To Leesburg

May 25, 2013

And the Blue Ridge Mountins go on and on

Front Royal is at the north end of Shenandoah National Park, so the parkways were behind us now. For no earthly reason, I had equated this with thinking that the Blue Ridge Mountains were behind us and that the rest of the tour would be fairly flattish. Wrong! The formation continues on before finally tapering off in Pennsylvania around about the Susquehanna River. A pair of the most strenuous climbs of the tour still lurked in our future.

First though, the day's ride began peacefully enough with a pleasant and flat ride along the east bank of the Shenandoah on the nearly traffic-free Howellsville Road. The Shenandoah was overflowing its banks in places from the spring runoff. Howellsville Road ends at the junction with busy Highway 50, along with our fun and misperceptions. Turning right on the busy highway and leaving the river we immediately began climbing until reaching its saddle and turning off onto much quieter Blue Ridge Mountain Road (you'd think its name might have tipped me off when planning this trip). From here the climb stiffened considerably, gaining 1500' in a bit over 3 miles, before cresting at about 1800' on Mount Weather.

Not only did I not know this was still in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but I also didn't know that this summit is the site of FEMA's Mount Weather Emergency Office Center and its top secret underground shelter - this is allegedly where Dick Cheney went on 9/11 and the spot where the government is supposed to reconvene in the event of nuclear attack. It looked innocent enough on this sunny day, and not 'the best place to survive the Apocalypse' as one website describes it.

The descent was great - first, a fast and straight shot along the range as it drops to Highway 7 at Snickers Gap, where we turned right and kept dropping until turning off on Snickersville Turnpike (what a great name). The turnpike includes an incredible hairpin turn - probably the one most resembling an actual hairpin that I've ever seen and which brought us to a full stop because of a trio of motorcycles coming the other way. They all struggled negotiating the turn, with the first of them almost coming to a full stop, the next one wobbling badly, and the third failing completely before toppling into the ditch. It took this couple awhile to right themselves; and about the time they were moving again one of their friends had returned to check up on them and crashed on the pavement themselves.

Out of the mountains again, we pulled in for a lunchstop at Bluemont General Store. The attractive village of Bluemont has an interesting history - it was originally named Snickersville but then renamed about a century ago to enhance its standing as a resort community; and for a period of time it was the terminus of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) railway before service was discontinued for lack of interest.

Beyond Bluemont we cycled on the short distance to Purcellville through some beautiful farm country, and then picked up the W&OD cycle path for the rest of the way to our day's destination at Leesburg. This is a great cycle path, and one that continues on into Washington DC - giving us another to throw on the list for of rides for the future.

Morgan Ford Road, under the Shenandoah at floodstage.

No laughing matter: an ultratight bend on Snickersville Turnpike. These motorcyclists are just starting up afte misgauging their turn and toppling into the ditch. Their buddies, coming back to check on them a few minutes later, also flopped over onto the pavement.

Bluemont, formerly named Snickersville. We liked the old name better, but the deli sandwiches were great.

Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 487 miles (784 km)

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