I am attending a conference at Glade Springs Resort near Beckley, West Virginia.
It appears to be a beautiful area from the pictures. I would like to ride 50-80 miles if possible. It looks like there are some ski resorts in the area where you could do some climbing.
Thanks
I do not live in WV but go to southern WV regularly for work. There may be great places to ride but I have not seen them. The roads near Beckly would be perfect for cycling but for the vehicles and the fact that most do not have any shoulders to speak of. There are a huge amount of large coal trucks and pickups around. The only cyclist from that area I have met is a mtn biker and he and his friends ride with handguns in case of mountain lions and red necks, not necessarily in that order. Southern WV is the part where all of the stereotypes come from. Now that a bunch of the mines are inactive it is best known for prescription drug abuse, meth production and frivolous lawsuits. Oh and the rafting is great. Have fun.
I used to spend weekends in and around Fayetteville – which is maybe 15 miles North of Beckley. Not sure I ever saw a cyclist on those roads. I would consider them very dangerous. Some of those roads only have enough pavement for one direction – meaning the cars pull onto the shoulder whenever there is on-coming traffic. I’d hate to be a cyclist when that happens. If you can, bring a mtn bike and stay off the roads.
I have some family in Beckley that I visit every year. There is no way in hell I would get on the road there. It is beautiful, but I dont think the people there are very tolerant of roadies, or runners for that matter. I ran on the sidewalk in baggy/longer shorts and a shirt and mangaged to get honked/yelled at. Smoking is much cooler in Beckley than being a triathlete. Everyone smokes, no one is really outside running or riding.
As far as the roads, I would say they are ok, but there is really no shoulder to speak of. I did meet a triathlete while swimming at the YMCA (it is downtown) and he told me the best place to ride is Flat Top Lake, and thats close to Glade Springs (10 minutes). It’s a gated community that essentially circles a man made lake. I think he told me the whole loop was 15 or 16 miles, rolling hills. Very light traffic, low percentage of bubba’s, and beautiful. It is gated (think airport parking garage entry) but not guarded, according to this dude. He said he parks across the street from the gate, kits out, and rolls past the barrier like he owns the place, and no one has bothered him. As I said, Glade Springs is pretty close to Flat Top Lake but I wouldnt ride to and from. Two lane highway, 55 or 65 mph speed limit, no shoulder.
You must live out west as I do (Los Alamos, NM) bringing up the ski basin climbs. Its not like that in Beckley. You will be close to the ski area (Winterplace). No climb to speak of to get there. You can check that out for yourself, if you park at Flat Top lake to go ride, you will be around 5 minutes from the ski area. There is also a great place to eat in Beckley, maybe a 20 minute drive from Glade Springs. It’s called the Rimfire Grill. Good food, great selection of WV and east coast micro brews.
I Hope that helps. As a disclaimer, I like it there. It’s beautiful and the people are some of the nicest I have met anywhere (unless you are running). But in my observation, Marlboro is much more popular than Cervelo, if you know what I mean. If you need anything else, let me know.
How long are you going to be there? If it is just a few days, I would recommend getting your ride in the day before you leave and focus on swim+run. There is some great trail running a few miles south at Pipestem resort- it is filled with hiking and CX ski trails, very nice, you will see lots of deer, etc.
If you have some free time, there is some FANTASTIC riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway- it cuts through Roanoke, but that would be at least 90miles or so from where you are going to be. If you have an off day from work it would be worth it.
you are also somewhat close to Charleston, WV ( about an hour), so you could always do some research on rides in that area ( I have never been there)
Despite all the horror stories here I would not give up. I have been in that area several times through the years and found decent roads to ride on. Sure there’s no shoulders but many of the roads also have little to no traffic and the locals aren’t any worse than anywhere else I’ve ridden. The K-Mart Classic bike race which at the time was one of the biggest stage races in the U.S. always used Beckley as a stage location. I followed the Beckley stage once and the roads they used were great (lots of climbing and pretty spectacular scenery). There’s a bike shop up there called New River Bike that I think does weekly group rides around Beckley. You might call or e-mail them to get some info.
When is your trip? Give me a couple days and I’ll get you a couple great routes. I grew up in Southern WV and now live in Louisville, KY for school. My parents live about 1 hr from there and have many friends that live around there. BTW, thanks to all those previous posts with stereotypes. It makes you seem extremely intelligent.
Thanks for all of the great information! I will be in Glade Springs in the fall.
King03:
How do I contact you? Not sure how to PM on slowtwitch. Sorry for my ignorance.
I just got back from spending a few days in Fayetteville, WV. Went up there for my brother’s bachelor party, mainly to do some rafting and drinking, but got in a road ride while we were there. We went by a great LBS in town (http://www.marathonbicyclecompany.com/) and the owner (Adam) gave us a route that the locals use (on a side note, we ended up seeing Adam again at a bar and hung out with him for a while - he’s a really great guy). The ride turned out to be around 60 miles with over 4,500ft of climbing, including a 10 mi downhill and a 3 mile section where the grade was never less than 10 percent (usually steeper). I didn’t think the roads were that bad, although (as mentioned above) there are a few roads that are really only one-way with a gravel shoulder used when two cars pass each other going in opposite directions. The roads we were on were not all that heavily traveled and the cars were generally very polite to us. We did have one person lay on her horn a bit, but she didn’t do anything else. It’s really, really beautiful up there and the riding was pretty intense - long climbs, fast downhills - with pretty good road surfaces. I’d ride up there again in a second.
If you want more specifics on our route, I’d be happy to provide it.