Tandem Cycling - Cades Cove TN. Tandem Ride

My family is camping in the Smoky Mountains in a week or so. I wish to ride the Cades Cove loop with my 8 year old son. The website says it is closed to autos on Sat. mornings until 10am. That sounds great!
Anyone ridden these roads? How is traffic on other days?
Apparently a section of the Foothills Parkway is also closed to autos but i find little info on the net. Anyone ridden that stretch of road?
Can you suggest any other LOW traffic areas in the Smoky Mountain's suitable to riding a tandem?
Thanks Much!

We rode up to Cade's Cove and then rode the Cade's Cove Loop last Thursday as part of the Pre TTR day. The loop was delightful. There were some cars but they were very slow-moving: we went past some and some went past us.

I would suggest that you contact Cycology Bicycles in Marysville, TN. The shop manager is the organizer of the Tennessee Tandem Rally and he would have all the info and suggestions you need for where to ride and when and if certain routes are busy. There's contact info on the website.

http://www.cycologybicycles.com/

Bloomington, IN

Its been 10+ years since we lived near the GSMNP, but during that time we camped and rode Cades Cove a couple times on singles. Last week we rode it before the Tennessee Tandem Rally. Some pictures we took and descriptions by others are found in this thread....
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=381235
We rode on Wed morning which is the other day when the Cove is closed to motor traffic. This is the best day to ride with the least people and congestion. The pavement seems to be in much better shape than the last time we were there. A wonderful place to ride. Saw three bears: inclucing a female with cub. Numerous turkey and deer as well.
However, unless things have changed for the better, weekend rides (other than Sat morning) between Memorial Day and Labor Day are frustrating, if not dangerous. Any wildlife sightings result in the infamous "bear traffic jams" that are difficult to negotiate around even on a bike due to the narrow road.
My advice: regardless of day, during the summer ride in the early morning to avoid the traffic and see more wildlife. Have fun!

Forgot to mention the foothills parkway. The advice in BloomingCyclists post to contact Cycology is a good one. We stopped in at the store last spring (April, I think) and Tim gave us some ride suggestions. One suggestion was to make a loop out of the open section of the Foothills parkway and some rural roads. It was a great ride. Little or no traffic on the Parkway, nice pavement, and a moderate grade on the way up (probably didn't get above 5 or 6%). I don't think the Foothills parkway gets the volume of traffic that the National Park does. From what I gather about the closed section is that the pavement is in bad shape, maybe more suitable to mountain bikes, but I don't have any firsthand info.

Riding the other GSMNP roads (like the Little River Road) is best done on weekday mornings when traffic is lighter. We enjoyed the small section we rode from Metcalf bottoms to the Townsend "Y". The grade going up to Newfound gap on 441 gets very steep in places and is highly traveled so probably isn't the best place for a tandem. However I've never ridden it.

I have ridden CC numerous times on a bent and regular bike but not a tandem.
Generally speaking the earlier you do the ride the better, up till about 9am by
which time the cars will be pretty much all the way around the loop. Roads are
a bit gravelly but mostly paved, road tires should do fine. For wildlife viewing, generally early
is better but any time of day can produce some fine sights. The road is wide enough
that most times you can bike around the cars, though occasionally someone will
pull out of line enough to make maneuvering around difficult especially for a tandem.
There are a number of grade level water crossings, no big deal, depends on recent
rains. There are a couple of significant hills but most are under 200yds long. There is one
fairly steep hill with a R turn near the bottom with a sign: bikers must walk. I never have
but you may want to heed that warning on a tandem, it is ridable by anyone with a
modicum of tandem experience. There is a comfort station about halfway around with
a big parking lot. Lots of houses, churches and barns to stop and look at some of which
an 8yr old will find interesting. I generally go faster than the cars so only occasionally
have to pull over to let cars by. On the tandem with an 8 yr old stoker you likely will
need to pay attention to overtaking cars especially in the last 4-5mi where there are a lot
of rollers with narrow roadway, look for places to pull off.

As to other areas, all the roads in the SMNP will be fairly busy and it will depend on
your tolerance for car traffic. One aspect is that speeds rarely go above 40mph on
the road from CC to the Y and from the Y to Sugarlands. My favorite ride is from
the motel over to CC on the Little River road, around the loop. Then a picnic lunch
and a ride back to Sugarlands/ Gburg. About 60mi with relatively little cliimbing.
I second the Y to Metcalf as an easy tandem ride, or for that matter Y to Elkmont
is pretty straight forward both ways. You may see kayakers shooting the falls
just before Metcalf. Traffic on Little River road is heavy but slowed by the incessant
curves.
I have driven the 'closed section' of the Foothills parkway once, it is opened to
cars on occasion. It is gravel and best done on an ATB rig. Goes 5-6mi, up and
down and curvy. The Foothills parkway at the southern and northern ends of the
park are LOOONG up and down hills at grades upto 10% hence not very tandem
friendly, worse IMO than the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge terminus in Cherokee is
similarly about a 10mi uphill 8-11% grade, not bike or tandem friendly at all.
The Heintooga loop out of Cherokee is accessed from the BRP but branches off
about 5-6mi up the BRP with a gentler but still uphill. The paved part runs out
at 8-10mi from Cherokee leaving almost 10m of twisty turny gravel. If something
happens you are in deep doodoo. Cell phone is very spotty. The road to nowhere
out of Bryson City is fairly bike friendly and about a 10-12mi round trip. The ride
from the Gap to Clingman's Dome is fairly easy 15mi round trip, up and down with
a single 1mi down hill going up and vice versa going down. Traffic will be heavy
but respectful. You have to like the smell of hot brakes, a lot of people have
no idea what the 1-2-3-4 on their gear shift means.