Day 2...much better

My second day was much better than the first . I started of with some fairly easy rolling hills, then dropped down to around 3200 ft for most of the day. 
I'm really surprised at the fact that I haven't seen anyone else touring on a bike yet.  There are still 7 more days, maybe later.
The most interesting part of the day came around 11:00.  I was cresting a mountain (not hill) and saw a car pulled over on the other side of the road. The driver waved me off, just as a car passed me and a BEAR scrambled across my path about 10 feet away!  I grabbed my camera and tried to get a couple of shots of it, but they came out like bigfoot sightings.  Really..It's a bear
I made it to my hotel in Blowing Rock by 3:00 feeling good, but not interested in riding any more for the day.  After a Google search of the area, I made my dinner choices.  Food Lion and the ABC store :) Dinner was roast beef with cream cheese, and jello.  Dessert was Irish coffee.  Darned glad I'm in a hotel tonight.  I just heard a crack of thunder outside. It's raining cats and dogs out there.

This is another constant sight on the BRP.  It looks like rhododendron to me, but I've also been told it's mountain laurel.  It's everywhere.  Probably looks gorgeous in the late spring, when it's in bloom.

I see lots of journals (mine included) where you only see shots of the scenery, with a bike in it.  Understandable since I'm alone.  I set up the tripod on a stone wall and took this shot.  Heroic, aint I?

Bear...really.

Or maybe it's the Loch Ness Montser?

I started getting onto farm country today.  This is one thing I will NOT see on Skyline Drive, through the Shenandoah National Park.  BRP winds through plenty of farms and even residential developments.

Cool stonework on the overpasses.

Another self portrait...I got better.

Wallpaper shot of the day.

A little information about the upcoming Linn Cove Viaduct.  Probably the second most photographed place on the Parkway, after Mabry Mill (Later).  Before the viaduct was built, you had to get off the Parkway and drive on rt. 211 for about 4 miles, then get back on.  The locals would not allow the mountain to be ripped apart to build the roadway.

The Viaduct isn't as long as I thought it would be.  It only took me a couple of minutes to ride over it while I took my ThrillCam shot of the day:

Riding into Blowing Rock on the way to my hotel.  Hey Cathy, punch-buggy blue.

51 miles today at at average of just over 10MPH.  The last of my "easy" days.  The next few days are 60+ miles.

95 miles down.  400 more to go.

The campground was nice last night, but the hotel is MUCH better.  My room was down a short flight of steps from the lobby.  As I was checking in, I was talking with a couple on motorcyclists who were also riding the Parkway. They suggested I ride my bike down the steps.  I dared them to go first and see who gets in the most trouble  :)

Day 1...got my butt kicked

 I started Sunday morning after breakfast at Waffle House, which was conveniently just down the hill from the ramp to the parkway.
The next 18 miles kicked my butt.  I had seen the elevation profile, and knew it would be a challenge, but all I saw was that I was starting with a climb for a long stretch.  I ignored how HIGH I would be climbing.  I climbed 3200 feet, to an altitude of 5500 feet.  I was fine up to the last mile or so, then I started to feel it.  I wasn't gasping for air, but I think the thin air was getting to me.
I rode mostly rolling hills for the rest of the day and made it to camp at Crabtree Falls by 3:00.  I averaged 8mph for the day, mostly because of that first climb where I was under 5mph uphill.
Crabtree Falls was a ghost town.  Normally, I meet people at night, but there was no one there when I chose my campsite.  By 6:00 a couple took a site on the other side of the restrooms, buy they kept to themselves.  I was beat and called it a night after I made my chicken paprikas and strawberry cheesecake dinner.  I eat well when I camp.

Cindy Dropped me off on Tunnel Road at the entrance to the Parkway in Ashville and took this farwell shot.  I had this jersey made up for me just for this ride.  On the northbound side of the jersey is has the Skyline Drive logo...

...and on the southbound side of the jersey is the Blue Ridge Parkway logo.

About an hour into the day I took a breather for my first overlook.  I still have over 2200 feet of climbing to do in the next hour.

Wallpaper shot

Decevious view seen over and over for the next 9 days.  You come around a corner, thinking you've reached the top, only to find more hill ahead.

