This past weekend, my parents met me here in Roanoke to go further down Southwest Virginia for a weekend of biking. The pandemic has brought us deeper into the world of biking on trails, and when I was home this spring and summer, the three of us rode every Sunday on the NCR trail between White Hall, Maryland and New Freedom, Pennsylvania. My mom’s friend mentioned the Virginia Creeper Trail, a 34 mile gravel ride that starts in Abingdon and ends in Whitetop, Virginia. Of course we had to go since I attend grad school 2 hours away from Abingdon. We planned it out and made it happen, our first “bike packing” experience.
Riding along in the beginning.
Now this being our first bike packing trip, we packed rather light and only spent one night with what we could carry. I realize there are more hardcore bike packers out there, but this was new for us. We started the trip Friday night in Abingdon at a hotel, exploring the local fare at The Tavern, a very old German restaurant in the town’s main street. I ordered a pumpkin martini, it was delicious. We officially started on our bikes Saturday morning at the Abingdon trailhead. After gearing up our saddlebags and bungeeing bags together in the parking lot, we took off, enjoying rolling green hills, lovely, spacious, neighborhoods, and farmlands dotted with cows upon cows.
Around the midway point, I did take a tumble on a damp mud patch, but came out only with two bruised knees-no biggie. Damascus, Virginia is where the trail reaches the true midway point, but we rode on, determined to cover as much ground as possible as the trail starts to slope upward after Damascus. One takeaway from riding I can still feel is that once I stopped, I found it harder to keep going. We didn’t stop for many breaks, but one of them on the way up was at a little eatery called the Creeper Trail Cafe, where Mom and I noshed on some trail mix and dad ordered a plump cheeseburger. It was a nice pick-me-up, and a quaint spot. There were a ton of riders stopped at this trailside cafe, and we decided to come back on our way down.
Up and up we went, and this is when I could feel the burn in my rear and legs. Biking is good exercise, but I really feel the calories melt when I climb, not so much when I ride flat or downhill. The Virginia Creeper Trail is a popular tourist spot. We found this out when riding from Damascus to Whitetop; many tourists will hitch a ride on a shuttle service, which will drive them to Whitetop, bikes and all, and then they ride the 18 miles downhill back to town. Because of this, we had to dodge many large groups on our way up, making the ride that much more difficult. I’m all for folks who want to ride their bikes, and the weather was perfect that weekend. But the worst part of the trip I’d say would have to be the tourists; many of them were new to biking and did not know proper trail etiquette. This meant that many downhill riders did not get to their left when we rode up the mountain on their right, and this also meant that many groups congregated in the middle of the trail, not bothering to stay to the sides and get out of the way of passing riders.
Biking is the official sport of the pandemic, but my parents and I were still shocked at the number of folks who didn’t know the basic rules of trail riding. Since it’s becoming so popular, a lot of newbies are not acquainted to rougher terrain, and the ride up was very rocky and narrow. There was also a surprising number of little ones on the trail, a ride I wouldn’t suggest for kids, at least on busy, crowded weekends. The Damascus to Whitetop region is chock full of forest and creeks, a lot of greenery. The further and further we climbed, the harder the ride became. We climbed all the way to Whitetop and felt the relief of completing the whole Virginia Creeper Trail in about 4 hours with breaks included (more or less, I don’t have exact numbers). Of course, we had to ride back down to get to our inn reservation in Damascus.
We glided downhill, the difference between uphill and downhill when biking is astounding, especially in terms of time. Dad and I stopped for water at a nifty outfitter situated against the river portion of the trail, then we pressed forward on our ride to revisit the Creeper Trail Cafe for coffee and Pumpkin Pie cake (again, delicious). Back in Damascus, we checked into a kitschy local inn owned by an adorable couple who recommended the Damascus Old Mill Inn for dinner. Between appetizers of fried green tomatoes, wings, and more fall flavors for supper, a bluegrass band from North Carolina played on the outdoor patio. It was a lovely evening. Our host reminded us of our proximity to the North Carolina and Tennessee borders. Damascus is the town that emanates Appalachia.
Sunday morning, Mom and Dad had coffee as we ventured over to Sundog Outfitter, a local joint that miraculously still sold bikes despite the worldwide shortage (COVID 19’s sport, remember?). Dad scored me a new hybrid- better for roads and long distances, according to him. We rode our bikes back to Abingdon, once again enjoying some lovely scenery and taking in the joys of a flatter ride, though we were all sore from the 50 miles we rode the previous day. Our adventure ended with a pick-me-up at a local juice bar called White Birch then with another visit to Damascus, where we drove the car to pick up my new ride. It was a wonderful weekend and a great introduction to bike packing. We rode a grand total of 68 miles, and I loved it. Biking long distances and bike packing is not for everyone, but now I’m hooked and I hope to do some longer rides in the future. I think biking is a great way to exercise while traveling and enjoying local gems.