ESTN Ride Routes

[SWriverstone]

So I thought I'd get the ball rolling by opening a thread on ride routes for ESTN. There's obviously a crapload of amazing roads around Sparta (heck—they were enough to make someone PUKE when ESTN was last held there!   )

I'll start by throwing out some general regions where excellent twisties are most likely to be found. I did what I often do with Google Maps: to find out where the mountains and hills are (the home of 99% of all twisties) you have to use Terrain view. But Terrain view doesn't show you all the roads and towns as clearly.

So what I do is use Terrain view to find all the mountainous areas and highlight them by drawing regions around them. Then when you switch back to plain ol' map view, your highlighted areas show you where the mountainous areas are.

Here's what I came up with:


View Sparta Area in a larger map

Here's the same map in Terrain view...


View Sparta Area in a larger map

Those are the MOST mountainous areas around Sparta (the highlighted regions). That's not to say there aren't any good roads outside those regions—and I tried to keep from getting too ridiculously far away from Sparta—even though R Doug and Garry will say "Hey-you didn't highlight Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee! We can ride there in a day no problem!"  

I'd love to hear from the local folks down there—are these highlighted regions in fact where all the best roads are?

Scott

[chornbe]

Here are some routes that rwm0268 did. He's no longer attending but has provided these route files.

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,51446.msg1288610.html#msg1288610

My plans have changed and I will not be able to make it this year.

However, as promised, I have finished building the route that I was going to ride. This route pretty much follows the ESTN07 route #2 that ServiceRifle created. I have broke the route up into three segments. Each leg contains a flag at every turn ( road change ).

Let me know if anyone has any questions.

1st Leg:
http://www.mapquest.com/mq/10-wxaphprxrYgfs*1j

2nd Leg:
http://www.mapquest.com/mq/8-yAj0

3rd Leg:
http://www.mapquest.com/mq/2-JqR92bA2Kdzd


If you have the Garmin Communicator installed you can transfer these routes directly to your Garmin from MapQuest. I have also attached the gpx files.

Let me know if anyone has any questions about the routes.

[SWriverstone]

Awesome—thanks Chris. I'll grab those and check them out. I rode one of those routes in '07...and all I remember was a dizzying array of twisties until I felt like I was gonna puke.  

Scott

EDIT: Just finished scoping out that route...ahh yes, it's all coming back to me now.   That's a pretty serious route (325 miles or so, I think?). With mega-twisties, the "Snake" (isn't that what 421 is called?)...and some BRP thrown in for good measure.

58 in VA is an awesome road...worth riding, but the "get stuck behind slow-moving yahoos" factor is pretty high, since 58 is the only major traffic artery across southwestern VA. It's interesting—locals have been cursing the VA government for years because they refuse to fund a 4-lane highway across that southwestern corner of the state. And thanks to their being NO 4-lane highway...that part of VA is still seriously out-there. But man, if they DID put a 4-laner in...it would be a BOON to motorcyclists because magnificent Rt.58 would be EMPTY. LOL

I'm definitely gonna setup this route in my GPS. (Whether or not I ride the whole thing is a different story, but we'll see!)

Scott

[ConPilot1]

From what I remember of my trip last year, Sparta looks like it lies juuuuussssssst off the BRP to me.

[Skee]

Routes from ESTN 2007

ESTN_1 - Right click to download & save

ESTN_2 - Right click to download & save

ESTN_3 - Right click to download & save

FYI - ESTN_2 is almost the same as rwm0268's route

[nantahala]

The southern and middle blobs look good in the first maps.  The northern blob of ridge and valley is OK, and is nice riding over the ridges, but the trips down the valleys can be a little boring - scenic though.  There are some good 600 and 700 roads in there that don't have a middle line and sometimes look like Isle of Man terrain - ribbon of road over the hilly countryside curving around the farms.  They will turn to gravel sometimes also.

Shot of the area from this spring - road turned to gravel for 4 or 5 miles.  Great looking country though..



Southern West Virginia is calling my name for this trip...  

Matt

[BigBird]

Can these files be converted to Garmin Format?

If so can you tell me how?

Thanks

[Skee]

Can these files be converted to Garmin Format?

If so can you tell me how?

Thanks

Which routes are you talking about?

If you are talking about downloads from Google Earth or MapQuest, I suggest you consult one of the many the Zumo forums and entreat you to explain it to me if you figure it out.  While I have read that it is not possible, at least one person I know has a workaround to do it; however, the technique eludes me.  

If you are talking about the *.gpx downloads that I posted, these can be opened with MapSource and saved in *.gdb format.  You can also load them dirctly into the GPX folder on the root or card drives of a Zumo and they will load as imported routes.  If you have a Nuvi or another Garmin model, I can't help you.  Go to a game shop and ask any 13 year-old.   Good luck & good riding.  

[BigBird]

THANKS!