One of the best places to ride! We did redgate fire road because we heard it was a challenge... And that 2,000 ft of climbing was way more taxing than any other part of the ride. I'm pretty sure that stretch of 5 miles was worth at least 20-25miles of climbing on the road hahaha. It just sucked the energy out of us.

Thank you, Sage 형! It was an epic day! I'm still tired from it 😅

Thanks! This brings back good ole memories lol

Absolutely! There will be more in the future 🙂

Thanks Charles! Glad you enjoyed it! Still working on a couple more videos lol 😞

I don't venture into that kind of territory! 😂😂. Always be good to Mama and then you have a 1% chance of getting a Hall Pass! Don't quote me on the percentages. It varies wildly across the population 😁

😆 there was no other option! Lol. Super honored that you stopped by! Saw you had the Redgate Fire Road KOM when I was making the route and I figured if you did it, then it must be good 😜. It did not disappoint 👍

And I have no idea why I wasn't already subscribed to your channel lol. I have seen a bunch of your videos. Subscribed 👍😁

When I was getting into cycling as a participant vs. an enthusiast a few years ago I did a 40 miler with a buddy and it felt awesome. The next weekend I decided I was going to do 50 and it was going to be solo. How hard could it be doing 10 more on the relatively flat WO&D? Well, as cyclists also know, sometimes the body decides it isn't in the mood even if the mind wants to groove. Maybe it was the heat, fueling, whatever, but by the time I got back to my neighborhood I was dying. I looked at the 'ol Garmin and it said 48.something within a block of the house... hell no. There was no way that wasn't going to be an even 50. My friends still laugh when we get to the end of a ride and watch me making loops in the parking lot! Cheers.

@@GMoneyLove I used to be like this! Nowadays, I don't really care about mileage unless it's a specific ride with a mileage goal haha.

@@jameskim3 Ha! Agreed. I've mellowed in the past year. Although if I am... just...that...close... ;-)

Hey, KK! 1) if you stay on skyline drive you won't encounter any gravel at all, so you're fine there. The road is smooth, just lots of hills haha. 2) if you are going from FR to Thornton Gap, about 2/3 of the way down, you will come to Elkwallow Way station and they have restrooms and a convenience store there. You'll be fine to refuel there. On your way south though, just be aware of the signs for Elkwallow because you can blow past it if you're not paying attention since it'll be at the end of a longer downhill there. Hope that helps! You going with others? And there is a chance that there might be a number of cars driving since it is a holiday weekend. Which day are you riding?

@@jameskim3 will be staying with two more riders at airbnb about 1 hour away from Shenandoah. Plan is to riding skyline drive on 28th and granfondo_MD course on 29th and recovery on 30th. but it depends on the weather and feeling of wives waiting for our comeback to take care of kids. Are you local there?

@@khwan1 cool! I am about an hour away from there near Fairfax. Where you traveling from? I feel you on the wives part. They need a break from the kids often! They are gracious enough to let us ride despite it taking a lot of time in general 👍

@@jameskim3 cool. we are coming down from Northern NJ. I will follow you up in Strava. Thanks!

Sorry, I'm not sure! Looking at the map though, I don't think it should be crazy busy 🤷. I rode on 340 going north from Luray to Front Royal one time and that section was a bit busy and the car speeds were high.

You're lucky to live right there! 😁. We parked at Thornton Gap and used that as a refuel location. We went north about 20 miles, came back to TG and then went W and S to the base of Redgate Fire Rd and then when we reached the top, we kept going a bit more to Harry F. Byrd visitor center. Turned back to TG and then finished it off with going E to Sperryville and back up... Ending on that climb on 211 was pretty brutal haha. Glad you enjoyed the video! If you're on Strava, follow me and I'll follow back 👊. I think my info is in the video description.

Thanks, Brandon! We parked at Thornton Gap which, if you look at our route on Strava, is in the middle of the star shape. I LOVE making routes and this was one of them. I had the thought that carrying all our nutrition would be a hassle, so we planned for it to be a "home base" and it worked out pretty beautifully 🙂. Do you live somewhat close to Skyline Drive in VA? You ride bikes?

Makes sense! Good idea. Yes Im in Leesburg/Ashburn area and make it out on the W&OD frequently. But after seeing this, definitely want to make it to skyline (albeit I’ll need to work up to this kind of elevation gain!)

Awesome to hear! You live in a great place to ride on the road. This was definitely my biggest day in terms of elevation. Kept it at Endurance/Tempo zone for a vast majority of the day and that was a huge reason I was able to finish. Hope you can work your way up! But even still, as long as you are enjoying the ride, it doesn't matter what kind of numbers you are doing out there 👍

Yessir! Thornton gap is about 26ish miles south on skyline drive from front royal. We started this ride in the dark going north towards front royal.