US Route 250/Virginia



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Andy H.

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Can anybody tell me what it is like to ride from Rockfish Gap to Charlottesville on Rt 250? I am
mostly interested in road conditions and traffic interactions, but anything I could learn would be
appreciated. Thanks much in advance.
 
"Andy H." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Can anybody tell me what it is like to ride from Rockfish Gap to Charlottesville on Rt 250? I am
> mostly interested in road conditions and traffic interactions, but anything I could learn would be
> appreciated. Thanks much in advance.

I have ner ridden that route, but I ridden 250 bit further west, and have seen sections of it while
driving on 64. I have wondered what it would be like. The way you want to do it sounds like, summer
downhill skiing. I mean Afton mountain has along steep grade, to say the least. If you do do it,
post your thoughts. If I get up that way, anytime soon, I'll drive it and see. Most, if not all
through traffic takes 64, but there is likely some residential traffic. Good luck, Len
 
> Can anybody tell me what it is like to ride from Rockfish Gap to Charlottesville on Rt 250? I am
> mostly interested in road conditions and traffic interactions, but anything I could learn would be
> appreciated. Thanks much in advance.

250 is a fairly busy road, speed limit 55, although because it parallels I-64, it doesn't have a lot
of trucks. The busiest part begins at about Ivy and continues into Charlottesville. The road surface
is excellent. It is rideable but be careful.
 
after descending afton mt. there are some great secondary roads that will get ya to C'ville. these
are of course less travelled. in 2000, the Bike Virginia route went from Staunton to
Charlottesville....

wahoowa
 
[email protected] (Bianchi2) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> after descending afton mt. there are some great secondary roads that will get ya to C'ville. these
> are of course less travelled. in 2000, the Bike Virginia route went from Staunton to
> Charlottesville....
>
>
> wahoowa

Thanks for the reponses. In the meanwhile I've obtained a copy of "Greater Washington Area Bicycle
Atlas. 5th edition." It looks like a good touring book for those who like such things (I do). It
describes a route from Rockfish Gap to Charlottesville that uses 250 for only
1.2 miles out of RG, again for about a mile connecting 750 and 796, and in C-ville. It uses 151,
750, 796, 690, 691, 240, 810, 614, 601,
2. Sounds complicated, but that's what I plan to do.

We'll be staying in C-ville (2 bikers and a driver). The driver will drop us in RG on the morning of
5-31. The plan is to ride to Raven's Roost and back on the Blue Ridge Pkwy, then back to C-ville as
above. I'll post if I survive.

Thanks again.
 
Well then...

We had to wimp out a bit, but it was still marginally respectable for a couple of out-of-shape
45-year-olds. Saturday started out very rainy in C-ville. In fact, at 9AM it was raining very hard
and we pretty-much had decided to scratch the whole thing. The Omni Hotel shows New York local
stations (go figure) and it was tough to get a local report, but it did not look good. However, by
10AM the sun was shining and we decided to give it a go. When we got to the Parkway, it was windy
(must have been gusts to 40 mph past the Visitor Center about 7-8 miles in) and freezing. Given our
late start and the weather we decided to have our driver drop us at the Visitor Center and we
started the big downhill. An inauspicious beginning to be sure.

There is one mild uphill between the visitor center and Rockfish Gap, but mostly we rode down the
side of a mountain. This became far more pronounced as we hit US250 in Rockfish Gap. To make matters
worse, our directions con- fused us and we missed the turnoff into Afton and wound up taking 250
straight down. There is a lot of traffic, not much shoulder, and it's not fun. The turnoff was
apparently marked "route 6" and we were expecting route
151. Also, the landscape is dotted with these little signs that have the number 76, a picture of a
bicycle, and an arrow, and one of those pointed down there. These signs probable marked a bit
more than half of our route to C-ville (we picked them back up at the bottom). I did not
notice where we lost them.

We finally left 250 at 796 and took 690 and 691 through Greenwood,and into Crozet (crow-ZAY). We
knew how to pronounce it because a friendly resident helped us out along the way with directions,
information, and advice to eat at the Crozet Country Club, "where everyone is a member." It was well
located and everybody was very friendly, but I don't think it will be written up in Gourmet Magazine
anytime soon.

