The Trip Home

[NancysToy]

Nancy and I are planning to ride to Lamont's for the BBQ, then on to Spyders in Maggie Valley. For the return trip, we have been contemplating doing the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, followed by the entire length of Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park, then turn west to hit the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, then on to home. The problem is that I have never ridden or driven the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive, and I am running into conflicting information that makes it hard to plan. I could use some advice from those that have "Been there, done that."

First there is the great difficulty with getting a GPS or mapping program to follow these roads. If there is a program that will let you merely enter the endpoints and set it to drive via a named road, I haven't found it. My Garmin refuses to follow these roads...completely. Google Maps will let me move the routes manually, but there is a limit to the number of points you can move, and I can't get it routed as far as I want for each day. Mapsonus won't let me reroute all, beyond putting in multiple destinations, at every intersection along the route...ugh! MS Streets & Trips, and Mapquest, let me do the routing, but they vary in the time they say is required for each trip. MS seems to expect you to ride at the speed limit, so their times are quite tight. Mapquest is a little more realistic, at about 5 mph below the 45 mph and 35 mph speed limits along the scenic drives, which seemed reasonable. On the other hand, the AAA TourBooks say to expect to average 30 mph for the Blue Ridge, and even less for Skyline. That turns a 3 day journey into five! What should I expect? I can make some adjustments, if I know what is realistic.

[WackyDan]

On a week day you can probably average the posted speed limits. I ran Skyline in September and was running 5 over or more for much of it except for when I hit slow pokes. I would plan on two days of long riding to do both skyline and the blue ridge.

My Garmin knew I was on the skyline once I was on it, but I had to follow the signs in Winchester to get to it initially.

[Cal777]

Nancy and I are planning to ride to Lamont's for the BBQ, then on to Spyders in Maggie Valley. For the return trip, we have been contemplating doing the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, followed by the entire length of Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park, then turn west to hit the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, then on to home. The problem is that I have never ridden or driven the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive, and I am running into conflicting information that makes it hard to plan. I could use some advice from those that have "Been there, done that."

First there is the great difficulty with getting a GPS or mapping program to follow these roads. If there is a program that will let you merely enter the endpoints and set it to drive via a named road, I haven't found it. My Garmin refuses to follow these roads...completely. Google Maps will let me move the routes manually, but there is a limit to the number of points you can move, and I can't get it routed as far as I want for each day. Mapsonus won't let me reroute all, beyond putting in multiple destinations, at every intersection along the route...ugh! MS Streets & Trips, and Mapquest, let me do the routing, but they vary in the time they say is required for each trip. MS seems to expect you to ride at the speed limit, so their times are quite tight. Mapquest is a little more realistic, at about 5 mph below the 45 mph and 35 mph speed limits along the scenic drives, which seemed reasonable. On the other hand, the AAA TourBooks say to expect to average 30 mph for the Blue Ridge, and even less for Skyline. That turns a 3 day journey into five! What should I expect? I can make some adjustments, if I know what is realistic.
I live near the center of the Parkway and ride it a lot. It really gets busy during the fall when the leaves change, but it isn't usually too crowded during the summer. It is a very enjoyable ride with a lot of bike traffic. Shenandoah NP is more crowded due to, I think, D.C. people getting away for the weekends. If you get me an address, I would be glad to send you a BR Parkway map, or will send you my number if you have any more questions.
Rudy

[musicarcade]

I had the same problem when I attempted the Blue ridge parkway. The best map I found was the one mentioned above which you can get on their website http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ I tried to go the day after Lamonsters BBQ last year. I had to bail on my attempt due to fog and rain. After 8 hours I made 100 miles and hardly saw a thing:gaah:.
when I got the weather report for the next day it said rain and fog for the next 2 days. Later that night my ipod touch died.:gaah: That was the final straw and I decided to head south.
First photo is on the parkway, second is from my room the next day. You can't see the pouring rain in the pic tho...

Definitely will try again!

[Trickie Dick]

Scotty, I use the Harley Davidson ride planner. I find it's simpler to use and easier to insert "via" points, etc. You might give it a try and see if it's what you need. http://rideplanner.harley-davidson.com/rideplanner/ridePlanner.jsp?nologin=1&locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US&showUserRoads=0&showGreatRoads=0&showDealers=0&showHotels=0&showEvents=0&showFuel=0
You can export your route to your garmin as well.

[NancysToy]

Scotty, I use the Harley Davidson ride planner. I find it's simpler to use and easier to insert "via" points, etc. You might give it a try and see if it's what you need. http://rideplanner.harley-davidson.com/rideplanner/ridePlanner.jsp?nologin=1&locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US&showUserRoads=0&showGreatRoads=0&showDealers=0&showHotels=0&showEvents=0&showFuel=0
You can export your route to your garmin as well.
Thanks, Dick. I had forgotten about the HD Planner, although I had used it in the past. Biggest problem with the export function is that the Garmin recalculates all routes, to change the roads from the snail routes such as the Parkway. The only way I have found around it is to put a waypoint at every single intersection, and even that doesn't help completely, if you have a good road that parallels your chosen path. It is too bad none of these programs or devices will let you do something simple, like plug in Battle Creek and Chicago, then tell it to route you "via US-12".

