Category: Bike

Summary: Shenandoah-AT

Shenandoah Overview — This is where most people begin the Skyline Drive. I didn’t get here till after I’d hiked and biked the vast majority of its length. Not till the very end did I cap my adventure with the Dickey Ridge Trail hike.

My hike was 125 miles: 115 miles along the Appalachian Trail plus another 10 along Shenandoah’s Dickey Ridge Trail to the park’s entrance. In addition, I biked 105 miles along Skyline Drive. I have no idea where I got the idea pursue this big goal but I can briefly describe how I did it.

Stage 1: It all started innocently enough. “Why not hike a little section of that famous Appalachian Trail which runs 2,170 miles from Georgia to Maine?” I thought. Linden, VA on Interstate 66 was a convenient place to start so I did a couple of one-day hikes along it till I reached Skyline Drive which runs along the ridges of the Shenandoah National Park. When I arrived, the next phase of my adventure occurred to me.

Bike Hike Mountain Travel

Hike: Dickey Ridge Trail

I won’t deny it. The best part of this hike was the 10.2 mile bike ride of which all but 1.4 miles was downhill. What a thrill! I can hike uphill forever but I wither quickly when I have to bike the same incline.

When my hike planning went well on this adventure then I’d end the hike with my return being largely a downhill bicycle ride. This wasn’t always possible to plan. While I have elevation information for the hiking trails, I didn’t have something similar for the Skyline Drive. I have since collected that data using a GPS but I didn’t have it at the time. I just assumed the road contour generally followed the Trail and this was only true some of the time.

This hike was made to truly finish off my hike-bike of the entire length of the National Park. Hiking the Appalachian Trail within the park only covered 95 miles of its 105 mile length. The northern-most 10 miles are a separate hike along Dickey Ridge, a trail I hiked today.

I have now hiked the entire Shenandoah National Park from top to bottom!

Dickey Ridge View

Bike Hike Mountain Road Travel

The AT: My Two-Hike Overnighters

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 26, 2009
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Butterfly — Though I don’t pay much attention to them, there is a huge variety of insects to be seen along the trail. One of these hikes I’ll need to focus on them but until then I’ll just keep avoiding them underfoot.

First it was an idea and then an accomplishment. Within 24 hours I hiked 22 miles and biked 17.5 miles and in between I slept like a log on Loft Mountain. This took me half way through the South District of Shenandoah. My second time out I hiked an even more ambitious 23.1 miles and biked 22.1 miles while collapsing at a Days Inn overnight. I was going out with a bang! (Or a thud!)

Allow me to give you a feel for what a day hike along the AT is like. The picture below I took early on my first day. From this view point you can see Loft Mountain in the distance. Over hill and dale the day’s hike was 13 miles and this is what it looked like. Good thing I didn’t expose myself to this ominous prospect too often or I might have given up!

Bike Hike Road Travel

The AT: Two More Hikes Down

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 8, 2009
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Rocks. They stand in stark contrast to the misty softness which pervades the park and rocks define some of her most interesting features. Three I’ve hiked are Old Rag Mtn, Stoney Man, and Bearfence Mountain. All three are excellent examples of this.

AT - Two More Hikes Down 1

This week I hiked twice. Once took me past my half-way point, from Hawkbill Gap to Booten Gap (10.2 miles). Another took me to the two thirds marker at Swift Run Gap (11.3 miles) where US 33 crosses the park. With four more day hikes I’ll achieve my goal and be in Waynesboro!

The AT in Shenandoah is at a high altitude and is usually much cooler than the surrounding lowlands. This explains why it was a popular get-away for the rich and the powerful in D.C. before the days of airconditioning. This week has been particularly pleasant for hiking as it’s been unseasonably cool and dry. My first hike started at 64 degrees; my second hike at 59 degrees. On neither day did the temp break above 80.

Bike Hike Travel

The AT: Almost Half Way

AT Half Way — It wasn’t till 9:20PM when I got back to my car after 12.8 miles of hiking and 14.1 miles of biking the hills of Shenandoah National Park. Truly I was exhausted ... and that’s just the way I like it!

The word “Almost” above is key; it was supposed to read “Past Half Way.”

Here’s a case where I bit off more than I could chew. Over the course of Appalachian Trail - Thornton Gap to Hawksbill two days my goal had been to hike 23 miles and bicycle back the slightly longer 27 miles. A late start didn’t bode well for my trek nor did arriving back at my campsite after 11:00 PM. Thank goodness I had set-up camp early that day! By morning I was set on changing my plan. I meandered Skyline Drive from mile 52 to its northern entrance stopping at overlooks, visiting facilities, and taking short hikes to peaks.

What I learned was that I don’t want to tackle these longer bike-hikes over back-to-back days. This has to be fun and too much exertion robs me of the joy. When I’m exhausted, I don’t want to start a 14 mile bike ride where half is a struggle up hill! I’ve got better things to do!

So how will I do things differently going forward?

Bike Mountain Travel

The AT: My Hike-Bike Loop

Post author By TravisGood
Post date June 2, 2009
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Appalachian Trail - Compton Gap to Hogback — Along the Appalachian Trail, a stretch from Compton Gap to Hogback.

Finally I’m hiking wholly within Shenandoah National Park. Better still, the Appalachian Trail is roughly paralleling Skyline Drive which runs along the crest of the 105 mile long national park. As you can see above, it’s beautiful country seen on a spectacular day.

To this point I’ve had to hike the AT and then retrace my steps to get back to my car. This essentially had me walking each stretch of the AT twice, once in each direction. If covering the length of the park is my goal then this was a pretty inefficient way to go about it. With the Trail loosely following the road I now had an option. I could hike one way and bike the other.

Bike Bridge Travel

Beautiful Beach Bike Ride

Post author By TravisGood
Post date October 9, 2008
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Travis On The Boardwalk — Perfect weather and a 23 mile bike path along the Los Angeles coast line ... perfect. This is a world class outing but let’s keep it a secret. Who needs the extra bike traffic?

On my way home from Catalina Island, I stopped for a day in Santa Monica with one goal in mind: to bicycle up and down the beaches of Los Angeles.

For years I’ve known of the paved bicycle path along the coast of Los Angeles. When we lived in LA, I remember seeing it when we visited various coastal communities. I didn’t know much about the path but, seeing it typically on a weekend, I certainly didn’t like how crowded it was.

Little did I know how light the traffic would be along the path on a Monday! I started out at the Santa Monica Pier because I was staying two blocks away and because I knew I could rent a bike there. For only $15 I was provided a tall, well-fitting bicycle for the day and I started by heading south.