East Coast Trip

[Defiant]

My wife and I are gonna load up the the FJR on the autotrain in Sanford FL and go to Lorton Virginia and then ride the bike back down to Florida. We plan on leaving late April, early May. Anyone have any suggestions for routes or stops.

 

[JimLor]

Defiant - I live about 30 minutes south of Lorton - give me a call when you get in and the wife and I will meet you and yours for a beer. There are some great roads in VA if you have the time. I usually head west/southwest from where I live and there are loads of great back roads. You can head west and hit the Skyline Drive in the Shennandoah Natl Park and head south - you'll eventually run into the Blue Ridge Parkway and if you keep going the Dragon.

The big question is how much time do you have to "sightsee." There are 5 - 10 VA folks (at least?) on this forum from VA and I'm sure all would be happy to share thier thoughts/recommendations. Jim

 

[brazos parker]

If you're going south on the BRP, try a side trip thru Shady Valley...lots of turns and not very crowded.

 

[Tim05fjr]

I highly recommend the BRP and Skyline Drive route. I made that ride back in late June and it was great. It's hard to keep your eyes on the road. :lol:

If you like, drop me an e-mail and I can send you a map of the Blue Ridge Parkway that I pick up at the info booth. It shows all the stops and trails you can check out.

Tim

 

[luvtoride]

If you're going south on the BRP, try a side trip thru Shady Valley...lots of turns and not very crowded.

I second that recommendation. Shady Valley is a side trip of about 1.5 to 2 hours to Shady Valley from the BRP & you can route back to the BRP after running the "Motorcycle Playground". Definitely worth the time if you've got it to spare. Not much traffic except later on Saturday & Sunday people hang at Shady Valley country store & talk about riding. (I prefer to do it)

 

[Defiant]

We are without a doubt going to take the BRP and travel that way until we cut over to Charleston. We are planning a week to ten days. How is the weather up there late April, early May?

My wife is a true keeper. When I asked her if she wanted to go to Europe or take the FJR out for a trip up the east coast she immediately said, "bike ride".

 

[JimLor]

Defiant - Apr/May is a beautiful time of year in N. VA - might have to deal with some rain, but the temperature is great, you could'nt pick a better time to travel. That said, a rain suit wouldn't be out of place just in case. Sounds like we both have great wives and that sure makes life worth living! If you have any specific questions, etc, feel free to email me.

 

[brazos parker]

April/may is great riding weather in East Tennessee & West NC. You may run into fog on the BRP early in the mornings.

Hope you & wife have a nice trip.

 

[luvtoride]

Normally that time of year is good riding weather... although, this year, the third weekend in April I was on a run with some people from ST.net. We had to reroute our ride due to SNOW! The BRP was closed from somewhere in Carolina north of Little Switzerland through the south end in Cherokee because of it. We did end up hitting some snow down lower but it wasn't cold enough for it to stick (thank the stars). We hit some rain throughout the trip & super bad fog on the parkway, too.

Snow in these parts is somewhat unusual that time of year but the truth be told weather that time of year "can" be unpredictable. Pack accordingly. I have never been so happy in my whole life that I had decided to take 1 pair of fleece lined jeans & a pair of thermals "just in case". I ended up wearing them for a couple of days under my rain gear.