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Am I crazy

Why on earth would anyone ride the interstate to get to the rally? I supposed at one point you need to make some time, butt..... I-81 is a major truck route... so is I-40.

Here is a route that shows an awesome parallel road to I-81.

It's like telling a kid not to touch a hot stove vs letting him do it. The pain is a lifelong lesson. :cry
 
WV native responding....

If your going to use the depicted route into and through the Mountain State... allow plenty of time in your schedule.

You've entered meandering territory/day riding... as travel goes.

Quite a bit of low speed (-30mph) showing on that exact route between Durbin WV and through the Highlands Scenic HY before re-connecting onto Rt 219.

I personally love the route, and RT 92/28 just east of that within the region. And I allow near 6 or 7 hours with a Cass Railroad lunch stop on that WV route.

See you in Lebanon! "travel'n" John
 
Buddy, you should try the expressways at rush hour near *any* metro area in Italy! :eek

That would be over my dead body, figuratively and maybe literally. As I noted, if a person has to do that they have both my condolences and admiration. In that kind of traffic I want an F350 with a big cattle guard on the front. :)
 
I like that route. Is there a way to copy that to my NAV 6?

Here is the link:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29297444

When the page opens, click the “More” button and you can choose to download a GPX file. You will need a program to copy it to your GPS, something like Garmin Basecamp.

CAUTION: this was a quickie route that I created for another member... I have ridden a lot of this route but not all. Zoom in really close and look at this in detail... there is quite a bit of tight twisties in this ride, so check your skills.

There is another road, VA42 that also parallels I-81 and it is very nice... you should look at that before you decide.

Also, if you want to make an overnight stop, the Big Stone Gap area in SW Virginia would be a good choice. Lots of nice little mom & pops there.

Please don’t take this route as the Bible..... but it is a good guide!

Ian
 
That would be over my dead body, figuratively and maybe literally. As I noted, if a person has to do that they have both my condolences and admiration. In that kind of traffic I want an F350 with a big cattle guard on the front. :)

:ha

I have been doing more than a little of that over the past few weeks! I just fall in with the scooters!

F350 would be a good choice... or anything with a hemi in it!
 
If your going to use the depicted route into and through the Mountain State... allow plenty of time in your schedule.

You've entered meandering territory/day riding... as travel goes.

Quite a bit of low speed (-30mph) showing on that exact route between Durbin WV and through the Highlands Scenic HY before re-connecting onto Rt 219.

Good advice!

I would definitely make this a 2-day ride, you will not regret taking it, though. Maybe take the Interstate back home.
 
Well, darn it. I talked to Clearwater Lights. They are offering free installation as long as I have the bike to them by Weds at 5. With crossing the time zone, I have an 11 hour ride time from NC, if I go through Tellico Plains and Crossville. Since my wife is driving, I suppose I could break the trip up into a two day affair. I took Tuesday off for final prep and packing. I suppose that could be accomplished on the weekend. The other option is I-40 the entire way, for 9 hours of riding time. Neither of these include stops for fuel, food, etc.
 
Sounding like a "win-win" ARMYMUTT!
Leaving Tuesday sometime on the nice preferred ride, advising wife "see you in Tellico Plains" as an example... arriving Fairgrounds
Wednesday about 2pm for set-up and bike drop off. And the likely benefit of Wednesdays registration/check-in accomplished.
With FREE install!

"travel'n" John
 
I talked to her last night. From her perspective, an even better benefit is that she doesn't have to leave at 6:30 AM on Wednesday, as originally planned. I'll just meet her at either the rally site or at the hotel in Smyrna. My plan is to camp near Tellico Plains, sleep until I wake up, which is likely to be about 5, and ride the last 3 hours to the rally site.
 
Interstate riding in the DC metro area is ...an acquired taste. You get used to it. Sort of. I commuted to work on 95/395/495 for years before coming to my senses and moving away. Now I get to work about once a week (or two) straight up 95 using the motorcycle-friendly HOV/HOT lanes (which are free to motorcycles). It's really not so bad if you only have to do it a couple times a month. There are a few choke points outside the HOT lanes - mostly in the Fredericksburg area between VA 3 & US 17 - but it's not that bad if you go early enough in the morning.

(Of course, having said that, there was a disabled vehicle in the HOT lanes on my way home last week, backed them up for 5+ miles. It was miserable & added 45 minutes to my two-hour commute.)

US 11 parallels I-81 most (if not all) of the way through Virginia and is a nice road in nearly the whole state. I-81 is constantly under construction for long stretches and sports a HUGE amount of semi truck traffic at all hours of the day & night. I'm not a fan of riding 81 for long stretches and avoid it whenever possible.

If you do go on 81, stick to the speed limit or just 5 over in Botetourt County (pronounced bought-uh-taut). Lots of speed traps. Don't forget radar detectors are illegal in Virginia - they confiscate them on sight, and if they're hard-wired, the state has been known to impound the entire vehicle.
 
Weather

Well...I'm leaving PA on Monday and it looks like the weather is going to be horrible (I'm going anyway). I have the NOAA app on my iPhone which gives a good idea on the location of the storm. Question...do you guys have a better app to use to help in routing around or avoiding a storm? Now, I need to relocate stuff I'm packing. I had the rain gear in my right pannier but will probably move it to the top box for better access. Also, I was only going to bring my Klim induction mesh jacket but now I'm thinking I should bring my first gear jacket as well. I think I may be bringing too much stuff but with camping all the way and the weather going from wet hot to dry hot who knows what will be needed.
 
I-81

A buddy and me rode the Blue Ridge Parkway North and continued on to Skyline Drive exiting at Front Royal. At that point, we jumped on I-81 and headed South toward Knoxville and on to Chattanooga. We had no problems riding on the interstate. We returned last Monday. Traffic was light once we got down the highway from Front Royal. We were traveling between 70 and 75 mph. We were the slow ones in the right lane. Good luck!
 
Thanks

A buddy and me rode the Blue Ridge Parkway North and continued on to Skyline Drive exiting at Front Royal. At that point, we jumped on I-81 and headed South toward Knoxville and on to Chattanooga. We had no problems riding on the interstate. We returned last Monday. Traffic was light once we got down the highway from Front Royal. We were traveling between 70 and 75 mph. We were the slow ones in the right lane. Good luck!

All I'm hearing is how bad I 81 is. Your post gave me some hope.

By the way...I was born and raised in Chattanooga. I have thought about going through there on my way to the rally.

John
 
Chattanooga

All I'm hearing is how bad I 81 is. Your post gave me some hope.

By the way...I was born and raised in Chattanooga. I have thought about going through there on my way to the rally.

John

Chattanooga on to Lebanon would be a good way to go. That is what I plan on doing.
 
i have found 81 to be hit or miss. it is a heavily used semi-truck route. any accident or breakdown jams up traffic quickly. never been on it when there wasn't a traffic jam up somewhere...any day of the week, any time of day.

if it is clear, you can munch a lot of miles on its mind-numbing, straight two lane slab dodging trucks.
 
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