Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 14, 1994                   TAG: 9408190002
SECTION: DISCOVER                    PAGE: 28   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BIKE SHOP CATERS TO THOSE SEEKING GOOD, CLEAN FUN

In the New River Valley, a small but growing business has embraced the idea of experiencing life via bicycle. At Tangent Outfitters, the only mountain biking facility of its kind in Southwest Virginia, customers can rent and ride bikes along the scenic New River Trail, a 57-mile railroad grade trail from Galax to Pulaski. The popular biking, walking and nature trail follows the New River, cuts through Draper and heads toward Pulaski.

Others may opt to take to the mountains on several bike trails near Mountain Lake Resort. These trails range from double-track dirt roads to single-track, technical climbs. Some of the trails are on Mountain Lake property while others wind along land owned by the Jefferson National Forest.

"We've had a lot of interest," said Virginia Tech graduate Shawn Hash, 25, who along with his brother and father owns Tangent Outfitters. "People are still learning about us, and we get a lot of calls from them, wanting to know what we're about."

The business started three years ago when the two brothers, Shawn and Tyrell, were approaching college graduation and trying to decide what to do with their lives. They grew up in Dublin and realized the potential for tourism in the area.

"We wanted to get into a business where we'd have some fun," Shawn Hash said, "so that's what we did."

With the help of father Don, a businessman in Dublin, they got the business off the ground. Bike rentals for the manicured New River Trail took off, Hash said. People are attracted to the easy grade and varied shuttles Tangent offers.

"I thought most of our business would be local, but about 95 percent of it is people coming off the interstate from out of state," he said.

The Mountain Lake business, which Hash opened this spring as a service for hotel guests, is a little slower to take hold. The trails are steep and take gusto to climb, he said, but the views from atop the mountains are well worth the effort.

"You should see it up here right around sunset," Hash said, sweeping his arms over an abandoned golf course above the Mountain Lake resort. "There are deer everywhere. This is probably the first time I've been up here when there are no deer."

There are more than 10 miles of trails on the Mountain Lake property, ranging from a gradual incline to very difficult. The rides are shaded, mostly in wooded areas, in contrast to the sunny, well-populated New River Trail.

Hash said he thought his only customers would be hotel guests, but slowly, people from the surrounding area have begun to come to his shop.

"I'm glad to see the local business," Hash said. "That's always been a problem; people here aren't educated about what's right in their backyard."

Ecotourism in the Roanoke and New River valleys - promoting our area for its natural resources - is a "double-edged sword," Hash said.

"The Roanoke Valley has screwed up," he said. "We have the New River which should be equally as big as the New River Gorge. The politicians have screwed up too. They've spent all their time on promoting industry - dirty industry at that. This is a clean industry."

Hash said if more money were put into attracting tourists, even if it only increased the tourist visits by 1 percent, the New River and Roanoke valleys would be much better off.

"I think what people are after now is a different kind of vacation," he said. "They want to get. They want an experience, not a drive on the Parkway."

Tangent Outfitters rents bikes, as well as canoes for trips on the New River. For further information or reservations, call 674-5202.