Blue Ridge Parkway - Am I insane??

[IFjane]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. You guys are helping to allay my fears and just get me stoked!
I am the only woman riding this trip. I had one friend who expressed an interest, but backed out early when she thought about the logistics.
BTW....how is cell phone coverage on the parkway?

Welcome to my world - I am almost always the only woman on a ride.

I can't speak for the southern sections of the BRP, but the northern sections have little or no cell coverage.

[Gowest]

Sorry I am so late to respond - I live near Asheville, so I am familiar with a good amount of the parkway.

Cell reception is notably poor on the parkway - don't count on it - especially in the highest elevations near Water Rock Knob and Mitchell. Do ride up to Mitchell - it is a nice little side trip.

You should be fine with your 27 in the back - you won't find anything on the parkway double digit steep - climbs are long though - several miles.

Tunnels - some are bad (btwn Cherokee and Asheville) - a light is a must. Also the rangers are really quick to ticket you if you don't have one on the back, or if they see you riding two or more abreast, and NO NATURE BREAKS in view of the parkway - that will get you a big fat fine.

Be careful with the temps - I was up on the parkway a week ago for the Blue Ridge Breakaway ride and they had to evacuate people off the parkway due to hypothermia - and the fog and rain were really really bad as well - fog has no season it seems.....

Traffic on the parkway will ususally be light - unless as someone mentioned you are near Asheville during the commuter rush. I have not had any bad experiences on the parkway, which is more than I can say once you get off it.

Regarding side trips off the parkway - usually you are not near much "civilization" and you have to ride downhill several miles for services off the parkway (asheville being the exception) Liberty Bikes is a great bike shop right off the parkway in Asheville - they are very friendly and helpful there. Another nice little area to stop in and not hard to get back onto the parkway is down davidson river road to pisgah forrest (brevard, NC) - another good bike shop here and good places to eat. Little Switzerland is over-rated in my opinion.

Sounds like a wonderful ride - be safe and have a great time.

[7rider]

Cool. Thanks, GoWest.
We'll be in Asheville over the weekend....so likely not to hit much commuter rush, but weekend holiday traffic, maybe...?
I'll try to restrain myself from nature breaks along the side of the road but no 2 abreast? Hmmmm...Usually we ride 2-3 abreast, and single up when a car approaches from behind. I hope that won't get us hassled.
We'll have 2 vans, and 1 car for the first few days, with us, and we'll be overnighting on or very close to the Parkway, so any side excursions can be done with vehicles.
Looking forward to it! I hope the weather holds.

[Thorn]

Hmmmm...Usually we ride 2-3 abreast, and single up when a car approaches from behind. I hope that won't get us hassled.

We did. Normally we ride 2 up and go single file when a car approaches. For me, it is a visibility thing -- when you're 2-up, you're bigger and more likely to be seen. But, we were told to stay single file so, for the most part we did.

At one point DH had pulled up just to confirm a decision without having to shout. There were no cars behind us and plenty of room for the oncoming vehicle....which had to stop just to hassle us about single file. Jeez....

Interestingly that was near Asheville where it was busier. Hopefully that's an anomaly.

[Gowest]

Be careful with this - the rangers can come up from behind and are known to give tickets for this - and I suspect they will be out in force on a holiday weekend. Best vegetarian food in Asheville is at the Laughing Seed - it is so good non-veggies like myself love it. Best pizza is Marcos (two locations). Twelve bones for barbeque (obama at there when he was in town) Cool vibe - great food and casual atmosphere and good prices - Lucky Otter in West Asheville.

debi

oh and I forgot - tunnels - be cool - keep your head still and center your self (ie your balance) look ahead - even though you can't see sometimes.

