Blue Ridge Parkway
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Great area. I try to get down to the Gap once a year but really the whole region is perfect for biking. Wonderfully tight and curvy, beautifully paved and most cagers are bike friendly. NC cops seem alright but the state park police have no sense of humor about double line passing and double the speed limits. Look at the pictures, it is impossible to go 45mph.
PS. If you want to go fast and safe, ride the gap during the week. Although entertaining, weekends are full of squidly people who go down about at a rate of one per 3 hours. Good time to run other local roads like the Cherohola Skyway.
PS. If you want to go fast and safe, ride the gap during the week. Although entertaining, weekends are full of squidly people who go down about at a rate of one per 3 hours. Good time to run other local roads like the Cherohola Skyway.
You call them mountains ? Thems foothills son.
Come to Alberta and British Columbia, and we'll show ya'll MOUNTAINS............ wear your longjohns though. it gets cool at the higher elevations even in July and August. I really liked your photos. The road looks a bit close with the green stuff blocking a lot of your view . I would be paranoid about some large critter jumping from the bush into my path.
Come to Alberta and British Columbia, and we'll show ya'll MOUNTAINS............ wear your longjohns though. it gets cool at the higher elevations even in July and August. I really liked your photos. The road looks a bit close with the green stuff blocking a lot of your view . I would be paranoid about some large critter jumping from the bush into my path.
Route 191 formally Route 666 in Arizona
If you are ever in east Arizona near the New Mexico border and want a really twisty ride go ride on Route 191 Formerly Route 666. The fun starts in Clifton and doesnt stop until you reach Eagar. 95 miles of serious twisty turning high altitude fun all the way up to 9100 feet. No police, no highway patrol, and no gas, make sure you fill up in Clifton if coming from the south or Eagar if from the north. To get there and start from the North side from Phoenix take 60 east to Globe on to Show Low then 260 east to Eagar then 191 south down to Clifton. It's a long drive to get there but worth it.
While in Clifton check out the huge Phelps Dodge copper strip mine the largest in N America and you can see from 191.
One note make sure you don't ride before May or after Sept as the weather in the fall through spring time can turn really cold and freezing rain can fall quickly at 9100 feet.
If you are ever in east Arizona near the New Mexico border and want a really twisty ride go ride on Route 191 Formerly Route 666. The fun starts in Clifton and doesnt stop until you reach Eagar. 95 miles of serious twisty turning high altitude fun all the way up to 9100 feet. No police, no highway patrol, and no gas, make sure you fill up in Clifton if coming from the south or Eagar if from the north. To get there and start from the North side from Phoenix take 60 east to Globe on to Show Low then 260 east to Eagar then 191 south down to Clifton. It's a long drive to get there but worth it.
While in Clifton check out the huge Phelps Dodge copper strip mine the largest in N America and you can see from 191.
One note make sure you don't ride before May or after Sept as the weather in the fall through spring time can turn really cold and freezing rain can fall quickly at 9100 feet.
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Thanks Jack nice read and great pictures. I have a brother that moved to NC a few years ago. He brags about the BRP. Having lived most of my life west of the Miss. my brother knows I am kind of geographically ignorant about the eastern U.S. ". With over four hundred miles of two-lane twisties, spectacular mountain scenery and very little traffic, you can't believe you usually have the road to yourself. Commercial traffic is not allowed. " Sounds like sport bike heaven on earth. Great motivation to plan a road trip to visit him. Thanks again.
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I've only ridden the VA portion, but I can tell you that 45 mph is NOT fast enough up that way. It's miles of back to back sweepers varying from 50 to 75 mph. My friend and I even had a humourous run in with John (well, Jane) Law. We were doing about 85 down one of the rare straights when we noticed that the one of those tourist cagers was actually a lightly marked ranger car when the lights came on. We pulled over at the next available stop and she asked us how fast we were going. My buddy flat out lied and said 50 and I thought we were going to go to jail for pissing her off with a stupid statement like that. Luckily, she said that she "just couldn't believe" the 75 mph she clocked us at so she ran the self-test on the gun and it was reporting a problem. She just thanked us for not running and said she wanted to tell us why she started to pull us over "by mistake." Yup, that gun was busted, but I wasn't about to tell her that it's because it's reading 10 mph slow!
Pics of our parkway trip.
http://www.kcplazasportbikes.com/photos/other_brp_10_10_03/index.htm
http://www.kcplazasportbikes.com/photos/other_brp_10_10_03/index.htm
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I too have ridden the BRP but all I found during my time on it was rain, rain and more rain. I hung in there for a while on my rented Geezer Glide, but knowing that just off the mountain was sunshine and equally curvy roads, I took a side road down the mountain to dry out.
Very scenic for sure. I might recommend a higher speed limit.
Very scenic for sure. I might recommend a higher speed limit.
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441 Posts
Cool write-up. Looks like I've got to get to the parkway, too. Thanks.
I have driven, sadly not ridden, on the Blue Ridge and it is everything the author says it is. Here is Idaho we have some really great riding too but it is not a civilized as it is back east or in CA. The roads are not as good and many of them have a mountain on one side and nothing on the other! Plus our mountains are very high (7,000 10,000+feet) and the roads are very narrow and twisty and prone to rock fall but some of the vistas are just breath taking! One time I was driving my family around and a guy on a sport bike came screaming round my car and blasted off around the next turn. My family was horrified but I was jealous! Hah!
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