An 8-day trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway
#1
06-03-2014, 06:43 PM
An 8-day trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Day 1 Saturday We leave just south of Baltimore at 8 am with 5 motorcycles of several varieties. We make a quick stop in Columbia, MD to pick up another rider then head west on route 32 for Frederick. In Frederick we take route 340 south. Lunchtime finds us at a Cracker Barrel in Front Royal, VA. After lunch we are again heading south on 340 for Waynesboro where the Blue Ridge Parkway starts. Having ridden the BRP several times I know the prettiest part of this road is south of the Virginia line. To save time we will get on the BRP about 25 miles north of the VA/NC boarder. From Waynesboro we get on Interstate 81 and then take Interstate 77 to Hillsville, VA where we spend the first night. As we pull into the motel I see my GPS mount has broken, and it is flopping around like a fish out of water. I can do the ride without the GPS but it sure makes it easier to lead the ride if I can get the mount fixed. I am able to repair it using some cable ties until I can order a new one when I get home. We have ridden about 370 miles today.
Day 2 Sunday Some elect to eat the free breakfast at the motel and some of us belly up to the breakfast buffet at Shoney’s across the street. Their breakfast bar has about anything you could want for breakfast. We are on the road a little after 8 am Sunday morning. Route 58 is a beautiful two lane country road that has some curves and hills; a road that is made for a motorcycle. In less than 30 minutes we read the Blue Ridge Parkway and head north for two miles to stop at Malbry Mill. This grist mill, built in the late 1800’s is the most photographed spot on the entire parkway. We think about having a cup of coffee but there is a 30 minutes wait for a table and we are burning daylight when we have the most beautiful road on the east coast to ride. We point our iron steeds south and enjoy the scenery and the slow sweeping turns of the BRP. One rider has to work on Tuesday so after 25 miles he departs and heads north. We will spend this night in Boone, NC. As we leave the parkway one bike has problems; the throttle cable has broken. Fortunately the driver is a mechanic and with an electrical connector he gerry-rigs the throttle cable until we can get to the motel. At the motel he tears the bike apart and swaps the throttle return cable with the broken one relying on the throttle spring to close the butterflies in the carbs.
Day 3 Monday We elect to skip Grandfather Mountain because of the horseshoes turns and the banked road leading to the top. Around lunchtime I punch in “food” in my GPS. For once the GPS directs us to a nice restaurant in the middle of nowhere. They have the best hush puppies that have ever crossed my palate. Actually before this we get off the parkway, again lead by the GPS and stop at what the GPS calls a restaurant, but it is a biker bar that is packed with probably 50+ motorcycles in the parking lot. We only use the bathroom and get back on the parkway as it is packed an extremely noisy. One rider has a new Ultra Limited and has made an appointment in Ashville to get his 1K checkup done so he leaves us and will meet us at Maggie Valley Wednesday evening. After lunch we ride up Mount Mitchell the highest point in NC. We stop at Pisgah Restaurant for a snack then ride the remaining way to Maggie Valley arriving around 6 pm. I can’t say enough about the Holiday Motel. The owners, Robert and Gabriela both ride and are great folks. They give us discount coupons to local restaurants and tell us some of the roads we don’t want to miss riding while in the area. In the evenings after riding all day we would unwind sitting on the porch of the motel in rocking chairs just fellowshipping. You don’t know how much you miss staying in a regular motel where after dinner everyone goes to their separate room and there is no conversation about the roads we have ridden today.
Day 4 Tuesday We head out for a loop that goes through Highlands, NC and past several waterfalls. We stop at Dry Falls where you can walk behind the waterfalls. For one of our group this is the first time he has ever seen a waterfall. All agree that so far this is the best trip they have ever been on. We also stop at Bridal Veil Falls where the road goes behind the falls and several of the group rides their bikes on the road behind the falls. We ride about 175 miles today. Back in Maggie Valley that evening we have a great dinner using a 15% off coupon that Holiday Motel has given us. The rider of the Ultra Limited meets us at the Holiday motel this evening and joins us for dinner.
Day 5 Wednesday No stay in Maggie Valley is complete without having breakfast at Joey’s Pancake House. We watch in amazement as our youngest rider, about 29, inhales two eggs, biscuits, grits, corn beef hash, and a huge plate of biscuits and gravy, and at lunch time he is again ready to eat. Today we will ride the Cherohala Skyway and log about 200 miles. After having lunch in Tellico Plains we run into a rain shower. There is no place to pull off until after ½ mile we come to a large church and pull into the parking lot. We grab our rain gear and take cover on the porch of the church as we suit up. Back on our bikes it pours for about two miles and then the road is dry for the ride back to the Holiday Motel. I am not normally bothered by pollen but today I get to the point, even wearing a modular helmet, that I have to pull over as I can’t see. Luckily one rider has some eye drops and meds. After we are back on the road I realize that the chin vent on my new Shoei helmet is allowing the air to flow up the front of my face. I close the vent and this helps with the pollen situation. Back at the Holiday Motel we have another good dinner with another 15% off coupon. One rider, the one who eats like there is no tomorrow, decides to visit an Army buddy in the eastern part of the state and leaves while we are at dinner.
