Thinking of driving down to NC or Virginia for Easter to do some good riding outdoors. I’ve had it with trainer workouts and I can’t quite convince myself that riding at 2 or 3 degrees C is going to be fun if I stay in Toronto.
We were looking at doing some rides on the Blue Ridge Parkway or any of the byways in the mountains in NC or Virginia.
Any recommendations on best places to ride, where to avoid, etc?
We’re thinking of putting in 150k/day (plus or minus) for 4 days. Is there a good spot in the area to stay and use as a base of operations?
Sounds like a good idea…I may be on the Parkway myself that weekend. I’ve been on a couple Parkway rides and you are either going up or down. It’s all beautiful scenery though. We usually will just camp at one of the campsites along the Parkway and go from there. There aren’t any hotels on the Parkway proper, but plenty in the towns right off the Parkway. I’m thinking of spending a long weekend in Hot Springs (NC - not on Parkway but the AT runs through it) since they have, well, hot springs that would be nice to soak in after a long day. The ideal trip would be to have someone (if possible) drive a sag wagon from point to point along the Parkway so don’t have to double back, etc.
Be careful of ice patches. Clyde (our resident clydesdale) went down on the ice last year and now has a pin in his elbow. The weather can also change quite fast so be ready for anything.
Aaron, I live 1 mile off of the parkway in Asheville, NC. Asheville would make a great hub as there is plenty to do when your not riding. We get plenty of Canucks down here to ride. Boone NC, of Lance fame is right down the road (90 minutes) and it’s a college town not to far from the parkway. Asheville has good climbing both to the north and south. Might see ya out there as next week is my spring break. Safe travels.
The parkway is some massively goord riding. I live near Roanoke VA and ride it frequently. There’s lots of climbing, but nothing too steep.
The section of the Parkway right in Roanoke (US 460 to US 220) is best avoided at peak commute times as lots of folks use it to commute even though they are not supposed to.
You could stay in Roanoke and ride up to the parkway, or along it, or you could maybe stay at the Peaks of Otter near Bedford.
Much of the best riding in the area (in my very biased opinion) is right off the parkway around Bent Mountain, down into Franklin County.
email me dwisemand@hotmail.com and I can send you more details, ride maps, cue sheets, profiles and 3-D projections of good rides.
Here’s my club’s website (it’s kinda lame but we’re working on it) http://www.franklinfreewheelers.org/
Apologies for the pop-ups…it’s free web space http://www.franklinfreewheelers.org/ hope that link worked?!
We were looking at Asheville or Roanoke - probably leaning towards Roanoke to start just so its a little closer to home. Maybe do a couple of days there and then a couple down at the other end near Asheville.
I did something similar in 2002. I rented a cabin near Bryson City. Did a few rides from the cabin using routes from “Bicycling the Blue Ridge”. Drove over to Asheville one day to ride up Mt. Mitchell. Drove over to ride Cherohala Skyway another day. Also did a few hikes in the Great Smokies.
The Cherohala Challenge is June 11. 115 miles that covers the Cherohala Skyway and a road called The Dragons Tail (318 curves in 11 miles through the mountains).
but it’s not too bad