I was 17 miles into the ride at this point and stopped on the other side of the tunnel wondering what I had gotten myself into.  I was climbing a 7% grade at 5000 feet.  I just didn't know it until I reached the top.

Craggy Gardens overlook.  Done climbing, for now.

After 18 miles of climbing to 5500 feet, this was my reward.  I really didn't get to enjoy it.  I was having a hard time STANDING.

Hey Cathy, punch-buggy cream!

43 miles for the day.  8.8 MPH average.

There is a reward for all of the climbing..  Note the 36MPH max speed.

Crabtree Falls Campground.  One of the nicest places I camped on the trip.  

Preparing dinner.  My ultralight setup is a soda can alcohol stove and a K-Mart grease pot.  Save even more weight by using foil as a lid and windscreen.

Chicken Paprikas.

ThrillCam Video of the day.  There are a pair of tunnels, one after another, about 30 miles north of Ashville.  they are referred to as the "Twin Tunnels."  i strapped the camera on the handlebars just before I went through them.  I particularly like the lining of the second, northern of the two, and was worried that you wouldn't be able to see it in the video.  these were typical of the size of most tunnels throughout the ride.  A couple of hundred feet at most.

The bike

I warned you that I like details. 
For most of my younger life I was an avid cyclist.  I had quite a few bikes  including my favorite, a custom made  racing bike. In college, when I worked at a bike shop,  I was able to purchase a Schwinn Voyageur.  I LOVED that bike.  Sadly,  I had to sell it to pay the rent.
After college when I started working,   I got out of cycling way too much.   I won't blame that for the weight that I gained, but when I decided to lose weight, and start riding again,  I wanted a touring bike again.  I looked a long time for a Voyageur  but couldn't find one in my size  that was the same as the one I had in college.
Instead I found its kissin cousin,  a 1984 Specialized Expedition.  Many people describe riding this bike  like riding on rails.  Even though I still have my custom racing bike, I put on thousands of miles on the Expedition since I bought it 5 years ago.
One thing I didn't like about it was the color.  For some reason bike manifacturers all think that touring bikes are supposed to be drab and devoid of any character.  They like colors like brown, black, or maybe navy blue, if they are feeling a bit wild.  The expedition was Like that.  Any color you want, as long as it's (wait for it)...GREY.  I wasn't going to have any of that. After about a year, I sent it out to get powder coated a nice Orange. 
As you can see in the picture,  I made a decision about the bags.  I put the front racks back on so I can put the bags up front.  I went out for ride this afternoon with  the bags on and screamed down some hills.  Solid as a rock.  In fact, rock is a good way to describe how it was downhill,...as in sinking like a rock ;). 

Gear list....more than I thought

Last year, on my tour on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and C&O Canal towpath, I stayed at the hostel in Harpers Ferry on my last night.  Also staying at the Tea Horse Hostel were 5 hikers traveling the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.  Talking with them as a real eye-opener for all three of us riding our bikes.  I had about 60 pounds of gear with me for my 6 day ride from Pittsburgh.  Another rider who joined me on this ride had started in Chicago (!) and was carrying about 50# of gear.

The AT hikers were carrying 20-30 pounds of stuff for a 8 month hike.  I remember one of them, Gardener, had bought a TEEEEENY bottle of nail polish in town to do her nails.  It couldn't have weighed half an ounce.  She was having a terrible time deciding whether or not to take it with her when they left.  Their philosophy was, count the grams, and the pounds will add up.    Another hiker told me that if he didn't use it for 2 days, he probably didn't need it.  He was mailing home a mosquito face net because he didn't think he would need it.  It probably weighed 2 grams.

This winter, I spent some time reading up on ultralight backpacking and learning their tricks.  One thing they recommend it to weigh everything and look for places to save a gram or two. So I did.  here's the list:

item	weight oz.
tent (Eureka spitfire)	46
sleeping bag (Fleece Liner)	19.3
mattress (Neo Air)	24.6
shorts
shirt (Under Armor)
cook pot (Grease Pot, foil lid)	3.2
stove (soda can)	0.3
tent stakes (4 ti)	1.2
bic lighter	0.4
matches	0.3
rain jacket (Gander Mountain)	12.6
flashlight (Photon keychain)	0.4
kindle touch	7.4
phone (HTC Incredible)	4.9
5 phone batteries	4.4
charger/cord	1.9
inflatable pillow	6
small bar soap	1.2
toothbrush	0.2
toothpaste, small tube	0.7
shamwow towel	3
disposable razor	0.3
Leatherman Squirt	2
p38 can opener	0.3
rope (nylon cord)	1.4
sunscreen (small bottle)	2
chapstick	0.3
bugspray	2
ti spork	0.5
bungee (on rack)	1.7
lock (small masterlock cable)	9.7
spokes (6)	1
chamois buttr (5 packets)	2
toilet paper	1
wipes (packet)	2.2
First Aid Kit	2
powdered laundry det.	3.5
glasses	0.8
earbuds	0.4
emergency blanket	2
water purification (AquaMira)	1.3
deodorant (travel size)	1.5
panniers (LL Bean)	48
trunk pack (Nashbar)	18
maps	2.5
Digital Camera (Kodak EasyShare c1505)	4.8
Total oz.	249.2

I was pretty proud of myself for having a base weight of 15-16 pounds.  This doesn't include food, water and fuel, which are usually not counted.  Today I packed everything into the panniers, plus 5 days of dinners and breakfasts (dehydrated food).  I hopped on the scales with the gear, and it really did come out to about 16 pounds.  Then I put it on the bike...

The bike was noticeably heavier in the back.  Think about it.  Unloaded the bike is about 25#.  I've added another 2/3 of it's original weight.  All of it on the back.  On a loaded touring bike, usually you try to distribute the weight between the front and back wheels, with more in the front, when possible.  This isn't to save the wheels, it's for stability.  There is a potential for the front of the bike to shimmy at high speeds when the weight is all on the back like this.  How fast is high speed?  Oh, I'd say 30 mph ought to do nicely (see yesterday's post and video).

The THRILLcam

One thing I'm going to do on this ride is post videos whenever I can.  I don't have one of those cool (or is it geeky?) helmet cameras that cost a couple hundred dollars.  Instead, I have a Kodak EasyCam digital camera, a Joby Gorillapod tripod, and a Eye-Fi memory card, which allows me to upload pics and videos from the camera to my phone.


Yesterday, I went on a training ride on Skyline Drive, something I've done several times since the spring, in order to acclimate myself to this kind of riding.  I wrapped the Gorillapod around my handlebars, and recorded a video of me going about 4 1/2 miles down one of the hills.  If you go back to the previous post, the section in this video is the last hill you see on the second to last profile, miles 60-65ish.

It took me 11 minutes to travel those 4 1/2 miles downhill.  The way back up took 45 minutes.  Gives you a little idea how steep it is.

Daggone...there's some hills down thar!

2 weeks to go.  Here's the skinny on the actual trip.  I'll warn you up front, some of this may bore you.  I'm the kind of guy who likes getting all of the details right.

The total mileage should be in the ballpark of 520 miles, best guess.  There will be some detours and side trips that will add to that.  The starting point will be Ashville, NC and I'll end in Front Royal, VA.  I thought I'd put a nice Google Map here to show you the route.  Google REFUSES to acknowledge that the BRP and Skyline Drive are acceptable roads for any vehicle.  Makes me kinda wonder what I'm getting into.  Here's the best I can do, maps from the park service of the two roads:

That's only half of the story.  Now for the real fun part.  Below are elevation profiles of the same trip. You'll have to read them from right to left if you want to see the terrain as I will see it:

Looks pretty icky.  I've broken it up into 9 days, around 55-60 miles per day.  I'll camp every other night and stay in hotels the other half.  I didn't plan it that way by design, exactly.  It was more like, how far can I go in a day, and where can I sleep?  It just worked out that on alternating nights I could find a campground.  One advantage is that I don't need to carry as much food.  On the nights I stay in a hotel, I should be able to find food nearby.