Day 6 Thursday The couple on the trike leave us as they want to visit some other area before heading on to Georgia, so now we have 4 people on 3 bikes. After breakfast we pack the bikes and head for Clingsman’s Dome the highest point east of the Mississippi, located in the Great Smokey Mountain Park and in TN. Clingsman’s Dome is at an elevation of just over 6600 feet. I thought we could park close to the observation tower but it is a half mile walk at an incline of probably 12 degrees or more. We can really feel it walking at this altitude or maybe we are just getting more mature. We leave Clingsman’s Dome around noon and I punch in home on the GPS and it takes us through Pigeon Forge. We have run into some rain so we are wearing our rain gear as we go through this town. I’ve read where bikers say to avoid the tourist trap of Pigeon Forge and now I know why. We go through about 40 traffic lights, each one we catch red, and the temps are around 90°. I am sweating like a pig in the rain gear, but it is still threatening to rain so we ride on in our rain gear. We finally make to it Interstate 40 that leads us to interstate 81. We ride until about 6 pm and stop for the night in Wytheville, VA.
Day 7 Friday The other two bikes decide they will head out early the next morning for home. I’ve told my young grandsons I will stop in Woodstock, VA to visit them and spend Friday night, heading home on Saturday. I ride for about 30 miles and again stop at a Shoney’s for their breakfast bar. Back on the bike for another 3+ hours and I arrive at my daughter's house.
Day 8 Saturday I say goodbye to my grandsons and daughter and stop at Cracker Barrel for blueberry pancakes sausage. I arrive home around 12:30. I have logged 1760 miles and averaged 44 MPG. I’ve have been able to travel on the best motorcycle roads in the east, and really enjoyed the fellowship of the other riders. I was amazed at how light the traffic was on the BRP where we often passed more motorcycles than we did cars. We have had to put on our rain suits several times but really didn’t have to ride in the rain for more then maybe 50 miles total, not bad for an 8 day trip. The temperatures have ranged from the low 50’s in the mornings to an average high during the day of the upper 70’s, except for Pigeon Forge where it was about 90°. Except for the broken throttle cable no one had any mechanical problems and we all returned home safe. I probably have a 2 or more hour cleaning job on my bike from riding in the rain and after a couple of days will be wishing I could leave for another trip. If only I could somehow delay the return to work for another couple of days but at 5 am on Monday morning the alarm clock lets me know it is time to get up. I used a tip I read about probably on this forum using 2 inch wide blue painters tape for directions. I apply a strip to my gas tank and write the directions on it using a black sharpie. The tape removes leaving no residue. I have found on this trip that the people who ride a Harley are the most likely to wave, and the least likely are those who ride a Beamer. We have probably ridden through 20+ tunnels on the parkway and each one was great for making a little noise by twisting the throttle and letting your pipes howl.
Day 2 Sunday Some elect to eat the free breakfast at the motel and some of us belly up to the breakfast buffet at Shoney’s across the street. Their breakfast bar has about anything you could want for breakfast. We are on the road a little after 8 am Sunday morning. Route 58 is a beautiful two lane country road that has some curves and hills; a road that is made for a motorcycle. In less than 30 minutes we read the Blue Ridge Parkway and head north for two miles to stop at Malbry Mill. This grist mill, built in the late 1800’s is the most photographed spot on the entire parkway. We think about having a cup of coffee but there is a 30 minutes wait for a table and we are burning daylight when we have the most beautiful road on the east coast to ride. We point our iron steeds south and enjoy the scenery and the slow sweeping turns of the BRP. One rider has to work on Tuesday so after 25 miles he departs and heads north. We will spend this night in Boone, NC. As we leave the parkway one bike has problems; the throttle cable has broken. Fortunately the driver is a mechanic and with an electrical connector he gerry-rigs the throttle cable until we can get to the motel. At the motel he tears the bike apart and swaps the throttle return cable with the broken one relying on the throttle spring to close the butterflies in the carbs.
Day 3 Monday We elect to skip Grandfather Mountain because of the horseshoes turns and the banked road leading to the top. Around lunchtime I punch in “food” in my GPS. For once the GPS directs us to a nice restaurant in the middle of nowhere. They have the best hush puppies that have ever crossed my palate. Actually before this we get off the parkway, again lead by the GPS and stop at what the GPS calls a restaurant, but it is a biker bar that is packed with probably 50+ motorcycles in the parking lot. We only use the bathroom and get back on the parkway as it is packed an extremely noisy. One rider has a new Ultra Limited and has made an appointment in Ashville to get his 1K checkup done so he leaves us and will meet us at Maggie Valley Wednesday evening. After lunch we ride up Mount Mitchell the highest point in NC. We stop at Pisgah Restaurant for a snack then ride the remaining way to Maggie Valley arriving around 6 pm. I can’t say enough about the Holiday Motel. The owners, Robert and Gabriela both ride and are great folks. They give us discount coupons to local restaurants and tell us some of the roads we don’t want to miss riding while in the area. In the evenings after riding all day we would unwind sitting on the porch of the motel in rocking chairs just fellowshipping. You don’t know how much you miss staying in a regular motel where after dinner everyone goes to their separate room and there is no conversation about the roads we have ridden today.
