|
|
click for larger view
|
Allegheny Mountains Loop You Print
Product #: BE-1003
Overall Rating: 
based on 3 reviews
[Read Reviews]
[Write A Review]
|
The Allegheny Mountains Loop offers a wide variety of riding types from pavement to gravel, from gentle grades along river valleys to steep, muscle burning climbs and fast descents over ridges, and from busy U.S. highways to lightly trafficked county roads and rail trails where no cars are allowed. Besides the 395.5-mile main route there are 4 options which give the cyclist choices in the mileage they choose to ride. The route begins and ends in Blacksburg, VA, and crosses back and forth between Virginia and West Virginia several times. Highlights along the route include the Humpback Covered Bridge, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, and excursion train rides from the town of Durbin.
Current Printed Version: 2011
For more information on this route or to print out the most up to date addenda for this map please click on link below:
www.adventurecycling.org/routes/alleghenymountainsloop.cfm |
Customer Reviews
 |
Many route options
by a member from Asheville, NC on Oct 13, 2011
|
| |
Good route, informative map.
The Allegheny Mountains Loop has four different optional routes or cut-offs, so you can customize your tour easily, and decrease the mileage quite a bit if you so desire.
Be sure you have some low gears.
Since this is a downloadable map, I recommend printing it on a laser jet printer, not an ink-jet printer.
The cheaper ink-jet printer uses water-soluble ink, and the ink will nearly wash off the paper with the slightest drip of water onto it.
A laser-jet printer produces a non-water-soluble ink.
The paper can still get saturated, but the ink will not run.
ACA, it would be great if you could move the elevation profiles to the individual map panes like you did on the Sierra Cascades map.
I realize that is a big change, but it is sure helpful. |
|
|
| 44 of 105 found the following review helpful: |
|
Searching for America? it's right here
by Jon L from Knoxville, TN on Jun 6, 2011
|
| |
This is a delightful route that takes you thru the rural backroads of VA & WV. The route takes you on little traveled paved and gravel roads that twist and climb over and around the mountains and valleys (touring bikes with 32's were fine on the gravel sections, although we didn't do the W. Fork Trl). Cars are minimal (except on two short sections of busier roads), sometimes only one or two cars (or tractors) would pass us each hour. Some days you'll be climbing for miles, then rewarded with descents that appear to go on forever. Other days, you'll meander along rolling gravel roads with minimal signs of development. The farm land is beautiful, with cows, horses, buffalo, llama and sheep eager to say hello. Most roads were pretty well shaded and never strayed too far from streams and rivers, so doing the route in hot weather is okay. Some towns only had a few shops, others had a few blocks of shops - towns were spaced just about right to refuel/rehydrate. A few interesting sites to see on the trip are the National Radio Telescopes Observatory, The Greenbrier Hotel and the old steam engines in Cass.
If your looking for a week long get away, this ride won't disappoint. |
|
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Great ride through rural areas in the mid-Appalachians
by a member from Silver Spring, MD on Oct 3, 2009
|
| |
If you're looking for a challenging ride through rural, unpopulated, open Appalachian country this is great. Most of the towns on the map are really just cross roads with a few houses. Lots of wonderful down hills (and the corresponding climbs)! This route travels through a region of the country that is still open, quiet and dark. Quiet enough to hear the echo of a distant dog barking down a creek valley, cicadas screaming at dusk, dark enough to see the clouds of the Milky Way, and stumble upon areas filled with colorful and giant mushrooms. The maps take a while to decode. First: decide clockwise or counterclockwise (counterclockwise seems the better choice). Then: there are three cut-offs to shorten the ride and one alternative. And plan on camping! My son and I rode the full route, nine days, clockwise; no alternatives, in mid-August. OK, I need a couple of lower gears but walking three short stretches I made it with no problems. Be ready for "limited" and missing grocery stores. This is rural America; economic hard times close stores and your choice may be 3-year old boxed macaroni and cheese or week old vegetables. The people are lovely; stop to visit and talk; you'll find what help you need. Listen, you'll hear a side of America that is disappearing. Be aware of the profiles, read the maps and the road descriptions. There are gravel roads. These are ridaeable on a touring (or a fatter tire) bike without a problem, but don't expect skinny tires to survive. We had the two rails-to-trails conversions on the second half of the ride; it was a wonderful, three-day loooong downhill along the Greenbrier River. The West Fork Trail feels unkempt, the Greenbrier River Trail is a luxury and worth a trip in itself. This 73-mile section of the trail has its own support organization and map (see http://www.greenbrierrivertrail.com/). Read the directions carefully. I missed two turns that each took a fair number of miles to realize. There are road signs where the map indicates they're missing, and signs missing that the map doesn't note. Such is the problem with prepared directions in a dynamic world. Carefully watch your way in the Durbin area. I had a tough time figuring out the close configuration of roads; a detailed inset would help. We rode this 'cause we were looking at the last minute for a near by week long ride. It was great. |
|
|
|
