A Roadbike Tour

Welcome to our Radltour!

April 20th 2011 thru May 2nd 2012

Participants:

Iris, age 66, retired

Road bike Tour to the

Skyline Drive & Blue Ridge Parkway (VA)

Review of the bike Tour

The author of this review: Iris from Austria - now retired

Details:

Bicycle riding distance: Total 679 kilometers, 425 miles

Date: 20. April 2011 (departure Vienna), return travel 02. May. 2011 (departure Washington)

The parkway runs in two parts:

1st part: The Skyline Drive (Front Royal through Waynesborro), 169 kilometers, 105 miles

Highest elevation 3350 ft at Pinnacles

Info from Wiki:

Skyline Drive is a 105-mile (169-km) road that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, generally along the ridge of the mountains. The scenic drive is particularly popular in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. Annually, over two million people visit the Skyline Drive, which has been designated a National Scenic Byway.

2nd part: The Blue Ridge Parkway (Waynesboro thrugh Cherokee Reservation),755 kilometers, 469 miles

Info from Wiki:

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles (755 km), mostly along the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Its southern terminus is on the boundary between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina, from which it travels north to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and offers access to the Skyline Drive, the major north/south artery through the Park. The two All-American Byways are separate and distinct. The Blue Ridge Parkway was built to connect Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Parkway is not a National Park, but is a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road, and is the most visited unit in the United States National Park System. Land on either side of the road is maintained by the National Park Service and, in many places, the park is bordered by land protected by the United States Forest Service. The Parkway will be depicted on North Carolina's version of the America the Beautiful quarter in 2015.^[1]

And Info for bicyclists:

Do not underestimate the Skyline Drive and/or the Blue Ridge Parkway...

It's a bicyclist 'killer'!

20. 04. 2011

1.day (travel day)

Wednesday

Arrival: Monday 20. 04. 2011

With a taxi to the 5 miles away located motel:

Homestead Studio Suites - Washington, DC - Dulles Airport – Sterling, 45350 Catalina Ct., Sterling, VA 20166, Tel: 703-904-7575

DLN@extendedstay.com

703. 904.7575 (Office) Ext 5003 or 800.804.3724

rate: about $ 89,-

The bike box, will be left here – for the return travel.

21. 04. 2011

2. day:

Thursday

Bike ride from Sterling (VA) to Front Royal (VA).

details:

start riding on Old Ox Road, follow Hwy 606, enter Hwy 50 West to Middleburg, before the climb to the city of Paris, and turn left on Hwy 17 until Hwy 55. Follow Hwy 55 to Front Royal.

night at:

Super 8 Front Royal, 111 South St. Intersection Hwy 340 & 55, Front Royal, VA 22630-2221 US, (540)-636-4888

arrival at Front Royal

Distance: 104 kilometers, 65 miles

22. 04. 2011

3. day:

Friday

Skyline drive has been wet…

No way to ride the bike

And as my friend Joyce has arrived by car, we went on Skyline Drive by car to Luray.

weather has been wet...

My bicycle hangs again on a white Camry

The Skyline Drive:

Our travel by car:

At Luray, we visited the Luray Caverns:

A natural wonder: the hugest Stalactite cave in the East of the US.

We went back by car to the Skyline drive and followed the road until Waynesboro.

night at:

Super 8 Motel Waynesboro, 2045 Rosser Ave. Waynesboro, VA 22980, Phone: (540) 943-3888, 64 Exit 94 at US 340

generalmanager03803@wynhg.com

23. 04. 2011

4. day:

Saturday

A day of rest – travelling by car to Joyce’s university at Blacksburg (Virginia Tech University)

Visit of the campus.

Riding the bicycle on Huckleberry trail:

night: at the same motel as day before

Distance: 32 kilometers, 20 miles

24. 04. 2011

5. day

Sunday

Travelling by car to the entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway (milepost 0)

Riding with Joyce. She took it as an exercise and returned on milepost 10.

I continued riding until Buena Vista.

