Brew Ridge Trail Ride

[sjclaeys]

I am planning a three day group ride this June that will focus on the Brew Ridge Trail near Charlottesville. The plan is to drive to around Nellysford, VA and do a 50 mile loop, the next day ride south to around Lynchburg via the Blue Ridge Parkway and then on the third day ride back to the Nellysford area via country roads. Any advice or insight about riding in that area, riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway, interesting routes or other info would be appreciated. Thanks

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[JimF22003]

Sounds like fun. I’ve ridden that general area of the BRP quite a bit. There are some nice parallel side routes on either side of the ridge between Waynesboro south to Buena Vista. There are some places to get in some serious climbing too like up from Vesuvius, Crabtree Falls, Wintergreen, Reeds Gap etc. If you stay on the BRP with no side trips the route from MP 1 at Waynesboro down to Big Island is very pretty, lots of good overlooks, with some good climbs. On the parkway itself the climbs are not as steep as the side roads but still pretty challenging. It’s further south than Lynchburg, but I recommend the section of the BRP that goes from Big Island up over Thunder Ridge and down to Peaks of Otter. That goes from the lowest point of the parkway in Virginia (about 700 feet) to the highest (about 4000) feet over about 13 miles.

[Sunyata]

If you are really interested in doing some riding out that way, there is a century ride in May that is AMAZING. It starts in Lynchburg, going out some beautiful back roads in Bedford County, to the BRP up Thunder Ridge and back down to the Peaks of Otter, then through some nice rolling hills back to Lynchburg. It would be an excellent training ride for a 3-4 day Brew Ridge Trail ride later in the year.

Here is a link to the ride. It is extremely well supported and has some of the most amazing views of any century ride in Virginia.
http://stormingofthunderridge.org/

I lived in Lynchburg and rode the BRP for several years (I just moved to NOVA from there) and I can honestly say there is not much better riding that out that way. If you start near Devil’s Backbone in Roseland/Nellysford, then I highly recommend riding up towards Crab Tree Falls. It is quite beautiful and has some good climbing.

[sjclaeys]

Thanks for the great info so far. It would also be good to know of any roads or routes in that area to avoid.

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