Vacation Ride 4: Blue Ridge Parkway

If you like climbing, there's nothing else better than getting your road bike and finding a mountain to scale.


Like the western end of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville.


I had the pleasure of getting in a 42-mile ride on this scenic roadway on an early Saturday morning. I parked at Mile Marker 394, right by the North Carolina Arboretum, elevation about 2,100 feet. When I began, it was immediate up hill and the realization I didn't have the proper gearing for this ride. I had a double chain ring and a Florida cassette, 11-21.


This would be a low-cadence grind up the hill.


I did get into rhythm and enjoyed the sites, Elk Pasture Gap, Mount Pisgah and Tunnel Gap. Speaking of tunnels, it's quite a trip going into and out of the numerous tunnels. There's a something a little unnerving about going from sunshine to darkness and not being able to see anything in front of you for about 20 seconds.


I wanted to go all the way up to the highest point (Richland Balsam at 6,047) but I didn't have the time. My legs said it was more because of my high gearing. Anyway, I turned around just past Pounding Mill Overlook (elev. 4,700).


It was pretty much all downhill from there. If I thought going downhill on the mountain bike was fun, this was better. I was constantly hitting speeds in the 40s and feathering the brakes around sweeping turns, the wind whistling through my helmet and going long stretches without turning the cranks. It's the most exhilarating feeling in the world but slightly scary, too.


Before I knew it, I was back at my truck. And just like that, my vacation was over. The memories of riding in Asheville will live with me forever. I leave but not before getting a RIDE ASHEVILLE sticker for my truck.