Tandem Cycling - Cherohala Skyway question

Is anyone familiar with the "tandem friendliness" of the Cherohala parkway, particularly the section closest to Robbinsville, NC? We are celebrating our 20th anniversary this July and are planning a return to Snowbird Lodge where we honeymooned. I was debating whether it was worth the effort to bring the tandem or stick to hiking. I suspect the Cherohala is a bit steeper than we really want to tackle. We don't have much experience biking in the mountains other than last years Tennessee tandem rally. We made it over Wears gap and cycled the open part of the Foothills parkway. We had no problem with and enjoyed the Foothills Parkway, but I doubt the grade ever got above 6 or 7%.

We used to live in Western NC, so I know outside of the Parkways like the Blue Ridge, its not a very bike friendly area. If we don't plan to ride the Cherohala we will leave the tandem at home. Just looking for feedback on how "epic" the Cherohala is.
Thanks!
CG

I love the Cherohala Skyway. Been up it 3 times in the last 12 months. I was there last Sunday on the way back from Helen, GA. We were supposed to make a run up the Skyway, but it was rainy and foggy. Coming off 2 days of 42 degree, rainy weather in GA., we just packed it in and headed home.

We always base out of Tellico Plains. Last fall we did the full deal and rode all the way to Robinsville and back. The Robinsville side is steeper than the TN side. Lots of sections at 9% and the climb is about 10 miles. Also, I'd want a drum brake or disks to decend that side. The decent on the TN side would be fine with just rim brakes as the corners are more sweeping. Don't use brakes on my single bike when decending the TN side.

We're planning a tandem trip to Tellico in late May. My stoker is only 10 but she wants to try it. My wife will sag and I'll have the single bike with me and we can switch out if needed.

Make sure you carry everything you need, as there are zero services on the Skyway, this includes water. Also, turn your cell phone off or leave it. It will just search the whole time and run the battery to nothing.

In your shoes, I'd bring the tandem and leave the hiking boots at home.:D Have fun and happy anniversary. Our 20th is in Sept.

This is from last fall, around 3000'. The top is about 5400'.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/gransport/Cherohala007.jpg

Yup, suggest taking the tandem and hiking boots!
Congrats on your 20th anniversary! That was 34 years ago for us . . . nothing like some old romantics still romancing!

First off, WNC is very bike friendly. It is perhaps one of the most bike friendly places I have ever ridden. I have lived and biked here for the past 15 years.

OK, The Skyway. Shayne pretty much summed it up correctly. If you have easy enough gears and don't mind spinning up a 9% grade then the Skyway would be fine. You could also ride down NC 129 from the Snowbird Lodge (head towards Joyce Kilmer Forest and follow along the back side of the lake) towards Deals Gap and back. Most of the grades are mild. Turn off on Yellow Creek and ride out the valley and back, very quiet. Or you could continue through Deals Gap (climb!) on 28 east to Fontana Dam and either take the newly paved road back to Cheoah Dam or just retrace the way you came. I you want to ride there are options. Have fun!

Be careful of the Motorcycles in that area..... if it fine to ride there.....just keep your ears open.

As a cyclist and a motorcyclist that area could present some issues.... on the motorcycle I tend to ride the Skyway pretty hard --- the good thing is the field of vision (unless it is foggy) is pretty good.

I would do it just be careful

Be careful of the Motorcycles in that area..... if it fine to ride there.....just keep your ears open.

As a cyclist and a motorcyclist that area could present some issues.... on the motorcycle I tend to ride the Skyway pretty hard --- the good thing is the field of vision (unless it is foggy) is pretty good.

I would do it just be careful

Local law enforcement has reign in motorcycles with respect to the speeding. They started impounding bikes which got the message across. I see bikes being loaded onto trailers every week. The local communities just got tired of the lawless behavior and I can't blame them. So stick to the speed limit if you don't want a heavy fine and the loss of your bike for a while.

