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Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive

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Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive BLUE RIDGEthat brings images of tricorner hats BLISSand the Brits in the world) – called the New River, of course. There is no ribbon of highway more ideal for bicycling than at Yorktown, and where it’s tough to ride any- People here have a real sense of humor. the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. where and not be reminded, by statue or monu- Add to North Carolina’s appeal the Virginia- — Elizabeth & Charlie Skinner, Bicycling the Blue Ridge ment or chance conversation, of our murderous like past of our Revolution and Civil War, but Civil War. toss in, amazingly, the final ship-deck struggle ounds like typical marketing hooey, doesn’t Madeline Stowe movie The Last of the Mohicans Place the other park in North Carolina, an of Blackbeard the pirate! Before I rode this route it? But picture this — first, two gorgeous (minus the bloody battle scenes). underappreciated visual gem of 200 waterfalls in its entirety late one fall and spent those chilly national parks of high mountains, deep leafy Next put those parks in states of fascinating his- amid countless tree-covered mountains, more than early dark hours reading about the Tar Heel state Sforests, and short hiking trails to misty glens that tory. Picture one in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a million acres of forestland, and among its many in my tent at night, I’d always thought pirates will have you thinking of that Daniel Day–Lewis/ a title (at the top of the state’s official webpage) rivers the oldest river in America (second oldest conducted their jolly-roger depredations in the Story and photos by Dennis Coello Caribbean. But Blackbeard made his home town of Front smothered with green trees? The that their long-ago name for this area was in North Carolina for a time, time enough Royal (elevation answer is the soft blue haze of “Land of the Blue Smoke.” to marry his fourteenth wife before engag- 567 feet, only humid air that hovers over Shenandoah – the name of the national ing in his last ship-deck battle just off 70 miles from the forest. park, of course, but depending upon the Ocracoke on the Outer Banks. Tough DC), ride to the Skyline Drive – the speaker and context, it might refer to the cookie to the end, it took “five shot in nearby entrance 105-mile-long two-lane famed river you’ll see running through the him and twenty dismal cuts” before his of Shenandoah road running north valley west of Skyline Drive. Or it might lifeless body was tossed overboard. Well, National Park, to south through the refer to the lovely, fertile valley itself, most of his body, for the head was hung and begin pedal- narrow Shenandoah which during the Civil War was known as beneath the bowsprit and sailed that way ing up Skyline National Park, the “breadbasket of the Confederacy.” You to Williamsburg, Virginia. Drive. Before from Front Royal will be riding several “gaps” – low points It’s nice to know that these two states you reach Great to Rockfish Gap curving between mountains – that were used by Smoky Mountains near Waynesboro, road addi- Confederate forces to haul food across the National Park at Virginia. The tion of Linn mountains. the southern end, name comes from Cove Viaduct. All right, now you won’t be confused you’ll have ridden However, the by the terminology when, I hope, you 575 miles, reached final welcome mile- consider doing this ride and begin gath- an elevation high post you’ll see at the ering all the free information available point of over 6,000 feet, and climbed a vide some help: parkway’s end still from the parks and states. But what’s the whopping total of nearly 58,000 feet in Blue Ridge Mountains – that grand, reads 469. best way to experience this great route? doing so. Add a sweet five-mile spur and often mist-enshrouded “eastern rampart The Smokies – the Pannier-less out-and-back day rides for the another 1,390 feet to your total and you of the Appalachian Mountains extending name applied to the high easiest cycling? A fully loaded thru-tour? can pedal to the highest point east of the from southern Pennsylvania to northern range of mountains mostly A group of friends with a van and alter- Mississippi, Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet). Georgia” (cribbed from the single most within and very near Great nating drivers? Or forget the bike, strap By the time you get to that turnoff, you essential item in a Skyline/Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains National Park. on a 50-pound