Day Rides - More T's in Twisties

[Visian]

ok, as we proceed toward rally time, i am going to start posting some day rides.

these start and end at the rally site, and while i am not going to go long on route descriptions, each ride will come with a GPS route for you to download.

this is, imo, by far and away the best way to get you to the best local roads without having to write out tons of directions.

so, ride #1... a dual-sport ride *of course!*... :evil

Other rides below:


Virginia SuperTwisties 1 (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=468968&postcount=4)
Virginia SuperTwisties 2 (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=468972&postcount=5)
Country Roads 1 (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=469373&postcount=6)
The Snake and more (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=472328&postcount=10)
Quickie Twisties (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=472682&postcount=11)
Dual Sport Ride over Roan Mountain (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=468773&postcount=1)
3 state dual-sport adventure. (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=476311&postcount=20)
Short Dual Sport (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=476563&postcount=22)


Dual Sport Ride over Roan Mountain - 219 miles that will flat wear you out (or at least the sides of your tires)

You'll find a teeny little road - Little Stony Creek Road - just off US321 on the south shore of Watauga.

up the hill, through the woods, over hill and dale to US19, just a touch east of Roan Mountain State Park.

TN143 south turns into NC261.

West on NC226 at Bakersville (you can bail back to the rally at this point if you've had enough... but it's just started to get good!)

South on NC226A/NC80.

Now *this* is a good road... a little bumpy, sometimes gravel, lawn clippings and other stuff, but wooo... nellie!

Go right on US19E, left on NC197... and you thought *NC80* was good???

It gets better as the road goes over the mountain, turns to gravel and goes down the hill.

In Dillingham turn left, right on NC2178 and go up the mountain on gravel into the parking lot at the Craggy Garden picnic spot.

Follow the access road to the BRP and go south on that for a bit, exit on Town Mountain road and catch I240 west to I26 north and return over Sam's Gap to the rally. Be sure to stop at the top and take in the view.

Trust me, at this point, you're going to love taking the slab back to the rally because you're going to be plum wore out!

enjoy!!! :burnout

ian

[TexanRT]

Thanks -- appreciate the effort :thumb

[alabeemer]

Great stuff Visian! Thanks for your efforts here. I must admit that you are making me very jealous..I won't have time during the rally to take this stuff in...but I am saving these routes for later!!! :brow Keep 'em comin'!!!

[Visian]

this ride is 250 miles-ish.

from the rally, head northeast past the airport, US421 past the Bristol Motor Speedway and over to Shady Valley via the Snake.

Stop at the store, say howdy to everyone.

NC33 goes northeast through Doe Valley. (or, if you want to do the full Snake, continue on US421 to Mountain City, turn north on NC91 and take that to US58. This adds ~25 miles... well worth it!)

East on US58 in Damascus, VA.

Through the Mt. Rogers recreation area, past Grayson Highlands state park (great camping) to VA16.

Go north... hang on to your hat!!!

Cross I81, go through Hungry Mother state park (more good camping) west on Thompson Valley road. (VA609)

US19 goes southwest to VA80.

Go south... wooooHOOOO!

Jump back on I81 south and return to rally.

[Visian]

... with a taste of Kentucky thrown in.... ~225 miles

North from the Rally to Kingsport, west on 11W.

North on TN70... Trail of the Lonesome Pine.

up the hill... down the hill... to Jonesville, VA and US58 Alt.

Northeast to Big Stone Gap, VA... a nice tourist destination.

US23 Bus, VA160 up the hill.... down the hill... to Cumberland, KY.

US119 north to Flat Gap Road (KY932/VA671) east to VA620 (Dewey Road - Guest River Road). go south.

i am pretty danged sure this is all paved... if you have issues, US23 is just a few miles to the east.

US23 south and return to rally.

[Visian]

ok, it's not all twisties... this ride is ~170 miles.

leaving the rally site, find TN75 as it heads southwest across I26.

turn right on US11E, right and head north on TN70... the Lonesome Pine Trail (this road is on some of the other rides).

after passing through Rogersville, things get twisty and go uphill.

Kyle's Ford road leads right/northeast and is a sweet little ridgetop ride into Virginia.

US23 south for just a bit and turn right on VA629, which changes names to become Clinch Mountain Road.

This intersects with Lee Valley Road and returns to TN70, just in time to ride those nice twisties back down the hill.

