Front Royal, VA and other 'undiscovered' towns.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

Anyway I love riding on Skyline, I used to buy an annual pass and now I have a free veterans pass, so even better!

I thought they let bicycles on for free?

Originally Posted by Kirk007

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.

LOL! Yeah.

Originally Posted by jamesdak

Still chuckling and enjoying these comments. Growing up in that area it never really dawned on me it was the south. It wasn't until I joined the Army and folks starting telling me I was supposed to be a redneck, racist, rebel that I really keyed in that it was the south. Salt of the earth people for sure and I do miss that aspect of being back there. I don't miss the humidity and just those memories are one reason I'm pretty sure I'll never return.

But having spent time in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana that is the south to me and a bit of a culture shock from what I grew up with in VA.

It really does come down to a matter of perspective.

Our farm was basically that field north of the rest station as well as 40+ acres of the woodland to the left. I've still got 6 acres there, just in case.

Lurray is such a cool little town too. There used to be an awesome stage race in that area with a ctiterium down town and a road race in the valley. One of the few races I've ever done where you can hit 60MPH!

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

I grew up in Northern Pa and attended UVA in Charlottesville (1976-80). It was quite a cultural shift.

I had never known that the war of northern aggression was still being fought, that I would have to learn to use y'all instead of you guys, and that conforming to the kahki pants, Izod shirt and Speery docksiders uniform was the easiest way to not get sideways glances from the southern girls and to be welcomed at frat parties where you could drink their beer without joining and going through the hazing process. ).

Although guys here now don’t seem to have much of a dress code, it is still the thing to wear khakis and sport coat to football games and wife and I always joke about the women’s 24/7 uniform of sundress and cowboy boots

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

Although guys here now don’t seem to have much of a dress code, it is still the thing to wear khakis and sport coat to football games and wife and I always joke about the women’s 24/7 uniform of sundress and cowboy boots

Well the women's attire has changed. In '76 it was plaid bermuda shorts, Izod or botton down cotton shirts(pastel pink, green or white), pearl necklace, espadrill sandals. I thought I'd landed on another planet ;-). But I came to appreciate it ....

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by redir

I thought they let bicycles on for free?
!

I think they charge $7 or 8 now. There are some back ways to get on but you pay in other ways usually with a soul sucking climb and often having to ride a short distance on a hiking trail.

I often drive up there to park and ride so I can start at different segments.

[glepore]

There are also free days on Monday holidays (usually) ie this Monday.
Fire road access as Spaghetti mentioned-but almost always involves gravel and mountains and 20%.
BRP is free.

[Tz779]

Yes, but can one get freshly roasted coffee beans there? Or must one roast at home? ;

[stec06]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

glepore and I are fellow Charlottesvillians at the southern end of Skyline. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually been in Front Royal. A coupe of years ago, during that summer lull in Covid, I organized a credit card tour for a bunch of friends from around the country. I had planned on riding from Cville to DC via Front Royal and Harpers Ferry , but ended up a different route starting and finishing at my house. We only made it as far north as Great Meadows. At any rate, researching a stay in FR I found a nice beer garden and a hot tub centric B+B which was intriguing.

Anyway I love riding on Skyline, I used to buy an annual pass and now I have a free veterans pass, so even better! The few times the past couple of years that I’ve been on the northern half, I found the traffic a little heavier, presumably day trippers from DC. Weather IMO is a challenge as the summers are longer, hotter, more humid now but at least there’s the option of going up on the mountain to try to drop a few degrees.

Do you ever climb Wintergreen? Been meaning to give it a shot, but never end up taking my road bike.

[glepore]

Originally Posted by stec06

Do you ever climb Wintergreen? Been meaning to give it a shot, but never end up taking my road bike.

I don't, but I do the route below, which starts at the base of the Wintergreen climb and goes out 151, then up Montebello, which is 10 miles of stairstep climbing between 5-15% and then returns via BRB and Reids.

To climb to the top of Wintergreen via the old Tour DuPont (Trump) route, you need to ride thru the community and turn around and descend, or hike thru the woods back to the BRP and reverse the loop linked, or just cut off the last part in the condos and go directly to BRP, which is not the full race route.
Honestly, Wintergreen is just too hard for me to be enjoyable.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35682245

[Spaghetti Legs]

I have never done that climb, other than in a car! On the route Greg posted above, there are two climbs which are very similar, maybe a shade less challenging. Reeds Gap, which is the steep downhill back to Beech Grove has a stiff climb coming up the other side of mountain and Vesuvius which is the other side of Montebello.

There used to be an annual Wintergreen Hill climb competition, not sure if it’s still a thing.

[Alistair]

I’m out in Basye, VA this weekend (45 min SW of Front Royal). The riding here is fantastic. Solid mix of punchy Blue Ridge climbs, gravel, pavement, valley roads.

[zap]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

There used to be an annual Wintergreen Hill climb competition, not sure if it’s still a thing.

I did it some years ago. I checked 3-4 years ago and did not find an event website.

We stayed in the area many times....Wintergreen, Nellysford, Staunton.......did all the climbs. Some on tandem too. It really is a wonderful area.

[stec06]

Originally Posted by Alistair

I’m out in Basye, VA this weekend (45 min SW of Front Royal). The riding here is fantastic. Solid mix of punchy Blue Ridge climbs, gravel, pavement, valley roads.

Plus the bike park at Bryce is a hoot.

[redir]

Volkswagen used to sponsor the Wintergreen Ascent race and if you beat the overall record you won a car. I thing the record is held by some World Tour pro going back to the Tour DuPont.

[XXtwindad]

Really intrigued by all the posts from Baron Blubba and dcama5 in the “photos” thread. I think Front Royal (Hogback Overlook) and Staunton would make great bases on opposite ends of the SNP. Thoughts?

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Really intrigued by all the posts from Baron Blubba and dcama5 in the “photos” thread. I think Front Royal (Hogback Overlook) and Staunton would make great bases on opposite ends of the SNP. Thoughts?

I spent a week in FR in May riding a couple of days with the Baron and the rest of the days riding routes or variations thereof he'd put together for me. I brought a skinny tire bike (Supersix) and my Bingham for mixed surface rides. I stayed in a Super 8. Any place I ate had way more food than I could eat. As has been written, drivers were few and courteous, the riding is wonderful, and the scenery is lovely. You do need to pay $15 to get onto Skyline if you get there via a park gate. I forgot my Eagle Pass and was annoyed I had to fork over the $, but the day was perfect and I forgot about it pretty quickly. The grades are mild and I never got into my 30-36 low gear, in fact, I don't think I used the 30-30 on Skyline. And as Mike said, the downhills are such that you don't need to be braking, just sweep through the curves.