First off, I’m fairly new to dual sport riding. After years of street riding and touring, I purchased my first DS bike this year and I’m having a blast! I’ve watched the Dual Sport Riding Techniques video put out by
www.dualsportriding.com, I’ve read various articles on off-road riding techniques, I’ve ridden with and received tips from veteran dirt riders, and I’ve simply got out there to ride because practice makes perfect. I acquired a KLR very early this year and later traded it for a DR. It’s been so much fun finding the roads less traveled in my area and I can’t wait to branch out and explore other areas.
THE WEEKEND RIDE PLANS
My good friend James (RideWV) and I were invited to spend the weekend with one of James’ co-workers and our friend, Bill, to head down to his condo at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia over the weekend. He was going to entertain clients during the weekend of the Freedom Fest Bike Rally and attend a concert Saturday night. Since Bill doesn’t ride a cruiser, he asked if James and I would like to tag along to explore the area’s finer dual sporting roads. We agreed to take Bill up on his generous offer and started planning.
Before the weekend, I reached out to the ADV folks on ADV Rider and Cliffhanger was gracious to spend time with me on the phone helping me work out a route to connect us with as little pavement as possible from Snowshoe, WV to Morgantown, WV. Cliffhanger gave us some GREAT suggestions which we followed to the tee (well, except for one little mistake I made in translating my notes to the Zumo… there will be a little more one that later).
FRIDAY
Friday afternoon, we left work a little early to make our way down to Snowshoe. We rode a mix of main back roads, secondary lane and a half roads, and gravel roads to get there. The trip down was 149 miles and it took us about five hours including a dinner stop in Helvetia, WV.
My dinner at the Hutte Restaurant:
Me with the Hutte’s owner who was quite the character and great hostess:
We allowed the food to settle a bit before getting ready to continue our way to Snowshoe:
We eventually made it to the base of Snowshoe Mountain and stopped at the Exxon to fill up. Before we rode the 6 mile climb up the mountain, we stopped to top off our tanks and see some of the various vendors set up for the weekend’s rally.
Seas of chrome:
Trails of oil (sorry, I saw this on the ground after a guy rolled out of the lot and I couldn’t resist):
The only vender which saw any of my money was the one with these ladies who were selling cupcakes to support breast cancer research. The cupcakes had an interesting theme to them:
We reached the condo at dusk and I sopped to get a view of the sunset over the rolling hills of West Virginia:
SATUDAY
On Saturday, James and I would ride all the way home to Morgantown while Bill would ride with us to the Canaan area to have lunch. Bill needed to return to Snowshoe for the concert and James and I had commitments on Sunday which required us to be home. The trip home was 249 miles of mostly dirt roads. Whoot!
That morning we loaded up the bikes and headed to the Junction for the breakfast buffet:
Our first stop was going to be the top of Bald Knob, but due to a late start, we decided to take paved roads to the next planned stop, Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV.
Here’s the first leg of our route (Snowshoe to Circleville for gas, then up to Spruce Knob):
Waypoints 4-7 were all on dirt and gravel roads. The roads to and from the summit were in good shape and were nearly two lanes wide. We were able to easily reach speeds of 50 MPH (actual GPS) on the way to the peak and back down to the lake.
The landscape up top looks totally different than most all other places in WV:
An observation tower:
Here are James and Bill at the summit:
The view:
After coming down from the peak and passing the lake, we headed through the Middle Mountain area which I remember camping there with my family when I was young. The roads from the lake to Rt. 33 (PR 1 and 14) were a nice lane to lane and a half gravel roads, which you could easily take in 3rd and 4th gear. The scenery was nice and turns were such a way that you could get a nice little rhythm going.
Here’s the second leg of our trip home:
We crossed Rt. 33 at Wymer and headed towards the Canaan area where we would have lunch. Sully Road was a nice continuation of what we just came off the mountain from Spruce Knob. At the northern end, we hit a brief paved section called Gladwin Road which followed a nice rocky stream with people playing and fishing in the water. On a day with temperatures near the 90s, it looked very refreshing.
