Skyline Drive on Columbus Day

[JimF22003]

I usually avoid it once the leaves start turning, but I don’t think it would be that terrible. When the traffic gets heavy people get slower anyway. Most of the peeping happens at the overlooks. Monday wouldn’t be as bad as the weekend even with the holiday. (I don’t think I get it off )

You might want to try riding in Fort Valley however if you haven’t done that before (it’s near the northern end of Shenandoah NP if you’re not familiar with it.) That’s also a gorgeous ride. Google for “SkyMass” or “MassSky” for the route.

[creadinger]

I haven’t ridden it, but I want to. I always figured I would ride it on a weekday to avoid the bulk of the traffic though. I feel like a steady stream of cars passing on the narrowish road all day would kinda ruin the pleasant experience of riding there. I’d like to hear how it goes though and whether it’s as bad as the picture in my head. I need to stop thinking about riding there and actually schedule a couple of days to do it.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and timing/weather-wise, Columbus day is about perfect…but actually riding on Columbus Day could be crazy, as it falls right when the fall foliage forecasts show peak color for inland Virginia…so I suspect there will be a lot of people up there that whole weekend.

[americancyclo]

I didn’t realize this, but last time I rode up to Skyline on bike, we were supposed to pay at the gate. Not as much as cars, but I thought in the past that hikers/bikers got in to the park for free.

[Jason B]

Your lungs bursting, your legs catching fire and the constant suppression of ending it all because it is a cat 2 are reasons to avoid Skyline, cars are not. Just do it and ignore the cars. They may be bad, but don’t let that stop you for it is a awesome crank.

[mstone]

@americancyclo 64566 wrote:

I didn’t realize this, but last time I rode up to Skyline on bike, we were supposed to pay at the gate. Not as much as cars, but I thought in the past that hikers/bikers got in to the park for free.

The pricing sucks for a group on bikes vs a group in a car.

[kcb203]

@mstone 64575 wrote:

The pricing sucks for a group on bikes vs a group in a car.

If you arrive in a car with four bikes on the rack and four passengers and then park at the first lot in the park after the gate, you pay $10 total. If the same four park in Front Royal and ride in, you’ll pay 4x$5=$20. Nuts.

[elbows]

Different numbers but same problem at Great Falls. There can be a line of cars out to Old Dominion, throwing their exhaust out while they wait for their hunk of asphalt, but cars still cost barely more than one bicycle. Cars cost $5; bikes cost $3. Ludicrous. Charge more for cars and more people can get into Great Falls. I’d use the surplus for a weekend shuttle from the metro.

[consularrider]

@elbows 64579 wrote:

Different numbers but same problem at Great Falls. There can be a line of cars out to Old Dominion, throwing their exhaust out while they wait for their hunk of asphalt, but cars still cost barely more than one bicycle. Cars cost $5; bikes cost $3. Ludicrous. Charge more for cars and more people can get into Great Falls. I’d use the surplus for a weekend shuttle from the metro.

Bike in on the C&O – no charge.

[mstone]

@consularrider 64580 wrote:

Bike in on the C&O – no charge.

But you need a hell of an arm to toss the bike over to the Virginia side.

[DismalScientist]

On the Virginia side, come in on the Old Carriage Road 1/2 mile east of Old Dominion off Georgetown Pike. Wear 28 mm tires or greater.

[vvill]

@DismalScientist 64612 wrote:

On the Virginia side, come in on the Old Carriage Road 1/2 mile east of Old Dominion off Georgetown Pike. Wear 28 mm tires or greater.

Sounds like a plan! I want to try this some time.

[bikeeveryday]

If you have a Shenandoah NP Annual Pass ($30) or a National Park annual pass ($80), you can get yourself and 3 adult cyclists in at no extra charge. Individual cyclist daily pass is $8 (Mar-Nov) or $5 (Dec-Feb).

http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/entrance_fees.htm

I have ridden Skyline Drive in June, and traffic was not an issue. See my blog:

http://ibikeeverydaythatican.blogspot.com/2012/06/summer-solstice-2012-double-metric.html

@kcb203 64576 wrote:

If you arrive in a car with four bikes on the rack and four passengers and then park at the first lot in the park after the gate, you pay $10 total. If the same four park in Front Royal and ride in, you’ll pay 4x$5=$20. Nuts.

[JimF22003]

I rode up on Skyline Drive on Saturday, thinking it might be my last chance for awhile because of the coming (probable) government shutdown. I figured traffic might not be too bad because the leaves have really only just started to turn. But it was pretty bad. I can’t imagine what it will be like during the peak period. I rode from Elk Wallow south to Loft Mountain and back. Traffic was worst around Big Meadows/Skyland, and a little better south of there.

The worst was not distracted leaf peepers though. It was the horrible car clubs. There was a group of about 20 Dodge Chargers that would come by revving their engines, passing too close, and just generally acting like jackwads. They must have passed me 9 or 10 times. There were other car rally clubs, including the Corvettes, and even a clan of Suzuki Samurai’s, or some weird thing. Then of course there were the usual obnoxious loud motorcycle riders.

The weather kind of sucked too. It was supposed to be 70 and mostly sunny, but it was overcast the whole day, and the temperature never got above 55. I ended up with 111 miles, and 10.3K of climbing.

[Popsicleian]

@JimF22003 65339 wrote:

I rode up on Skyline Drive on Saturday, thinking it might be my last chance for awhile because of the coming (probable) government shutdown. I figured traffic might not be too bad because the leaves have really only just started to turn. But it was pretty bad. I can’t imagine what it will be like during the peak period. I rode from Elk Wallow south to Loft Mountain and back. Traffic was worst around Big Meadows/Skyland, and a little better south of there.

The worst was not distracted leaf peepers though. It was the horrible car clubs. There was a group of about 20 Dodge Chargers that would come by revving their engines, passing too close, and just generally acting like jackwads. They must have passed me 9 or 10 times. There were other car rally clubs, including the Corvettes, and even a clan of Suzuki Samurai’s, or some weird thing. Then of course there were the usual obnoxious loud motorcycle riders.

The weather kind of sucked too. It was supposed to be 70 and mostly sunny, but it was overcast the whole day, and the temperature never got above 55. I ended up with 111 miles, and 10.3K of climbing.

Thanks for the report. I think I’m going to wait until November (assuming we have an operating government by then), before it gets too cold but after peak visiting season. I have it on my bucket list to ride the whole thing before I move away, and I really want to get it done.

[Author]

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