NOTE: there are tons and tons and tons of these roads in this area, both east and west of TN70. One could ride ridges and valleys for days here and i strongly suggest you take a few detours.

TN70 south back to Rogersville, find TN347 and take it southeast to Beech Creek Road.

this takes you through Poplar Valley to I26 east and returns to rally.

ian

[osbornk]

I have lived and ridden in the area for many years. We choose our rides differently. When weather permits, all three MOA members in the county meet on Wednesday mornings for breakfast at a local restaurant. As we eat, we decide on the general direction we will take that day. We ride about half a day in that diirection and have lunch. We then head back in the general direction of home on different roads. Sooner or later, we run across a familiar road and find our way home. We've never had a bad ride but cannot duplicate the ride later. You're never lost if you don't care where you are.

This year has been a very unusual year. It's rained almost every day and a ride of 50 miles almost guarantees you will ride through several showers. It did the same thing a few years ago but as July approached, it quit raining and didn't rain much the rest of the summer.

[Visian]

We ride about half a day in that diirection and have lunch. We then head back in the general direction of home on different roads. Sooner or later, we run across a familiar road and find our way home. We've never had a bad ride but cannot duplicate the ride later. You're never lost if you don't care where you are.


i'll second that, ken. these roads are mostly coming from my memory as i've ridden in these parts far less than you have.... and some the best i've been on i can't even find when looking at the computer maps!

it certainly is true that you'll have a great ride by just picking a direction and going. there are so many great country roads!

i hope i am doing you all justice. :)

and, wrt rain... i think y'all have been getting what should have been falling in NC!

[cheesewhiz]

"You're never lost if you don't care where you are".

I think I've found my new mantra.

:D

[Visian]

There are two routes here. One is 130 miles, the other adds 40+miles more of pure twisties.

This ride takes you from the Rally, through both halves of The Snake (US421) into North Carolina.

Turn right on NC194

Turn right on US19E and return to the Rally

or..... Route Snake and more_1...

Take TN143 left and ride over Roan Mountain.

Then right on NC226 in Bakersville, NC.

Follow that back over the mountains (*super ride*, btw) to TN107.

Turn left and return to I26 and the rally.

:burnout

ian

[Visian]

~125 miles.

This ride features a short blast down I26 to Exit 43.

US19W (the W stands for WOW!) heads southeast over the mountain.

US19E goes east to NC80. This road is super, as mentioned on a couple of the rides above, but it is a country road.

NC226 west to NC197 back over the mountain.

I26 back to the rally.

[henzilla]

Haven't looked at this in awhile..AWESOME Visian!:thumb

Clearing recent routes out of Garmin next week to make room...

[TNOutback]

A variation on Quickie Twisty, but making it a longer ride, would be to go south on NC226 and get on the Blue Ridge Parkway going south. You can stop off at Mt. Mitchell, highest point east of the Mississippi River, then later jump off the BRP onto Elk Mountain Scenic Hwy (NC2230) north of Asheville. Make your way back over to I-26 and back north.

[Visian]

A variation on Quickie Twisty, but making it a longer ride, would be to go south on NC226 and get on the Blue Ridge Parkway going south.

226 on both sides of the parkway is a real gem. :nod

[Visian]

courtesy of coon-tail tim from ADVrider, who's not a member but has offered to help

btw, tim has a nice rental available within just a few miles of the rally (http://www.vrbo.com/130985), if you're interested.

i've done two key portions of this ride, very easy and very scenic. the northern sections look extremely nice, too... but i have not personally ridden this. the road goes up into the mt. rogers national recreation area, and gets near the creeper trail in virginia.... a very scenic area.

164 miles.

enjoy!

ian

[tkbaker4]

Is there a .gpx to go along with this file?

[Visian]

Is there a .gpx to go along with this file?

not at the moment. check back tomorrow pm.

ian

[pffog]

How much of the last post is gravel road??

[Visian]

How much of the last post is gravel road??

approximately 30-40%. all very easy stuff... nice and scenic.

[Visian]

Is there a .gpx to go along with this file?

here you go... both .gdb and .gpx files enclosed in this zip.

ian

btw - the guy who made this route has a nice rental available within just a few miles of the rally (http://www.vrbo.com/130985), if you're interested.

[pffog]

approximately 30-40%. all very easy stuff... nice and scenic.

That is doable, with the S, thanks

[Visian]

... and easy.

