West Virginia

A collection of 28 posts

Travel Guide

Things to Do In and Around Weston, WV

Weston, WV, (population 3,943) is the county seat of Lewis County. Weston is a quiet town with a compact, walkable downtown with a handful of interesting shops, restaurants, and museums. The Weston Downtown Historic District has a bit of that time-machine feel, as if time stopped moving about 70

Jul/Aug '24 Premium Content

Weston, West Virginia Shamrock Tour®

Sometimes you bring the quiet with you on a trip. Sometimes, it’s already there. Sometimes it’s both. I brought a little quiet with me on this tour, that I’ll admit. But in this part of West Virginia, nestled in the hollers around Weston, there was also a

Travel Guide

10 US Riding Destinations with Bizarre Names

Some riding destinations in North America have evocative, awe-inspiring names, like the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Sea to Sky Highway. The names for some other places are… Less so. Many locations in the U.S. have decidedly mind-boggling names. But that makes them worth taking your bike to—if

Destinations

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

This Unusual Destination is a hotspot frequented by paranormal enthusiasts. It would be a most memorable Halloween experience, if you dared to go there. In front of the massive gothic-style building in Weston, WV, a sign announces the “Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.” Construction of the facility began in 1858. Originally designed

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Adventures Along the Mid Atlantic BDR

It had been eight months since fellow board member and MABDR architect Kevin Woody and I joined the rest of the BDR team in late summber 2017 for the filming of the expedition documentary.  When the opportunity arose to join four of our generous supporters for another go on this

Destinations

Destination: West Virginia’s Coal Heritage Trail

The story of the southern West Virginia “smokeless” coalfields is a remarkable legacy of working-class culture, industrial might, racial and ethnic diversity, and the creation of a unique and distinctive culture of national significance. The winding Coal Heritage Trail juxtaposes scenes of early West Virginia coal mining against a backdrop

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Kentucky Adventure Tour: Delayed Gratification

I hear the sharp pop of metal moving. An orange flash falls into the maple tree, getting caught on the handlebar like a makeshift kickstand. The bike has fallen against the tree, settling into it's final resting place. This is a fairly good outcome, as the tree safely

Events

Adventure Cross Rally

It doesn’t get much better than spending a few days in the woods with new and old friends, riding dual sports on asphalt, gravel, dirt, and everything in between. A new event popped up last year, and it’s on our radar to attend. The ADVxRally, or Adventure Cross

Jul/Aug '21 Premium Content

West Virginia

If mountains are magnets then I am steel. Be it the Alps or Appalachians, I have always been drawn to the folds of stone and soil, wondering what secrets lay hidden in the distant peaks and valleys. They are tranquil and foreboding at the same time, and largely inaccessible. But

Sep/Oct '20 Premium Content

Seven Springs, Pennsylvania Shamrock Tour®

The old and weathered Allegheny Mountains run through north-central Pennsylvania and portions of neighboring Maryland and West Virginia. The range was once the furthest reaches of a young nation, and within the mountains' wrinkles lie stories and tales that, like tree rings, reveal the past. History It's

Nov/Dec '19 Premium Content

West Virginia: Ride the High 5

Northeast West Virginia is a treasure for motorcyclists, with mountains, vistas, and curves galore. Hardy, Grant, Pendleton, and Hampshire counties banded together to create a map called Ride the High 5 that shows all of the best roads, accommodations, and area attractions. I knew the most famous stretches of scenic

Sep/Oct '16 Premium Content

Southwest Virginia: The Heart of Appalachia

What do two Canadians, a German, and an Austro-American have in common? They have all made the journey to the westernmost corner of Virginia in the middle of July to experience the Heart of Appalachia—a corner so tightly wedged between Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and with so much

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

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

Nov/Dec '13 Premium Content

Southern West Virginia Coal Heritage Trail: A New Black Gold

Being from West Virginia, my roots are tinged with coal dust and steel rails. It’s a noble heritage of hard work, callused hands, and long hours spent chiseling the bituminous rock from the earth and keeping the steel wheels rolling. Coal is energy; and West Virginia is coal. We’

Mar/Apr '13 Premium Content

West Virginia Civil War Tour: Riding through History

Tensions between the aristocratic, plantation-based culture of eastern Virginia and the independently minded mountain people of western Virginia had simmered for years prior to the Civil War. Sharp disagreements over slavery, voting rights, and economic issues finally boiled over when Virginia seceded and federal troops moved rapidly into this mountainous

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

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

Mar/Apr '10 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Wheeling, West Virginia

Day 1: Bodacious Buckeye Backroads Steve and Sharon Mauk, on their red Suzuki V-Strom, and Karen and I, on the Kawasaki Concours, whoosh west on the I-70 Bridge over the Ohio River. It's a beautiful summer's morning in August and we're ecstatic at the

Jan/Feb '10 Premium Content

Ohio River Scenic Byway: Maysville, KY to Pittsburgh, PA

It's now late September, temperatures have moderated to the low 70s, and traffic is scarce on the Ohio River Scenic Byway. I'm back in Maysville, KY, on my Honda ST1300, with riding buddy Steve Mauk straddling his Suzuki V-Strom 650. We're both saddled up

Jul/Aug '09 Premium Content

Baltimore to St. Clairsville, OH

Road building in eighteenth-century America had always been a local responsibility, but an Act of Congress in 1806 called for a federally constructed road that would connect the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to those of the Ohio River. Baltimore, Maryland, an important shipping port, is where the National Road

Jan/Feb '08 Premium Content

Touring Southern West Virginia

The history of West Virginia, the only state established as a result of the Civil War, is defined by its location and geology. Allegedly split in personality, it has simultaneously been called the most southern Northern state, the most northern Southern state, and the most eastern Midwestern state. Seceding from

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