Dan Casey

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There's a myth about cycling in the Roanoke area that's more or less the bicycle equivalent of: "You can't have your cake and eat it, too." Translated for road riders, it would go something like this: "You can't avoid the mountains and traffic, too."

That's because road builders, in their infinite wisdom and finite pocketbooks, think a lot like many cyclists. In planning pavement, flat is good, mountains are bad.

The result is that the big wide roads in the Roanoke Valley -- the few with shoulders -- are the flat ones. But these, such as Virginia 419, are also strewn with traffic, commercial development and curb cuts. They're awful places to ride.

Longtime Salem cyclist Tim Long has a solution for this. It's a nice, rolling 23-mile ride that winds through Roanoke and its semi-rural outskirts, following the cool waters of Back Creek for much of the way. On a recent Sunday, Long led me and cyclist Ian Webb on this route.

It starts in Roanoke, leaves the town on its southeast border near Garden City, and winds through Mount Pleasant, Starkey and Cave Spring. I call it Town & Country.

Not exactly flat

This is one of Long's favorite rides, and it's easy to see why. The former road racer is a technician on the midnight-to 8 a.m. shift at Carilion Health System's data processing center. He can squeeze it in after work, but before his children get home from school. It's definitely a great way to unwind.

I'd be lying if I told you this loop was flat and traffic-free. Yes, there are stretches with cars, particularly through Cave Spring. Yes, there are climbs, a couple of them fairly steep. But in Blue Ridge terms, they're short. We're talking hills here, NOT mountains. And for every climb, there's a quick, exciting descent. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most difficult, I'd rate this ride a 6.

There are mountains, of course, but these are just for viewing. This loop skirts the edge of Mill Mountain and whizzes past Roanoke Mountain a few miles later. Farther down the road, it passes Masons Knob, Bent Mountain and Buck Mountain. But you'll be able to laugh at their peaks and you twist and wind around and past them.

You'll also be riding a short stretch on U.S. 220, which can be particularly treacherous. But you can measure the distance in yards, rather than miles. You're off 220 almost as soon as you're on it. The other part with traffic is along Brambleton Avenue in Southwest Roanoke County, heading back into the city.

The two roads of note on this ride are Bandy Road, a not-too-heavily trafficked Road through the Mount Pleasant section of southeast Roanoke County, and Starlight Road in Southwest County. Both are twisty, windy, rolling and relatively free from subdivision sprawl, at least for now.

The route

Victory Stadium on Reserve Avenue in Roanoke at the foot of Mill Mountain is as good a place as any to start this ride. But you could start and finish at any point along the loop.

Cross the pedestrian bridge at the stadium's back lot, and take a left on Wiley Drive. Follow Wiley under the concrete railroad trestle and go up the short hill next to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital on Bellview Street. The next intersection is Walnut Avenue. Crossing Walnut puts you on Piedmont Street. You make the next right on Riverland Road.

Follow Riverland for about a mile, and make a right on Garden City Boulevard. Your 5th left is Bandy Road, and you want to take it.

You'll stay on Bandy for about 5 miles winding up and down miles, until it ends in a T-intersection with Crowell Gap Road. Make a right, and follow Crowell Gap to U.S. 220. Make a right on 220, ride it for about 400 yards, and make a left on Back Creek Road.

Dan Casey | The Roanoke Times

A wild goat walks on rocks along Starlight Road about a mile from the intersection with Merriman Road in South Roanoke County in April 2002.

Related

Map

• Map of Starlight Road

Follow Back Creek Road until it intersects with Starlight Road, and make a right. You'll stay on Starlight for long ways. There's one confusing intersection after you cross underneath a railroad trestle; you need to take a right to stay on Starlight here.

Starlight turns into Merriman Road and brings you out into the Starkey section of Roanoke County. Follow Merriman past Starkey Road and make a left on Crystal Creek Drive. A couple miles down this road it intersects with Brambleton Avenue (U.S. 221).

Make a right here and follow Brambleton for about 3.5 miles until it dead-ends at with Brandon Avenue. Take a right on Brandon and follow it past Towers Shopping Center. At the bottom of the hill past the shopping center is Franklin Road. Take Franklin a couple blocks, hang a right on Reserve Avenue, and you're back where you started.

Notes

In terms of places to stop for a drink or a snack, this ride is feast or famine. In the city and in Cave Spring, there are plenty of places of wet your whistle. Otherwise, you're riding on rural residential roads free of commercial development.

There's a convenience store at the intersection of Bellview Street and Walnut Avenue, just a short ways from Victory Stadium. And there are plenty of places to stop on Brambleton Avenue (such as Deb's Lemonade). Other than that, you're on your own, so bring plenty of water.

You can also expect to encounter a few unleashed dogs along the route. On the day we went, they were all bark and no bite.