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    Bicycling the Blue Ridge: A Guide to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway
    Bicycling the Blue Ridge: A Guide to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway
    Bicycling the Blue Ridge: A Guide to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway
    Ebook220 pages1 hour

    Bicycling the Blue Ridge: A Guide to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway

    By Elizabeth Skinner and Charlie Skinner

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    About this ebook

    Tour This Dream Road on Bicycle, Between North Carolina and Virginia.

    Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway are arguably the most quintessential scenic roads east of the Mississippi. Bicycling the Blue Ridge is the definitive guide to this ribbon of highway. It’s just what you need to plan the perfect trip, whether you are out for the day, a weekend, or a month. You’ll find detailed, mile-by-mile descriptions that provide information on lodging, restaurants, stores, and bike shops. Professionally designed maps and elevation profiles are also included, so you always know where you are, where you’re going, and what to expect along the way.

    The 575-mile strip of continuous road flows between Front Royal, Virginia, and Cherokee, North Carolina. It traverses Shenandoah National Park and connects to Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains. In Bicycling the Blue Ridge, authors Elizabeth Skinner and Charlie Skinner cover the entire route. Whether your interest is recreational touring or racing, this is an indispensable tool for bicycling this incredible highway.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMenasha Ridge Press
    Release dateApr 7, 2020
    ISBN9781634043045
    Bicycling the Blue Ridge: A Guide to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway

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      Book preview

      Bicycling the Blue Ridge - Elizabeth Skinner

      For Bonnie, Caroline, and Kat

      In memory of Willis David Johnson, Anne Cornwall Johnson-Adams, and Rosamond Foltyn

      Bicycling the Blue Ridge: A Guide to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway

      Copyright © 2020 Elizabeth Skinner and Charlie Skinner

      30th anniversary edition 2020

      All rights reserved

      Printed in the United States of America

      Published by Menasha Ridge Press

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

      Sixth edition, first printing

      Front cover photo © Christine Rucker

      Back cover photo © Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

      Interior photos by Elizabeth and Charlie Skinner unless otherwise noted on page

      Cover design and cartography by Scott McGrew

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Skinner, Elizabeth, 1961– author. | Skinner, Charlie, 1943– author.

      Title: Bicycling the Blue Ridge : a guide to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway / Elizabeth and Charlie Skinner.

      Description: 6th edition. | Birmingham, AL : Menasha Ridge Press, 2020.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2019051429 (print) | LCCN 2019051430 (ebook) ISBN 9781634043038 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781634043045 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Bicycle touring—Virginia—Skyline Drive—Guidebooks. Bicycle touring—Blue Ridge Parkway (N.C. and Va.)—Guidebooks. Skyline Drive (Va.)—Guidebooks. | Blue Ridge Parkway (N.C. and Va.)—Guidebooks.

      Classification: LCC GV1045.5.V82 S626 2020 (print) | LCC GV1045.5.V82 (ebook) DDC 796.6309755—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051429

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051430

      Visit menasharidge.com for a complete listing of our books and for ordering information. Contact us at our website, at facebook.com/menasharidge, or at twitter.com/menasharidge with questions or comments. To find out more about who we are and what we’re doing, visit blog.menasharidge.com.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations used in reviews.

      Table of Contents

      Acknowledgments

      Preface

      Part 1: An Introduction to Bicycling the Blue Ridge

      1The Ultimate Bicycling Road

      2Weather in the Blue Ridge Mountains

      3Camping Versus Lodging

      4Gearing Up: Special Equipment and Clothing

      Part 2: Point-by-Point Descriptions

      5An Explanation of Our Point-by-Point Descriptions

      6Skyline Drive

      Front Royal to Thornton Gap

      Thornton Gap to Swift Run Gap

      Swift Run Gap to Rockfish Gap

      7The Blue Ridge Parkway

      Rockfish Gap to James River Visitor Center

      James River Visitor Center to Roanoke Mountain

      Roanoke Mountain to Mabry Mill

      Mabry Mill to Cumberland Knob

      Cumberland Knob to Northwest Trading Post

      Northwest Trading Post to Linville Falls

      Linville Falls to Craggy Gardens

      Craggy Gardens to Mount Pisgah

      Mount Pisgah to Cherokee

      Great Smoky Mountains National Park

      Part 3: Day Trips and Overnighters

      Part 4: Appendixes

      Appendix A: Bicycle Shops

      Appendix B: For More Information

      Appendix C: Major Elevation Gains

      About the Authors

      Heading toward Meadows of Dan   photo by Christine Rucker

      Acknowledgments

      IN 2019 I CYCLED ALL 575 MILES OF SKYLINE DRIVE and the Blue Ridge Parkway. How amazing it is to experience the Blue Ridge Mountains by bicycle. Pedaling along—equal parts flying down descents and spinning up climbs—immersed in all of the lush beauty these mountains have to offer. This year I learned anew that the athleticism required to cycle this mountainous terrain is legitimate and no small feat. I used the southern end of the Parkway in early spring to train for the Assault on the Carolinas out of Brevard. In May, Charlie and I took on the Tour de Skyline Drive—a two-day ride to cycle the 105-mile length of Skyline Drive one day and ride back the next.

