Follow up post since doing the ride:
My trip was a two day out-and-back from Front Royal, VA to the Big Meadows
Lodge in the middle of Shenandoah National Park. 52 miles one-way. I hope
some information in here might help someone else planning a similar trip.
Trip dates: June 18-19.
Weather: The weather on the mountain is generally not the same as that forecasted
for the towns on the valley floor. For example, in the valley towns it can be
90 deg F and humid with forecasted rain, and on the ridge 75 deg F, dry, bright
and breezy. The latter was the weather I was lucky enough to enjoy for the whole
trip. However: weather changes can come quickly, particuarly as you change elevation.
Bring rain gear, if nothing else you'll have peace of mind in bringing it. Man made
shelters on Skyline are far apart. The assumption is that you're in a car.
Keep that in mind.
Elevation gain for first day: 6700-6900 ft (depending on the mapping service you use).
I chose not to GPS the ride itself just to save battery on my phone. And I wasn't
about to set any speed records on the climbs! The profile and gradients are attached.
You can expect 3-5% grade for most of the ascents. There are small stretches of 6-8%
grade, particularly at the "gaps" (such as the entrance at Front Royal, or Thornton
gap at route 211, where the road has to climb at a greater rate to get up onto the
ridge. The ridgeline hovers around 3300-3500 ft for the most part.
My bike was my self-built Surly Straggler, a 1x with 48T in the front and 11-32
in the back. Tires were Panaracer Protek 35's. The disc brakes worked well to control
speed on the descents & curves. On that score, Skyline drive is extremely clean
pavement, at least where I rode it in the northen 50 miles. I built the Surly for
touring and commuting, with butterfly bar and is set up best for seated climbing.
Also, the Panaracers are sticky but they are great in the rain and there was the
possibility of rain on the trip. I had considered using my road bike, which is a
much better climbing machine, but I took the Surly because (a) there was some prediction
of bad weather and my Surly is better built for that, and (b) I could make use of my rear
rack and panniers for gear and clothes, as I was doing an overnight. In the end I was glad
to have the touring bike as opposed to the road machine.
If you're on the backside of 40 like me, going up the first 4-1/2 miles from
Front Royal to Dickey Ridge at 6 AM is not easy on the legs. The initial grades here
push over the 3-5% I had mentally expected, and so at first 50 miles of this seemed
daunting. But, at the first switchback, the grade backed down, I warmed up, and after
that all was well. As an aside, I'd recommend making use of the numerous "overlooks"
that are every 2-3 miles or so, (a) to stop and smell the roses, and (b) to recharge
your legs, take water and some food. Mentally it is better to accept that you will
always be climbing, and not in a mindset to "get to the top" of the hill as one might
when doing normal training rides.
On food and amenities on Skyline: I was able to cover one day of riding pretty well
with two bottle cages, and a couple (big) energy bars, plus the following supports:
(a) Elkwallow Wayside (mile 25). Elkwallow is a small cabin convenience-store setup
with restrooms. They have all kinds of food and drink on offer, reasonable prices,
including pre-packaged sandwiches that you can trust. Of course you can fill your
bottles too. Also, there are alot of bees who will great interest in your sweaty bike.
If you like bees. If you don't, like me, then be prepared to jump on your bike and
get away fast. :-) Not very crowded, more cyclists than car travelers here. I gathered
that regional cyclists use Front Royal to Elkwallow as a training route.
(b) Skyland (mile 40): Skyland is a rest area with taproom/restaurant seating, a nice
outdoor overlook with seating. Restrooms, snacks, you name it. It's like a typical vehicle
rest stop on an US interstate. As opposed to Elkwallow, alot of car travelers here. Also,
as you will find elsewhere on Skyline, alot of Appalachian Trail hikers, who will ask you
"what day is this?" I saw one AT guy, licking food out of can. I kid you not.
Fill your bottles !
On sharing the road with vehicles: I didn't find this a problem at all. I rode on a Sunday from
6 AM - 1:30 PM, and Monday from 5:30 AM to 11 AM. I did encounter a road crew who was paving (see
above comments on excellent road quality on Monday, but that was minor.) I didn't get any
problems from drivers and found a few to even be supportive. The road is popular with
motorcycles, but they are even less of an issue than cars. The road tends to be busiest with
vehicle traffic at the "gaps" as this is where Skyline intersects with the normal highway system.
but as there are no lights or other intersections on Skyline, the cars pass easily and traffic
stretches out quite a bit. I had numerous spans of time where I had the road totally to myself.
On gear: as with any ride, be able to fix a flat and do typical adjustments to brakes or gears.
This ride is more self-supported than perhaps other rides are, there are not bike shops (or
anything really) around and in some places cell coverage is poor or non-existent. Extra tip:
Bring a little bike grease with you, because if you have a squeaking pedal clip it will drive
you crazy as you grind up the climbs. Speaking from experience. The waysides and lodges do
not offer cycling stuff, so BYO.
On bears: I saw two bears on Skyline, one that crossed the road 30 yards ahead of me, and one
on the roadside maybe 10 yards from me (it was walking away at the time). Not much else to say..
they are gone as soon as you see them. However, after seeing one, I would loudly shout nonsense
to no one for a bit, trying to implement the bear safety protocols I had read. Thinking I was
scaring away great numbers of bears lurking in the woods. Guess I'll never know.
I must admit, as Zen as I tried to be with the climbing, by the time I reached Big Meadows
at mile 50 I was scaring bears via stream of obscenities. But that was was fatigue and
crashing blood sugar. The punchline is that the final run-up to Big Meadows goes up to about 7%
which feels awful by then, and then...after you turn off Skyline, the lodge is..wait for..at the
top of a hill. I laugh now. I didn't then.
Big Meadows is a large campground and lodge facility. I stayed in a lodge room, which I'd
describe as a cross between a cabin and a conventional hotel room. My room was pretty good
and better than I expected to be honest for a park facility. I had a really good meal there
and a great night's sleep for the next day.
Day 2 was almost gravy, another hard morning start on tired legs, but 6700 feet of descent.
Enough said. Due to fatigue, the flats and relatively minor climbs on this day felt difficult,
especially at the start of the day...mid ride I found my legs again.
Overall, I think this was a great ride experience and really glad that I did it, and I would
highly recommend it!
On training: I can only tell you what I typically do in a week, and this was enough for me
to do the ride and enjoy the effort. 60-90 miles/week total volume, approx 30 miles/ride.
Typical elev gains I do per ride range anywhere from 500 feet (commuting) to 3000 feet
(weekend ride) and all in between. Typical ride avg speed 15-16 mph. I did focus on hill
training in the months leading up to the ride, nothing structured, just climb anything I
could get my wheels on. If you have access to long hills that's best, as opposed to steep.
A great training hill for this ride would be about 1 mile long, at 3-5% grade.