bump

They both are about the same as they have close proximity to the parkway, and miles of hilly roads that surround them as well. From Lure you would be closer to some Mt. Mitchell climbing however. Lure could also have you and yours reinacting the Patrick Swazey, jennifer Gray Dirty Dancing lake scene. Little trivia for ya.

: ) !!

I would have to vote for Sapphire. I might be a little biased because I own a house there, and I have not been riding in the Lake Lure area for about 10 years. Hwy 64 through Sapphire can be pretty busy, but I have seen road bikers there. The rest of Transylvannia county has a very nice signed bicycle route system. The chamber of commerce in Brevard can provide you with a map. (www.visitwaterfalls.com) The routes range from easy rolling hills through the valley between the blue ridge and the SC border to climbs up HWY 276 and HWY 215 up to the parkway. The route from Rosman up 215 to the BRP is 17.5 miles, with 12.25 of them climbing a total of 4350 ft for an elevation gain of 3120ft. That should work out to a 6% avg grade. Depending on your fitness you can come back down, take the parkway to 276 and loop around or continue down the other side of the climb, to Waynesville and back up 276. The drop down into SC to HWY 11 and back up past Casear's Head is also very nice.

The best support I can give though is George Hincapie. Hincapie was recently named as the South Carolina Pro Athlete of the year.

http://www.thestate.com/...hestate/13483250.htm

In the article it states "Hincapie also trains in the nearby North Carolina mountains around Caesars Head and on routes between Cashiers and Brevard" If you look at the map between Brevard and Cashiers you find Sapphire. Obviously the riding can't be too bad.

The area also has very good mountain biking near Brevard (Dupont and Pisgah Forests), good gravel road mountain biking near Whiteside Mountain, lots of trail running opportunities and some really nice lakes to swim in. April might still be a little cold depending on what you are used to, but definietly wet suit swimmable.

PM me if you want and I can get you a lot more suggestions and pictures.

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Tim Anderson
"It's the nature of the internets that you get some dweeb who knows nothing about (insert topic here) pontificates about (topic), believing that his/her opinion is worth the same as opinions from those who actually knows what's going on." --Echappist

Looks like you've got a vote for each. I won't break the tie. They're not that far apart. Do both. A bit more trivia. The entire movie "Last of the Mohicans" was filmed in the Lake Lure area. All the scenes on the big rocks and vistas were from Chimney Rock State Park which isn't far at all from Lake Lure. As someone else noted, some of these roads are used in the Assault on Mt. Mitchell which is a legendary century ride from Spartanburg, SC to the highest point east of the Mississippi River.

But as another poster said, the roads around Sapphire are awesome, too. The climb of Caesar's Head is a nice little challenge and Hwy. 215 from Rosman to the Blue Ridge Parkway is killer.

There's a great bike club in Asheville, NC. You might want to make contact there and they might have some route maps and such. They're all over the roads in both places.

Bob C.

I change my vote, I didnt realize sapphire was so close to brevard, dems my training grounds, those described routes 215, 276 etc.. are awesome! (somewhat safe too!)

Just west of Lake Lure is the Saluda, NC-Tryon, NC-Greenville,SC corridor. Awesome scenery, heavy cycle traffic, and some excellent climbs. Very few-traffic vehicle problems. The climb from Tryon to Saluda ends at a bakery/coffee shop. Also, Keith's Triathlon Shop is in Saluda, NC. It's a very active tri/cycling area. I don't know if the Hendersonville, NC(30 minutes from Lake Lure) triathlon is still alive, but there's an event you won't forget...interval swim start, 50mph downhills, logging road run with handhold climbs and river fording!

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Jim

Another vote for the Saulda, Tryon, Greenville area. Lots of great climbs, Ceasar head is just to the west. When I lived in Greenville, SC, this was ideal training areas.

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Suffer Well.

Great info guys. Looks like great possibilities for each location. HGTV is giving away a Lake Lure home this time around, wouldn't that be sweet!

Don't bother signing up for the HGTV contest. My wife informs me we are going to win it! ;-)

Roger, but I want an invite to the first cycling party : )