West Virginia - US 50 or 55?

[gqelements]

Starting to plan this year's WV trip, and have a conundrum.... while going across WV (East-West) take US 55 or 50?

http://www.motorcycleroads.us/regions/wv_potomac.html shows US 55 as the 'twistier' route, but comments seem to be better under the US 50 route... also http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum...a-Riding-Roads shows a pretty awesome stretch of US 50 that looks oh sooo tempting...

Any and all input from seasoned WV riders is welcome (esp regarding any other good road stretched in WV).

PS: Currently the overall route is shaping out to be: Friday mid-day sprint into Renovo via Buffalo (to hitting 44 down), Saturday down and across WV, (hopefully into Ohio ending up just West of Pitsburgh) and Sunday back to civilization (Canada) up i79 getting off to run though West side of though Alegheny National Forrest and to the border.

Input welcome.

[boooya]

Both those are good but the 250 is much, much, much better .
Let me know when you plan on going, I may just join you.
Also take the 15/220 down, much nicer route.

[Carmen]

I took 220 south off of I-68 up to Franklin WV, at which point I took 33 (the prettiest road in the state) through Germany Valley, Seneca Rocks, and Spruce Mountain (WV highest at 4800 ft). 33 will take your breath away. You can ride 33 back to Elkins at the 219 junction.

[gqelements]

Thanks all for the feedback, to clarify, the group is looking for the TWISTIEST roads... Scenic is a secondary consideration...

Thanks again and keep them coming

[Emerald94]

33 is a nice road and so is #16 from Tazewell.

[FJgeezer]

In my opinion, and I have ridden all over this state, just buy yourself a Rand and Mcnally (must be Rand and Mcnally) Road Atlas for North America. Now spend some time studying the map for West Virginia, pick out what look like twisty, paved roads and plan a route. These road atlas are extremely accurate and show virtually every paved road in the state. I know it is a little old fashioned but GPS's just aren't as accurate for this kind application, at least that's my experience so far. Most paved roads in WV will have good to excellent surfaces compared to Ont. so you really don't have to worry about that too much. The people are extremely friendly and the roads great, have fun, just buy the road atlas and don't sweat it.

[Carmen]

Thanks all for the feedback, to clarify, the group is looking for the TWISTIEST roads... Scenic is a secondary consideration...

Thanks again and keep them coming

There are no straight roads in WV. Now take off and discover. It's all good.

[viper84737]

As an experienced adventurer who specialized in a continent's worth of EXACTLY what you want for your trip, I strongly suggest the following:

1) If you're a Garmin user, Mapsource is your friend
2) Use Google Maps liberally!

Study the roads, take a look at the bendy parts' street views, etc. I used Garmin's Mapsource first, and verified with Google Maps, and with these, it's ultra easy to find the best roads in any given area, and verify that they are indeed ridable.

Google updates street view in a specific location every 1-3 years, depending on its population and popularity, so some of these roads may be in better condition than they show (such as dirt roads being paved, which is rare, but it happens -- and rarely do paved roads turn into dirt roads, in fact I've never seen that happen with my resources).

If you're using Garmin's Mapsource, stick to 5 km zoom ranges, so you can see all the good roads. At 1.5 km resolution, you'll find extremely narrow roads which SEEM fun, but when you get there they're too narrow, usually 1.5 car widths wide, no center lane, dangerous to ride quickly on, as visibility is too poor and oncoming traffic is unpredictable. California Highway 36 is one such example of extreme awesomeness.