Planning a ride from Michigan to Gordonsville, Va. Does anyone have ideas for a good route there? And any good rides in the area. Will be there for a few days.

 

I would find my way over to say Norwalk, Ohio and then turn south on Ohio 13. 13 to Ohio 93 to Zanesville, OH. Pick up ohio 555 near Zanesville and run it to the Ohio river near Belpre, OH. Pick up US Rt. 50 and head east across West Virginia. Maybe stay around Oakland, MD. Head back to 50 and take that to Winchester. From there you can get on the northern part of Skyline Dr. and take that down to Luray. You can do the touristy thing and see the Luray Caverns. Not too bad of a side trip. For my money some of the lesser known caverns are just as good if not better. From Luray we jumped on 340 and traveled to Waynesboro where we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but for you, that might be another ride. US Rt. 33 near Cass,WV is also a nice ride. Oh yeah, make sure you sample the local food and folklore. Scrapple seems to be woth it and the lore is some of the best. Parked in a driveway on a mountain top somewhere near Keyser, WV and immediately the owner came out to see what we were doing and asked what the heck were we there for. I told him that we had just driven 600 miles to look at the view that he had daily out his front door. He shook his head, grinned and said look away. And we did. I have returned to that spot on several occasions.

 

US 15 north to Orange and check out Waugh HD. Not your cookie cutter Harley dealer.

 

Thanks FJ, I will check out Waugh HD

 

Would like to ride across some Amish farmland areas along the way.

 

Google Sugarcreek OH. Should fit the bill.

 

Fort Valley Rd, on the west side of the park, is a great ride. Cool shop called "The Outlanders" at the south end of the road.

 

We did rode around the lakes on the Lower Pennisula 2 years ago and we live in Central VA but ride western VA regularly. We came back through Columbus, took Rt 33 from there into WV and Rt 50 east which is a good road through the WV mountains.

An alternative is to drop down to Rt 33 via Rt 20 at Clarksburg, WV and ride 33 into VA through Seneca Rocks. Very tight mountain roads and good scenery.

From Gordonsville you are close to skyline drive and the BRP which is south of Rt. 33. There is a fee of around $10 to ride Skyline Drive but you can zip to AFton which is the start of the BRP and ride south. Another short hop is to go south on Rt. 20 which is good road until you hit Charlottesville. Hit I64 and go to exit 107 (around 14 miles?) and get off and take 250 west a couple miles then south on 151. Nice road to wintergreen resort and a couple of brew pubs and a hard cider distillary on it.

Most of the roads into and out of the Blue Ridge Mountains are good.

Enjoy the trip.

 

Talk to the owner of Waugh HD, Hoss if he is there. He is pretty cool. The dealership has been in business since 1939. He is 80 and still rides, and his wife rides with him in the sidecar. He has been to Daytona the last 56 years.