Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

mwelych — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:47:14 GMT

Got onto the BRP for a short 35+ mile jaunt from Linville to Blowing Rock last thursday with my friend Bandana. Had a great time even though it was a short ride on the parkway... Was 90's when we left Charlotte and at least 10-15 degrees cooler when we got on the parkway... Beautiful ride!!!

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

06heritage — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:40:02 GMT

Yea, and dont forget the cherokee survivor rally! The last time I was there, it was one heck of a show!

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

mwelych — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:56:49 GMT

Love the NC mountains... Besides riding 'em, I love to rock climb too... Some great climbing in the S.E.!!!

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

06heritage — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:29:22 GMT

Yea, I like to fish too. I've done some fishing in the Tuck over near WCU. First time out I caught several nice trout. I have one 2009 grad from WCU and one sophmore there. I make several trips a year to the area. most of the time on university business with my kids but still there is usually time for a little fun.

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

lobee — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:26:15 GMT

was born & raised in Waynesville, that is some of the best riding in the country.Next time do some trout fishing.

Blue Ridge Parkway

06heritage — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:58:53 GMT

We planned this trip and waited out the weather for a few weeks and had some of the best riding in North Carolina! Myself and two friends met up for breakfast at the WH in Indian Trail NC. Left there heading for Ghost Town HD in Waynesville where there was also a charity ride going on. We didn't join the charity ride though as we had already planned to do our own cruising thru the Smokies on the Parkway. We bought a few T shirts and such and then headed out for lunch. We went into Sylva NC and ate at Bogart's. It's a good place to get your belly full. After lunch we hit the BRP at the entrance at Balsam off of Hwy 23-74. It's a 58 mile cruise along the BRP from there back to Asheville where you can get back onto I-26. This stretch of the BRP was especially fun riding. Except for the ocasional falling rock damage to the asphalt, the BRP is exceptionally smooth and has a lot of fun curves and tunnels. The speed limit is 45 in most places with one stretch at 35mph on this section. There are lots of scenic over looks, trails, and a place to get in the river and play along the big slides and and waterfalls. There are campgrounds and a store on this section. The BRP also reaches it's highest elevation of 6053 ft at one point and is marked and has a good place for a photo shoot. The view of the mountains are great and the road is fun. When you go thru the many tunnels you will want to be cautious as they are not lighted inside and the transition from sunlight to a dark hole makes for excitment that you just have to experience, especially the curved tunnels!

The weather was fantastic! It was about 74 degrees in the mountains and a little warmer in the peidmont and we didn't get caught in any rain although we did ride on wet roads for about 7 or 8 miles on the return trip near Columbus NC where it had rained quite a bit before we got there.

Our ride was a total of 443 miles beginning at 6am and returning home at 8:40pm. The bikes on the trip was my 2008 FLSTC, a friend of about 4 years and his 2009 Ultra Classic, and a long time friend of about 37 years on a 2004 Sportster.

My Heritage Classic and the Ultra Classic ran neck and neck in the MPG's each time we topped off getting 51.8 to 52.6 MPG's and my friend's Sporty beat us out getting 63.2 MPG's. We topped off more frequently than normal due to the capacity of the Sporty's tank.

The BRP is a whole lot more fun than the Dragon simply because the road is maintained so well. The curves are not as sharp as the Dragon but some of them do allow you to get a pretty tight lean going on. On our 58 mile run there were no pot holes and smooth asphalt all the way except for one rough patch job where a big boulder had fallen and broke up the road. I bet this spot will be fixed real soon. No commercial trucking traffic is allowed on this road at all. You might see bears, elk, deer and all sorts of wildlife too. Lots of picnic areas. You better make sure you have a full gas tank when you get on as there are not any gas stations although the one store operated by the campground that we passed might have had a gas pump. Otherwise you will have to take one of the exits into a nearby town for gas. There was only two exit roads off the BRP between where we got on at Balsam and where we got off at Arden which is right beside Asheville on this 58 mile leg. I think the BRP is close to 500 miles in it's entire distance. I've been on this road before but many many years ago. I'll be gettin friendly with this road again as I had forgotten just how much fun it really is.

Hope some of you can tour this road sometime.

Bike Rallies and Rides

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

Re: Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway