May-June Road Trip

[Bummer]

Looks like you will miss our beautiful state all together! The ride through IL and IN will look a lot alike (flat and lots of corn fields). ...

The corn is in northern Indiana. Southern Indiana starts to look like Kentucky, which is a beautiful state.

[raceman62race]

The only thing I can think of to suggest on your particular route is River Street in Savannah GA. It is a 1 1/2 mile long cobblestone road beside the river that has lots of bars with live music, great resturants and stores. It is sort of like a slightly toned down Burbon street in New Orleans. I'd plan on spending the night in Savannah somewhere that is walking distance from Riverstreet. Not something you'd want to make a special trip to GA to see but if your in the area, It would be worth checking out.

[Motorcycle Mike]

If it were me, I would move the the eastern route a little to the west to hit the mtns of W.Va, western Va, western NC, east Tn and N, Ga. Thats some of the best riding this side of the nation.

The super slab is great for making time, but if you want to see the country it's 2 lane black top's.

That would cut down on the number of states you could hit in a given time frame tho.

Thats my .

Keep us up dated on when your gona be in the area. If at all possible, we'll meet up with you.

[Seaking]

If it were me, I would move the the eastern route a little to the west to hit the mtns of W.Va, western Va, western NC, east Tn and N, Ga. Thats some of the best riding this side of the nation.

The super slab is great for making time, but if you want to see the country it's 2 lane black top's.

That would cut down on the number of states you could hit in a given time frame tho.

Thats my .

Keep us up dated on when your gonna be in the area. If at all possible, we'll meet up with you.

 

Thanks Mike, we're looking at various angles of this trip.. I think we're going to beat feet to south of NY, since we've been all over the north upwards from there, anything south is virgin roads to our biking. So we might boot it down to the keys to where I presume is the southern most tip of the USA? and after that its meandering back north..

 

Certain things to see that caught our attention is the SkyLine and Dragon's Tail.. still have to figure out exactly where these are.. We picked up the 'large map' of places and will start route planning later this week etc..

 

Thanks for the input.. we'll certainly give it a look.

[Motorcycle Mike]

Certain things to see that caught our attention is the SkyLine and Dragon's Tail.. still have to figure out exactly where these are..

Skyline dr. is western Va. Blue Ridge Pkwy is western Va.& western NC. Tail of the dragon is western NC & eastern Tn.

Edited February 24, 2010 by Motorcycle Mike

[Brake Pad]

I dont no what your time line is, But June 4th I'm rolling out of ft. lauderdale Fl, to Byran Tx. 1st night in marianna,Fla On I-10

2nd night in lake wales, la, On I-10

then on to Byran tx

[Seaking]

I dont no what your time line is, But June 4th I'm rolling out of ft. lauderdale Fl, to Byran Tx. 1st night in marianna,Fla On I-10

2nd night in lake wales, la, On I-10

then on to Byran tx

 

Time line wise I think we'll be in TX heading north east by then I believe.. however, if we're delayed due to weather (still potential of snow storms up here in May) we should really try to touch base =)

 

Cheers

[Seaking]

Skylinw is western Va. Blue Ridge Pkwy is western Va.& western NC. Tail of the dragon is western NC & eastern Tn.

 

 

AHHHhhhh hence the 'more two lane side of the trip part.. ' nice..

 

I'll have to dig out where what how to get to those from our intended routes.. =)

 

Game!

[colesgrandpaw]

Hyw 1 out of OK. to AR. 88 across Talimena scenic drive and Quee Wilhemina StatePark down to Mena AR. is a good ride. Then you could go to Hwy. 10/309 across Mount Magazine, the take Hwy. 23 (the pig trail) north is one of the best rides in AR.

 

If you need more info.on this area give me a call.

 

Raymond

[Seaking]

Hyw 1 out of OK. to AR. 88 across Talimena scenic drive and Quee Wilhemina StatePark down to Mena AR. is a good ride. Then you could go to Hwy. 10/309 across Mount Magazine, the take Hwy. 23 (the pig trail) north is one of the best rides in AR. If you need more info.on this area give me a call. Raymond

 

Many thanks!! Nice one..

[jburrell]

Thanks Mike, we're looking at various angles of this trip.. I think we're going to beat feet to south of NY, since we've been all over the north upwards from there, anything south is virgin roads to our biking. So we might boot it down to the keys to where I presume is the southern most tip of the USA? and after that its meandering back north..

 

Certain things to see that caught our attention is the SkyLine and Dragon's Tail.. still have to figure out exactly where these are.. We picked up the 'large map' of places and will start route planning later this week etc..

 

Thanks for the input.. we'll certainly give it a look.

 

Well really you cant drive to the Southernmost part of the US but you can get to Key West which has a marker for it. The really most southern point is Fort Jefferson that is 60 miles west/sw of Key West.

However, if you want to go through "the Dragon" you will need to travel farther west as you go through Virginia. I would recommend going from Shennadoha VA down the Blue Ridge Parkway which is SSlab like with nice vistas until you are at the northern end of the Dragon then getting off and running the Dragon then going due south from the South end of the Dragon to Florida. Visit a Civil War site along the way. When you get to key west take the day trip to fort jefferson and go snorkeling at the fort. Stop by Datona in Datona beach while in Fla. Bike week is coming up there this week I belive.

Just my 2c

james

 

if you make it deeper into Texas your Welcome to come on by there is always room for one more Venture rider.

[Seaking]

Well really you cant drive to the Southernmost part of the US but you can get to Key West which has a marker for it. The really most southern point is Fort Jefferson that is 60 miles west/sw of Key West.

