Tuesday 11th September
2012 Front Royal – Skyline Drive –
Blue Ridge Parkway - Bristol VA 437 miles.
A
beautiful riding day, clear blue sky, crisp and clear with good visibility.
Perfect for views. Left the motel about 7AM and headed towards Skyline Drive. It is the main
throughway for Shenandoah National Park, and runs for 105 miles on the Blue
Ridge Mountains, rising above the Virginia Piedmont to the east, and the
Shenandoah Valley to the west. It is a well maintained, twisty, and undulating road,
running between roughly 1900 and 3800 feet. The posted speed limit is 35MPH all
the way, which is difficult to maintain in places, but with the abundance of
deer and other critters I saw, a sensible speed first thing in the morning. The
number of tight twisties is another reason to be speed aware. The scenery is
spectacular in places, many ‘outlooks’ with views are posted, but 3 hours of
riding down a tree lined avenue can be a bit tedious after a while. 'Avenue of
the Giants' it is not. I encountered little traffic, most seemed to be maintenance
trucks, but there were speed cops around.
The views
of Shenandoah Valley were quite spectacular in places, although it became much
of the same after a while. The listed mountains were basically forest covered,
and not giving the rugged appearance of those out west. The whole area was significant
during the Civil War, and one can see that having occupancy of the ridge was a
huge strategic advantage.
Some
shots from Skyline Drive:
After
reaching the end, I decided to head to Staunton for a quick visit to Shenandoah
Harley Davidson (I really liked the name) for a P stop, then head back to start
the Blue Ridge Parkway. Skyline Drive actually runs into it, and the Parkway
continues from Virginia, into North Carolina, down to the Smoky Mountains, and
is about 470 miles long. The scenery is similar in many ways to Skyline, a
ridge running south with views to either side. The posted speed limit is 45MPH,
with sections of 25 and 35MPH. The road is OK from a maintenance perspective,
but has long sections with many pot holes, so one has to be aware of the surface.
I did have one section of gravel, complete with pilot truck, a reminder of the Alaskan
Highway. Traffic was again quite light, I reckon at least 95% were fellow
riders, and also a few cyclists. I was surprised by the number of bikes, most
likely many had the same idea as me to ride it out of season. Some though
seemed to be day trippers, no luggage. Again there are many posted ‘outlooks’,
some needed venturing into the bush, many were closed for maintenance.
Some
views of the Blue Ridge Parkway
So after
about 8 hours of riding through woods, and seeing much the same scenery, I
decided that a change of pace and views was in order. As I had to come off of
the Parkway for gas and lodging, I headed for Roanoke for gas, and as I81 ran mostly
parallel to the Parkway, decided to head south for a couple of hours on it to
see where I ended up. It was in Bristol Virginia. I actually ran into Tennessee
looking for suitable lodging and eating, and the best seemed to be Bristol, so I
backtracked a few miles.
Tomorrow
I can head for the Parkway again, maybe to ride the last 100 miles or so, or
just head for Memphis. I’ll decide tomorrow, depending on mood and weather. One
interesting thing, near Bristol in Tennessee is a town called Kingsport. I
spent 6 months there working with Kodak when with WRQ. Small world.
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