Day Two: Ashville to Linville Falls

Morning sun as we climbed toward Craggy Garden

100th  mile on the Parkway

Again we had to sneak out of the campground in darkness, trying to be quiet and not wake up our neighbors. We stopped for Breakfast at the Waffle House, and had a decent meal for a reasonable price, and the waitress was friendly too.

Derek and Kelly dropped us off at the intersection of Route 70 and the Parkway.  It was a cool but comfortable morning since we were starting at the modest elevation of Asheville.  The climbing started right out of the box, like the day before.  Despite the filling breakfast, I started getting hungry within the first half hour.  I noticed that I had to be eating pretty regularly for the first 3 hours or so in the mornings.

On the way up we had some nice views of mountain homes, and even someone sleeing in the open bed of a pickup at one of the first overlooks.  As we climbed upward we passed mile marker 369, which meant we had completed our 100th mile on the Parkway.

As we continued, we saw a number of local riders out for an early Sunday morning ride.  We passed 2 riders at one overlook, and they caught up to us as we were finishing a food and water break.  Our timing lead to us riding with them.  They were locals who would often ride to Craggy Garden on a Sunday morning and had also ridden to the top of Mount Mitchell once.  They asked about our ride, and gave us enough information about the Climb to Mount Mitchell, for us to feel that we could accomplish it.  We arrived at Craggy Garden a few minutes after they did.

Mount Mitchell, this was a popular sign

View from Mount Mitchell

The road to Mount Mitchell is bit steeper than the regular grades of the Parkway, but it is also extra detour from the Parkway itself.  When Dale was planning the itinerary for this trip, he allowed time to make take the side trip if we thought our legs were up to it, if we were on schedule for that day and the weather/visibility would make it worthwhile.  Since we made it to Craggy Gardens pretty much on schedule, we decided to make a go for it.  The road was also a bit straighter, which made it easier for cars to pass us, We had the gears and the time and put it in the long grind mode.  Near the top another local rider caught us, and I rode with him for a mile or so.  He was checking out the climb to prepare for a ride in October with his cycling friends from his former home in Ohio, to celebrate his 60th birthday.  Near the top a dear dashed across the road in front of us.  Due to my heavier bike and bags, I couldn't keep pace.

Near the top, there is a visitor's center, parking area and a trail to a observation deck on the actual peak.  There was a gentle breeze and the temps were comfortably cool.  We had to stand in line to get a picture at the sign.  While we were hanging out at the top, eating our lunch, I offered to take a sign picture for a young family.  the  a noticed my Penn State socks and said he was a fan.  He (Dean) was actually from the Boston area and wrestled at Edinboro.  He and his family had lived in Chester Springs PA before moving to Charlotte, NC.  They were on a day-trip to visit the peak.

Later in the afternoon, looking back toward the Black Mountains

So all that climbing paid off with a nice descent, back onto the Parkway with even more downhills.  the afternoon destination was Little Switzerland.  The road continued to curve up and down, and we had nice views of the Black Mountains as we headed east.  As we were struggling up one of the many climbs that afternoon, Dale asked me what % of the Parkway so far was flat, and my response was something like "less than 1 %, and that is rounding up".  In other words, the terrain was making it tough on us mentally and physically.  After the nice cool breezes in the higher elevations, it was getting hot at the lower elevations, especially in the few open spots.  We limped into the Little Switzerland General Store for a much needed food and water break.  It was crowded, and there was a line at the cash register but we endured.

Dale had a very good handle on the terrain to come and warned us there was one last 3 mile climb to our evening campground at Linville Falls.  Even knowing we were close and the climb was pretty hard, and it seemed to stretch on forever.  Just when you think the top is around the next bend, it keeps going up.  As we were struggling slowly up a steeper part of the climb, a van passed us and the passenger yelled out "Go, you can do it!"  after a string of cars passed, someone encouraged us again from another van with "Go, you can do it!".  After they were up the road a bit, Dale said "they must be related",

Post Office in Linville Falls

The climb finally did end, and the few miles to the campground were mostly downhill.  The campground was really nice,

We had a great dinner at Spears BBQ in Linville Falls, a very rural North Carolina Village.

Cateye 

77.79 Totals miles
7:35:07 Riding time
42.1 Maximum speed
10.2 Average speed

Day One: Cherokee to Asheville

Morning dawns over the Smoky Mountains, during the early miles of the Parkway

Three things that you need to know; 1) the Blue Ridge Parkway was designed by someone who had no interest in finding the shortest distance between point A and B, and 2) was infatuated with his/her french curve, and 3) was oblivious to how the terrain would affect people touring by bike.  With that knowledge, as a cyclist you are less like to curse the intentions of this well meaning person.

