Has anyone here ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway

[KathiCville]

Without saying WHO this dreadful individual is....
This is what those first 40 miles of climbing out of Cherokee can do to you.

Fabulous photo that speaks volumes.....BRP cyclists, beware, LOL!!!

[rubysoho]

I love that photo!


How many miles (average) were you logging each week for training? My main problem is finding access to decent hills.

[ny biker]

I love that photo!


How many miles (average) were you logging each week for training? My main problem is finding access to decent hills.

Come to Arlington. Plenty of steep hills. They're generally short but close enough together to make an exhausting ride. I have a cue sheet called "Hellbent on Hills," though I prefer to call it "Have cake for dinner, you've earned it."

For long hills that are not steep, there is Skyline Drive.

[rubysoho]

Come to Arlington. Plenty of steep hills. They're generally short but close enough together to make an exhausting ride. I have a cue sheet called "Hellbent on Hills," though I prefer to call it "Have cake for dinner, you've earned it."

For long hills that are not steep, there is Skyline Drive.

Are they like the hills on the GW trail up to Mount Vernon? I had a good time riding those the other weekend. We (friend and I) ended up doing that entire trail back and forth.

[KathiCville]

RubySoho....The mountains here in central VA are simply beautiful in mid-October and daytime temps are perfect. (September can be surprisingly hot, even at the higher elevations of the Parkway/Drive.) Spring is also stunning, especially when the redbuds start blooming. I love watching the mountains "wake up" in April and begin to transition from brown to bright "spring" green. You can't go wrong in terms of scenery at either time of year.

(Brief hijack) NY Biker.....I lived and biked in Arlington for almost 20 years---put many a mile in on the W&OD, Mount Vernon Trail, and the C&O! I now live where the BRP and Skyline Drive meet. You're right, Skyline Drive isn't quite as up-and-down as the BRP, but the southern section of the Drive near me still throws me curveballs! Neighbor and fellow TE'er IFJane used the central and southern sections of Skyline Drive and the northernmost stretch of the BRP to train for the Triple Bypass (Colorado) a couple of years ago. Some of her training, of course, involved long, steep climbs out of the valley to get UP to the Drive/Parkway---I was in awe!

[7rider]

How many miles (average) were you logging each week for training? My main problem is finding access to decent hills.

I'm not sure. I bike commuted to work ~3 days/week, and would tack on extra miles to a few of them (turning a 15 mile round trip ride into 25 or so). On the weekends, I'd ride Saturday and Sunday, doing 30-60 miles. Our trip on the BRP was 60-80 miles/day, so it was doing back-to-back long rides on varying terrain that was important (to me, anyway). So the long weekend rides were critical. I wasn't so concerned about speed, jut getting out there. Sometimes, I had to throw the bike on the truck and drive somewhere (like that ride up in the Catoctins where I saw at least 1 24% grade and actually had to walk the bike. That never happened on BRP - even leaving Cherokee.).

[rubysoho]

I'm not sure. I bike commuted to work ~3 days/week, and would tack on extra miles to a few of them (turning a 15 mile round trip ride into 25 or so). On the weekends, I'd ride Saturday and Sunday, doing 30-60 miles. Our trip on the BRP was 60-80 miles/day, so it was doing back-to-back long rides on varying terrain that was important (to me, anyway). So the long weekend rides were critical. I wasn't so concerned about speed, jut getting out there. Sometimes, I had to throw the bike on the truck and drive somewhere (like that ride up in the Catoctins where I saw at least 1 24% grade and actually had to walk the bike. That never happened on BRP - even leaving Cherokee.).

This is perfect information for me and helps me know how I need to change my riding schedule. Right now I am riding between 30 and 40 miles split between two rides during the week and generally one longer 40 - 50 mile ride on the weekend.

I need to build up to longer back-to-back rides on Sat and Sun. And this gives me a perfect reason to start commuting to work (24 total miles) once or twice a week in addition to the group ride I want to join.