Our trip was a huge success!! I'll try not to make this a blog or anything, but here's a quick get off from how it went down.
Friday night - I stepped on a rusty nail behind my house, which goes ~3/4 through the ball of my left foot.
Saturday morning - Urgent care visit for tetanus shot, and hobble back home. We leave in the 95 degree heat for Yanceyville, NC to meet my parents. Once we pass Martinsville for Blacksburg the weather is wonderful, as are the roads. HWY 8 is pretty fun. Spent the evening around Blacksburg, and I was super relieved to find that my foot didn't hurt at all while on the bike, and the bike time actually loosened it up so that I could walk reasonably well.
Recommended eatery: Cabo Tacos.
Sunday morning - We leave for the 11hr road trip to Deal Gap around 6am. South from Blacksburg to 787 (a real hoot of a road, cows, elevation, curves, and no one around for miles). Picked up the BRP in Fancy Gap, and followed the route. I will say that the Hot Springs area was really enjoyable; HOWEVER, 209 is being paved and it kinda sucked. Not a big fan of that road. The later part was good, but not so much elsewhere.
There's a really cool coffee shop that we loved right at the intersection of 208/25N called Laurel River Store, would highly recommend it.
Sunday evening we did a gap run which was awesome, and Monday we spent the day exploring the Cherohola and Fontana areas. The newly renovated
Tapoco Lodge was a great stop and we ate dinner there Monday night. Highly recommend that spot as well, especially considering there's NO WHERE else to get decent food up there. A decrease in tire pressure from 42 to 36 psi allowed for lots of peg dragging on the dragon, and I tried to take the nipples out but didn't have a wrench to fit and couldn't make the pliers work.
Tuesday we made the ride to Little Switzerland via the Foothills Parkway, 441S, and the entire rest of the way on the BRP. 441 kinda sucked. AMAZING VIEWS, but not quite sure why the speed limit is 35 for almost half the road. Even though we rode through the Cade's Cove area and got on 441 around 7am, it was still very congested, with no way to pass cars (even on double yellow) because of so much traffic. Once we got on the BRP it was absolutely stunning.
The BRP from 441 to Little Switzerland is a must ride for anyone. Some of the best views in the mountains. For the majority of the ride (until you get to south of Asheville) NO TRAFFIC, no rangers, and a truly great ride. The closer you get to tourist town, the more rangers you'll see, especially around Mt. Mitchell, etc, but none seemed to mind the 50-55 mph speed we traveled. Thank you fast but low-key FJR!! We detoured off the BRP to hit
Sierra Nevada (our 2nd time there), which was only a quick 20min detour.
Also a must see for beer lovers.
Our BnB in Little Switzerland was called
La Petite Chalet and was a great experience. It was directly across from the General Store and restaurant, which served excellent food. There was also a "Gobbler's Roost" treehouse with excellent views above the town and surrounding mountains.
I would highly recommend the Mountain View Restaurant right up 226 in Spruce Pine. Excellent steak with an outdoor balcony with views overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. 226A is a great curvy road, also known as the Diamondback. We ended up staying an extra night in Little Switzerland due to incoming rain on Wednesday, so we hiked some around Linville Falls and Gorge until the rain showed up. Only about a 20-30 minute ride from Lil' Switz.
Thursday morning we set off for Roan Mountain. A great ride as well with wonderful roads, weather, and minimal traffic. Although it was beautiful, the top of Roan Mountain was very foggy, even up to 10am, so it was kind of hard to get the true experience of the rhododendrons and views. We managed to pass the gardens initially, so be advised, they are actually on top of the mountain, at Carver's Gap, and not in the heart of the park area. We managed to time it perfectly though otherwise, as the rhododendron festival was this weekend, and everything was in full bloom. From there we came back down 19E to the BRP and rode across the viaduct. They were paving a 1-2 mile section of the BRP right around 421, so that was an escorted dirt/mud route, but no harm done. I off-roaded the FJR multiple times on the trip with great success. After 421 and passing Wilkesboro the temperature increased from 80 to 95 to make for a somewhat miserable and sweaty ride back to Raleigh, but worth it since all sights had been seen and absorbed at that point regardless. Here are a few of my favorites and a link to some of the better pictures. Enjoy!!
Roan Mountain
Tapoco Lodge and Restaurant
BRP
La Petite Chalet Treehouse
Foothills Parkway Sunrise
FJR!!!!
Fontana
Blacksburg with the folks
Deals Gap
