Popular Post Road Runner Posted July 20, 2017 Popular Post Share #1 Posted July 20, 2017 It is now on Google Maps! https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5924111,-76.3844573,3a,75y,188.12h,80.63t,1.21r/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szLyhBd8Y3Eb-dYo7ETOmyw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #2 Posted July 20, 2017 I can't show the yellow pole that I hit. Before the year was out they removed it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JsharrsDisgruntledAunt Posted July 20, 2017 Share #3 Posted July 20, 2017 It's a rather pretty gate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #4 Posted July 20, 2017 36 minutes ago, Road Runner said: It is now on Google Maps! https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5924111,-76.3844573,3a,75y,188.12h,80.63t,1.21r/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szLyhBd8Y3Eb-dYo7ETOmyw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 It's was that bubble gum on the road that caused the crash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #5 Posted July 20, 2017 1 minute ago, Mary Nolan said: It's a rather pretty gate. The path looks like a beautiful ride, sans gate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Come Lately Name Posted July 20, 2017 Share #6 Posted July 20, 2017 9 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: The path looks like a beautiful ride, sans gate. Looks dismal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #7 Posted July 20, 2017 Make America gate again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #8 Posted July 20, 2017 I've never been to dismal swamp but one year when it was on fire I drove through the smoke all the way from Virginia Beach to the Outer Banks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted July 20, 2017 Share #9 Posted July 20, 2017 I rode my motorcycle through the dismal swamp many years ago (age 18 at the time) going from Richmond to the Outer Banks. At the time I didn't know it had a name. It was dusk. I just remember thinking, "This is pretty dismal." We slept the night in some nice guys side yard near Elizabeth City. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted July 20, 2017 29 minutes ago, Kzoo said: I rode my motorcycle through the dismal swamp many years ago (age 18 at the time) going from Richmond to the Outer Banks. At the time I didn't know it had a name. It was dusk. I just remember thinking, "This is pretty dismal." We slept the night in some nice guys side yard near Elizabeth City. In those days, you would have ridden on that same road section that is now the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail. The trail is just a portion of the old highway 17 that went to Elizabeth City. Lucky for you, they didn't have any gates on the road in those days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #11 Posted July 20, 2017 I blame the crop circles! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share #12 Posted July 20, 2017 BTW, you can electronically (Google Maps) "ride" that portion of the trail between the two gates that prevent car traffic in that part of the trail. About a mile or so between the gates. There are several more at other spots. The total length of the trail is 8.5 miles which makes a nice 17 for most casual riders. I used to try to ride it out and back twice (34 miles). It is long, straight, flat and pretty boring after you have ridden it as much as I have. I haven't been back there since sometime last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share #13 Posted July 20, 2017 10 minutes ago, jsharr said: I blame the crop circles! There are still remnants of a WWII airfield in that pic. Now farmland, the original landing strips are still visible. The airfield was for training Navy pilots. They would attack simulated targets (outlined by buoys) set up in Lake Drummond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted July 20, 2017 Share #14 Posted July 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Road Runner said: In those days, you would have ridden on that same road section that is now the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail. The trail is just a portion of the old highway 17 that went to Elizabeth City. Lucky for you, they didn't have any gates on the road in those days. Interesting. I don't remember all the route numbers from then. We weren't using a map. We were just heading south and then maybe east from Pittsburgh at the time. We were thinking Virginia Beach but as we got closer so did the number of people headed to VB. We settled on Nags Head. We happened through Richmond. We had a week on our bikes without a real plan. We slept where we could and eat what we could and just rode - staying off interstates. It was dusk as we went through the swamp and we were looking for a place to throw down our sleeping bags. It wasn't happening there. We were on a road that was loooooooong and straaaaaaaaight. We didn't have those in NW PA where I was from. The road was paralleled a good portion of the way with a canal/drainage ditch/mote. Swamp everywhere! I was sure that if we stopped our bikes, something was going to crawl out of the water and eat us. Somewhere the other side of Elizabeth City we found a guy out walking his dog and asked if there was a place he knew we could throw our bags down and sleep. He pointed at a spot down the road he owned and that was my night in Elizabeth City. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirwickWithCheese Posted July 20, 2017 Share #15 Posted July 20, 2017 Thank you. I remember you fondly as well and hope to see you again soon. This weekend I'll be at the London Bridge Resort at Lake Havasu. 2 shows a day all weekend. Want me to leave a couple of tickets for you and a guest at the box? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital_photog ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #16 Posted July 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Road Runner said: There are still remnants of a WWII airfield in that pic. Now farmland, the original landing strips are still visible. The airfield was for training Navy pilots. They would attack simulated targets (outlined by buoys) set up in Lake Drummond. first thing I noticed in that picture as the airfield. Was thinking that was a pretty big farm strip. Now I know the story. Looks like someone could have mowed and used the area for a grass field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share #17 Posted July 20, 2017 43 minutes ago, Kzoo said: I was sure that if we stopped our bikes, something was going to crawl out of the water and eat us. There are bears, but I doubt that they would eat you. Snakes are in abundance and would have been the primary threat. No way I would sleep on the ground near where old Route 17 passes by the swamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share #18 Posted July 20, 2017 44 minutes ago, Kzoo said: The road was paralleled a good portion of the way with a canal/drainage ditch/mote. That is the Dismal Swamp Canal which is part of the intracoastal waterway. Old Route 17 ran right along beside it as can be seen in Google Maps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 20, 2017 Share #19 Posted July 20, 2017 11 hours ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said: Looks dismal. Ed Zachary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Kosciuszko Posted July 21, 2017 Share #20 Posted July 21, 2017 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share #21 Posted July 21, 2017 Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted July 21, 2017 Share #22 Posted July 21, 2017 I used to hang out near the north west corner of the area at what is not the Suffolk Executive Airport. Back then the facility contained the Suffolk VA dragstrip on one of the runways. Farther to the east we would walk up and down the coast between VA and NC on the beach. Great times. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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