[7rider]

Well - the long and short of it.
Yes...I am insane.
Ride went really well. We had a few glitches, but nothing that ended the ride for anyone (not even a busted fork that was fixed by a great LBS in Boone, NC, when one of the guys inadvertently drove under some low wires when his bike was on the roof of the van. They kept the shop open late for our guy, and had an Orbea fork that fit his bike and saved his vacation. Props to them.).
I myself made the HUGE mistake of doing this ride with a brand new saddle. I put my faith in the awesomeness of the Terry Butterfly saddle, but I think you need more than 18 miles to break it in. Consequently, by Tuesday, I could not bear to sit on my saddle, so I took Wednesday off the bike. That was good and bad. Bad, because it was a beautiful rolling day with lovely scenery from Bluff's Lodge to Tuggles Gap. But good because it was the only day we saw rain. It rained lightly or misted for about 80% of the day - not enough for the rest of the guys to bail, but enough to have them want to keep moving, as they got chilled if they stopped too long.
But, by Thursday, I was healed and back in business to enjoy the rest of the trip.
No one rode the WHOLE thing - as we broke up days with shared SAG duty. Having the 2 vans was amazing. For the second rest stop, we'd break out the cooler, the folding tables, and picnic with fruit, pb&j's and cold cut sandwiches.
Only 2 guys made the climb up Mt. Mitchell. Our mileage each day was so long, and we dallied so much enjoying the views and the company, that we worried about our time on the road and the ability to recuperate enough overnight for the next day's onslaught. And, in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "It gets late early out there." So, Mt. Mitchell isn't going anywhere. We'll tackle it another day.
The parkway in NC definitely had steeper climbs than VA. I distinctly saw a 15% and a few 12's on my Garmin during the first brutal day. Unfortunately, I have mileage, speed, but no map of day 1. I've never had that happen before and don't know what happened with that file.
Here are some pix - view a slideshow with more here.

[pfunk12]

Congrats, 7! Sounds like you had a great ride - except for the saddle issues. Ouch. Your photos are gorgeous.

[Thorn]

Congrats! (bummer about the bum bum, tho). Looks like it was a great trip. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[Possegal]

Color me jealous. Great pics. Thanks for sharing!

[PamNY]

Lovely photos; brought back so many memories for me as we camped in that area a lot when I was a child.

Sounds like a fabulous trip (except for the saddle, of course). Thanks for sharing.

[Gowest]

I was wondering if you would post an update - thanks!! Oh the scenery - we are so fortunate up here. Yeah - the parkway sure is steeper the further west you are. the long range views are spectacular. Sorry about the saddle issue - ouchie - been there on a ride with a newer set of bibs - sad when the legs are willing but the hiney is not.

I am off to Utah for a week of cycling - will post pictures when I return - 6 days and 30K of climbing (wondering if this and honeymoon are mutually exclusive??)

debi

[IFjane]

Awesome, 7! Disregard the PM

I cannot ride the Terry B'fly - had one (pink) and sold it to Tulip I just cannot have that much padding. Glad you overcame the issue and had a successful rest of the trip. Isn't it awesome up there?

[7rider]

Isn't it awesome up there?

It is very neat up there.
A few things we noted:
- The stark difference in the topography and views as we moved south to north, moving from the mountains to the plateau region to the ridge.
- The extreme variation in temps between the shade and the sun! That's why we usually left the wind vests on all day, despite the temps (that...and visibility, moving from shade to light to shade....the yellow was good in the sun-dappled areas).
- I really wished I had a helmet cam, to record some of the descents - coming down off a ridge, with wonderful views both to your left and your right was amazing. We were really riding along a knife-edge in some sections.
- Most of the folks we met were really, really, cool. We met a woman from Richmond riding north to south solo, with only a Camelbak Mule and a handlebar bag! (She had mailed some things ahead of her to hotels where she had reservations along the way, but geez..she was a rock star).
- Holiday weekend = lots and lots of motorcycles. Big, roaring Harleys. Big, not-such-roaring BMWs and Honda Goldwings. All BIG touring bikes in big groups. By mid-week, they quieted down...thankfully.
- There is a lot we didn't see. Return trips - even if not to do the whole thing - will be required!

[BikeShopGirl]

7rider - would you mind if I emailed you off the forum? I have several questions and the idea of interviewing you for this trip would be great! I would like to do the same trip, but self supported on bike this spring!

Thanks

[beccaB]

We did a 20 mile stretch near Waynesville. I don't have the legs I thought I had here in the flatlands I live in! I would also need lower gears if I ever attempt that again! Good luck in your endeavor! September will be beautiful!