Asheville NC
 

Greets. My wife and I are possibly relocating to Asheville NC early next year. Are any forum members familiar with the area?? I currently ride a road bike and have no idea at all what kind of riding is available in that area. My typical rides are in the 40-60 mile range, however mostly flat.....live in NJ. Thanks !! :)

My wife and I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs by Ashville, 27 years ago. Spectacular riding.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...can10035B2.jpg

Plenty of hills to choose from. Great mountain bike trails.

You should get a mountain bike. I have heard great things about the trail system around there.

I live in Raleigh, NC. Which is 4 hours from Asheville and 2 hours from the beach. Pretty nice spot. But Asheville is an incredibly cool town. They have fantastic arts\culture and a nice downtown. As has been mentioned the Blue Ridge Parkway runs near Asheville and is truly beautiful.

I play to drive to Asheville next summer, catch a bus to Swannoa (sp?), VA. Then bike the length of the Blue Ridge back down to Asheville.

Also there are some MTB trails http://www.singletracks.com/php/zipc...s=25&zip=28801. There are likely more, that was just a quick 20 second google search.

Good luck in your relocation.

Good news and bad news
 

I pedaled several routes out of downtown Asheville a number of years ago. The bad news is that there seemed to be only one route that's close to being flat (the road along the river). The good news is that some of the vistas are spectacular (weather permitting) and your ability to climb will improve!

If I was going to do that again on the road racing bike which is now my favorite, I'd first swap in a compact crank (and perhaps some larger cogs as well).

There are several people from that area in the southeast regional forum (bike forums > community connections > regional discussions > southeast) which is a great place for more local information.

Good advice Sluggo. Thanks !!