Need advice about good roads near Fairfax

Our favorite roads and rides in the mid-Atlantic area - if you find a hidden gem please post!

Need advice about good roads near Fairfax

Postby vinman » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:41 pm

Can anybody share some advice on good motorcycle roads around the Fairfax area or just west of Fairfax?
vinman
 

Postby BMWGirl » Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:52 am

West VA has some nice roads!! :wink:

Actually - the 600+ roads are always nice - we used to live in Fairfax - take 123 South towards Ocquaquan (sp??) Park and turn right - that is a fun route to ride and then from there we always just picked a numbered road and followed it around.

Jim can chime in here and correct anything I misposted - but there are some neat roads over there - there is also one road that has some fun hills on it and it gets your tummy going :lol:

Good luck - if you want a riding partner - let us know!
BECAUSE I CAN!!!
IBA #37898 - IBR - 2017 IBA #565 Woohoo

2015 R1200GSA white w/PURPLE :-)
'10 K1300GT
'05 R1200ST

"Riding is about having an adventure - you just go with it and No Whining!" Kermit
User avatar
BMWGirl
GO COWBOYS!
 
Posts: 10126
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:00 pm
Location: Queen of the World

Postby Chiba » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:13 am

My favorite Fairfax roads to ride are more in the southern end of the county, where it butts up against Prince William County.

If you head out towards Clifton, there's a bunch of nice 2-lanes back there. I usually cut across the Fairfax County Parkway to 123, go south just a little bit, and duck back in to Wolf Run Shoals Road, then just start motoring around. If you go further south and hang a right on Burke Lake Road, that'll get you into the same neighborhood.

--chiba
BMW MOA Digital News Editor www.bmwmoa.org
- 05 R1200GS - 98 K1200RS + Hannigan Classic sidecar -
User avatar
Chiba
The FUNNY One
 
Posts: 6464
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 8:01 pm
Location: Mechanicsville VA

Postby jskene » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:28 am

We usually get in some good roads at the Virginia monthly breakfast ride - see:
http://www.bmwbmw.org/rides/bmwbmw_breakfastrides.shtml
User avatar
jskene
Board Guru
 
Posts: 865
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2003 11:35 am
Location: Baltimore, MD

Postby vinman » Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:16 pm

RedHot wrote:West VA has some nice roads!! :wink:

Actually - the 600+ roads are always nice - we used to live in Fairfax - take 123 South towards Ocquaquan (sp??) Park and turn right - that is a fun route to ride and then from there we always just picked a numbered road and followed it around.

Jim can chime in here and correct anything I misposted - but there are some neat roads over there - there is also one road that has some fun hills on it and it gets your tummy going :lol:

Good luck - if you want a riding partner - let us know!


Thanks for the advice. I checked google maps and it looks pretty residential just west of rt 123 after Occoquan Park. Am I not looking far enough south or are these roads better than they look on google maps?
vinman
 

Postby JimVonBaden » Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:31 pm

vinman wrote:
RedHot wrote:West VA has some nice roads!! :wink:

Actually - the 600+ roads are always nice - we used to live in Fairfax - take 123 South towards Ocquaquan (sp??) Park and turn right - that is a fun route to ride and then from there we always just picked a numbered road and followed it around.

Jim can chime in here and correct anything I misposted - but there are some neat roads over there - there is also one road that has some fun hills on it and it gets your tummy going :lol:

Good luck - if you want a riding partner - let us know!


Thanks for the advice. I checked google maps and it looks pretty residential just west of rt 123 after Occoquan Park. Am I not looking far enough south or are these roads better than they look on google maps?


Look around Clifton and Fountainhead Park and Occoquan River.

Jim 8)
User avatar
JimVonBaden
Smooth Motorcycle Operator
 
Posts: 17669
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2003 11:48 pm
Location: Alexandria, VA

Postby BMWGirl » Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:22 pm

OHHH - that's right - it's FountainHead Park!! I knew there was something wrong - Thanks Jim for correcting me on that!!
BECAUSE I CAN!!!
IBA #37898 - IBR - 2017 IBA #565 Woohoo

2015 R1200GSA white w/PURPLE :-)
'10 K1300GT
'05 R1200ST

"Riding is about having an adventure - you just go with it and No Whining!" Kermit
User avatar
BMWGirl
GO COWBOYS!
 
Posts: 10126
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:00 pm
Location: Queen of the World

Postby Unity » Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:56 pm

We live in western Fairfax Co and we almost always go farther west to get out of the traffic -- Loudoun and Fauquier get fairly peaceful. Tell us more about why you're looking and maybe we can narrow it down some more.

--John 8)
2002 R1150RT, Silver
Silver, the "cool and aloof" color.
(Road & Track Vol. 56, No.2, p. 19)

1971 Triumph Bonneville, Gold
Gold, the "paying the restorer" color.
(Trust me.)
User avatar
Unity
Shaman
 
Posts: 7170
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 11:26 am
Location: Reston VA

Postby R4R&R » Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:50 pm

JimVonBaden wrote:Look around Clifton and Fountainhead Park and Occoquan River.

