Blue Ridge

[NCKayaker]

Planning a trip to ride the entire Blue Ridge Parkway in June with a friend. I have a Trek 2.1. Looking to add a rack/bag soon. Any tips on the trip and/or the type of rack/bag/trunk I should be looking for? Thanks in advance...

[Looper1477]

Planning a trip to ride the entire Blue Ridge Parkway in June with a friend. I have a Trek 2.1. Looking to add a rack/bag soon. Any tips on the trip and/or the type of rack/bag/trunk I should be looking for? Thanks in advance...

Which direction are you going?---North to South or vice versa or both ways?
Reason I ask is the terrain varies at each end to some degree....Best to get one of the many books on the Parkway that breaks it down by mile marker and includes a description of some of the sites if you desire to learn a bit of the history along the way.

The southern end near Cherokee NC is the toughest with a lot of climbing, so gearing is a consideration , especially depending upon how much gear you will be bringing. 39x25 ish wouldn't be imprudent even without a rack and gear. Depending upon fitness level and the ease at which you both desire to pedal, a triple crankset could make the climbing an easier go of it.

[Looper1477]

Also, another consideration is that if you plan to go off the Parkway each night to lodge or camp, you will, in many cases, have a climb to get back on. Many areas you can easily just roll back onto it, but in comes areas in VA and a couple of spots in NC, you may have a 2-4 mile climb up to reach the parkway the next day.

Best to check with the Parkway re: campsites if you intend to camp on the parkway as i don't recall many such facilities along the way of that nature.

[ahsposo]

I truly love this road.

Here's a few links that you may find useful.

The book: http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Ridg.../dp/0897323017

And while I linked it from Amazon you can find it a many local bookstores.

NCDOT has some suggestions and a nice map. http://www.ncdot.gov/bikeped/bicycle/blueridgeparkway/

http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisi.../blrimap-2.pdf

Blue Ridge Parkway Advocacy group: http://www.blueridgeparkway.org

[CoMotionRider]

Are you riding with support, credit card touring or what? You will need to carry some warm clothes, maybe some rain gear and some snacks, unless you have some one following. Heading east from Asheville there you may need to carry some extra water. Check out some of the books others have mentioned, lots of good info.