My 3-day up National Road and down to Elkins WV and then 250 / 219 / 39 / 211 (WOOHOO) / Blue Ridge Parkway / Skyline Drive / home is July 27th through the 29th and motels in the area are starting to get booked already because its tourist territory.

Gonna bug mc folks about approving it this coming Feb. 4th meeting, we need to make motel reservations. Plus we are going to go to the American Mountain Theater performance the first night in Elkins, and need to reserve.

Anyone that might be able to make this and wants to, we are running rocking Alleghany and Appalacian mountain roads, doing about 5 hours of riding a day, staying in a motel in Elkins first night, one in Luray VA the second night.

Access to superslab coming and going, so you could just do 1 day even and show up where we are based on the gps route.

In any case, everyone and anyone is welcome to attend. I'll post the motel info soon and anyone that wants, I'll email the gps route file (Garmin, latest map)to you.

EDIT :

First night (27th) in Elkins WV at Elkins Motor Lodge, second night (28th) in Harrisonburg VA at the Comfort Inn.
Subject to my mc, I need to get them to commit and make motel reservations so I know the motels aren't changing (some of the Super-8s are booked already into August).

No idea how many will come, it could be 4 bikes, it could 12 bikes, it could be anything. I know for sure it will be at least 4 bikes, because there are three other sport touring (as opposed to touring, this is not a touring ride even though in places it hops on superslab for 20 minutes to transition) riders in the mc who love this kind of ride.

Are there any real sport touring riders near the junction of Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia? We will touch all three states, plus Pennsylvania and almost Ohio. We will spend most of our riding time in the Alleghany and Appalachian mountain ranges, high point is a bit over 3,000 feet and in at least one spot we drop 2,000 feet of that in about a mile of travel. Zoom Zoom.

* Last updated by: privateer on 1/29/2012 @ 4:06 AM *

Send me a PM with your email address, and I'll send the Garmin .gpx route file.

We are staying at the Elkins Motor Lodge on the night of the 27, and at the Quality Inn in New Market (just off 81, due west of Luray VA) for the 28th.

I doubt rooms will be available very long. I originally had the Super 8 in Mt. Jackson picked for the 28th but by 10pm last night it was fully booked for all those dates.

Well, this ride comes up this month. Going to be a lot of fun, going to the American Mountain Theater show Friday night and Saturday morning we will ride the mountain logging train. Then Saturday night we'll take the Luray Cavern tour.

Sunday we'll ride down out of the mountain and back up over onto the Blue Ridge Parkway after stopping where all the bikers gather, then dive south, pick up the bottom of BRP and right it north.

I doubt we will go on the toll section up north, probably just shunt over onto 340 or 11 and go home that way.

Take 33 over to Seneca Rocks and the Rawley Pike section into Va. Also if you get the chance, check out the New River Gorge Bridge and Spruce Knob.

* Last updated by: Danno on 7/3/2012 @ 5:10 AM *

WOW.......great pic's!

33 is definitely on the route, as are most of WV and VA's best motorcycle roads.

I slabbed 40 miles up north where we get off old 40 and head south to Elkins WV, just to leave time for better roads.

EDIT: Oh and when we come down out of the mountain range from Elkins into VA, we are coming down 211 which is a better motorcycle road than the Tail in many ways. Just past BRP (I think we pass under it) we get to Sperryville where bikers and vendors gather during the summer on weekends. Perfect time to stop and see whats up.

Or if nobody is there, we can keep going, head south, and pick BRP up at its south end and ride it north.

* Last updated by: privateer on 7/3/2012 @ 4:13 AM *

I was there last summer (stayed in Weston) and there are lots of good roads. Pavement on the Rawley can be a little gravel-strewn, but lots of nice twisty sections until you get to the far end and then this:

At that point, the best thing is to turn around and run it the other direction.

* Last updated by: Danno on 7/3/2012 @ 5:09 AM *

What road is that? I'm keeping the mc on known motorcycle roads afaik.

That is still US 33 after it passes the Brandywine Recreation Area. The tree tunnel is several miles long and almost completely straight.

* Last updated by: Danno on 7/3/2012 @ 9:16 AM *

I've wanted to do Skyline Drive for a couple years now... finally got a trip planned starting tomorrow. Visiting some friends on the way, then riding from Rocky Mount to Woolwine via 40, then pick up BRP north through to Skyline drive. Could be cooler weather in the forecast, but I won't complain if we stay dry. Happy to hear any particularly good spots to hit along the way...

Danno, I've research 33 heavily, and ridden it twice, and there are no bad sections.

ROFL I was just in Google satellite and earth view, looking for a bad section on 33, and didn't find one. But I found several trucks, a few motorcycles, and what look like 3 ghosts on it so far.

Going to be a great ride .... we run it in about 3 hours after the train ride Saturday morning at Elkins.

Not bad, just gravel-strewn. May have had to do with then-recent rains. No worries about that, now!

I'm getting anxious for the 27th to get here. I'm not packing much, though. Using my top case to put my expensive helmet in when we go to eat, etc.

I need to teach myself not to pack too much stuff all over again. When I was in the military I could deploy in 30 minutes and that included a quickie.

I took way too much stuff to Arkansas. Don't need it all.

First Aid kit, check. PLug-n-Go, check. Airman electric pump, check. Insulin cooler, check. What I'm wearing, check. Need to stop not long after that point in the list.

LOL

You could use the P. Egan method of packing all your old, holey underwear and throw them away rather than carrying them home or laundering on the trail.

Heh throwing underwear away.... buried a few pair while in the military, sitting in the rain on ambush at oh-dark-thirty does weird stuff to you.

Ride completed. Was a great event too. Great weather, excellant roads, fine food, good entertainment.

Even the stodgy old BMW guy was bragging about not having chicken strips on his tires anymore, so the roads must have been good.

Two down, 6 to go. Heh.