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Blue Ridge last week of June

mohan0

mohan0
My wife and I left New Hampshire the last week of June bound for Skyline Drive and the BPR, and the riding Gods were with us all the way with clear skies and temps in the mid 80s for most of the trip. Traveling the slabs to Front Royal, with an overight in PA the second night stayed at the Skyland Lodge right in the National Park with spectacular views of the Shenendoah, the only rain of the whole trip came that night with a grand show by mother nature. Began the BPR the next day with lunch at a local diner where we were approached by two other local riders who gaves us their oppinion on the best parts of the BPR, this would become a recuring theme, "When you drive farther south it is much nicer than the northern parts. " But I was enjoying all of it very much, except for watching for deer and cars turning into the over look it was a pleasure to ride, there was very little traffic or construction delays, speeds were around 50 mph, locals were very hospitable at every gas, lunch or rest stop it seemed that someone would start up a conversation. I found the BPR more enjoable than the Skyline for the simple reason of speed, and i dont mean it in that respect, there seemed to be a nice even pace to the BPR. The only snag came just outside Roanoke VA when I heard a load pop from the rear wheel and my wife saying " What was that?" shortly after I knew something was wrong with the rear tire as the front end started to rise up a little and it became more difficult to handle the bike. Settling in at an overlook found a large hole in the rear tire, with my wife working the smartphone ( finally used for an emergency) we were able to get a hold of Allsports Cycle in Roanoke, they had a tire and even offered to come gets us. I had a tire kit and told them I would try and plug it and if I could not I would be back in touch. Three plugs later and the little air compresser that I bought at Walmart, the bike was able to limp to the cycle shop where the staff took great care of us, we were back on the road within a couple of hours with a recomendation for a great place nearby for BBQ. The rest of the trip went without a hitch with stops at Mt Mitchell, Blowing Rock and Cherokee. The last two days home were the tougest with temps creeping up close to 100, but what a trip. Riding the BPR through was such a pleasure we love the whole thing from the farmland, to the mountains and the forests with its maxi rododendrons in bloom! you should be able to see some pictureat the site below, some picture are from a camping trip with the Yankee Beemers.


http://ericnancytravels.shutterfly.com/
Site Email Address: ericnancytravels@sfly.com
 
I did this same trip in July 2011 with a friend of mine from South Florida. We would agree with you that the BRP is more enjoyable than the Skyline Drive. We were not camping, so every evening we would descend off the Parkway somewhere to find a place to stay. The temperature increased probably 15 or 20 degrees down in the valley.

I highly recommend Rt 56 in Virginia (near Montbello and Vesuvius) as a fun curvy road. In southwestern Virginia there is Rt 16 "Back of the Dragon" between Marion and Tazewell. Hungry Mother State Park looks excellent for camping.
 
I've ridden the parkway end-to-end a number of times, including last summer going to the rally in PA. We intended to ride it south on the way home but I lost my front brakes just north of Roanoke so I stayed on the Interstate all the way home with my wife following with all the gear in a rental from the Roanoke airport.

I'll be back on it in Sept. but will meet my riding buddies in Asheville in order to take advantage of the Saturday prime rib dinner at Grove Park Inn.
 
We did an "end to end" last September. We went up to mm 0 in VA and came back down to mm 469 and on to home here in GA. We did not take the BRP up to our start and only took it home. We intentionally took our time on a leisurely trip and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Like you, we stayed in lodges or hotels like Peaks of Otter, then Fancy Gap, 2 nights in Little Switzerland then Maggie Valley before heading home.

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