Out of Crozet, it was 810 to White Hall, where we made a mistake that we decided was a positive
thing. Rather than turning right on 614 (the right way), we went left. This took us into downright
beautiful country along a briskly running stream. There were three single-lane wood-plank bridges
that crossed it along the way. After about 5 miles there was a really respectable hill and we wound
up at a place called the Sugar Hollow Reservoir. This is very worth seeing. I'd recommend this
detour highly. While there we ran into some local bikers who set us straight and (mostly) succeeded
in not laughing at us too much.

It was very easy to get back to White Hall, being down hill and all, although it rained on us here.
This was the only rain of the whole day and it wasn't bad. Then it was 614, 676, 601, Old Ivy road,
Ivy road, Alderman Road, and McCormick Road into the university. The traffic going into C-ville this
way is not an issue at all, although our guide book was quite cautionary. We got back to the Omni
about 4PM.

As for the food, we ate at Miller's on Friday night and the Blue Moon on Saturday. We were quite
happy with both. Then there was the matter of a thing called a "gusburger" consumed at 10AM on
Sunday as we were pulling out for home (which is suburban Philadelphia, by the way).

We went to Friday's After 5 for a while and saw some people we believe were the "Stoned Wheat
Things." We watched the hockey game on Saturday at Orbitz. All in all we had a grand old time and I
will remember it fondly.
 
"Andy H." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well then...
>
> We had to wimp out a bit, but it was still marginally respectable for a couple of out-of-shape
> 45-year-olds. Saturday started out very rainy in C-ville. In fact, at 9AM it was raining very hard
> and we pretty-much had decided to scratch the whole thing. The Omni Hotel shows New York local
> stations (go figure) and it was tough to get a local report, but it did not look good. However, by
> 10AM the sun was shining and we decided to give it a go. When we got to the Parkway, it was windy
> (must have been gusts to 40 mph past the Visitor Center about 7-8 miles in) and freezing. Given
> our late start and the weather we decided to have our driver drop us at the Visitor Center and we
> started the big downhill. An inauspicious beginning to be sure.
>
> There is one mild uphill between the visitor center and Rockfish Gap, but mostly we rode down the
> side of a mountain. This became far more pronounced as we hit US250 in Rockfish Gap. To make
> matters worse, our directions con- fused us and we missed the turnoff into Afton and wound up
> taking 250 straight down. There is a lot of traffic, not much shoulder, and it's not fun. The
> turnoff was apparently marked "route 6" and we were expecting route
> 151. Also, the landscape is dotted with these little signs that have the number 76, a picture of
> a bicycle, and an arrow, and one of those pointed down there. These signs probable marked a
> bit more than half of our route to C-ville (we picked them back up at the bottom). I did not
> notice where we lost them.
>
> We finally left 250 at 796 and took 690 and 691 through Greenwood,and into Crozet (crow-ZAY). We
> knew how to pronounce it because a friendly resident helped us out along the way with directions,
> information, and advice to eat at the Crozet Country Club, "where everyone is a member." It was
> well located and everybody was very friendly, but I don't think it will be written up in Gourmet
> Magazine anytime soon.
>
> Out of Crozet, it was 810 to White Hall, where we made a mistake that we decided was a positive
> thing. Rather than turning right on 614 (the right way), we went left. This took us into downright
> beautiful country along a briskly running stream. There were three single-lane wood-plank bridges
> that crossed it along the way. After about 5 miles there was a really respectable hill and we
> wound up at a place called the Sugar Hollow Reservoir. This is very worth seeing. I'd recommend
> this detour highly. While there we ran into some local bikers who set us straight and (mostly)
> succeeded in not laughing at us too much.
>
> It was very easy to get back to White Hall, being down hill and all, although it rained on us
> here. This was the only rain of the whole day and it wasn't bad. Then it was 614, 676, 601, Old
> Ivy road, Ivy road, Alderman Road, and McCormick Road into the university. The traffic going into
> C-ville this way is not an issue at all, although our guide book was quite cautionary. We got back
> to the Omni about 4PM.
>
> As for the food, we ate at Miller's on Friday night and the Blue Moon on Saturday. We were quite
> happy with both. Then there was the matter of a thing called a "gusburger" consumed at 10AM on
> Sunday as we were pulling out for home (which is suburban Philadelphia, by the way).
>
> We went to Friday's After 5 for a while and saw some people we believe were the "Stoned Wheat
> Things." We watched the hockey game on Saturday at Orbitz. All in all we had a grand old time and
> I will remember it fondly.

Thanks for the report, Len
 
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