For Spring break, Carol and I decided to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail. Its a 33 mile long trail from Whitetop to Arbington in Virginia. It drops in elevation over 1500 feet from the high point at Whitetop. We decided to ride the whole thing.

Instead of camping at the top, we decided to stay in a motel in Arbington. Not just any motel, but a retro 1950’s style place called the Alpine Motel. It had good reviews: quite, large clean rooms, and a great view outside. Check out its name in large letters that are visible from the Interstate.

Staying in Abington had several advantages: It was a shorter drive from home since its right by the interstate and not way up the mountain. We could catch a shuttle to the top in the morning and not have to hurry to meet a scheduled pickup at the end of our ride.

Here we are ready to leave on the shuttle to the top:

After what seemed like a rather long ride (over 30 minutes) we arrived at Whitetop. Here we are ready to start down the hill:

Riding the trail there are numerous tresles (over a 100), restored train stations, and a few places to eat. Here are pictures of the trail:

 

 

The half-way point!

Here’s where we stopped to have lunch. Its called “In The Country” and its in Damascus.

 

Here’s Alvarado station. Its named after Alvarado, TX

 

 

Here we are at the finish – the trailhead in Abington

In conclusion, it was a great ride, but i would like to try a “comfort bike” instead of a mountain bike next time. The top half was very easy since its almost all downhill and the bottom wasn’t bad, it was mostly level. Our total time for the ride including lunch was a few minutes oveer six hours. We were stopped for nearly an hour to eat and rest.