106 miles, takes in the north end of The Snake.

Holston Mountain Road departs US19 just north of Elizabethton.

Holston Mountain turns to gravel and becomes Big Creek Road.

Nice ride through the woods along the south shore of Holston Lake.

US421 South to Shady Valley.

TN91 south.

Panhandle Road up to the top of the hill and back down, just for the heck of it.

Return to rally.

Nice little 3 hour ride.

ian

[Ron_Ces]

I downloaded them all. Thanks for your work.
ROn

[BubbaZanetti]

as usual, i'm doing all my trip planning a few days before i leave.

thanks a bunch ian!

[Ron_Ces]

When I load the map on my GPS (BMW NAVII), I get this message, "This route does not match the available maps! It will not follow the roads precisely. So you want to recalculate?" Is that OK? I have City Navigator North America 2008.
Ron

[CTYankee]

Thank you so much for your work here. Coming from CT, it is good to have these loaded in the zumo. Much appreciated!!!

:dance

[Visian]

When I load the map on my GPS (BMW NAVII), I get this message, "This route does not match the available maps! It will not follow the roads precisely. So you want to recalculate?" Is that OK? I have City Navigator North America 2008.
Ron

by any chance, did you load your maps from a mac? or... are the maps already pre-installed on the GPS?

i've had this issue when i load my maps into my 276C from the mac and then load a route created on my PC.

These maps were created with Mapsource version 6.15.6 using data from City Navigator North America 2009. (so that could also possibly be an issue).

I'd choose the "recalculate" option and hope you don't get lost. :ha

hey, what could be worse than getting lost in this beautiful part of the country, where there are no bad roads????

ian

[Ron_Ces]

by any chance, did you load your maps from a mac? or... are the maps already pre-installed on the GPS?

i've had this issue when i load my maps into my 276C from the mac and then load a route created on my PC.

These maps were created with Mapsource version 6.15.6 using data from City Navigator North America 2009. (so that could also possibly be an issue).

I'd choose the "recalculate" option and hope you don't get lost. :ha

hey, what could be worse than getting lost in this beautiful part of the country, where there are no bad roads????

ian

I agree, it is probably the difference in software. I am going to wing it.
Ron

[DPeakMD]

by any chance, did you load your maps from a mac? or... are the maps already pre-installed on the GPS?

i've had this issue when i load my maps into my 276C from the mac and then load a route created on my PC.

These maps were created with Mapsource version 6.15.6 using data from City Navigator North America 2009. (so that could also possibly be an issue).

I'd choose the "recalculate" option and hope you don't get lost. :ha

hey, what could be worse than getting lost in this beautiful part of the country, where there are no bad roads????

ian

Thanks for putting these together, Ian!

I'm using Garmin RoadTrip (2.0.2) on a mac. Able to import your files just fine.

Hesitant to say use recalculate, though. From what I've gathered trying to do this, it will change your route to fit the available waypoints based on your particular settings for avoidances, shortest vs. fastest, and scenic vs. highways which you've made in the software. This can end up totally changing the route from what you intended to something totally bizarre based on what it 'thinks' is best.

Not sure yet, but I think the same could happen after you export it to your GPS unit again based on settings you have there. So we'll have to see.

I usually end up using a ton of waypoints in order to force it to use the route that I want. It's a very cumbersome process!

[Visian]

bump

[TNOutback]

Ian,

In your Dual Sport Ride Over Roan Mountain, you mention TN 143/NC 261. Is this a good paved road? I'm a RR rider and wanted to visit Roan Mtn S.P. and Carver's Gap at Roan Mtn.

[Visian]

Ian,

In your Dual Sport Ride Over Roan Mountain, you mention TN 143/NC 261. Is this a good paved road? I'm a RR rider and wanted to visit Roan Mtn S.P. and Carver's Gap at Roan Mtn.

yes, that road is paved. the "snake and more (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=472328&postcount=10)" ride might be of interest to you.

[Visian]

a few people have told me they've taken a couple of these rides.

they're lovin' it! :thumb

[tridge]

To many roads, to little time. the riding up here has been...:thumb

[DPeakMD]

Too little time to ride. There was so much going on at the rally!

I've resolved to return here just to ride next time!:thumb

[Greg_K]

Thanks a bunch for the "Snake and then some" GPS file! That was a fantastic ride :dance