The trip was originally to watch the AMA Flat Track Series at the Red Mile in Lexington KY, but somehow the track and AMA couldn’t come to agreement and the event was taken off the schedule. Not to pass up an opportunity to explore new back roads the decision was made to make the trip anyway; we already had hotel reservations and Paul had laid out most of the route. So on Friday morning 5 of us met at the Shady Maple for breakfast and to start our ride to KY. Breakfast was good but the news outside wasn’t as one of our group discovered a tire issue that would prevent him from continuing; and then there were four.
So the four of us were off to our first nights destination, Charleston WV, the route was to speed to exit 296 in Virginia and Route 55 west. Immediately into the Appalachian Mountains the road was nice and twisty as we headed west towards Seneca Rocks Park in West Virginia. I sing the praises often of not only the beauty of West Virginia but the fabulous condition of the roads. Not only do they build great roads through mountains and valleys but they build them to last. When there is an issue they patch the road with such care and expertise it is amazing to me (being from the land of throw a couple shovels of back top at that hole and let the cars tamp it down); in WV they cut a square hole, patch it properly, tamp it level so you can’t tell any difference between the patch and the road and then seal it with tar. Not only are the roads nice but who ever teaches people to drive in WV should start a national school! Most of the drivers are competent and not only go at the speed limit, they aggressively drive through corners! So most times you don’t have to worry about being behind another vehicle, they are willing to go as fast as you are. Even the trucks are fast; we had a red Dodge Ram pull ahead of us this trip and I had to work to stay with him. My excuse will be he had intimate local knowledge of the turns and therefore was willing to attack them more aggressively than us. If you do happen upon a WV driver that isn’t willing to drive fast and hard they all seem to find the first place to pull over and allow you to pass, very courteous!
Forcing myself to identify my three favorite roads from this trip was hard as we enjoyed many beautiful, challenging, twisty strips of asphalt in both WV and KY. Perhaps it was my surprise that there were so many nice roads in KY that caused me to pick two of the three from there. In any case my three favorite roads from this trip:
1. Route 22 from Fernleaf to Williamstown KY – This road was much different than most of the roads we traveled on this trip. A ribbon of asphalt laid across some beautiful rolling hills of Kentucky. A challenger to the Tail of the Dragon for turns per mile and loaded with blind hill crests; this road was fun to drive! Amazingly the speed limit was 55 MPH and you had to be aggressive to get close to that speed with all the turns. I wanted to turn around and ride it again.
2. Route 32 from Louisa to Elliotville KY – More of a traditional mountain road that you would find in WV, Route 32 had it share of climbs and descents. Mixed in were tight twisty corners that you couldn’t see around, switchbacks that exercised your neck muscles to look where you wanted to drive and incredible scenery.
3. Highway 20 from Hines to Buckhannon WV – We rode over 100 miles on this road and it seemed to have a perfect rhythm that kept you energized and didn’t wear you out. Plenty of climbs, descents, tight turns, high speed sweepers and switchbacks were spaced between small towns and valley stretches that allowed you to rest prior to the next mountain challenge.
A fabulous trip!