Day 4 Tuesday We head out for a loop that goes through Highlands, NC and past several waterfalls. We stop at Dry Falls where you can walk behind the waterfalls. For one of our group this is the first time he has ever seen a waterfall. All agree that so far this is the best trip they have ever been on. We also stop at Bridal Veil Falls where the road goes behind the falls and several of the group rides their bikes on the road behind the falls. We ride about 175 miles today. Back in Maggie Valley that evening we have a great dinner using a 15% off coupon that Holiday Motel has given us. The rider of the Ultra Limited meets us at the Holiday motel this evening and joins us for dinner.
Day 5 Wednesday No stay in Maggie Valley is complete without having breakfast at Joey’s Pancake House. We watch in amazement as our youngest rider, about 29, inhales two eggs, biscuits, grits, corn beef hash, and a huge plate of biscuits and gravy, and at lunch time he is again ready to eat. Today we will ride the Cherohala Skyway and log about 200 miles. After having lunch in Tellico Plains we run into a rain shower. There is no place to pull off until after ½ mile we come to a large church and pull into the parking lot. We grab our rain gear and take cover on the porch of the church as we suit up. Back on our bikes it pours for about two miles and then the road is dry for the ride back to the Holiday Motel. I am not normally bothered by pollen but today I get to the point, even wearing a modular helmet, that I have to pull over as I can’t see. Luckily one rider has some eye drops and meds. After we are back on the road I realize that the chin vent on my new Shoei helmet is allowing the air to flow up the front of my face. I close the vent and this helps with the pollen situation. Back at the Holiday Motel we have another good dinner with another 15% off coupon. One rider, the one who eats like there is no tomorrow, decides to visit an Army buddy in the eastern part of the state and leaves while we are at dinner.
Day 6 Thursday The couple on the trike leave us as they want to visit some other area before heading on to Georgia, so now we have 4 people on 3 bikes. After breakfast we pack the bikes and head for Clingsman’s Dome the highest point east of the Mississippi, located in the Great Smokey Mountain Park and in TN. Clingsman’s Dome is at an elevation of just over 6600 feet. I thought we could park close to the observation tower but it is a half mile walk at an incline of probably 12 degrees or more. We can really feel it walking at this altitude or maybe we are just getting more mature. We leave Clingsman’s Dome around noon and I punch in home on the GPS and it takes us through Pigeon Forge. We have run into some rain so we are wearing our rain gear as we go through this town. I’ve read where bikers say to avoid the tourist trap of Pigeon Forge and now I know why. We go through about 40 traffic lights, each one we catch red, and the temps are around 90°. I am sweating like a pig in the rain gear, but it is still threatening to rain so we ride on in our rain gear. We finally make to it Interstate 40 that leads us to interstate 81. We ride until about 6 pm and stop for the night in Wytheville, VA.
Day 7 Friday The other two bikes decide they will head out early the next morning for home. I’ve told my young grandsons I will stop in Woodstock, VA to visit them and spend Friday night, heading home on Saturday. I ride for about 30 miles and again stop at a Shoney’s for their breakfast bar. Back on the bike for another 3+ hours and I arrive at my daughter's house.
Day 8 Saturday I say goodbye to my grandsons and daughter and stop at Cracker Barrel for blueberry pancakes sausage. I arrive home around 12:30. I have logged 1760 miles and averaged 44 MPG. I’ve have been able to travel on the best motorcycle roads in the east, and really enjoyed the fellowship of the other riders. I was amazed at how light the traffic was on the BRP where we often passed more motorcycles than we did cars. We have had to put on our rain suits several times but really didn’t have to ride in the rain for more then maybe 50 miles total, not bad for an 8 day trip. The temperatures have ranged from the low 50’s in the mornings to an average high during the day of the upper 70’s, except for Pigeon Forge where it was about 90°. Except for the broken throttle cable no one had any mechanical problems and we all returned home safe. I probably have a 2 or more hour cleaning job on my bike from riding in the rain and after a couple of days will be wishing I could leave for another trip. If only I could somehow delay the return to work for another couple of days but at 5 am on Monday morning the alarm clock lets me know it is time to get up. I used a tip I read about probably on this forum using 2 inch wide blue painters tape for directions. I apply a strip to my gas tank and write the directions on it using a black sharpie. The tape removes leaving no residue. I have found on this trip that the people who ride a Harley are the most likely to wave, and the least likely are those who ride a Beamer. We have probably ridden through 20+ tunnels on the parkway and each one was great for making a little noise by twisting the throttle and letting your pipes howl.
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06-03-2014, 08:43 PM
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