Our starting point at
milepost 469.1

Elk disappearing
into the woods

We left the campground in darkness and had a very filling and tasty breakfast at Peter's Pancakes and Waffles in Cherokee, NC.  We were on the road at milepost 469.1 by 7:40, as daylight expanded.  We encountered our first tunnel and passed Big Witch Overlook.  On the descent to Soco Gap, we encountered an elk standing calmly in a little grassy spot along the road.  As a few cars stopped, it was not immediately spooked.  However, by the time I got my phone out and unlocked, I took a quick pic as it headed into the surrounding woods.  Passerby's said there was a pair of elk just down the road, but we did not see them.  Within a half mile or so, Dale experienced a flat in his rear tire.  A few miles later we passed a single wild turkey along the road.

The road was pretty quiet for the first hour, but as we climbed toward Waterrock Knob, groups of motorcycles started passing us.  The Harley-types could be heard approaching well in advance, and after they passed could be heard many miles in the distance as the wound along exposed sections of the parkway.  Since a motorcycle can pass a bicycle rider within the same lane, our presence on the road did not seem to slow them down very much.  A group of 3 or 4 guys on moto GP style bikes came flying by us and as they entered the next turn their knees were just above the grass as they leaned into the turn...those are the guys we have to watch out for.

View from Waterrock Knob

During the quiet moments we could hear elk bugling and turkeys clucking in the distance.  The air was cool and comfortable and sun was shining, it seemed like conditions could not be better.

View from Richland Balsam Overlook

Since the morning was spent mostly climbing, it was appropriate that our lunch stop goal was Richland Balsam overlook, which at 6053 feet is the highes point on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We pulled in and were cooled by a nice breeze and cool air.  we enjoyed a beautiful view as we ate our lunch.  A few people wandered over to ask where we had started or where we were going.  One couple must hove thought we looked in such sorry shape that they gave us a sleeve of crackers and a bottled water to each.  The kind gestures from strangers we encountered along the way were uplifting.

Sign at Richland Balsam

From the high point, of course there was a lot of descending to do, but really we were either going up or down.  As the day wore on we entered Pisgah National Forest and came closer to the City of Asheville motorcycle and car traffic really began to pick up.  The cycles could easily pass us, but since the Parkway is narrow and has no shoulder cars would have cross into the opposing lane to pass.   As we slogged up a climb we could hear the cars queuing up behind us and then gunning to pass us when they had an opening.  Since the road is always curving, many times cars trying to pass  had little sight distance to safely pass.  Somewhere near Pisgah Knob a large pickup, got impatient and tried to pass, when they were even with us, another pickup was coming the opposite direction and had to go off the road to avoid a front-end collision, it was a very close call.

This Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and there were a lot destinations along this portion of the Parkway that locals were visiting for one last summer weekend.  There were a couple of places where parking areas were overflowing and people were parking on the grass shoulders of the roadway.  the constant flow of traffic with lines of cars passing us at higher rates of speed, caused many stressful situations for us.  On one of the descents a local rider out for a Saturday afternoon ride passed us.  We exchanged a few words of encouragement, and then we tried to follow him on the long downhill.  After about 20 minutes he was out of site.

As we continued to descend we could see that we were getting close to the level of the valley floor.  At a couple view points, we could see the Biltmore mansion in the distance, perched prominently on a hill within the estate.  We continued to desend past the southern perimeter of the  North Carolina Arboretum.  As we crossed the French Broad River, we knew we were at a low point on the Parkway.

From there we had a few miles of rolling hills till we arrived at route 70 where we exited the Parkway.  We finally hit 70 and still had 6-7 miles of riding to our spot at the KOA campground.  For some reason I was struggling with both mental and physical fatigue at that point, and it was probably the hardest part of the trip.  It seemed like such a short distance, but it was on a 4 lane road with traffic lights and intersections.  After the somewhat controlled environment of the Parkway, it was a tough stretch, and the roadways expansion joints added to the annoying aspects of this ride.  When we finally arrived it was quite a relief.

Cateye Computer
93.63 Miles
8:23:47 Total riding time
Avs 11.1  Average speed
MX 41.2 Maximum Speed

Polar

NPS Map - Interactive Map of Blue Ridge Parkway.

Mileposts - Text list of mileposts for important points of interest along Parkway.