Blue Ridge Parkway Epic Tour

[Misandal]

Last week, beginning on Monday, I participated in my first-ever tour. We began near Waynesboro, Virginia at Mile Marker 0 on the Blue Ridge Parkway; we ended Friday in Cherokee, North Carolina after 474.5 miles, 49,660' of elevation gain, and I had 35 hours, 55 minutes in the saddle. Woohoo!

The tour was through Black Bear Adventures, and if anyone has a desire to challenge themselves, I definitely recommend this one. It was great, well supported, wonderful people.

[Tri Girl]

I've heard great things about both that ride, and that tour company. Did you camp out the whole time? Do you have any pictures that you'd like to share with us?
Congrats on a HUGE accomplishment. I can't believe all the climbing. Wow! I'm sure every foot climbed was worth it for all the stunning beauty of the parkway.

[Misandal]

Well, we had about 3-1/2 days of rain so I don't have as many pics as I'd like. I'm just starting to get pictures from some of the others on the tour, so I should have some to post tomorrow.

Because of the rain and fog, the views were muted, to say the least. But when we did get to see, it was awesome!

No, we did no camping! If my days were going to be so hard, my nights were going to be comfortable! With Black Bear Adventures, we were really catered to and they made sure we had good accommodations.

[PamNY]

Sounds like a wonderful trip. I know that area and wish I had the ability to bike it. I'd love to see pictures; even in rain and fog, those mountains are lovely.

Pam

[JaneE]

Yes! We need pictures!

Your tour sounds perfectly wonderful. I dream of stuff like this!

[Misandal]

I realize today that I must have been more tired than I thought yesterday because I really didn't tell much at all about the adventure, I merely said I did it.

Here was the breakdown by day:
Monday 85.70 miles, 8910' in 6:23
Tuesday 89.44 miles, 8286' in 6:36
Wednesday 111.43 miles, 10,825' in 8:13
Thursday 102.15 miles, 11,071' in 8:01
Friday 85.78 miles, 10,568' in 6:40

Monday was gorgeous, perfect weather and a great way to start things off. Tuesday it rained most of the day but was fairly clear. Wednesday it rained all day and the fog was thick as soup! You couldn't see anything - we'd come to an overlook and see nothing but white. Thursday it rained until the afternoon, but then we had periods of clearing and got to enjoy some of the beautiful views. Friday started overcast, foggy and misty but got mostly clear so we ended in beautiful conditions as we descended into Cherokee.

I'm going to attach a couple pictures I took from my phone. They're not great quality, but I'll try to post some good ones from my fellow tourers later today. The first pic is Mile Marker 0 at the beginning of the Parkway. The second is atop Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, with Scott from Illinois (the elevation marker says 6578'). The third is our view from the lunch stop on Friday. The final picture is me at the final marker on the Parkway, Mile Marker 469.

[Misandal]

Here's a couple more...one is the group pic at the beginning (I'm in the middle), and the second is at the highest point of the Parkway, and you can see how foggy it was! And this was not the foggy day!

[Misandal]

Here are some awesome views I just got from one of the guys who had a "real" camera.