Another great day on the Blue Ridge Parkway. After a great buffet breakfast at the Peaks of Otter lodge, Jeff, Mark and I headed south. Today's ride was 77 miles and almost 7000 feet of climb. The weather was much better today. A bit hazy in the morning but clear skies the rest of the day. These pictures are typical views on the parkway today.
There are virtually no flat sections on the parkway. You are either cycling uphill or downhill. The surface of the road is generally good, but there are potholes, dips and small sunken holes maybe three inches across to deal with. So a cyclist needs to pay attention to the road and keep a strong grip on the handle bars at all times. The road surface is not as good at the north Georgia roads or the Natchez Trace Parkway (NTP). I guess this can't be helped with the snow and ice they have up here during the winter.
There are many overlooks and other stopping places along the way. Water and bathrooms are not as convenient as those on the NTP. In fact there was no water available during today's ride. Also may of the visitors centers are not open yet. We are fairly early for a BRP ride. We saw several local cyclists from Roanoke today, but we haven't seen any end to end riders as yet.
Aila and Karen met us with the cars at milepost 162.4 and we are staying at the Woodberry Inn in Floyd, just a stones throw from the parkway.
Here is today's Garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175549169
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