I spent a great deal of time looking through journals of others who made this ride and reading an excellent book on the subject by Elizabeth and Charlie Skinner; Bicycling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Using this information, I planned out not only where to stay the nights, but where I can plan on finding food and water along the way.  The more of this I can find, the less I'll have to schlep up those mountains.  here's the itinerary, as it stands now:

Mile	Location	Notes
Day 1	07/29/12	50 mi
390	Ashville NC, Ramada At River Ridge	800 Fairview Rd., Asheville, NC 28803 (828) 298-9141
367	Bee Tree Gap PA	RR
365	Craggy Flats Tunnel
364.4	Craggy Gardens	RR, VC
364.4	Craggy Pinacle Tunnel
355	Mt. Mitchell park	snack bar
349	Tunnel
344.7	Tunnel
344.5	Tunnel
340.2	Crabtree Meadows PA	RR
339.5	Crabtree Falls CG	CG, Store, Rest. (828)675-5444
Day 2	07/30/12	50 mi
336.8	Tunnel
334	Little Switzerland (NC 226A)	cafe, Store
333.4	Tunnel
331	Skyline Motel, Mountain View Motel	Restaurant
328	Orchard at Alta Pass	Snacks
317	Skyline Mini Mart (rt. 211 south .3 mi)	Store
312	Pineola (rt. 181) 1.6 mi	Groc.
304	Linn Cove Info. Ctr.	RR
298.6	Grandfather Mtn. Country Store (rt. 221/Holloway Mtn. Rd)	Groc.
291	Blowing Rock, NC (US 321) Holiday Inn Exp.	8412 Valley Blvd, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605 828-264-2451
Day 3	07/31/12	50 mi
271.9	Jeffress park	RR
268	Benge Gap	Store
259	Glendale Springs ( Trad. Post Rd.)	Store
257.6	Racoon Holler CG	Camp Store
248	Laurel Springs (NC 18)Stations Inn	Groc., Rest.
247.2	Miller's Camping	Camp store
241	Bluffs Lodge Coffee Shop
238.6	Doughton park
239.2	Doughton Park CG	CG, Lodge (336) 372-8568
Day 4	08/01/12	63 mi
231.5	Inn of the Red Thread (Vestal Rd)	Rest., Bakery
229.7	Sparta (rt. 21) (7 mi off BRP)	Bank, laundry, hardware
217.5	Cumberland Knob	RR
216.9	NC/VA Line
215.8	Bits & Pieces Groc (VA rt. 89)
206.5	Felts Bros. Groc (left US rt 608, VA 97 north)	½ mi off BRP
199.4	Fancy Gap (US 52)	Rest. Motels
193.7	Orchard Gap Market
189	Doe Run Lodge & Rest.
180	Mayberry Trading Post	Groc.
177.7	Meadows of Dan (US rt. 58 west)	CG 276-952-2292
Day 5	08/02/12	57 mi
176.2	Mabry Mill Restaurant
171	Chateau Morrisette Viny (VA 726)	Lunch
169	Rocky Knob VC	RR
165.3	Tuggle Gap Restr. (VA rt. 8 turn left)
154.1	Smart View Picnic	RR
121.4	Roanoke (US 220 north) Quality Inn	3816 Franklin Rd Sw, Roanoke, VA, 24014 (540) 989-4000
Day 6	08/03/12	60 mi
112.2	Vinton (US rt. 24 west) .8 MI	Groc., Bike Shop
105.8	US rt. 460 (1 mi west)	Groc.
85.9	Peaks of Otter	VC, Camp Store
63.9	H&H Food Market (US 501) 1 mi east
63.6	James River VC
60.8	Otter Creek CG & Rest.	(540) 377-2377
Day 7	08/04/12	61 mi
53.1	Tunnel
29	Whetstone Ridge PA	RR
16	Royal Oak Store (VA 814)	Groc.
0	End of BRP, Star Skyline Drive
105.4	Rockfish Gap/Waynesboro (US 250) Quality Inn	640 W Broad St, Waynesboro, VA, 22980 (540) 942-1171
Day 8	08/05/12	48 mi
79.5	Loft Mtn Wayside	Snack Bar
62.6	South River Picnic Area	Water
57.5	Lewis Mtn.	CG, Store
Day 9	08/06/12	58 mi
51	Big Meadows VC	RR, Water
41.7	Skyland Lodge & Rest.	rest. Water, RR
36.7	Pinnacles PA	RR
32.2	Tunnel
31.5	Thornton Gap/Panorama	RR
24.1	Elkwallow Wayside	Snack Bar
4.6	Dickey Ridge VC	RR
0	Front Royal Super 8 Motel	111 South St, Front Royal, VA, 22630 (540) 636-4888