My V-Strom DL650 on August 23, 2008 had its first taste of dirt and rocks on a fireroad along the Rapidan River near Banco, VA. As a rider who also enjoys fly fishing, the V-Strom appealed because I was told it was a great do-it-all bike that could take me up on the backroads to access one of Virginia's best trout streams. I had already confirmed the V-Strom is a super daily-commuter to my job in downtown Washington, DC, and my July 2008 tour from Alexandria, VA to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming demonstrated to me that the V-Strom is a very capable touring bike. All was left was to see how it would handle on the Rapidan fireroad, a stretch of dirt and rocks that winds back and forth along the Rapidan River through Virginia's Rapidan Wildlife Management Area to back-country gate that provides hiking access the Shenandoah National Park and popular sites like President Herbert Hoover's Camp Rapidan.
Some kids grow up riding dirt bikes but I had to wait until the age of 46 to take a motorcycle out for my first true dirt road riding experience. The V-Strom is no dirt bike since its 427 lbs. dry weight is twice as heavy as some purely off-road bikes. I had read other Strom riders comment about how the suspension, tires and general top-heavy nature of the V-Strom calls for some prudence when hitting the dirt. The Rapidan Road is mostly a hard packed mountain dirt fireroad with lots of rocks, ruts and bumps. For my first time on anything more challenging that well-maintained gravel roads, I kept my speed down and never made it out of second-gear as I bounced up the fireroad. Standing up on the pegs as I hit the bigger ruts, I rode by a handful of flyfishermen who were packing up as the lunch hour approached. I wasn't sure if they were too thrilled to see a motorcycle back in the quiet seclusion of the Rapidan or maybe it was just my bright high-viz yellow riding jacket. My bike was stilll much less noisy than the dirt bike that came up the road behind me not long afterwards. I am definitely a novice to off-road riding but I went there and got back without a drop or broken levers. All in all, taking the V-Strom out on the dirt was a lot of fun.
I entered the Rapidan fireroad after riding from Alexandria VA by way of I-66, US 29 and VA 609 to Banco VA, and turned off US 231 to VA 670. Just past Criglersville, you take a left on Quaker Run Road which turns to dirt and no state maintenance after a few miles where it enters the Rapidan tract of the Rapidan Wildllife Management Area. For the full map go here.
At least the Rapidan Road was dry and not muddy but the lack of recent rain meant that the fishing was not very good. It didn't help that I was hitting the Rapidan around Noon on a hot August day. The water level in the Rapidan was very low so I didn't even bother putting on waders. I just walked across the river at a low point below some rocks in my water-proof motorcycle boots. I was able to find one decent pool of water and spent about 45 minutes trying first a Adams parachute dry fly and then a wooly bugger. Recalling that it is called fishing and not catching, I didn't catch any fish but I still enjoyed being on the water. I stored my fishing gear and 5-piece travel 4 wt. rod back in my Givi cases and headed back down to the fireroad and then up US 231 toward Sperryville.
I rode from Sperryville up on Skyline Drive where the speed limit is 35 MPH (and strictly-enforced by NPS police). Virginia also has lowered the speed limit from 45 MPH oto 35 MPH on the portion of Highway 211 between Speryville and the entrance to the Shenandoah National Park because of accidents and fatalities on the road as it twists up toward the gate to the park. "Since 2002 there have been 51 motorcycle crashes resulting in 46 injuries and the deaths of seven motorcycle riders on the section of Route 211 between Sperryville and the top of Thornton Gap." Riding along Skyline's curves and mountain top views, I passed a deer munching grass by the road as I headed 10 miles south to Skyland Resort for lunch.
After a nice break, I road back to Thornton Gap and headed west on Highway 211 toward Luray and then up Highway 340 to Front Royal. From there I made a quick dash on I-66 back to Alexandria to get to home before my wife returned from a day of Girl Scout back-country camping training. I got back just as our three lovely daughters were racing to finish the house-cleaning chores we had left behind for them to do. Yes, the parents play one day out of the month while daughters aged 16, 15 and 10 do some light house-work. It's a wonderful life.
Rapidan ride: about 280 miles in all, round-trip.
Some kids grow up riding dirt bikes but I had to wait until the age of 46 to take a motorcycle out for my first true dirt road riding experience. The V-Strom is no dirt bike since its 427 lbs. dry weight is twice as heavy as some purely off-road bikes. I had read other Strom riders comment about how the suspension, tires and general top-heavy nature of the V-Strom calls for some prudence when hitting the dirt. The Rapidan Road is mostly a hard packed mountain dirt fireroad with lots of rocks, ruts and bumps. For my first time on anything more challenging that well-maintained gravel roads, I kept my speed down and never made it out of second-gear as I bounced up the fireroad. Standing up on the pegs as I hit the bigger ruts, I rode by a handful of flyfishermen who were packing up as the lunch hour approached. I wasn't sure if they were too thrilled to see a motorcycle back in the quiet seclusion of the Rapidan or maybe it was just my bright high-viz yellow riding jacket. My bike was stilll much less noisy than the dirt bike that came up the road behind me not long afterwards. I am definitely a novice to off-road riding but I went there and got back without a drop or broken levers. All in all, taking the V-Strom out on the dirt was a lot of fun.
I entered the Rapidan fireroad after riding from Alexandria VA by way of I-66, US 29 and VA 609 to Banco VA, and turned off US 231 to VA 670. Just past Criglersville, you take a left on Quaker Run Road which turns to dirt and no state maintenance after a few miles where it enters the Rapidan tract of the Rapidan Wildllife Management Area. For the full map go here.
At least the Rapidan Road was dry and not muddy but the lack of recent rain meant that the fishing was not very good. It didn't help that I was hitting the Rapidan around Noon on a hot August day. The water level in the Rapidan was very low so I didn't even bother putting on waders. I just walked across the river at a low point below some rocks in my water-proof motorcycle boots. I was able to find one decent pool of water and spent about 45 minutes trying first a Adams parachute dry fly and then a wooly bugger. Recalling that it is called fishing and not catching, I didn't catch any fish but I still enjoyed being on the water. I stored my fishing gear and 5-piece travel 4 wt. rod back in my Givi cases and headed back down to the fireroad and then up US 231 toward Sperryville.
I rode from Sperryville up on Skyline Drive where the speed limit is 35 MPH (and strictly-enforced by NPS police). Virginia also has lowered the speed limit from 45 MPH oto 35 MPH on the portion of Highway 211 between Speryville and the entrance to the Shenandoah National Park because of accidents and fatalities on the road as it twists up toward the gate to the park. "Since 2002 there have been 51 motorcycle crashes resulting in 46 injuries and the deaths of seven motorcycle riders on the section of Route 211 between Sperryville and the top of Thornton Gap." Riding along Skyline's curves and mountain top views, I passed a deer munching grass by the road as I headed 10 miles south to Skyland Resort for lunch.
After a nice break, I road back to Thornton Gap and headed west on Highway 211 toward Luray and then up Highway 340 to Front Royal. From there I made a quick dash on I-66 back to Alexandria to get to home before my wife returned from a day of Girl Scout back-country camping training. I got back just as our three lovely daughters were racing to finish the house-cleaning chores we had left behind for them to do. Yes, the parents play one day out of the month while daughters aged 16, 15 and 10 do some light house-work. It's a wonderful life.
Rapidan ride: about 280 miles in all, round-trip.
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