June 13th 2009 7 Day Bike Trip

[WaterlooJay]

7 Days
6 Bikes
2296miles / 3694KM

Planned itinerary, written in pencil, (if you know what I mean).

If anyone knows of issues of planned routes, please let me know.

DAY 1

373 mi / 601 km – about 8 hours 10 mins

Start:
Waterloo

MAP Link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&saddr...,14.007568&z=7


Finish:
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/...uestid=2086117

Holiday Inn Express Mt Pleasant- Scottdale
250 Bessemer Rd
Mt Pleasant, PA 15666, United States

$99.00 (USD) PER ROOM, PER NIGHT
2 PERSON(S) PER ROOM MAXIMUM

DAY 2

408 mi / 656 km – about 9 hours 53 mins

Start:
Holiday Inn Express Mt Pleasant- Scottdale
250 Bessemer Rd
Mt Pleasant, PA 15666, United States

MAP Link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&saddr...,0.218868&z=13


Finish:
http://www.the-landmark-inn.com/flash/main.html
Landmark Inn Hotel
S Us Highway 23 S
Pikeville, KY 41501, United States

Phone: 1-800-831-1469
Email: reserve@the-landmark-inn.com
Occupancy Double $89 (US)
Base Rate
$89.00
(US)


DAY 3

337 mi / 542 km – about 8 hours 17 mins

Start:
Landmark Inn Hotel
S Us Highway 23 S
Pikeville, KY 41501, United States

MAP Link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&saddr...9,7.003784&z=8


Finish:

www.TwoWheelInn.com
TWO WHEEL INN
US 129 ~ Robbinsville, North Carolina
Telephone 828-479-4248

$59.95 Single Occupancy
$69.95 Double Occupancy

DAY 4

255 mi / 410 km – about 7 hours 21 mins

Start:
www.TwoWheelInn.com
TWO WHEEL INN
US 129 ~ Robbinsville, North Carolina

MAP Link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&saddr...8,3.501892&z=9

Finish:
www.linvillefallslodge.com
Linville Falls, North Carolina 28647-0182
Email: LinFlsLdge@aol.com
Phone: 828.765.2658
Fax: 828.765.6788
2 Queen Beds = $106.00 (includes Tax)

DAY 5

273 mi / 439 km – about 9 hours 10 mins

Start:
www.linvillefallslodge.com
Linville Falls, North Carolina 28647-0182

MAP Link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&saddr...3,7.141113&z=8

Finish:
http://buenavistamotel.net/
Buena Vista Motel
447 E 29th St
Buena Vista, VA 24416
(540) 261-2138
Fax: (540) 261-4430
Price Range: $45 - $70

DAY 6

349 mi / 562 km – about 9 hours 39 mins

Start:
http://buenavistamotel.net/
Buena Vista Motel
447 E 29th St
Buena Vista, VA 24416

MAP Link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&saddr...39&ie=UTF8&z=7

Finish:
Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Clearfield‎Address:
14424 Clearfield Shawville Hwy
Clearfield, PA 16830, United States
(814) 768-7500

DAY7

301 mi / 484 km – about 6 hours 5 mins

Start:
Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Clearfield‎Address:
14424 Clearfield Shawville Hwy
Clearfield, PA 16830, United States

MAP Link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&saddr...9,7.141113&z=8

Finish:
Waterloo

Thanks

WaterlooJay
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[stewm_21]

Waterloo Jay;  I did a similar 8 day trip with 2 friend this past September.
Our ride took us:
Day 1- Oshawa to Sarnia, cross over and rode to just north of Troy MI= 740kms ~10 hrs.  Boring flat straight down the I75.  1 stop at the giant Jesus coming out of the pond.

Day 2- Troy to Knoxville= 456 kms ~ 7 hrs, good highway posted for 55 mph with elevation changes and long sweepers to keep you awake, nothing challenging.  Probably could have done it faster if we didn't go looking for a military base the guys I was with wanted to see.

Day 3, 4- Spent 2 days traveling between Knoxville and NC riding the roads (Deals Gap, Cherohala etc)
This is worth the time if you can, some great roads in the area, many smaller / lesser known that we did not get to.  

Day 5- Knoxville to the Blue Ridge Parkway (and this is where the GPS and I did not work well together) to Ranoke= 533 kms, we added at least 100 kms with getting lost / missing the BRP and trips on / off the BRP for gas.  Took us ~11 hrs to get to Ranoke.  Watch for deer / bear (didn't see any bears but we were cautioned by one of the locals) on the BRP at dusk, they are everywhere.  There are no gas stops on the BRP, you have to come off the parkway and ride 10-15 minutes to a town for gas then ride back but it is worth it.

Day 6- Ranoke to Binghamton= 838 kms ~10 hrs. Part of this ride we finished the BRP up to the Shenandoha National Park, nice ride but slow.  speed limit runs ~30 mph and is strictly enforced by park rangers who have nothing else to do.  Fuel up before you go in if you have a smaller gas tank.  There are gas stops in the park but few and far between.  We only rode the south end of the park before we had to get out at the 33 as we were loosing too much time.  

Day 7 Binghamton to Lake Placid= 433 kms ~6 hrs.  The Adirondak Park area has some excellent riding, long sweepers, lots of small towns, good speed, lots of scenery.  Again watch for forest rats at dusk.  It can be pricey (one giant tourist trap) in the area of Lake Placid.

Day 8 Lake Placid to Toronto= 576 kms ~9 hrs.  A stop in Fort Drum (at the military surplus store for my friends) and over the bridge to the 401 and home.

It was a great trip for us, great bike roads in NC and up the BRP.  Great bike culture in TN and NC but mostly HD's, probably 70% of what we saw were hogs or metric cruisers, then sport bikes, quite a few customs with both groups then ST and ADV bikes.  

Have a great ride.  

[Kestrel]

I can't understand why anybody in their right mind would pass by some of the best roads on the east coast and take the interstate instead.   Seems like a complete waste of a trip.

I'd rethink your route.

Edit: Perhaps that came off a little too harshly.  Some portions of your trip are fine.  Rather than heading to Knoxville, I'd jump back into the Apps and take some of the smaller highways / county roads back up into Virginia.  Anything will be great in almost any given direction.  You'll have a much better experience if you don't spend days on the interstate at a time.  The I-79 portion, to Virginia, to I-76.. That's not a bad portion if you're trying to make some decent time.  For interstate, that's actually a fairly scenic choice.  That last stretch on I-79 headed north of Pittsburgh though...  and then up & along Lake Erie....  Ugh.  Why?

There's a lot of straight highway riding in that route .. I'm assuming for times sake.  If that's what you want, then so be it... But like I mentioned before...  You're passing up a lot of great roads in the process.

[stewm_21]

Kestrel- yep, the slab stuff was purely to make as many miles in as little time as possible so we could enjoy the good roads.  2 days down, 2 days at Deals Gap etc and 4 days back on the BRP and through the Adirondacks gave us 6 of 8 days of great rides.  If we had a few more days it would have been all about getting lost on back roads and avoiding the slabs.