Ride the Blue Ridge!

Just when I thought I'd missed out on some climbing at Raccoon Mountain I end up doing even more climbing on Saturday in Banner Elk! I went outside my usual routine of going up Beech Mountain this trip, and instead rode a route at the suggestion of Lees-McRae College's cycling coach Doug Owen. He wrote down an easy route to follow that was about three hours long which took me up climb after climb after climb. If you've been to this area then you know there isn't much flat roads around. I wouldn't have believed it at first, but it was much more memorable than going up Beech for the third time!

Doug's route started me in Banner Elk and up a long 15 minute gradual climb to Newland. From there I rode into Linville and two miles up Grandfather Mountain, another switchback mountain. Then for the first time ever I jumped on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed towards Blowing Rock. Wow, what a beautiful road and region to ride a bicycle!

I am going to say something that not everyone will agree with I'm sure, but truth be told, the Blue Ridge Parkway offers a much better ride and scenery than the Natchez Trace Parkway. Well, at least in the areas I've ridden of both. I have ridden on the Trace down in Mississippi too, and that experience was much like here in Nashville. The Blue Ridge's road surface was outstanding on the section I rode, which was only about 10 miles out of the 469 total miles of the Parkway. Plus, the view was incredible as you are able to lookout amongst a range of mountains in the area.

The other part that stood out was that it felt inviting because of how the road was carved through the side of Grandfather Mountain. The tree line was close to the road because of the elevation, but even after descending there wasn't a lot of open space like you'll find on the Natchez Trace. Once I reached Blowing Rock I pulled off the Parkway and descended down into Valle Crucis. It's here that I stopped a little deli/bakery called The Ham Shoppe, and proceeded to drool over their pastry case. See those coconut covered chocolate brownies on the bottom center? One left wrapped in tin foil in my back pocket!

After my short break I took off on Highway 194 back into Banner Elk. Oh man, Doug said it was straight up from there, and he wasn't exaggerating. At that point I started at 2664ft elevation and then went straight up to 4170ft in 5.1 miles. It was twisty and winding through the mountain, windy, cold, but a lot of fun! I think I was passed by less than 10 cars the whole time, and that's a good thing considering there was no shoulder.

After reaching the top I descending straight down into Banner Elk and back to the warmth of our ski lodge on Sugar Mountain. To have climbs like that in your backyard must be a lot of fun, but then again I am a little gravity challenged to be doing that kind of riding everyday.

I will admit to riding off course (ie, lost!) just once. I knew to stay on Hwy 194, but at one split it went north or south without pointing me to Banner Elk. I took the wrong fork (!) and later t-boned into a highway I knew was off course. I stopped at a model home showing to get directions back, and when I told the guy where I wanted to go his eyebrows jumped! He did end it by saying, "well, you look like you're used to that sort of thing anyway." This made me feel a little better about the final climb.

This mistake added about 20 total extra minutes to my trip, but it didn't crack me to get the extra time. I was happy to get back and take in some recovery drink and food. So if ever you want a weekend getaway with great bike riding options then I highly recommend the Banner Elk area.