A long downhill to Buena Vista.

night at:

Budget Inn, 617 W. 29^th street, Buena Vista, VA, 244416, Phone (540)-261-2156

Prices $85 per night

Distance: 85 kilometres, 53 miles

25. 04. 2011

6. day

Monday

Riding on Hwy 501 to Natural Bridge.

Following the side road of Hwy 11, which is Hwy 76, as bicycle road, to Roanoke.

night at:

Airport Plaza Motel, 3695 Thirlane Road Northwest, Roanoke - (540) 563-0229

Rate: $ 40,-

Distance: 94 kilometres, 58 miles

26. 04. 2011

7. day:

Tuesday

Roanoke (VA) to Tuggles Gap (VA)

night at:

Tuggles Gap Restaurant & Motel, 3351, Parkway Lane S., Floyd, 24091 (VA), Phone: (540) 745-3402

Proprietor: Mrs. Cheri Baker

Cheri is a very competent and helpful person!

A very recommended place for bicyclists: nice and clean motel, good and healthy food!

Distance: 94 kilometres, 58 miles

27. 04. 2011

8. day:

Wednesday

Tuggles Gap (VA) to Fancy Gap (VA)

night at:

Mountain Top Motel, 67 Ranger Rd, Fancy Gap, VA., Phone: (276) 728-9414

Distance: 72 kilometres, 44 miles

28. 04. 2011

9. day:

Thursday

Time to turn and go back...

(Finding directions...)

Fancy Gap (VA) to Tuggles Gap (VA)

night at:

Tuggles Gap Restaurant & Motel

Distance: 72 kilometers, 44 miles

29. 04. 2011

10. day:

Friday

Tuggles Gap (VA) to Roanoke (VA)

Valet parking for dying bicyclists:

overlook ahead...

back to the parkway...

night at:

Airport Plaza Motel, 3695 Thirlane Road Northwest, Roanoke - (540) 563-0229

Rate: $ 40,-

Distance: 94 kilometers, 58 miles

30. 04. 2011

11. day:

Saturday

A day of

Riding throughout Roanoke

Found the Lick run greenway bike path

Distance: 32 kilometers, 20 miles

01. 05. 2011

12. day:

Sunday

Rented a car at the Avis counter on Roanoke’s airport

Travel by car to Washington Dulles airport

Following the Blue Ridge Parkway to Waynesboro, then on Hwy 250. Entered Hwy 29 North. A little detour to see Warrenton. Following Hwy 15 North to Sterling (Old Ox Road) to Dulles airport.

Drive time: 6 hrs.

on the way to Sterling, nearby the Dulles airport:

night at:

Homestead Studio Suites - Washington, DC - Dulles Airport – Sterling

45350 Catalina Ct.

Sterling, VA 20166, Tel: 703-904-7575

DLN@extendedstay.com

703. 904.7575 (Office) Ext 5003 or 800.804.3724

rate: about $ 89,-

02. 05. 2011

13. Tag:

Monday

how lucky I am...

On a Monday morning, I found a wonderful bike trail:

look what Wiki says:

The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a popular and unusually-shaped regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail (abbreviated as W&OD Trail), an asphalt-surfaced paved rail trail that runs through densely populated urban and suburban communities as well as through rural areas.^[1][2] Most of the trail travels on top of the rail bed of the former Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, which closed in 1968.^[3]

Although the park is 44.8 miles (72.1 km) long, it is only about 100 feet (30 m) wide. The rail trail is approximately 10 feet (3.0 m) wide through much of its length and is suitable for walking, running, cycling, and roller skating. A crushed bluestone surfaced bridle path travels near the paved trail in the park's most westerly 32 miles (51 km).^[4]

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) administers and maintains the park and its trails. NVRPA keeps most of the parkland surrounding the trails in a natural state. The park authority has placed alongside the paved trail a series of mile markers and a number of interpretative exhibits that describe the historic and natural features of the park (see Washington and Old Dominion Railroad#Stations for locations of historical markers near the W&OD Trail).^[5][6]

The headquarters office of the park is near the east side of the trail at Smith's Switch Road near Ashburn.^[7] A park rest stop is adjacent to the trail near the park's headquarters.