Front Royal, VA and other 'undiscovered' towns.

[Baron Blubba]

I moved to Front Royal, Virginia three years ago, from New Jersey, because the idea of living a half mile from Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive (105 uninterrupted miles of low traffic and pristinely paved mountain roads) appealed to me. The cycling, both in the national park and surrounding areas in every direction, is nigh-on sublime. There is world-class mountain biking 10 miles from town, in the George Washington National Forest, which is also a popular place for rock climbing. The Shenandoah River flows right through town with easy access all over the place for kayaking/canoeing/SUP'ing. There's basically an unlimited selection of hiking trails all over the place. The town is 90 minutes from DC, and cost of living is extremely cheap (I rent a 3 bed, 2.5 bath house with property in a prime area for $1400; said house could be purchased for $185k. Cheaper options exist).
Despite being pretty rural, there's a Walmart, Target, a couple of major grocery stores, plenty of restaurants, etc. Basically, you don't want for many or any of the modern plu****ies of life.

Despite this, there are maybe 10 other road cyclists and a small handful of mountain bikers living in Front Royal and the immediately adjacent towns. This was not at all what I expected when I moved here. With all these amenities and the close proximity to DC and the metro Northern VA area, I thought there would be a massive outdoor community here.
Turns out, it's mostly poor and rural folks out here, who see me exercising and aren't *upset* or acrimonious toward me riding my bike...they are just genuinely confused --''why go through all that effort to ride up the side of a mountain for a view when you can just drive up there?'' (actual paraphrased quote).
The area is verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly being gentrified, but it'll be another 5 and maybe even 10 years at least until it can support a bike shop.

So I'm curious -- do you live in an 'undiscovered' awesome cycling/play outside town? Have you visited any places and wondered, 'Man, why isn't this place booming with cyclists?'

[zap]

Not directly related, but every so often I would drive out to Front Royal (to ride Skyline Drive) from Gaithersburg, MD. This was in the late 80's/early 90s.......when traffic was quite a bit less.

[Baron Blubba]

Originally Posted by zap

Not directly related, but every so often I would drive out to Front Royal (to ride Skyline Drive) from Gaithersburg, MD. This was in the late 80's/early 90s.......when traffic was quite a bit less.

Yeah, my girlfriend spent most of her childhood here. She was only born in '91 and tells me, man, you have no idea how many more people there are here now.
It must have been just a few corpses shy of a ghost town, because I have done rides where, once I get a mile out of town, I see maybe 10 cars over the course of 3 hours.

Skyline Drive, it's not uncommon to be out there on a weekday morning for hours on end and just see a few park maintenance vehicles and scattered hikers driving to their trailheads. No shoulders, but roads are very wide and the turns are also wide and sweeping (you don't need brakes once you know the road --I'm not the world's greatest descender, but can descend at 35-40 mph while maintaining total knuckle circulation), so there's plenty of visibility and room for drivers to pass.

[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

Yeah, my girlfriend spent most of her childhood here. She was only born in '91 and tells me, man, you have no idea how many more people there are here now.
It must have been just a few corpses shy of a ghost town, because I have done rides where, once I get a mile out of town, I see maybe 10 cars over the course of 3 hours.

Skyline Drive, it's not uncommon to be out there on a weekday morning for hours on end and just see a few park maintenance vehicles and scattered hikers driving to their trailheads. No shoulders, but roads are very wide and the turns are also wide and sweeping (you don't need brakes once you know the road --I'm not the world's greatest descender, but can descend at 35-40 mph while maintaining total knuckle circulation), so there's plenty of visibility and room for drivers to pass.

So you are complaining that there are not enough people there?!

I much prefer a moto on Skyline/Blue Ridge. During the week in non leaf peeping season it is just wonderful riding.

[mass_biker]

+1 on Front Royal. Did my first extended foray in/around Skyline last year. You have AMAZING riding out your door. It's almost as if Skyline was designed for bikes. I felt I barely scratched the surface.

We spend a lot of time in the Alleghanies in/around the Eastern Continental Divide - SW PA - same thing - amazing and rugged/isolated/mind blowing riding and not many bikes (or people) at all. It's the reason I now ride with a frame pump. And drivers are generally very polite (and incredulous). The absence of shoulders is generally compensated with the absence of traffic volume. My last few rides...5 vehicles, tops.

Hoping to entice some of my former riding partners from the dense NE (where there is way less than 1000 feet/10 mile of climbing) to come visit for a training camp (34T advised).

m_b

[Permanent socks]

Virgina is for cycling lovers!!

I stayed in Massanuten last spring for 2 weeks and experienced some of the most pleasurable cycling I have ever experienced.

Sublime climbs 9f all kinds on perfect roads with drivers who patiently wait to pass. I will be back and aurally looked for property to purchase I loved it so much...

The climb from Front Royal up tye ridge was definelty a beast.

[Baron Blubba]

Originally Posted by Permanent socks

Virgina is for cycling lovers!!

