Consider the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus, VA, a scenic 34-mile rail trail with stunning mountain views. The Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville, SC, offers a great mix of urban and natural scenery. Another excellent option is the Pinellas Trail in Florida, stretching 50 miles along the Gulf Coast with plenty of charming towns to explore. If you’d like to stay closer, Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio has beautiful paved trails with waterfalls and wildlife.
Vacation planning with E-Bikes
- Thread starter Imchud
- Start date
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Don't recall what the bike infrastructure's like from our car trip there several years ago, but I'd second that in every other respect.
You can often get a decent preview of bike infrastructure by zooming in with Google Maps in satellite view. The satellite imagery may be old, but current infrastructure will probably be at least as good as what Maps is showing.
6bloodychunks
Member
- Region
- USA
murrels inlet area of south carolina is wonderful.
with huntington beach state park beside it.
its my favorite place that ive ridden my bike so far
with huntington beach state park beside it.
its my favorite place that ive ridden my bike so far
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
I can certainly vouch for the physical setting, as I often visited my Dad there some 30 years ago. But nearby Myrtle Beach, the Orlando of the Southeast, is sprawling ever closer. Hoping Murrells Inlet hasn't been caught up in that yet.murrels inlet area of south carolina is wonderful.
with huntington beach state park beside it.
its my favorite place that ive ridden my bike so far
6bloodychunks
Member
- Region
- USA
nope,still good
we used to go to myrtle every year,
but it was just too too hectic,
i was more frazzled on vacation than at home hahaha
then we discovered garden city/murrells inlet/pawleys island,
and we wont ever go back to myrtle again lol
6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
Many sections of the Skyline drive were heavily damaged by flooding from hurricane Helene. Repairs will likely take many months due to budget cuts. It would be best to call or check the website:
Shenandoah National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
Shenandoah National Park Home Page
www.nps.gov
Also be advised that much of the ride is on road with twisting turns and narrow shoulders. Drivers are looking at the view and there are a lot of cycling accidents. It was indeed a beautiful ride when I was there 10 years ago, but very scary in some areas. Spent a lot of time watching traffic instead of the views.
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
A look at some Helene trail damage below the Blue Ridge Parkway in western NC:Many sections of the Skyline drive were heavily damaged by flooding from hurricane Helene. Repairs will likely take many months due to budget cuts. It would be best to call or check the website:
Shenandoah National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
Shenandoah National Park Home Page
Also be advised that much of the ride is on road with twisting turns and narrow shoulders. Drivers are looking at the view and there are a lot of cycling accidents. It was indeed a beautiful ride when I was there 10 years ago, but very scary in some areas. Spent a lot of time watching traffic instead of the views.
I used to live near DC and have many trips on the Blue Ridge , not sure I would feel safe there , most of the time OK but too many 1 time mistakes by drivers scare me. Skyline drive is worse and wouldn’t even considerate riding on that unless the road was closed for autos , happens occasionally I think.
I don't like travelling far with the ebikes on the back of the car (hitch rack).. Bad weather, dirt/dust etc. are just some of the reasons. With our SUV all the road dirt seems to accumulate at or around the rear glass and hatch and that's right where the ebikes go. I will transport them short distances on the back of the SUV but would never want to do a long road trip with them
harryS
Well-Known Member
We went a little farther to Charlievoo. I had visions of riding along Lake Michigan shoreline, bit that's all resort, private or industrial, except for a few miles in a state park, Most of it is slogging along a paved path adjoinng a county highway, Some of the paths put you on the doggone highway, Nice path in Sleeping Dunes NP though,
Perhaps we will try some of the bikeways in the middle of the state.
I am used to travelling with bikes on a rack, I never worried about blocking the plates or the license. Thousands of miles over the years, If the cops don't like how you look, you get pulled over, It's not about the car, I do prefer taking our small folders when we can, and having them inside.
So far, our best trip was Colorado, Mountains at 12000 feet altitude. That's where the ebikes work nice. The slopes were mild, being rail trails, but I can barely walk at that height. Motor sure was nice.
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
I can believe that — gorgeous state end to end! Really wish I'd been smart enough to buy an ebike when we lived in Denver.
My only complaint about the Colorado Rockies: Too much gravity, not enough oxygen.
6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
I do a lot of travelling with my bikes and feel the same way. When it came time to replace my SUV, I bought a crew cab pickup instead. That way, I can carry the bikes in the truck bed, protected from road debris and would be thieves.
Yes, I sacrificed some interior cargo space, but I compensated by adding lockable, weatherproof bed side boxes.
Plenty of room for my wife & I, but it might be different for a family though.
Yes, the trail from Petosky to Charlevoix in MI. is not longer much fun to ride. A big section of the trail fell into the lake and they decided it was too expensive to repair so bike traffic is now directed up onto the highway.Sleeping bear dunes is by far the better ride. There's some new trails being put in around Boyne city so that should be good.
This proves that sometimes the logistics are harder than the trip itself.
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mrgold35
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- ABQ, New Mexico
Planning for the trip is just as fun as the actual trip for me. I try to live by "not having a plan is planning to fail".
6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
To me an
Yes, but the logistics are half the fun for me. Gives me something to do over the winter months when I can't ride
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
The missus would certainly agree. She's become the family travel agent and is quite good at it. Thoroughly enjoys the many hours spent on the research, trade-offs, sequencing, and even the booking.
And you certainly can't argue with the results. One fabulous trip after another.
Just one problem: Left to her own devices, every second would be planned. So my job is to carve out time to just follow our noses. In the end, we negotiate a good mix of planned stuff and winging it.
Mr. Coffee
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- A Demented Corner of the North Cascades
That's just one obvious problem with overplanning. There are others.
The big problem in my experience is that overplanners tend to put very little slack into their plans. If the itinerary is at all intricate any kind of unexpected hiccup can lead to a cascade of missed connections, canceled reservations, and lots of phone calls trying to put the trip back together. Which is not at all fun and can be almost as expensive as the trip itself.
My other trip catastrophe has to do with longer stays at any one location. Unless you know the area really well and are very confident in your lodging choice staying at any one place more than three nights is usually a recipe for problems. And eating a lot of money if/when you change your mind and want to stay somewhere else.
I am generally a big advocate for what I call "Expedia Travel". The idea is you use online booking and most of the time book your stays only on the day of and book them one night at a time. The only exceptions I'd make for that is (1) if you decide you like a location and want to spend a few days there, and/or (2) if an area is very popular and you'll need a reservation a bit in advance to get any decent place to stay at all.
Similar tactics work for travel. Sometimes you can get the very best deals on flights booking at the last minute. Of course that also usually means TSA checks you out and strip searches you but life ain't perfect.
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