Virginia

A collection of 52 posts

Jan/Feb '16 Premium Content

Wytheville, Virginia Shamrock Tour®: Virginia Really is For Lovers

It’s my favorite time of the year. The main season is over, life is a little less hectic, and I have some time to take deep breaths and reflect on an eventful summer. Yes, fall is here. Gone are the humidity and high temperatures. The first trees have started

Nov/Dec '15

City Escape: Richmond, Virginia

> This route transports riders from Richmond, VA, the former Confederate capital, across rolling farmland in central Virginia to several iconic locations, marking the final days of the American Civil War in the spring of 1865. Riders interested in Civil War history should factor in plenty of time to peruse

May/Jun '15

City Escape: Washington, D.C. - Virginia Hunt County

> From the streets of modern-day Leesburg, VA, riders motor through the idyllic horse and vineyard country of historic Loudoun and Fauquier counties, VA, and also will navigate briefly into Maryland and West Virginia. This backroad ramble can be taken anytime from spring through fall but is most enjoyable during

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Iconic Roads: Blue Ridge Parkway

Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content

Snowshoe, West Virginia Shamrock Tour®: Adventure Times Two

Snowshoe is centrally located in Pocahontas County, and virtually any road here is a motorcyclist’s dream. It doesn’t matter what type of motorcycle one is riding, the never-ending curves mixed into the serene landscape make for an adrenaline-packed vacation. Webster and Greenbrier Counties, and neighboring Virginia’s Bath

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Weekend for Two: Staunton, Virginia

Nestled in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Staunton, VA, is a cultural crossroads offering a weekend of art, history, and motorcycling. The city is home to the American Shakespeare Center, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, and the Museum of American Frontier Culture. Staunton’s quaint downtown features many buildings

Jul/Aug '13 Premium Content

Roanoke, Virginia Shamrock Tour®: Dirty Dancing Through the Curves

As summer ends and autumn approaches, the days get shorter. While we get ready for winter by cleaning out the garage and servicing our motorcycles, trees use up the last of their food supply in a way that attracts millions of tourists. And what better way to see nature’s

Jan/Feb '13 Premium Content

Virginia Wine Tour: A Sampling of Appellations

Wine and motorcycles are an odd, yet appealing, combination. If mixed the wrong way, the two can leave one scarred for life. In my younger days, I found that out the hard way. But, if handled responsibly, these two endearing disciplines can uncork memories that last a lifetime. Like motorcyclists,

Mar/Apr '12 Premium Content

Virginia: Crooked Road Tour

I’m no music expert; riding motorcycles is my thing. Sure, I still dabble with playing bass in a local garage band and can claim a fat-fingered mastery of a chord or two on the six-string. But music, like riding, certainly doesn’t require a professional license to enjoy. A

Nov/Dec '11 Premium Content

Eastern Kentucky

Guided by a symphony of commands, the tires of my V-Strom 650 carve graceful arcs along the ribbon of pavement draped at the base of a rock wall. A different type of carving, to be sure, than that of Yellow Creek, whose efforts helped form nearby Cumberland Gap. At the

Sep/Oct '11 Premium Content

Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee

It doesn’t take much to prompt a tour at the RoadRUNNER offices, especially after an unusually cold winter – at least by our thin-blooded Southern standards – has been keeping us annoyingly close to home. So when coworker Florian called and announced that two Can-Am Spyders were in dire need of

May/Jun '11 Premium Content

West Virginia, Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland via Route 50

Wafts of cool, mountain air swirl over the Victory Cross Country's short windshield in a near perfect dose. It's not enough to be buffeting, yet just enough to be invigorating. For Kathy, this is our journey's last leg. But for me, well, I'

Mar/Apr '11 Premium Content

Skyline Drive, Virginia Shamrock Tour®

The Great Appalachian Valley is a gigantic trough that stretches 700 miles from Canada to Alabama. The eastern boundary, for most of its length, is the Blue Ridge Mountain Range. Skyline Drive threads its way along the top of these mountains in north central Virginia for 105 miles; it will

Nov/Dec '10 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Bristol, Virginia

A late spring tour in the southern mountains often brings rainstorms along for the ride. On the way to Bristol, the dark and ominous clouds chase us wherever we go. Then, finally, in Jefferson, the rain gets a hold of us and doesn’t let go until we get back

Jul/Aug '10 Premium Content

Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect that it will cease to be divided."Abraham

May/Jun '10 Premium Content

Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia

Soaring 186 feet above the Chesapeake Bay, on its 4.3-mile namesake bridge, our motorcycles seem to have slipped the surly bonds of earth. Enormous ships glide silently below and seagulls follow our exhilarating descent onto Kent Island, MD. Another bridge crossing and we'll arrive on a rural

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Sweet Virginia

Between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghenies lies a mystical land that has attracted pioneer farmers, statesmen, soldiers and settlers. It brims with scenic beauty and inviting roads of escape, all interwoven among the valleys and hills of this lush region. It's more than enough to make any

Jan/Feb '08 Premium Content

Burke's Garden, Virginia

Years ago, Kathy and I met a fellow rider while touring the Virginia mountains. As residents of Asheville, North Carolina, at the time, we thought one of his tales was unusually curious. It seems that the beautiful location of our city's crown jewel, the Biltmore Estate, was really

Jan/Feb '07 Premium Content

The Flight of Davis and Lee

From the beginning of the American Civil War, "On to Richmond" became the rallying cry of Union troops. The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 was a turning point in the war, and the bulk of both armies eventually entrenched and fought around the cities

Nov/Dec '06 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Lexington, Virginia

According to the road signs, we're closing in on Natural Bridge, Virginia. Normally, it's a good thing to be nearing the night's comfort zone, especially after nine hours of riding on a hot summer day. But this evening is different. Kathy and I are

Mar/Apr '06 Premium Content

Virginia: Spirit Roads and Ghosts In Grey

Have you ever been somewhere that seems to speak to you? You know, a special place that feels so comfortable and so right that you can't help but feel you belong there. Staying away is impossible and with each return the mystical region's sweet refrains strengthen

Jan/Feb '06 Premium Content

Old Salem to Williamsburg via Virginia Highway 40

Ah, vintage motorcycles  -  No matter how well you plan and prepare, nothing seems to quell the mischievous nature of the little gremlin that seems to reside in all things carbureted. An irksome imp whom I oh-so fondly call #*@%^$ occasionally visits my 1978 Kawasaki KZ650C. Unfortunately, the little rat decided

Jan/Feb '06 Premium Content

Charleston to Cincinnati

Well mama said, "Son before you goThere's something I want you to doPromise me that you won't go wrongAs you travel down Highway 52."With a map spread across our table at a rooftop bar in Charleston, South Carolina, we began calculating the daily

Jul/Aug '04 Premium Content

Appalachian Trails

Most riders and drivers prefer to wait for autumn's cavalcade of color for scenic tours along the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway. In the summer, these outrageous roads are packed full when loads of city slickers escape the lowland humidity for picnics and maybe some napping in

Mar/Apr '03 Premium Content

Mid Atlantic: Bridge Tour

Our shakedown of colonial American history begins in Elizabeth City, NC, just on the other side of the swamps and tidal flats from Jamestown, VA, the first permanent English colony in the New World. Along the way, we're crossing some of the greatest bridges on the East Coast,