Kai Degner

Harrisonburg is an IMBA Ride Center (Photo Courtesy of HarrisonburgTourism.com)

Mountain biking in the Harrisonburg area continues to be recognized, most recently by the International Mountain Biking Association identifying Harrisonburg as just one of seven Ride Centers® in the WORLD! (OK, there's only one city not in the USA, but we call it the World Series in baseball, don't we?).

Specifically about Harrisonburg, IMBA says there is a diversity of trails for every type of rider.

"Want to take a novice rider for a spin in the center of town? Head for the Rocktown Trails at Hillendale Park and follow the green loops. Step things up with the blue- and red-blazed trails and you'll find more gnar than you'd expect in a city park; it's the embodiment of IMBA's "stacked loop" approach to providing progressive levels of challenge in a small area. Continue exploring in and around town and you'll access everything from two full-on Epic trails (the Southern Traverse and Spruce Knob) to flow trails at Massanutten Resort. Not interested in buying a resort pass? If you're willing to join the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition and log 8 or more hours of volunteer trail building time, you can ride for free." Source

According to the IMBA Ride Center website, "The Ride Center® designation represents IMBA’s Model Trail recognition for large-scale mountain bike facilities that offer something for every rider. Bring your full arsenal of bikes to these destination-worthy areas. From backcountry adventures to shuttle-served gravity trails, and from expert-only to family-friendly, you’ll encounter the best the sport has to offer."

Visit #26 Mountain Biking for more information about local mountain biking resources in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Virginia.org has an overview of mountain biking options here. The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition is probably the best resource for learning more about all the biking opportunities the area has to offer. You can also go into the bike shop in downtown Harrisonburg, Shenandoah Bicycle Company, as well as others in the area for terrific assistance in finding a trail that suits your experience.

Originally posted at www.KaiDegner.com.

The Kai Degner Homes Team is pleased to have Aaram Millones, a Harrisonburg REALTOR ready to help clients buy and sell homes.

Aaram Millones, REALTOR (540) 810-8744 - Aaram.Millones@KlineMay.com

Aaram Millones has years of experience serving the Harrisonburg-Rockingham area. A man of many talents, Aaram is fluent in Spanish and English, an avid soccer fan, and the founder of Earth & Tea Café, a popular restaurant in downtown Harrisonburg. Millones invites customers and clients to call him for all of their real estate needs.

Aaram’s education is in accounting and business management. Aaram can be of great assistance to both buyers and sellers of homes in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham area.

SPANISH

Aaram Millones, Realtor con años de experiencia sirviendo las áreas de Harrisonburg y Rockingam. Un hombre de muchos talentos, Aaram habla con fluidez el Español e Ingles, y es un fan fanático del futbol, también es fundador del Earth & Tea Café, un popular restaurante en el centro de Harrrisonburg.

Millones los invita a todos sus clientes y amigos que lo llamen para cualquier consulta de Bienes Raíces. La educación de Aaram consiste en Contabilidad y Administración de negocios. Millones puede ser de gran ayuda para las personas que desean comprar o vender casas en las áreas de Harrisonburg y Rockingham.

There is a Harrisonburg Craigslist scam underway that relies on current real estate listings. I'm filling in for a fellow real estate agent while she is on vacation and fielded two strange inquiries today about a property she is helping sell. Two people sent emails asking whether this 4-bedroom, 3-bedroom home in Harrisonburg is indeed for rent for $500/mo, as advertised on Craigslist. It is not, and it is clearly a scam. Be alert - here's how it works:

1. An advertisement is placed on Craigslist, soliciting inquiries for a home on the market at a "too good to be true" rental rate.
2. Someone responds, and receives an answer like this:
1. Hi Thanks for your e.mail, it is in [address omitted], Harrisonburg VA 22802pet friendly! LOCATION! - Impeccably maintained This Fabulous Property Better!! Great Opportunity! Outside is Great, inside needs TLC. Great views! New heat pump 7/11. Great remodeled home in established family neighborhood. Convenient to EMU and on city bike trail! Open floorplan with hardwood floors on main level. Partially finished basement, sunroom with hot tub, storage galore! New waterproofing with French drains-warranty conveys. Fenced backyard, cedar closet in basement, new windows and off street parking. ! A must occupy! and its for Immediate Occupancy.
   
   We wish for someone to occupy this space as i will like to bring to your notice that my husband who works with Schlumberger was recently transfered to England. We had to move some days ago with our 3 year old girl.
   
   We wanted to sell the place initially but due to the sharp fall in the price of houses recently, our lawyer adviced us to seek the option of renting since we will even be away for a long time and since we might be moving to the place when we arrive in the next couple of years.
   
   We intend renting from here as we would send the keys and paperworks to you so you can take possession if we conclude.
   
   Its a lovely place, so we will require you get back if you are really interested as we intend leasing this house to a responsible and neat person(s) who has the fear of God and will treat this house as his or her own.
   
   Get back to me so i can know your plans as the place is absolutely clean and note that there's a $500 security deposit plus a $500 months rent.
   
   Best Regards
   
3. A follow up email with some basic questions from the local person wondering if this is legit generated the following response:
1. How is your day going? Like i said in my mail, we had to move in a hurry. We are a small happy family who look forward to having a good person occupy. For security reasons, we had the place locked and the keys are here with us. We shall send the keys to your address if you are serious about renting since we can't do a showing as a result of our absence.
   You can drive by the place immediately at your earliest convenience. At this point, if you want to proceed, then call me eitherways on 011 44 70457 54507 or +44 70457 54507( don't forget the plus sign), brief me about yourself and have a little chat. Then you are to also provide one or two references, your move in date, your full name, address and phone number for effective correspondence.
   
   Best regards
   
   p.s:I suggest you get a calling card since it is evident that you dont have international call access from your service provider. Follow the instructions on the card and dial 011 44 70457 54507 also note that there is a 5-6 hr difference in timing as England is ahead in timing so you dont get to call in a bad time.
   
   Still looking forward to renting to you
   
4. When pressed again for wanting to speak to someone local who knows this "owner," the person sent this response:
1. Hello,We are positive that the distance will not cause some barrier what so ever as with the internet we can settle our business. Unfortunately We have been disappointed before, by some peoples we trust in the states. So the only person we trust in the state right now that you can meet, has informed us that he has traveled to the Dominican Republic for a professional course. Yes we hope to be in the states in a couple of months (three months to be precise to engage the service of a broker who will handle maintanace if need be)

I'm excited to write this post, having been anticipating the day when I and residents in Harrisonburg could not only stream online live city council meetings but also easily access archived video. This past Tuesday marked the first live-streamed Harrisonburg City Council meeting. But, there are some very exciting and useful tools in addition to simple streaming.

The platform city council is using lets users take out snippets of the meetings and easily get links and embed code to share a specific portion of the meeting with friends via email, in social networks, and on blogs.

The video tool allows users to not only see the video, but access the same documents received by council and skip to agenda items of most interest.

Check it out - here's where I mentioned these new tools at the end of Tuesday's meeting (I admit, it's not the most exciting cinematography!).

Valley 4th in downtown Harrisonburg is largest Independence Day celebration in the Shenandoah Valley. Come downtown on July 4, 2011, for a full program including the reading of the Declaration of Independence, a 4th of July Parade, food, and fireworks.

I'll be in the dunking booth from 3:00-3:30 for anyone wanting to try their aim!

Valley 4th is organized by the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance and sponsored by a number of community businesses and organizations.

See the full schedule for July 4th in downtown Harrisonburg at KaiDegne.com!