Thanks Shayne and BikeWNC for the first person insight!

I am game to try the Skyway. I'll see what the stoker thinks. I'm pretty sure I'll swap the 11-34 back in for the 12-27 I just put in before tackling the Skyway. Too bad, because the 12-27 Ultegra does seem to shift better. On the plus side I put on a 28 tooth small chainring when I swapped in the Ultegra cassette, so in combo with the 11-34 it should give us a super granny gear to spin with.

We used to live in Maggie Valley (I worked in Waynesville) and Asheville and loved the area. We always look forward to revisiting the mountains of WNC. We weren't road cyclist at the time, but we backpacked a good portion of the Smokys. The 20 Mile - Fontana area was a favorite.

Should be a great trip.

Yep, I like the western part of the Park too. We usually try to hike up to Gregory Bald from Twentymile Ranger Station, spend the night and make a loop on the Long Hungry Ridge Trail. Have fun while you're back down here.

We celebrated 20 yrs of marriage with a ride on the tandem on the Cherohala last week. The captain was a little under the weather so we only rode from Snowbird Lodge up to the high point at Santeetlah overlook and had lunch. It was about 12 miles of climbing at 9 to 10% grade max. We averaged a glacial 6.5 mph spinning our way up. We had nice cool weather, though a little hazy.
The descent made the climb worth it! Good pavement, nice sweeping turns. Very little traffic, mostly BMW motorcycles in the area for a rally. The drum brake really wasn't necessary. Our terminal velocity was about 50 mph. Most of the curves could be taken comfortably at 35 - 40 mph, so a squeeze on the rim brakes before each turn was all that was needed.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2434/3735505215_115df968a0.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3445/3736288736_a5fa121a43.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/3736373892_9c7e1348fd.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3736295894_0b44f09bb8.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/3735510531_d44002e610.jpg
Short videos of the descent (sorry, low quality)...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39475171@N05/3735814579/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39475171@N05/3734757763/in/set-72157621687507796/

Congrat's on the 20 yrs. Ours is in Sept. Funny, I'm setting in a hotel near Mamoth caves and I log on and read about your climb. We'll be doing the caves tomorrow, traveling Tue. Then climbing from the Tellico Plains side on Wed. I'll have my wife as sag and 10 year old daughter as the stoker. Got my single in case we need to switch back and forth. We're desending down to Robinsville and then driving through the Mt's to Knoxville for a Zoo visit. Look for a report in a week or so.

Congratulations on the anniversary and the ride. Hope you had fun. 20 for us next year. Been together since HS. Our honeymoon place is no longer, so we will not be able to do something like this. Hope you had a lot of fun, and many more years to come.

Stoker Haley and I did our ride up the Skyway on July 22nd. I love riding the Skyway and it was very rewarding to share this with my daughter. My wife loves the Tenn. Mts. and has family in the area, so it was cool to have her along sagging. Had some old walkie-talkies and found an ear bud attachment. Even had the little mic built into the wire. Felt like a pro. :thumb:

We rode up from the Tellico Plains side (East). This side is easier from a climbing perspective, but a little longer mileage wise. It's 31 miles to the top, if you U-turn and come right back it makes for a nice metric with a little over 7000' of climbing. There are quite a few ups and downs which add to the climbing total. By far, the hardest section is from 2000' up to 4000'. The grades are harder in this section, but are still less than 10%. Above 4000' the grade is closer to 5%.