Jim 8)


Often on nice days I'll go way out of my way and ride those roads. I'll head down to 123/Woodbridge, get gas and go north up 123. Thurn left onto Hampton Road and work my way along those roads up to CLifton/Fairfax Station and come home via 123/Burke Lake rd/FFX parkway.

Actually, I did it today. :P
'17 Triumph Explorer 1200
'04 R1150R (gone but not forgotten)
('13 Triumph Speed Triple - sons bike)
Itchin' for a ride
User avatar
R4R&R
GO COWBOYS!
 
Posts: 1711
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:20 pm
Location: Springfield

Postby vinman » Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:15 pm

Unity wrote:We live in western Fairfax Co and we almost always go farther west to get out of the traffic -- Loudoun and Fauquier get fairly peaceful. Tell us more about why you're looking and maybe we can narrow it down some more.

--John 8)


I have a date. She wants to go for a ride. I'm all for it. Two birds with one stone - I get to ride and its a good excuse to get her arms around me. :P

I'm not familiar with VA, and don't want the ride to be too long as the roadster doesn't exactly have the best passenger seat. In the past I've gotten mixed reviews on it, from its fine, a very smooth ride to my butt went numb in less than 20 minutes. So best not to chance it and go too far. I'm also looking for a good destination. Seems there are quite a bit of wineries around VA. I may try the scenic route to one of them.
vinman
 

Postby Dough Boy » Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:20 pm

vinman wrote:
Unity wrote:We live in western Fairfax Co and we almost always go farther west to get out of the traffic -- Loudoun and Fauquier get fairly peaceful. Tell us more about why you're looking and maybe we can narrow it down some more.

--John 8)


I have a date. She wants to go for a ride. I'm all for it. Two birds with one stone - I get to ride and its a good excuse to get her arms around me. :P

I'm not familiar with VA, and don't want the ride to be too long as the roadster doesn't exactly have the best passenger seat. In the past I've gotten mixed reviews on it, from its fine, a very smooth ride to my butt went numb in less than 20 minutes. So best not to chance it and go too far. I'm also looking for a good destination. Seems there are quite a bit of wineries around VA. I may try the scenic route to one of them.


Oh, ok, well that clarifies things. You need to have a destination in mind for the ride, and I would reccomend Middleburg. Those VA guys can help you pick out a decent route to Middleburg, have lunch etc, and then come back. Whaddya think about that?
Dough Boy
 

Postby Dough Boy » Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:21 pm

Oh, wait, you are in Laurel. Is she in Fairfax?
Dough Boy
 

Postby Unity » Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:52 pm

BreadMan wrote:Oh, ok, well that clarifies things. You need to have a destination in mind for the ride, and I would reccomend Middleburg. Those VA guys can help you pick out a decent route to Middleburg, have lunch etc, and then come back. Whaddya think about that?

Middleburg would be good -- there are some great roads all around the Middleburg area. How to get there depends a lot on where the starting point is in Fairfax. You probably want to avoid the most direct route, U.S. 50. It's busy almost any time of day with lots of construction trucks and stop lights. There are some halfway decent workarounds, but we'd kinda have to know the general part of Fairfax where the ride would start. :)

--John 8)
2002 R1150RT, Silver
Silver, the "cool and aloof" color.
(Road & Track Vol. 56, No.2, p. 19)

1971 Triumph Bonneville, Gold
Gold, the "paying the restorer" color.
(Trust me.)
User avatar
Unity
Shaman
 
Posts: 7170
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 11:26 am
Location: Reston VA

Postby vinman » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:11 pm

Yes, she's in Fairfax. I'm in Laurel. That's not too far. Definetly need a destination. I was thinking about Chrysalis Vineyards, which is in Middleburg. They're having some event this weekend. Rt 50 is not an option. Looking at my map I was thinking about going south first, then west, then up north to Middleburg: rt 643, 658, 234, 601 and finally 50. I'm not exactly sure where in Fairfax we're going to start from. We didn't discuss that yet.
vinman
 

Postby MrE » Fri Aug 25, 2006 9:15 am

vinman wrote:Yes, she's in Fairfax. I'm in Laurel. That's not too far. Definetly need a destination. I was thinking about Chrysalis Vineyards, which is in Middleburg. They're having some event this weekend. Rt 50 is not an option. Looking at my map I was thinking about going south first, then west, then up north to Middleburg: rt 643, 658, 234, 601 and finally 50. I'm not exactly sure where in Fairfax we're going to start from. We didn't discuss that yet.


Chrysalis is nice. Decent wine but they have a big area with picnic tables and adirondak chairs over looking the barns/wine buildings and vineyards. You can buy a bagette and some cheese/cold cuts to go with the wine (not too much wine now). They were at one time selling burger set ups and all the accessories that you cook on their grill. Not sure if they are still doing it.

One negative... You'll have to ride a mile or so of gravel road. It is usually in good shape at least the past several times I have been there.
The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.
Mark Twain,
User avatar
MrE
Adventurer Wannabe
 
Posts: 5937
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 1:36 pm
Location: Western Loudoun

Next

Return to Our Favorite Roads (VA, MD, WV, PA, DC)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

cron