Advice, and invitations...
 

A couple of us are going to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We've found a way to be semi-supported.
We can basically just ride, eat, lie about it, and worry about the gear when we get to the end each day.

No SAG, but no gear to carry.

Pastorbob, drrobwave, myself, and a few others.
We'd love to pick up others for a day of fun, dinner, lunch, burlesque, etc.

Anyone who's ridden 6-7 days in a row, 85% climbing, that has any advice, we'd be glad to have it.

Anyone who lives within a convenient distance and wants to join us for a portion, PM me.
I'll be trying to reach fellow BF folks in SW Virginia.

We'll be leaving from Cherokee at the southern part, heading north. April 28-May 6

Put me in the for drinking beer part. The riding? This old guy hasn't been riding enough lately to take on this one. Where are you guys staying the first couple of nights?

Its kind of crazy. Now that I have retired, I have zero free time anymore. Of course, I have picked up a few part time gigs and hobbies along the way. I recently tallied up my week, and I figured I am working 12 days a week right now. I need to go back to working for a living so I can get more riding in!!!

My only advice is to make sure it is all open. Worst comes to worse, you can skip a few sections, and since you have a car, that should not be a big problem. Some sections open fairly late in the Spring, and usually other sections have winter damage to repair. Realize there is some high elevation in that first section, it goes up over 6000 feet. So weather is going to be quite a bit different than Raleigh.

Pisgah Inn should be open, campground is not. Be prepared for minimal/no service on my end. The first place where services are relatively close to the parkway is when you get to Asheville. Before that, everything is remote (except for at Cherokee of course). Cherokee is a mess, kind of Myrtle Beach meets the mountains. Most roads that connect to the parkway can be treacherous this time of year: lots of sand and gravel washouts on the road, minimal/no sight distance, no shoulders, etc. (The Parkway has terrific sight lines.) It takes a while for all the gunk from winter to get washed off the roads. Parkway road surface should be much better.


OK, I love the mountains of NC. You guys are in for a real treat. I've been coming up here since 1990 and knew I would retire here.

If any of the guys haven't seen the Biltmore Estate, you are going really close to it. Might be a nice diversion. My other suggestion was the ride up to Mt Mitchell, but you already know about that one.

Sounds like fun. Lemme see, no SAG, no gear. So are you asking for riders or for support vehicles? :lol:

It's too far away for me.

I've ridden Skyline drive. Maybe 8 or so years ago. We rented a cabin type thing somewhere near the northern most part , near Front Royal. Then we did day rides from there. Maybe it was just for a weekend, I don't remember all the details. What I do remember was a 18 mile long uphill. I was riding a Titanium Litespeed. Glad it had a triple. Glad I didnt have my camping gear.

ANyway, your ride sounds like a blast. I'd love to come down there and do it again, but next time I need more warning thatn 2 weeks :)

I'm still trying to get my Gazelle going to come out and meet. Then again, if my first 'ride' since winter yesterday says anything about my endurance, I won't be riding for long.

Hmm. Seems the good pastor is flying down to GA anyway, so not driving past my house. If I could mooch a ride, I'd be all over this....

That sounds so fun and what a gorgeous part of the country. I've been a bike tour guide before but full blown out panniers on all the bikes and camping gear. Since I was the leader, I carried almost every tool to take apart a bike. But nothing major happened. If you are having support or equipment meeting you at your destinations, just have a spare of just about anything since they will be in a car. Things like spare stems, spare crank, spare wheels, lots of inner tubes. Anything like that. It don't cost anything to have that spare in the trunk of someone's car.
Have fun!

No need for support, just company, and advice.

Advice: Leave the corn cob cassette at home!

Yep, I've given in to some suggestions.
53/42/36 and 12-21.

I was going to say, around here you're going to need something smaller than a 42. I'm building my Gazelle with a 53/39 x 12/26.

a triple with the lowest gear of 46.2 inches? geezuz, what's the point?

I guess at least you're not carrying any load.

I survived a non-loaded ~44 mile parkway ride on my 39/26 paramount. Parkway road grades are generally not very steep, but they can be unrelenting. Here's a short quote from an environmental study of parkway construction:

"Role of Gradient: Vertical gradient is related to
location. BRP gradient had a significant role in
environmental impacts. The designers followed
established parkway precedent in insisting on gentle
vertical grades conducive to a pleasant, safe and easy
driving experience. A gradient of 3 - 6% became the
BRP standard, with an absolute maximum of 8% for
distances of ¼ mile or less. (Lord, 1954)"

Another thing to consider for your trip is to have good front and rear lights - some of the parkway tunnels are quite long and curve such that you can't see either end when in them - very scary without lights.

ah yes. I just had a memory of riding down a huge downhill, into a black tunnel where i could barely make out the light on the other side. Then I ran over a decent sized rock in the pitch black darkness...

I am an inveterate, incorrigible masher, as norskagent can confirm.
However, I've conceded to a triple, a larger rear cassette, and water bottles, three things I generally do not employ.

I've also been told to get lights, and I find the bike lights to be 10x the price of a comparable flashlight,
so I'm considering alternatives involving duct tape.

Per some previous riders, 85% of the time is spent uphill, which means some neat descending, which I've not done, either.

We've also found that some of the facilities are closed, so we may have to renegade it a bit.
Seems like every day, a perfectly good reason arises to prohibit the endeavor.
Of course, that probably makes it something I should really do, Bucket List or not.

At least consider this, and some spare batteries

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes...0_20000_400903

Robbie Tunes needs to be on key, not a little flat........

This sounds so cool. What's the start and end points?

To mount a flashlight try fiddling around with Hose Clamps. 2 chained together makes a nice flashlight mount.


85% climbing and a low gear of 46.2 ?! Robbie, you are an Animal!!

I feel like such a wuss by comparison doing the slow crawl up big hills in my 28inch gear combo :lol:

does someone have a van? the group I rode with when I lived in Boaton area, did a week long tour every year. one guy had this huge ford van for his business. they all took turns driving one day. they didn't really use it as a SWAG wagon, just to tote the bags, scout for a place to eat a picnic lunch and go find a place to buy food for lunch. the van driver usually can get a short ride diring the afternoon

I got to ride with them a day or two one year and the arrangement worked out pretty well.

Don't feel bad, with my knees the way they are I've kicked around a 39x32 combo idea, lol. Like sands through the hour glass, slowly he ascends.

What kind of vertical are we talking here? Need more data: elevation profile? average grade? elevation differential?

Joe, I'm riding your old Series 2, ...

you know I don't do data.... but drrobwave does.....
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...rofilebrpw.jpg

Bianchigirll
No van, just a Chevy Impala. We have a driver, who will leave as soon as the car is packed up, drive ahead, then park, and backtrack to meet the motley crew. That person may well end up riding more miles, depending on the initial terrain for the rest of the folks. Two days, the initial 20 miles are all climbing, so it's conceivable the rendevous will be well before the halfway point.

Zaphod Beeblebrox
Starts in Cherokee NC, ends in Waynesboro VA, I assume (where Skyline Drive begins). We can get into WV if we make good time, but no one is quite that confident at this point.

Nice. Where are you guys staying along the way? Camping? Hotels? Hospitable forum members?

I think we're going to hotel it until Pastor Bob leaves, and then we're going to break into vacation cabins.

anyone driving down from Philly, Baltimore, DC, NYC area? My schedule just freed up...doubt I could make the entire trip but maybe meet up for a day or two?

Epic ride. Enjoy it!