The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Virginia Horse Country, Mountains Valleys 2025

September 30th to October 13th

Ride Director: Karen Hass
Ride Driver: Marnie Rawles
Report by: Beth Stephens

With many years of riding experience in the northern Virginia region and the Shenandoah Valley, Ride Leader Karen Hass organized a tour that included rides that she said rival any she’s experienced anywhere, including in Europe. The tour featured stunning scenery “from Mother Nature’s paint brush” of mountains, forests, hills, rivers and valleys along with challenging, but enjoyable riding on excellent road surfaces through quaint historical towns, farming communities and horse country. Stops included historical sites and opportunities to experience rural Virginia, with the highlight and accomplishment of riding the length of the 105-mile Skyline Drive on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This curated tour of an area rich in history as an American frontier and with its role in the Civil War, began and ended on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail for traffic-free access between Leesburg, our starting location, and the countryside. The routes took us on a loop to Shepherdstown WV, Stephens City, Woodstock (2 nights), Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, Big Shenandoah National Park (2 nights), Front Royal and Warrenton. Upscale historic hotels were chosen for accommodations in Shepherdstown, Harrisonburg, Staunton, while chain hotels were selected for convenience near towns and restaurants in other locations. The two nights in Shenandoah National Park at Big Meadows Lodge provided a rustic, yet comfortable, and historic retreat for exploring the park.

The tour had 10 required ride days, with at least two route options (longer and shorter) offered on 6 of those days. Five optional rides were offered on the layover day in Woodstock. Ride difficulty was accurately represented in the ride description. It was a demanding tour with significant daily elevation gain. Ride with GPS exaggerated steepness on Skyline Drive making the ride look more challenging than it was.

Detailed and accurate cue sheets included charming coffee shops, lunch spots, park restrooms, points of interest, and special care cautions for tricky turns and intersections. Cue sheets were distributed in a paper packet and electronically via a Ride with GPS event. After dedicated social time each evening, riders commented on the day’s ride and Karen thoroughly reviewed the next day’s route(s). Marnie Rawles cheerfully and seamlessly handled happy hour, luggage deliveries, and rider assistance.

Riders followed routes on mostly quiet rural roads and narrow country lanes, occasionally riding sections of busier roads with and without shoulders when there were no alternatives. Most drivers were patient in sharing the road, even when the hilly and curvy terrain limited drivers’ passing opportunities.

While we were too early for peak fall color, dodging black walnuts on the road signaled the arrival of fall. Riders shared many great photos during the tour and arrived at the end of each day with positive comments, like “spectacular,” “miles of smiles,” and “I didn’t want this day to end.” This was a great tour of exceptional riding and a congenial, supportive, and cooperative group of people who worked together to overcome a few unexpected hurdles. We will all remember the Shenandoah Valley as a beautiful and rewarding place to ride. Many would agree it lived up to Karen’s claim. Maybe the state tourism slogan should be “Virginia is for lovers … of challenging road cycling.”