We went through Jenningston and across Rt. 72 on and took Black Hollow Road which offered some very scenic views of the Canaan Valley area.
We stopped in Canaan for a late lunch at Big John’s. Afterwards, Bill circled back to Snowshoe as James and I hit one of my favorite roads, “The Loop” or Public Road 13.
The Loop (~18 miles) takes you along the southern rim of the Blackwater canyon. From Canaan Heights, the road starts out as a nice gravel road and as you get closer to Blackwater Falls State Park, it gets a little more technical with rocks, deep puddles, and a few stream crossings.
Here’s the mellow side where you could cruise along in 2-4 gears:
(sidenote: I didn’t notice James’ sweatshirt hanging off this bike when I took this picture. Since he waived me on to lead, I have no idea if it fell off or not. James, if you lost your shirt, I’m very sorry)
As follows are images from the more technical side where you would be in first and second gears (that is if you don’t want to punish your bike or body too much):
Some of the puddles on that road are deep enough to swallow your bike, these were not:
Obligatory stream crossing photos:
After taking on The Loop, we took a quick break in Thomas for some fluids before we headed across Douglas Road (PR 18). Douglas Road is a 1-3 gear road with a lot of rocks, a few stream crossings, and wonderful views to the north side of the Blackwater Canyon:
By the time we reached the end of PR 18, we planned to go down PR18A to see a fire tower Cliffhanger told us about. But, due to the burning daylight and how much further we needed to go before home, we decided to save seeing and climbing the fire tower for another day.
Our next set of roads were to get us up to US 50 near Aurora, WV. Looking back at my notes, Cliffhanger gave me very good directions. However, when I transferred these great directions to MapSource, I clicked on a wrong road to get us to Stemple Ridge. Instead of taking Rt. 9 and “staying to the right” as I was told, I took a right at the end of Close Mtn. Road and ended up at a VERY washed out Twelve Mile Road.
Without a detailed map in hand and the fact I couldn’t find Rt. 9 on the Zumo because I wasn’t zoomed in for that much detail, James and I punted by telling the Zumo to find the quickest way home. We really wanted to run Lantz Ridge Road north of 50 to get to Terra Alta, WV. Daylight was burning and we wanted the quickest route there. The Zumo route to “home” would take us right past Lantz Ridge. We followed the Zumo at least to the start of Lanz Ridge Road and headed up the mountain. Thank goodness we did! Cliffhanger gave us yet another gem of a road!
Here’s the third and final leg of our trip home:
Here’s close up of our trip up Twelve Mile which we took until we could take it no further:
At the point where we could make it no further, the GPS said we were only a mile from Stemple Ridge Road. As you look at the image below, you’ll see why we decided to turn around.
Here’s the aftermath of an apparent land / mud slide which took out the last mile or so of Twelve Mile Road (You can see me pointing to where the road used to be at one time):
Oh well, we’ll be back to that area to explore some more. Here are some of the other images we took in that area…
Here’s a shot of Close Mtn. Road:
A look back at the wind turbines off of Rt. 219 from Close Mtn. Road:
One of the views from Lantz Ridge Road (north of US 50 towards Terra Alta):
Lantz Ridge Road near dusk:
From Tera Alta, James and I headed down Rt. 7 towards Kingwood where we picked up Greens Run from Rt. 26 and ran it west on the southern end of the Cheat River Canyon. Once we reached Snake Hill road, James and I parted ways as I took Mayfield Road down the mountain to Morgantown pausing to watch the Sun set over my hometown:
Saturday was a great day filled with a wonderful mix of roads and scenery. It ranks up there as one of the best day trips I have ever had on a bike. I had good company with me, good weather, a trusty steed, and a welcomed shower when I got home.