[NorthStar]

You can download a free GPS Map for the Eastern Continental Divide in GPS eXchange (.gpx) file format, which can be read and transferred to your GPS using free GPS software. (The .gpx file will appear in a new window where you can File > Save as... on your computer)

Here is a link to the site for this free download: http://www.travelbygps.com/guides/ECD/ecd.php

There are 151 waypoints and 12 tracks contained in this download for the Eastern Continental Divide, which includes the Blueridge Parkway.

Found this much easier than trying to create a route from scratch through this area using my MapSource software on my computer.

Hope this helps.

[NancysToy]

Here's an interactive online copy of the fold-out map of the BRP. 3 days is reasonable to plan on riding all of it. Skyline is nice also, but the reduced speed, and increased traffic can make that one hundred miles seem a lot longer. Beware of weather, it can get socked in rapidly, and if you camp, bring everything with you, including food, and don't leave any out for the bears.......:yikes:

http://www.virtualblueridge.com/maps/blue-ridge-parkway-map.asp

It's a worthwhile ride, one of my favorites, if I were down that way, I wouldn't skip it. Route 219 in eastern West Virginia is another spectacular ride, maybe you can ride that on the way to the Smokies.....
Thanks HDX. That is just the kind of information I was looking for. I was afraid that trying to do the whole thing in 3 days was ambitious, and I was worried about going insane in the Shenandoah Park due to the crawl. I'll look a little closer at some alternatives.


You can download a free GPS Map for the Eastern Continental Divide in GPS eXchange (.gpx) file format, which can be read and transferred to your GPS using free GPS software. (The .gpx file will appear in a new window where you can File > Save as... on your computer)

Here is a link to the site for this free download: http://www.travelbygps.com/guides/ECD/ecd.php

There are 151 waypoints and 12 tracks contained in this download for the Eastern Continental Divide, which includes the Blueridge Parkway.

Found this much easier than trying to create a route from scratch through this area using my MapSource software on my computer.

Hope this helps.
I had the virtual map HDX linked, but I had not run across this GPX file. I'll download it to the Garmin, and see what I can do with it.

[sabunim5]

I lived in the Washington DC area for about 10 yrs and used to know the Skyline Drive like the back of my hand. I agree that 3 days for the whole thing is reasonable. Since you are not riding in the "leaves are changing" time of year, the traffic should not be too bad. Fog/clouds can close in suddenly and completely sometimes on the Skyline as has been mentioned. I love my Garmin Zumo but share your frustration with trying to get the map you want imported into it. Jan and I recently did the Natchez Trace Parkway for the second time. We finally just gave up and used a combination of our backup atlas that we always carry and the netbook we had brought along to do trip routing/planning. Forget getting it imported to the Garmin without changes. Just used the GPS to view an active map as we motored along. It still comes in handy for finding gas and places to eat. You will love the drive, the lowest speed limits are on the Skyline, but that is justified as that is where the tightest curves and the most overlooks are. Deer are plentiful an unafraid nojoke Look forward to meeting you and Nancy in the flesh at Maggie Valley. :thumbup:

[pierrelogic]

Scotty, let me know when you're going to be at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. I'll buy ya lunch. It's about a mile from home.

Steak-n-shake, Bob Evans, KFC, Cracker Barrel? You're choice. :D

[Firefly]

Mike, Steve, Tina and I rode a good portion of the BRP last year at SITS and it's really a nice ride. It had been years since I had been on it-- forgot how nice it really is. You want to allow time for stopping and photo ops, etc.

Traffic was next to nothing when we rode it-- was like our own private race track for a good 40 miles..... :D

ENJOY!

I think Tina and I will be running the whole thing this year. I liked the BRP more than the Natchez.........

My Garmin worked pretty well there, only got turned around once....;)

[NancysToy]

Scotty, let me know when you're going to be at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. I'll buy ya lunch. It's about a mile from home.

Steak-n-shake, Bob Evans, KFC, Cracker Barrel? You're choice. :D
Thanks for the offer, but we certainly won't make it there by lunch. We will be lucky to get there by mid-afternoon, in time to stop by the Museum and say "Hi" to some staff member friends. It could well be dinner time. We may have to do the museum visit the next day. Of course weather could change everything. No sense in flying the Ridge if it is rainy and foggy. We'll touch base and exchange some contact info a little closer to D-Day. Are you going to the BBQ or Maggie Valley?

[pierrelogic]

Thanks for the offer, but we certainly won't make it there by lunch. We will be lucky to get there by mid-afternoon, in time to stop by the Museum and say "Hi" to some staff member friends. It could well be dinner time. We may have to do the museum visit the next day. Of course weather could change everything. No sense in flying the Ridge if it is rainy and foggy. We'll touch base and exchange some contact info a little closer to D-Day. Are you going to the BBQ or Maggie Valley?

Fair enough, offer is still on the table. Not sure about the BBQ or Maggie Valley yet. Got a lot of other pokers in the fire these days. :D

[Firefly]

Thanks for the offer, but we certainly won't make it there by lunch. We will be lucky to get there by mid-afternoon, in time to stop by the Museum and say "Hi" to some staff member friends. It could well be dinner time. We may have to do the museum visit the next day. Of course weather could change everything. No sense in flying the Ridge if it is rainy and foggy. We'll touch base and exchange some contact info a little closer to D-Day. Are you going to the BBQ or Maggie Valley?

You'll be like a kid in a candy store--- you'll need at least 6 hours there I'm sure !