However, if you want to go through "the Dragon" you will need to travel farther west as you go through Virginia. I would recommend going from Shennadoha VA down the Blue Ridge Parkway which is SSlab like with nice vistas until you are at the northern end of the Dragon then getting off and running the Dragon then going due south from the South end of the Dragon to Florida. Visit a Civil War site along the way. When you get to key west take the day trip to fort jefferson and go snorkeling at the fort. Stop by Datona in Datona beach while in Fla. Bike week is coming up there this week I belive.

Just my 2c

james

 

if you make it deeper into Texas your Welcome to come on by there is always room for one more Venture rider.

 

Thanks M8.. we're going to be digging into the maps and road logs to see where all of this fun stuff is located and how best to get there =)

 

Cheers

[Seaking]

Hi guys, I'd been looking at the maps seeing how we're gonna do this trip of ours this spring.. and James B reminded me of these routes here that I had heard about, and thought I should include on this trip.. We had planned on doing the I95 from Maine to Florida but a detour to smell the trees would be worth the while on this trip. However, I do not have any knowledge of these routes..

 

As far as I can tell, I can jump on the top of the Skyline Drive off of the 340 from the 66 near Front Royal, VA and head south all the way down past I64 onto the Blue Ridge Parkway which seems to break out near Roanoke, near the I81? Then from there, cross over to the I95 again and continue down our intended route.. And somewhere in amongst the Skyline and Blue Ridge is what they call the Dragon's Tail? Not sure where but man, looking at the topo and route maps, I can imagine its on that route somewhere.. wow.

 

If coming in from the north east, down the I95, where's the worth while place to jump onto the Skyline, and pop out of the Blue Ridge back onto the I95, allowing us to take in the view and enjoyable riding. If starting at Front Royal and finishing at the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, how long is a good estimate of traveling time, being very conservative.. stopping to see the view, gas, food etc? Is it a day trip or several days to do this route? The scale is hard to gather due to the lower speeds and meandering route..

 

If you have intimate knowledge of this route etc and can lend a hand, I'd muchly appreciate it.

 

We may be emerging from the east or the north, depending whom we're visiting and when kind of deal..

 

Cheers

[Motorcycle Mike]

Skyline drive ends near waynesboro Va. and the BRP continues. You wont get off one to get on the other, They are a continuation of each other.

The BRP ends in Cherokee NC. Deals Gap (The Tail of the Dragon) is around an hour from Cherokee.

The dragon is US 129 at the NC/Tn line.

Another road that many, myself included, feel is a much better ride than the dragon is the Cherohalla skyway that runs from Robbinsvill NC to Tellico Plains Tn.

Give yourself a mimimum of three days to ride skyline dr, BRP, dragon and skyway.

With that youll leave wishing you had stayed longer.

[Riderduke]

Getting to I-95 from the BRP could be as long as 3hrs. If you are wanting to go to the Dragon stay on the BRP till the end. Ride the dragon, then make your way to Floridia. You could spend 2-4 days going Skyline Dr to the end of BRP depending how much sight seeing you are doing, but well worth every mile!

[Seaking]

wow, sounds like quite the fun ride then.. Thanks for the info gents.. it's really hard to get a grasp of the scale of things..

 

What's the best way from Cherokee to the US129? (found their website now)

 

Many thanks!!

[Motorcycle Mike]

Take 441s to US74w to Hwy 28n. or is it 28w. Either way, take a right on 28

28 is known as Hellbender and is a better ride than the dragon also IMO.

Your gona love it.

It dead ends right at the Tail of the Dragon resort.

I use Bing maps to plot trips.

http://www.bing.com/maps/

[Seaking]

Take 441s to US74w to Hwy 28n. or is it 28w. Either way, take a right on 28.. 28 is known as Hellbender and is a better ride than the dragon also IMO. Your gona love it. It dead ends right at the Tail of the Dragon resort. I use Bing maps to plot trips. http://www.bing.com/maps/

 

ugh. BING maps was slow and tedious to use.. got a headache lol.. I couldn't find that Hell Bender route you mentioned.. scary

 

However I did discover that the BRP didn't stop in Roanoke but that it went all the way down to Cheroke as someone had mentioned earlier.. but it seems to go from large road down to a trail? Is this correct? Or is the end of the BRP still a reasonable road to travel on?

 

Remember the old days when you could get a map that would unfold and show everything? and when your eyesight was good enough to actually SEE all that stuff? I think I'm getting the frustration of not being able to see the big picture on a proper scale lol.. By the time I scale the map out for the whole leg of both trails, you don't see it any longer on the digital maps.. and I'm not familiar enough with the geography down there to appreciate where it starts and finishes.. ergh

 

I'm going to have to find another method of plotting this trip..

[Sleeperhawk]

ugh. BING maps was slow and tedious to use.. got a headache lol.. I couldn't find that Hell Bender route you mentioned.. scary

 

However I did discover that the BRP didn't stop in Roanoke but that it went all the way down to Cheroke as someone had mentioned earlier.. but it seems to go from large road down to a trail? Is this correct? Or is the end of the BRP still a reasonable road to travel on?

 

 

Definitily not a trail, but a well maintained 2 lane highway for cars and motorcycles only.

Also, this is the highest point of the BRP, especially from Ashville to Cheroke. The highway ends at a T intersection, go left into Cheroke, go right takes you Gatlinburg, TN and another great ride that is. As all have said, just skip to Tail of the Dragon.

[Seaking]

Definitily not a trail, but a well maintained 2 lane highway for cars and motorcycles only.

Also, this is the highest point of the BRP, especially from Ashville to Cheroke. The highway ends at a T intersection, go left into Cheroke, go right takes you Gatlinburg, TN and another great ride that is. As all have said, just skip to Tail of the Dragon.

 

Many thanks.. so you're saying that if time is of a concern, just do the Tail of the Dragon and not the BPR or Skyline?.. Could save those last two for another year

 

Cheers