Haley did very well. The main climb starts about 16 miles from the top, but you've already had your legs softened by a section called the Dragons Backbone. The locals call this a section of rollers. I call it a section off back to back climbs.:o Anyway, you start the main climb and your at 2000'. It's pretty tough, but we were just chugging away at 6.5 mph. By the time we got up the 4000' our speed had dropped down to 4 mph. We were burning that granny gear up. I knew she was waring down, plus it had been raining lightly for about 30 min. Also, the temp was dropping as we got higher. My wife was leap frogging back and forth between senic overlooks and she told us on the radio that we only had a half mile untill the next one. So I asked Haley, "What do you want to do?" She says in a sleepy voice, "I don't know." I asked, "Do you want to ride with mommy for awhile?" "YES!" I was proud that she made it up that far. I switched out bikes to my single and went on up solo. Haley enjoyed talking to me on the radio.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/gransport/106.jpg

By the time we got to the top, the rain had cleared on out. We snapped a pic or two and I started bundling up for the decent. The plan was to keep heading East, so it was to be 10-12 miles with a lot of 9% stuff. Haley walks up with her sweatshirt and says, "I'm riding down aren't I?" I smiled and said sure. I did my best to keep our speed in check, but we still hit 49. I would have liked to have a disc or drum for this decent, but managed ok with the rim brakes. The front pads were pretty much smoked by the bottom and I have black rubber coating the brake surface of the rims. Could be some driver errors involved there. Of course I had a lot of preasure on me not dump it with my daughter on the back. Some of this preasure was from me, but a lot of it was from the follow car. ;)

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/gransport/114.jpg

It was a great ride and a great day. This was my 4th time up the Skyway and by far my favorite. Here's what the stoker looked like after the ride. :thumb:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/gransport/133.jpg

I also want to add, another great ride from Tellico Plains, is to head up to the Bald River Falls. This is an easy 25 mile out and back ride. I goes up a steady false flat of 1-2%, following a Mt. river. You reach the falls and can go on for another 7-8 miles or turn back there. I rode up on Tue. to get my legs ready for the climbing on Wed. The girls followed with the car and enjoyed the ride. Beautiful area. You just head up the Skyway and turn right at mile 5. There are signs. Hope this info helps someone have a great trip to the Skyway.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f287/gransport/079.jpg

Shayne, sounds like a great trip! Your daughter did well. Its an epic climb.

Your post indicates you think its tougher climbing the NC side. Have you tried it both directions? Just curious. We only rode up the NC side (East to West) to the Santeetlah overlook at 5390 ft, but the following day we drove by car over and back to the Tn side. It seemed steeper in sections climbing up from Tellico than climbing from Snowbird. Maybe 10 - 15% for short sections on the TN side. Was this an illusion? True, its steady climbing almost the whole way on the NC side, but it never got above 8 -10% I would guess.

Also amazing how large effect rolling resistance and aerodynamics has at those speeds. Sounds like you had trouble keeping under 50 and scorched the brakes doing so. But our tandem with 35mm Schwalbe Marathons, fenders, and a lightly packed pannier required only moderate braking before the turns to stay under 50. Didn't need the drum brake.

Shayne, sounds like a great trip! Your daughter did well. Its an epic climb.

Your post indicates you think its tougher climbing the NC side. Have you tried it both directions? Just curious. We only rode up the NC side (East to West) to the Santeetlah overlook at 5390 ft, but the following day we drove by car over and back to the Tn side. It seemed steeper in sections climbing up from Tellico than climbing from Snowbird. Maybe 10 - 15% for short sections on the TN side. Was this an illusion? True, its steady climbing almost the whole way on the NC side, but it never got above 8 -10% I would guess.

Also amazing how large effect rolling resistance and aerodynamics has at those speeds. Sounds like you had trouble keeping under 50 and scorched the brakes doing so. But our tandem with 35mm Schwalbe Marathons, fenders, and a lightly packed pannier required only moderate braking before the turns to stay under 50. Didn't need the drum brake.

I've only climbed the NC side once. I/we thought it was harder, however we had left from Tellico that morning, climbed over to Robinsville, U-turned and went back. So our legs were already smoked before started back West. We plan to do another team mini camp this fall and repeat that ride.

I did have issues keeping the speed down on our decent. Like you said, I bet it's mostly aero. I'm pretty big at 6'-4" 195, but Haley tucks right in behind me.