Chunky and Spicy: How Susan Riddle Is Putting North Central West Virginia on the Gravel Map

Susan Riddle will be the first to tell you that nobody gets up in the morning and says they’re going to North Central West Virginia on vacation. But they’re starting to. Over the past decade, the executive director of Visit Mountaineer Country CVB has been building a gravel riding ecosystem across seven counties — more than 1,500 miles of routes, an annual bikepacking event called the Mountaineer Monster, and a regional identity that leans into what the area actually is rather than what it isn’t. Own who we are, she says. That means chunky, spicy trails that aren’t for the faint of heart, and a hospitality culture that makes people want to come back anyway.

The Mountaineer Monster is a particular point of pride. Timed around Halloween and built around West Virginia’s beloved cryptids — the Mothman, the Grafton Monster, a mashup of the state’s mythical creatures put on a bicycle — it’s the kind of event that only makes sense in WV, and that’s exactly the point. Susan worked with WVU OEDC and gravel influencer David Landis of Village to Village to develop the route network and keep expanding it. The National Gravel Championships has done site visits. For a region that not so long ago was still proving it had something worth showing up for, that’s a pretty good place to be.

Learn more about: visitmountaineercountry.com / Village to Village / David Landis / WV Gravel Series