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A Recommended Road

RTRandy

New member
In 2006 I made a roughly 7,000 mile solo ride from Dallas to ride the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia along with Prince Edward Island and the Vermont Rally on the way home. Turned out to be a great trip. Since it was my first ride going east, I tried to take in all the great roads and places discussed here like the Cherohala Skyway, Deals Gap/Dragon, Blue Ridge Parkway on my way north.

Anyhow somewhere north of Ashville, NC there was a detour and I ended up getting off of the Blue Ridge and on to Hwy 421 that day and then spending the night just north of Roanoke in the town of Troutville.

That evening I end up talking with a local Ducati rider and his wife in a parking lot at dinner because he was admiring my 1150RT. In discussing my plans to ride the north end of the Blue Ridge Parkway through Shenandoah National Park the next morning , he tells me of all the roads in that area including the Blue Ridge, if it was him, he would take Hwy 220 going north. The guy was so adamant about it and telling me it's a local club favorite that I decide take his advice.

It's a road I had never heard mentioned before or after that evening yet turned out to be one of the most memorable rides the whole trip. It's got an excellent surface, tons of sweepers, very pretty scenery, elevation changes including some mild passes plus it's a very long run. I started in Troutville just north of Roanoke and followed it to a place called Seneca Rocks. Kind of cool, though not sure what the significance was. Along the way I passed this golf resort called the Homestead which was incredible. After, I ended up riding it through Cumberland, MD and from there I made my way to Huntingdon,PA for the night.

I would highly recommend this route to anyone riding to the rally from the Northeast as it's a real good north/south run with no traffic. Hwy 220 is a winner.

I'll include a few pics to get some flavor.

[IMG]http://gallery.me.com/rpscott2/100312/DSC00804_1/web.jpg?ver=12441757350001[/IMG]

Here is Seneca rock whatever the heck that is
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Taken north of Seneca Rocks
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Here's that golf resort. Looked incredable!
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Looks like a great road. I hope to take an east coast ride this fall. I'll have to keep this in mind. Thanks.
 
This is good news! Depending on my work schedule, my departure for the rally may be the Philly area, and part of this road was on my tentative route. :thumb
 
Nice to hear good things about 200 I ride it all the time in fact I live .2 miles off of it in Altoona pa. Just watch your riding around Homestead inn in Virginia the police are not a fan of motorcycles in Homestead and Warm Springs. I hae been escorted out of town twice there for playing on Covington mountain. Just can't help myself

Brett Endress
Altoona PA
 
Is this REALLY TRUE or a tongue-in-cheek remark???
:scratch

Truth be known, the guy was in his 50's and claimed he and his wife were taking long trips on one of the several Ducati's he owned at home. He was just thinking the RT might be a better way to ride two up. Ya think?
 
Speaking of admiring. This was a little tourist town near Seneca Rocks which looked like a good rest stop to take in the local color. While hanging out and standing near what appeared to the other riders as a plastic looking bike, all these cruisers were setting out and you just couldn't believe the noise level these guys were purposely making as they went by. ( Note the group in the lower left of photo.) Anyhow, I went about my business there for awhile longer and low and behold 20 minutes up the road, here are these guys hanging on for dear life at 55 mph. At the right moment I shot passed the whole lot waving as I went past.

So much for those leather streamers hanging from their hand grips.
 

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As I mentioned on another thread asking for post-Rally route advice, Rt. 220 is one of my all-time favorite roads. North/South Roads in eastern WV tend to be valley roads running between mountain ridges, with gentle elevation changes, long, slow sweepers, a great mix of deep forests and open farms, and amazing scenery. Rt. 220 is probably the greatest example of this, with the added bonus that it is very lightly populated and not cursed by Wal-Marts and the like. It is too bad you missed a stop at the Jefferson Pools where Rt. 220 intersects another great road, Rt. 39 - stopping for a soak there is always a highlight of riding that area (and as there are separate Mens and Womens buildings, it is an "old school" soaking experience as no bathing suit is needed...)

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MOA rally to RA rally

Speaking of admiring. This was a little tourist town near Seneca Rocks which looked like a good rest stop to take in the local color. While hanging out and standing near what appeared to the other riders as a plastic looking bike, all these cruisers were setting out and you just couldn't believe the noise level these guys were purposely making as they went by. ( Note the group in the lower left of photo.) Anyhow, I went about my business there for awhile longer and low and behold 20 minutes up the road, here are these guys hanging on for dear life at 55 mph. At the right moment I shot passed the whole lot waving as I went past.

So much for those leather streamers hanging from their hand grips.

This is a great road to take for those traveling from the MOA rally to the RA rally the next weekend in Cannan Valley, WV. Here is a different angle from the same parking lot at Seneca Rocks.
 

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