Tour of the Virginia's is not hard.  It uses rail-trails, smooth and flat or with mild grades, even though we are riding through a beautiful, scenic mountain region. The trails for this trip are interesting, and varied. The scenery is outstanding, and the distances moderate.

Day 1: The trip begins with charter transportation from near Washington Dulles Airport in Washington, DC's Virginia suburbs, to southern Virginia, departing at 6:00 a.m. and arriving in southern Virginia mid-day, giving participants time to ride the Virginia Creeper trail downhill from Whitetop Station, VA to Damascus, VA, and then on to Abingdon, VA. The highlight of this trail is its 47 trestles and the great views from and of the trestles. At the end of the day, we overnight in luxury hotel accommodations in Abingdon, where you can choose to look around town, or relax by the pool. We finish the night with a group dinner.

Day 2: Following a hearty full-breakfast, We shuttle from Abingdon to Galax, VA, and spend the second day on the New River Trail, where we ride alongside the New River to Pulaski, VA. Mid-way along the trail, we pass a trail highlight, Shot Tower in the Shot Tower State Park. At the end of the day, you can ride a few miles off-trail (or be shuttled) to the night's hotel in Dunbar, and again choose to look arond town, or relax around the pool. We finish the night with a group dinner.

Day 3: After continental breakfast, another shuttle transports you to the start of the Greenbriar River Trail in WV, where you spend day the day riding the southern section of the trail. You will enjoy riding alongside the peaceful Greenbriar river, known to present deer, bear, and other wildlife viewing for trail users. The trail traverses lush farmland, as well as Watoga State Park and one highlight of this section is the Droop Mountain Tunnel, which lets you know that you are riding into the steep mountain region of West Virginia. Enjoy shopping in Marlinton, or just poking around the small mountain town, before we have a group cookout and overnight at the Old Clark Inn, the town's premier lodging accommodation, right alongside the Greenbriar River.

Day 4: You get to choose whether you want a bit of a rest day in Marlinton, WV, so you can catch up on your sleep or spend more time poking around town. Or, if you want to challenge yourself to something harder, and perhaps even more scenic than you've experienced so far on tour (which we find hard to imagine, but in this part of West Virginia, it's possible), you can take an optional single-track ride in the national forests of Pocahontas County in the morning and experience some of the best singletrack trails in the mid-atlantic states. Options exist for short, easy rides, or arduous technical grinds with awesome mountain views. In the afternoon (or the morning if you skip the single-track), you ride the northern section of the Greenbriar River Trail, to Cass, WV, where we overnight in one of the historic railroad company houses and have a hearty italian dinner. If you arrive early, you can tour some of the museums in Cass and enjoy the peacefulness of the small mountain town.

Day 5: All aboooard! Today we have an experience like no other, as we travel on a train powered by a 1920's steam locomotive through an historic logging town,15 miles up the mountain to the top of Bald Knob, which is rich with views of the highest West Virginia mountains. While the train stops for guests to enjoy the mountain vistas, we get to retrieve our bicycles, and enjoy a nice ride down the mountain and back to town by bicycle (or you can choose to return by train and have the day off from cycling). After this exhiliarating, but easy day, we get to look around town, experience the museums, and then spend a second night in the Cass guest house, where we will again have a group dinner. Tomorrow will be another action packed adventure!

Day 6: Primarily a transfer day to move us to Parkersburg, WV to set up for the final long highlight trail, we will discuss as a group which rail-trails to ride enroute to the destination. Our choices include the West Fork Rail Trail, a 21.7 mile ride between Durbin and Glady, two tiny mountain towns, the Blackwater Canyon Rail-Trail, a 10 mile, 2,227' downhill ride from Thomas to Hendricks, and/or the Allegheny Highlands Rail-Trail, which starts where the Blackwater Canyon Rail Trail ends, and travels 24 miles to Elkton, WV. All of these trails are scenic, but none seem to match the grand views of and into a steep mountain canyon, like the Blackwater Canyon trail does. When we're done riding for the day, we'll finish the drive to Parkersburg, WV, where we will overnight in the luxurious Blennerhassett Hotel, a fabulous historic hotel built in the 1890's, and decorated with antiques.

Day 7: On our final day, we tackle the North Bend Rail Trail, a fascinating 70 mile gem in western West Virginia, that showcases 13 tunnels, each of unique architecture and character, and a number of trestles. This day may be shortened after the most scenic parts and tunnels have passed, depending on group comfort and desire. As a linear trail, easily accessed by support, perhaps the stronger cyclists will ride the entire 70 miles in our allotted time this day, while others ride the planned distance of 60 miles. Upon reaching Wolf's Summit, we will load up for the return to Washington, stopping for a quick dinner option, and returning about 10:00 p.m.

15-60 miles per day, with shuttle options to shorten daily distances.

The support vehicle will shuttle participants between the daily endpoint and the next day's starting location on most days, and will also meet riders at pre-determined support points along the trail.  Daily transport is generally under an hour, except the drive down, drive back, and drive between Cass and Clarksburg, WV, which are longer. Trip meals are provided and are included in the trip cost.

See Frequently Asked Questions at the "FAQs" link, for answers to common questions.