      Bicycling the Blue Ridge was originally intended as a guide to long-distance touring on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Cycling Skyline Drive and the Parkway end to end is definitely a bucket list item that I highly recommend. Whether you undertake an extended tour, an overnighter, or a day trip, these roads do not disappoint. One of the biggest surprises for me this year was receiving a message from two guys in Sweden who had come across the book, been inspired, and made a tour of the Parkway happen. They created an excellent documentary of their trip. How awesome.

      It is hard to believe that this is the 30th anniversary of Bicycling the Blue Ridge. I still remember the day Charlie introduced me to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was jumping-up-and-down thrilled. The Blue Ridge Mountains have always spoken to me more than any other place. They whisper, murmur, and hum with energy and timeless beauty. For me they are one of the thin places, as the Celts and Christians believed—places so mystic that heaven and earth nearly touch, allowing a glimpse of the divine.

      No book is created without the support of family and friends. This year started out with a major setback and I was off the bike for nine weeks. I am deeply grateful to Joe Hutchins, Ginny Norton, Pat Rimron, and the Piedmont Flyers for getting me back on the bike—stronger and faster than ever. What an amazing cycling year it has been. Thank you to Scott Campbell, who has bicycle toured the Parkway more times than I have and offered several suggestions for the revision. Many thanks to Christine Rucker for excellent new photographs to energize this new edition. What a fun photo shoot with Alan Norman and the Hearts Racing Club. Thanks to the crew at Ken’s Bike Shop—Ken Putnam, Matt Canter, Robert Myrick, Bob Stack, Charlie Campbell, and Rick Bylsma—for keeping our bikes tuned up and ready to go. Thank you to Molly Merkle, my longtime liaison with Menasha Ridge Press, and Holly Cross, my editor this time around. As always, thank you to Charlie; our daughters, Caroline, Kat, and Bonnie; my sisters, Carole and Jenny; and longtime mentor and friend, Mary McAfee. Family and close friends know me best, and forgive and support my laser-focused passion for cycling and this project.

      Here’s to adventure wherever it takes you.

      Happy cycling,

      —Elizabeth Libby Skinner

      575 miles of amazing cycling

      Preface

      THERE IS NO RIBBON OF HIGHWAY more ideal for bicycling than Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Something about the wild, inscrutable, lush green of the Blue Ridge has always called to me. If I couldn’t be a bird floating on the thermal drafts high above the hardwood-and-fir jungle, then I could fly down descents on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Fast. On skinny rubber tires at 35–45 miles per hour. Body and bike one with the road. My brand of risk and thrill seeking. Despite more than 35 years of exploration by bicycle, the Blue Ridge continues to amaze.

      Now let us concede from the beginning: Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway are never easy. You simply cannot be a passive cyclist on these roads. You work excruciatingly hard climbing its mountains, but the descents are more thrilling than your favorite roller-coaster ride. They’re scarier, too, for the controls are all yours. All senses are alert. Body and machine meet rubber and pavement in a high-voltage connection.

      Cycling on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway can be a humbling experience. The bicyclist who attempts these roads has definitely signed up for some tough mountain cycling. If the worst hill you’ve tackled is that bridge or overpass in your otherwise flat hometown, you are in for a big shock. We will address this matter of hill climbing later. First, a word about what motivated us to write this book.

      In our travels on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, we have met cyclists from France, Germany, Japan, California, Florida, and Texas, all in varying stages of bewilderment and frustration. Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway present special challenges to the cyclist. In addition to steep road grades, weather conditions are often a menace. Rain, fog, and gusty winds are possible. Facilities are set up for the convenience of the car traveler. Food stops may simply be too far apart to be practical for the bicyclist. Because the National Park Service allows no advertising on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, motels, restaurants, medical facilities, and the like are often hidden.

      Facilities as close as 0.5 mile off the Parkway may be completely concealed from view. Even the literature that outlines facilities off Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway is almost exclusively designed for the car traveler. We have learned the hard way about turning off the Parkway only to find ourselves in an immediate descent to nowhere. This means only one thing: a tough climb back up the side of a mountain. And we like to climb. If only there were a traveler’s guide written for bicyclists from their point of view.

      We wrote this book with three groups of cyclists in mind: serious road cyclists, long-distance touring cyclists, and recreational cyclists. The Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive have much to offer each group. Of course,

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