in perspective when he says, ``You are only as good as today's weather.''
Now is the time to put the new Christmas skiing gear into action. The best deals are found on days other than Saturdays.
6 - Hunting is winding down
Sometimes it can appear that Virginia doesn't just have a year-round trout season, but a year-round deer season as well. Hunting begins in early October, and it doesn't end until Jan. 6. That date also marks the close of the turkey and bear seasons.
Until then, hunters can pursue deer with bow and black powder west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and with conventional guns in the east.
It will be February before state wildlife officials have a count on the deer kill, but the season has all the makings of a record or near record. And when the late summer and early fall big game shows open, look for some really outstanding racks to show up from the 1995-96 season.
19 - Going to school on bass
David Fritts, a good old boy bass fisherman from Lexington, N.C., isn't likely to be mistaken for a professor, but that's what he will be Jan 19-21. Fritts and five other bass pros will be instructors during the highly acclaimed Bass Fishing Techniques Institute bass school at the Airport Sheraton in Roanoke. The event is sponsored by Virginia Tech.
Fritts won the BASS Masters Classic in 1993 and was BASS Angler of the Year in 1994. Other instructors will be George Cochran, Jack Hains and Ken Cook, all past Classic winners, and Randy Romig and Willie Ridgeway.
The roving seminars have been extremely popular, even prompting a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal. The fee is $89. You can register by calling 540-231-5182 beginning Jan. 2.
20 - Salt-water seminar coming
Virginia salt-water anglers will have an opportunity to learn from the best when Salt Water Sportsman Magazine brings its eight-stop national tour to Virginia Beach Jan. 20. The event will feature Mark Sosin, of Mark Sosin's Saltwater Journal on ESPN; George Poveromo, senior editor of Salt Water Sportsman Magazine; and Rip Cunningham, editor-in-chief of the magazine. These three will be joined by a number of boat captains and other angling experts from Virginia, who will cover fishing for striper, cobia, drum, tuna, mackerel and bottom species.
The program is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by phone with Visa and MasterCard by dialing 1-800-448-7360.
26 - A big bash for bass anglers
If you are a bass angler, you can cure a dose of cabin fever for $7. That's the cost of a ticket to BASSARAMA 96, the annual bash that spreads fishing tackle, boats and fishermen over 140,000-square feet at the State Fairgrounds in Richmond. The sponsor has added a fourth building to squeeze everything in. The dates are Jan. 26, 27 and 28.
Seminars will be presented by nationally ranked bass fishing pros, including Tom Mann, Woo Daves and Lynchburg's David Dudley.
Show hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 26 and 27 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 28. Information is available from 540-898-0832.
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