Route suggestion needed Blackburg,VA to rally site

MUNMI · May 18, 2019

I really want to avoid I-81 and at least minimize I-40. We hope to leave Blacksburg on Wednesday morning and arrive mid-morning Thursday in Lebanon. Is that a realistic time frame? Travelling two-up and pulling trailer. We are getting excited about this trip. Both of us have put in lots of hours at work for the last few months and need a break.

flyhi2cfar · May 20, 2019

You deserve someones answer (opinion) Scotty, so I'll respond.

Your timeframe IS realistic... IF your willing to put in, what would be near 7 hours of actual riding/travel on day one.

That would logically make for a 9-10 hour day, with the suitable breaks/meal that's likely necessary two-up with a trailer.

The issue on your desired route, is the numerous times you cross and/or circumnavigate the Appalachian mountain chains north of Knoxville.

Google maps shows interstate would be 6hrs & 400mi. But the valleys/passes and mountain route is near 9hrs & 425mi.

The nicest route I know is 460 over toward Narrows VA the 61 to Tazewell.

Then 19 to 71 to Gate City. 58 to the Cumberland Gap (tunnel over to the NP Visitor Center, nice stop).

25E south to TN63 to LaFollette & 25W Clinton, TN61 to Harriman, where you'll be west of the Knoxville Interstate chaos. You take it from there.

This is not a twisters ride but it is very country scenic for the most part. Lot's of route # confusion will present itself. Wishing you favorable travel weather.

"travel'n" John

MUNMI · May 20, 2019

Thanks for the suggested route idea. Crazy thing....just Sunday afternoon, I built a route in Tyre to Travel that is exactly the route you suggested to LaFollette. I then routed north on I-75 a few miles to stay on SR63 to SR52 then SR85 to South Carthage which is just a few miles from Lebanon. I think that should work out for us.

gsinnc · May 21, 2019

flyhi2cfar said:
You deserve someones answer (opinion) Scotty, so I'll respond.

Your timeframe IS realistic... IF your willing to put in, what would be near 7 hours of actual riding/travel on day one.

That would logically make for a 9-10 hour day, with the suitable breaks/meal that's likely necessary two-up with a trailer.

The issue on your desired route, is the numerous times you cross and/or circumnavigate the Appalachian mountain chains north of Knoxville.

Google maps shows interstate would be 6hrs & 400mi. But the valleys/passes and mountain route is near 9hrs & 425mi.

The nicest route I know is 460 over toward Narrows VA the 61 to Tazewell.

Then 19 to 71 to Gate City. 58 to the Cumberland Gap (tunnel over to the NP Visitor Center, nice stop).

25E south to TN63 to LaFollette & 25W Clinton, TN61 to Harriman, where you'll be west of the Knoxville Interstate chaos. You take it from there.

This is not a twisters ride but it is very country scenic for the most part. Lot's of route # confusion will present itself. Wishing you favorable travel weather.

"travel'n" John

A big +1 on these suggestions! Have ridden on all of those roads and they are all good. And when passing through Tazewell be sure to stop at the Donut Diva!

gsinnc · May 21, 2019

MUNMI · May 21, 2019

Donut Diva

Looks like a fun stop. Where in Tazewell?

gsinnc · May 22, 2019

MUNMI said:
Looks like a fun stop. Where in Tazewell?

It is on the main road through town just outside of the main downtown area right on the curve as you leave town. Believe it is next to a Citgo station. The 2 ladies who own it are really nice. If you stop ask if they have any "donut chips"! The day we stopped she said she was trying to develop a new product called "donut chips" and asked if we'd sample them and give her our honest opinion. HA What a crazy question ... would we like to try a FREE DONUT PRODUCT? You betcha! We both thought they were great. The idea was a little crunchy on the outside and soft donut on the inside. I bet they will near faint if you ask them for a "donut chip" :dance

Ragman2 · May 22, 2019

Nice Route

I will be traveling from the Philadelphia area and have been struggling with routes. I too want to avoid I 81 as much as possible. I really like the route you suggested. I may ride I 81 to Blacksburg and camp out for the night and then take the route you suggested. Nice thing is that it does not add a lot of time to the trip. Do you know of any good campgrounds in the Blacksburg area? I will be leaving SE PA on June 10th and will be camping the entire time.

gsinnc · May 22, 2019

Ragman2 said:
I will be traveling from the Philadelphia area and have been struggling with routes. I too want to avoid I 81 as much as possible. I really like the route you suggested. I may ride I 81 to Blacksburg and camp out for the night and then take the route you suggested. Nice thing is that it does not add a lot of time to the trip. Do you know of any good campgrounds in the Blacksburg area? I will be leaving SE PA on June 10th and will be camping the entire time.

Here is a much better option than I-81 ( I travel to NJ a lot and use the I-81 route but hate playing tag with all the 18 wheelers)

Basically you run Rt.30 to Rt.15 in Gettysburg then follow that south to 340 then just follow 340 until it ends and then take Rt.11. You will be on 81 for a short bit but jump off onto Rt.39 west to 220. then on to 219. Routes 39, 220 and 219 are some of my favorites.

https://goo.gl/maps/desprwFhHdY9Ywh89

Ragman2 · May 22, 2019

Thanks!!!

gsinnc said:
Here is a much better option than I-81 ( I travel to NJ a lot and use the I-81 route but hate playing tag with all the 18 wheelers)

Basically you run Rt.30 to Rt.15 in Gettysburg then follow that south to 340 then just follow 340 until it ends and then take Rt.11. You will be on 81 for a short bit but jump off onto Rt.39 west to 220. then on to 219. Routes 39, 220 and 219 are some of my favorites.

https://goo.gl/maps/desprwFhHdY9Ywh89

Thank you for taking the time to look at this!!! I did consider that route but I'm not sure if my old bones can take 8 hours in the saddle (to Blacksburg) unless I reconsider Blacksburg and find a campground more like 6 hours from home.

John

gsinnc · May 22, 2019

Ragman2 said:
Thank you for taking the time to look at this!!! I did consider that route but I'm not sure if my old bones can take 8 hours in the saddle (to Blacksburg) unless I reconsider Blacksburg and find a campground more like 6 hours from home.

John

An alternative to camping would be staying at The Village Inn in Harrisonburg VA. Local mom and pop motel that is very nice with rates about $75

MUNMI · May 22, 2019

Ragman2 said:
Thank you for taking the time to look at this!!! I did consider that route but I'm not sure if my old bones can take 8 hours in the saddle (to Blacksburg) unless I reconsider Blacksburg and find a campground more like 6 hours from home.

John

John, as an FYI, we will be staying at Microtel Inn and Suites in Christiansburg for around 50$. Have stayed there a few times in the past. I have family in Blacksburg as reason to be there.

Ragman2 · May 23, 2019

MUNMI said:
John, as an FYI, we will be staying at Microtel Inn and Suites in Christiansburg for around 50$. Have stayed there a few times in the past. I have family in Blacksburg as reason to be there.

This looks perfect. If I stay there, I will probably check-in on 10-June. Always good to have a dry place if it's raining.

John

Ragman2 · May 23, 2019

gsinnc said:
An alternative to camping would be staying at The Village Inn in Harrisonburg VA. Local mom and pop motel that is very nice with rates about $75

I was hoping to get a little further down the road on the first day but I will keep this in my book if the weather and my bones force me to find a place sooner.

Thanks!!!

John

HankPfister · May 29, 2019

New River Valley to Lebanon

A small group of us from Roanoke and Christiansburg are meeting up Wednesday morning in Christiansburg. Our plan is either get on I-81 to Abingdon, then head up to Big Stone Gap for lunch, then over Black Mtn into KY and get route 119 towards Pineville and then onto route 92 to Williamsburg KY. We'll stay Wed night in Williamsburg at the Super 8. Thursday we'll have about 167 miles on into Lebanon by back roads and US highways. There are some great 2 lane options for getting to where we're going, but we may sacrifice fun for time that first leg to Abingdon.

We are considering the option of heading west on US 460, pick up Eggleston Road to route 100, and get on route 42 and take it all the way thru Saltville. Then we'd get on US 19/58A to Big Stone Gap. This route is nice, not terribly curvy but still fun. I figure it'd take about 4 hours or so to get to Big Stone Gap that way. Then we'd hope to get to Williamsburg by 4 pm.

Taking US 460 to a bit west of Tazewell and get on US 19 south to US 58-A and 58-A to Big Stone Gap would work well also. I may propose that to my group as a way to stay off I-81 and still make good time.

At the rally look for Twin Valley Riders in the Chartered Club Camping area, that'll be us.

Hank Pfister
Roanoke, VA

Ragman2 · May 30, 2019

HankPfister said:
A small group of us from Roanoke and Christiansburg are meeting up Wednesday morning in Christiansburg. Our plan is either get on I-81 to Abingdon, then head up to Big Stone Gap for lunch, then over Black Mtn into KY and get route 119 towards Pineville and then onto route 92 to Williamsburg KY. We'll stay Wed night in Williamsburg at the Super 8. Thursday we'll have about 167 miles on into Lebanon by back roads and US highways. There are some great 2 lane options for getting to where we're going, but we may sacrifice fun for time that first leg to Abingdon.

We are considering the option of heading west on US 460, pick up Eggleston Road to route 100, and get on route 42 and take it all the way thru Saltville. Then we'd get on US 19/58A to Big Stone Gap. This route is nice, not terribly curvy but still fun. I figure it'd take about 4 hours or so to get to Big Stone Gap that way. Then we'd hope to get to Williamsburg by 4 pm.

Taking US 460 to a bit west of Tazewell and get on US 19 south to US 58-A and 58-A to Big Stone Gap would work well also. I may propose that to my group as a way to stay off I-81 and still make good time.

At the rally look for Twin Valley Riders in the Chartered Club Camping area, that'll be us.

Hank Pfister
Roanoke, VA

Did you mean to say 19 south or should it have been 91 south

Ragman2 · May 30, 2019

Ragman2 said:
Did you mean to say 19 south or should it have been 91 south

Never mind...I see what you mean. How will you get from Williamsburg to Lebanon? I'm interested in this route.

HankPfister · May 30, 2019

Ragman, I'm not for sure how we will go from Williamsburg to Lebanon. May take 92 west to US 27 South, to Elgin and west on 52 thru Livingston, then onto 85 west thru Gainsboro and onto Lebanon. It looked pretty interesting on Google Maps, especially 52.

Ragman2 · May 30, 2019

Thanks

Thanks Hank!!

I'm leaving SE PA on the 10th. I we don't cross paths on the way down, will see you at the rally. Have a safe trip!!!

Route suggestion needed Blackburg,VA to rally site

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