I stayed in Massanuten last spring for 2 weeks and experienced some of the most pleasurable cycling I have ever experienced.

Sublime climbs 9f all kinds on perfect roads with drivers who patiently wait to pass. I will be back and aurally looked for property to purchase I loved it so much...

The climb from Front Royal up tye ridge was definelty a beast.

Massanutten and Fort Valley Road are world class. The climb over Massanutten from Luray, heading north, is only 2.8 miles but is waaaaay harder than the climb up the ridge from Front Royal (which I just did this morning!).

Gosh, I had no idea so many folks on Paceline were familiar with this place. If anyone ever wants to come down and ride the area, I'd be happy to ride together.

[makoti]

Ft Royal is hardly an "undiscovered" gem. I don't know one person I've ridden with who hasn't been out there. It's challenging, beautiful, and quiet on the roads. People are friendly (mostly) towards cyclists.
The largest club in the area, PPTC, used to (haven't ridden with them lately) have one or two rides a weekend in the area. it's common for other area clubs to ride out there, as well.
The reason more cyclists don't live there is the same reason more people don't live there. It is 90 min away from where you might make a living. So they make do with Loudoun County and Western Fairfax, and drive out when the weather is good.

[Permanent socks]

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

Massanutten and Fort Valley Road are world class. The climb over Massanutten from Luray, heading north, is only 2.8 miles but is waaaaay harder than the climb up the ridge from Front Royal (which I just did this morning!).

Gosh, I had no idea so many folks on Paceline were familiar with this place. If anyone ever wants to come down and ride the area, I'd be happy to ride together.

The climb out of Luray was steep but the decent down camp Roosevelt rd was epic 😎

Another favorite decent was tye river turnpike off of the Blueridge parkway down to Vesuvious.

[redir]

Move down here to Blacksburg. It's also in the mountains of VA but it's a cosmopolitan island in the sky thanks to the university. The cycling is fantastic and there is a small but vibrant community. The only city life you can get is in Roanoke which is about a 45 minute drive. DC is about 4 hours but they are also working on a DC commuter train.

Harrisonburg is also a nice little town and the mountain biking scene there is probably the best in VA.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by redir

Move down here to Blacksburg. It's also in the mountains of VA but it's a cosmopolitan island in the sky thanks to the university. The cycling is fantastic and there is a small but vibrant community. The only city life you can get is in Roanoke which is about a 45 minute drive. DC is about 4 hours but they are also working on a DC commuter train.

Harrisonburg is also a nice little town and the mountain biking scene there is probably the best in VA.

LOL, Harrisonburg is a big ol' city now compared to when I grew up in the area 40 years ago. Funny to see some of these comments about the area when I see so much growth and change from the Shenandoah Valley I grew up in. Guess it's all a matter of perspective.

[redir]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

LOL, Harrisonburg is a big ol' city now compared to when I grew up in the area 40 years ago. Funny to see some of these comments about the area when I see so much growth and change from the Shenandoah Valley I grew up in. Guess it's all a matter of perspective.

Blacksburg has grown so much too. The UVA used to joke that all dirt roads end in Blacksburg like it was a podunk hick farming school but we turned around and showed them

In fact it was true for a while but then this guy named Frank Beamer came to town.

[Chris(NJ)]

I lived in West Monroe, LA and coming from NJ, it is easily one of the best places I've ever lived and that includes San Diego, Tucson/Phoenix, San Antonio and Brunswick GA. People are genuine and an absolute pleasure to be around. A lot of cycle-curious people in the area w/ a small group of road/gravel riders. They need some better shoulders on a few roads, but the main artery has big 6' shoulder and can get you to any side road or section that you need. And there is plenty of gravel to explore w/ limited vehicle traffic once you're off the major side roads exiting the 20.

[Baron Blubba]

Originally Posted by Chris(NJ)

I lived in West Monroe, LA and coming from NJ, it is easily one of the best places I've ever lived and that includes San Diego, Tucson/Phoenix, San Antonio and Brunswick GA. People are genuine and an absolute pleasure to be around. A lot of cycle-curious people in the area w/ a small group of road/gravel riders. They need some better shoulders on a few roads, but the main artery has big 6' shoulder and can get you to any side road or section that you need. And there is plenty of gravel to explore w/ limited vehicle traffic once you're off the major side roads exiting the 20.

That red dirt looks great, and those pictures make me want to go ride my bike (preferably somewhere with great looking red dirt).

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by redir

Blacksburg has grown so much too. The UVA used to joke that all dirt roads end in Blacksburg like it was a podunk hick farming school but we turned around and showed them

In fact it was true for a while but then this guy named Frank Beamer came to town.

Us Wahoos at UVA also used to chant at UVA-VT football games "If you can't go to college go to Tech." I mean, given the quality of UVA football in the late 70s we had to chant something ;-).

I'd like to visit Blacksburg. I still have a fondness for Charlottesville too. In general that whole region is beautiful, great riding from Shenendoah down to the Great Smokies and fun to explore.