Asphalt Heaven: Riding West Virginia Backroads
Fog was stubborn this morning at Seneca Rocks, but it couldn’t dampen my admiration for West Virginia backroads.
What I like most about motorcycles is that they lean, a trait I describe to nonriders as ?dancing with a machine.? A motorcyclist can select a dance partner ranging from a svelte sportbike to a big?Âboned tourer, but how well that partner performs depends on the quality of the dance floor: the road.
My favorite motorcycle dance floors are smooth asphalt ribbons that snake over mountains and along waterways, and some of the best I?ve found anywhere are West Virginia backroads. Appropriately called the Mountain State, it?s where the Allegheny, Blue Ridge, and Appalachian mountain ranges converge. With the highest average elevation of any state east of the Mississippi River, the roads curve over and around a rugged, varied landscape. The quality of road surfaces in West Virginia is generally superb (see sidebar at end of article). For riders who love to lean, it?s idyllic.
Scan QR codes above or click “Day 1,” “Day 2,” or “Day 3” to view routes on REVER
As I made my way south into West Virginia on these great winding roads, a familiar anthem played in my head, albeit somewhat revised: Asphalt heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shanandoah River?.
No disrespect to John Denver, but your humble scribe gives top billing to the West Virginia backroads. I was headed to Elkins, a small city ...
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