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Crossing West Virginia



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 10th 04, 11:06 PM
200a
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Default Crossing West Virginia

Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia?


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  #2  
Old March 11th 04, 01:38 AM
mary
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Default Crossing West Virginia

The C & O canal follows along West Virgina until you get to
Cumberland,Maryland. Then there is a Rails To Trails from Meyersdale to
Pittsburgh which somewhat connects back to West Virginia around Weirton.

Tom
"200a" wrote in message
...
Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia?




  #3  
Old March 12th 04, 03:07 PM
John
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Default Crossing West Virginia

"mary" wrote in message ...
The C & O canal follows along West Virgina until you get to
Cumberland,Maryland. Then there is a Rails To Trails from Meyersdale to
Pittsburgh which somewhat connects back to West Virginia around Weirton.

Tom
"200a" wrote in message
...
Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia?


The off-road connection between Meyersdale and Cumberland will not be
completed for a while. (Last I heard it was late 2004 for a tunnel
between Meyesdale and the Mason-Dixon Line. The Cumberland to
Mason-Dixon Line path is still in teh planning stage.) The
ATATRAIL.org ebsite gives on-road work arounds to bridge the gap.

Further south is a rail trail that goes about 1/3rd of the way across
the center of the state from Parkersburg.

Good luck.
  #4  
Old March 12th 04, 03:59 PM
RG
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Default Crossing West Virginia

I have taken US 50 and the North Bend Rail Trail (2002) and recommend
neither.

I took the C&O from DC to Cumberland, MD, then south to Keyser, WV and US
50.

Keyser to Clarksburg is very remote, unpopulated territory in the Potomac
Highlands. Very pretty and low traffic. Few services as the towns died out
after coal mining stopped. It is also exceedingly mountainous, with lots of
steep climbs, some at 9%. The first climb was ~2000 ft at 6-9%. Up, down,
and repeat. I was only able to do about half of my normal miles per day in
this section. I'm glad the temperature wasn't too hot (50-65F) when I did
this section.You have to be in very good shape, and have low gears.

The North Bend Rail Trail goes from outside Clarksburg to Parkersburg. It is
definately under construction, with many sections loose rock & gravel. I had
difficulties on my touring bile (700x37 tires), and would only recommend
this for a mountain bike with suspension. At times I could only go 6mph
downhill. The section around the State Park and Cairo was OK. Instead, you
can take the paralleling US 50 (busy, 4 lane divided, with shoulder), and
old US 50 through the small towns.

From Parkersburg to Huntington, I took the road on the Ohio side of the
river (OH-7) , based on recommendations of friends in Huntington - better
road with a shoulder and less traffic.

I actually haven't heard of any good routes across WV. They are all quite
challenging as you cross the Appalachian Mountains; then again, maybe that
is what you are looking for. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go into
PA (Pittsburgh) and then go down the Ohio River.

"200a" wrote in message
...
Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia?




  #5  
Old March 13th 04, 04:24 AM
Mike Vermeulen
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Default Crossing West Virginia

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 09:59:22 -0500, "RG"
wrote:

I have taken US 50 and the North Bend Rail Trail (2002) and recommend
neither

...
I actually haven't heard of any good routes across WV. They are all quite
challenging as you cross the Appalachian Mountains; then again, maybe that
is what you are looking for. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go into
PA (Pittsburgh) and then go down the Ohio River.


First, thanks for posting your report on the road conditions and
extreme hilly parts.

I've been reading this with some interest, and I am planning a trip
from Memphis to Washington DC early this summer. I don't really want
to avoid WV, since it is one of three states I'm still missing (the
other two are KY and IN, so I should finish as 50 US states with this
trip...).

I let TopoUSA help pick a route West to East and it brought me via US
33 to Elkins, US 219 to US 50 and Eastbound to Winchester. It sounds
like I should at minimum expect some steep climbs/descents and
challenging terrain from Elkins and over via US 50, and anticipate
shorter days as I cross the Appalachians.

Other than the terrain, how is US 50 otherwise in terms of shoulders,
rumble strips, traffic, locals you encountered, etc?

--mev, Mike Vermeulen
 




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