pack, and trek the parallel won’t even notice another uphill. biker’s handlebar bag – Skinner’s They’re part of the Blue Ridge In addition to climbing, it would be Bicycling the Blue Ridge — see Mountain eastern rampart of good if you’re also partial to trees, wildlife, Nuts & Bolts). But why the larger, wider Appalachian mountain streams, short hikes to roaring blue, when all the the loca- Mountain group. The Cherokee waterfalls, colorful wildflowers, scenic mountains here tion of the route (who ruled a multi-state swath overlooks (there are 75 in the first 105 are lovingly – way up there of land for centuries here, prior miles of your ride alone), slower traffic (when viewed from the to their forced removal via the (maximum speed limit of only 35 miles per valleys below) along the Trail of Tears in the early 1800s) have been connected for centuries, and hour for the first hundred miles, 45 miles “sky line.” are supposed to have described nicer still that one of today’s more civi- per hour thereafter), and fellow humans Blue Ridge Parkway – the these heights, according to the lized links is an “ideal-for-cyclists” wind- not in a hurry to get anywhere. 469-mile-long two-lane road con- National Park Service, as “shacon- ing two-lane mountain road running from From personal experience, I know necting the southern terminus of age” – meaning “blue, like smoke.” one national park to the other. This ribbon it’s real easy to get mixed up when the Skyline Drive with Great Smoky Today’s town of Cherokee, which of highway (1) allows no commercial traffic new to the names of moun- Mountains National Park (half the park you’ll pedal into if you make a (goodbye, trucks!), (2) prohibits billboards tain chains, parks, and lies in North Carolina, half in Tennessee). left at the bottom of your final (hello, scenery!), and (3) allows us to pedal parkways in these The name is usually shortened to “the mountain descent on the parkway, is the Appalachian National Scenic Trail instead? for almost 600 scenic continuous miles parts, so let Parkway,” less often to “BRP.” Not to sovereign nation of the descendants of (You’ll likely see some of these hardy hik- through these wildly interesting states. It’s me pro- quibble, but just so you’ll know, the total those tribal members who managed not to ers as they tromp this leg of the premier, a biker’s bliss. distance now is 470 miles due to the long be pushed west. The tribe’s website states Georgia-to-Maine 2,200-mile trail, often And that’s not all. This route is a climber’s delight. Saddle up next to the Civil War monument in the small northern Virginia Join the fun in the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure! June 20-27, 2009 • GOBA’s 21st Annual ride across Ohio! 3,000 People • 7 Days & Nites in June • 350 Miles Presented by Sponsored by It all adds up to the biggest and best bicycle tour in the East! Register Now! 614-273-0811 or www.goba.com 12 adventure cyclist march 2009 adventurecycling.org adventure cyclist march 2009 adventurecycling.org 13 called simply “the AT.”) snowflakes on November 10. I got a late slowly and explains that he lost his heels to Well, since the mid 1980s, I’ve had the start, but the honest reason was that I frostbite at Chosin Reservoir (a tough battle pleasure of doing the parkway and Skyline dawdled. Wait till you find yourself meet- during the Korean War). We rode together Drive in all these ways (except the last, ing interesting, fun people at almost every to where we had lunch with his wife and talked bikes and history for another hour afterward. It’s that kind of place. Know before you go that services along Skyline Drive and the parkway were designed for motorists – not us – and thus are too far apart for riding without forethought. It’s simple to pack more food and water, but get caught stealth camp- ing (sleeping outside a campground) and you’re in real trouble. The Park Service works hard at preserving these routes, plus the gorgeous country surrounding them, in the face of massive visitation by a usually appreciative populace. Do your bit to help them out. The rangers are also adamant about bike lights and reflectors front and rear. Don’t roll your eyes for in addition to fog there are tunnels – some of them long, High and winding. Cyclists on one of many classic S-curved segments of the Blue Ridge Parkway. all of them dark. And they’re numer- Rock lovers dream. The complex geology along the Blue Ridge Parkway provides temporary distraction to interested cyclists. ous. Skyline has only one, but you’ll ride for no matter all the pieces I’ve walked viewpoint, or pull up alongside a fellow through 27 on the Parkway.
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