Barber Museum Trip October 6th-?

[shanekingsley]

http://www.barbervintagefestival.org/

I have some time off work and I'm going. Leaving October 6th and coming back when I ready to. I'm camping and already on my way to having everything I need, except now I'm into planning my route and places to stay. V-Tom sent me a great route, of which I'll use some of it on my way back, but one thing I wanted to do was run the Skyline Drive/BRP from start to finish (north to south)...

I found a few good links to the best roads in the area.
The mini website was great: http://www.minisonthedragon.com/the_roads.php
and so is the NPS map of the BRP: http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisi.../blrimap-2.pdf

I'll try to camp at the Barber Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, and also at either the Ironhorse or Fontana's in Deals Gap. Somewhere along the way there or back, I will stay in a motel for a night or two, to have a nice shower and bed to sleep on.

Can anyone recommend good cheapo motels or campgrounds in Penn, Virginia / W Virginia, Alabama or northern Georgia? I just went to CAA and they gave me some stuff, but wanted to hear from the collective here of your experiences.

Thanks

[Koval_68]

Hi Shane! You might want to hook up with a group of riders from Concours.Org. They're a great bunch of guys and know the area well.
http://forum.concours.org/index.php?topic=75116.0
I'm riding in Pennsylvania that weekend, I wish I've had more time to go with you, but I don't. Have a safe trip!

[Metastable]

Just a warning about Skyline drive and really anywhere in the mountains of WV and VA. It can get pretty cold in October in some of those places. Check the forecast ahead of time. If things are looking a bit dodgy for the north-south run, take I-75... less hills.

[shanekingsley]

Thanks for the link to the Concours group. Although I ride a V-Strom now, I used to have two Kawi's, so maybe we'll get along after all

Thanks for the heads up about the cold. I will check the forecast the day before I leave. I have heated gear, and a warm sleeping bag/tent/air mattress + thermal clothing... so hopefully that's enough. I prefer sleeping in the cold (than the heat) and don't mind riding on cold roads either. Thinking about staying in Shenandoah Park (close to the start of the Blue Ridge) for the 1st night: http://www.recreation.gov/campground...O&parkId=70852 , but have to call them and find out more details...

Can the BRP be done in one day or is it too windy/slow speeds? I'd like to stay my 2nd night closer to Asheville, NC at the bottom of the BRP if possible.

[Rob MacLennan]

You may want to call ahead and see if you can get a room in Leeds, AL before you start out. I did a quick check of 3 different motels in the area and they're all sold out, so there may be something big going on at either Barber or Talledega Speedway the weekend of Oct. 8-11.

[shanekingsley]

Thx Rob. There is the vintage bike festival going on at Barber from Oct 8-10th whcih is actually one of the reasons why I thought it might be a good destination for a road trip. I have booked a campsite on the Barber grounds for the whole weekend, although I may only show up for the Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully by showing up on the Saturday doesn't put me in the tent space next to the port-o-potties, as tent spaces are given out on a first come first serve basis (advance bookings required)....

The link in the original post is for the festival itself...

[Metastable]

Man the Blueridge takes a while. We were heading north on it in a car and I was hustling along pretty good, but it takes WAY WAY longer than the interstate, eventually I pulled on to an interstate because it was taking us too long. I can't say whether or not it can be done in a day, because we didn't have that long to find out. Google maps says 8 hours from Roanoke, VA to Ashville, NC... but 10 1/2 from Roanoke all the way to the end... kinda near Deals Gap.

Just to get an idea, if you took the fastest route, from Roanoke to Ashville it would be 4 hours.... half the time.

[shanekingsley]

Thx. I wasn't sure about that. If that's the case, I may just do the 219 down to Deals and then take the blue ridge all the way back, since I'm on much less of a schedule coming home than heading out.

[Rob MacLennan]

Thx Rob. There is the vintage bike festival going on at Barber from Oct 8-10th whcih is actually one of the reasons why I thought it might be a good destination for a road trip. I have booked a campsite on the Barber grounds for the whole weekend, although I may only show up for the Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully by showing up on the Saturday doesn't put me in the tent space next to the port-o-potties, as tent spaces are given out on a first come first serve basis (advance bookings required)....

The link in the original post is for the festival itself...

That'll teach me to ignore previous posts.

If you've not been to the Barber Museum before, you're going to love it. I've got some pics on my site, that I've taken on a couple of my previous visits.

[shanekingsley]

Nice pics Rob. I'm really looking forward to getting down there... I still need to buy a modest camera before I go...

Normally I don't plan so much and just go with the flow, but with this trip, I figure that a little bit of planning will go a long way. I'm glad I did the planning, because in doing so, I came across some really interesting roads and parks that I'd really like to visit. I've read elsewhere here that some roads get so twisty in some areas, that 300miles can be a full day. I'm accustomed to knocking off 600miles+ in a day, but that's usually at an average of 55m/hr on faster sweepers as opposed to tighter, technical roads. I'm hope that each day I can accomplish what I have estimated, but since I want to make camp each night while there is still some light out, I figure I may have to change my route as I go. I don't want to ride at night and chance it with the wildlife. I'm an early riser, so I hope to be on the road each day by around 8am, unless I go hiking around. I hope there is no road closures...

[shanekingsley]

One thing is for certain - I do want to do the Skyline Drive/BRP from end to end. In Google maps, it says that Skyline Drive may be closed at this time of year Any input on the route is welcome...

Route Day 1 - October 6th - 867 km
Camping in Monongahela National Park (Day Run Campground) - close to Marlinton (US219) http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/eas....htm#day%20run

Route Day 2 - October 7th - 448miles (720km)
Camping with some other riders heading down from Toronto in Deals Gap at some house they rented.

Route Day 3 October 8th - 316 miles (508km) Deals Gap to Barber Museum
http://barbermuseum.org/directions.php

Day 4 October 9th - Barber Museum - day to relax

Route Day 5 - October 10th - 248miles (399km)
Leave Barber around noon and ride along Natchez Parkway to Meriwether Lewis Monument (Free camping at milepost 385 near Hohenwald, TN)
(http://www.nps.gov/natr/loader.cfm?c...e&PageID=90434)

Route Day 6 - October 11th - 364 miles (585)
Meriwether Lewis Monument back to Deals Gap
(Fontana Village - http://www.fontanavillage.com/accomm...ccommodation/2 ) or
(Ironhorse - http://www.ironhorsenc.com/rates.html)

Route Day 7 - October 12th - 330 miles (531km)
Deals Gap to Doughton Campground (Doughton Recreation Area along Blue Ridge Parkway)
Doughton Campground - (http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisi...ge-parkway.htm / http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/v.php?pg=19)

Route Day 8 - October 13th - 312 Miles (500km) BRP to Skyline Drive
Doughton Campground to Lewis Mountain Campground (along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Park)
Lewis Mountain: http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisi...campground.pdf

Route Day 9 - October 14th - 376 miles (605km)
Shenandoah to Allegheny National Park (Hearts Content Recreation Area)

Route Day 10 - October 15th - 352 miles (566km)
Allegheny National Park to Toronto via Susquehannock State Forest