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The
official start of
our trip was Front Royal, VA, the beginning of
Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park. That's Paul (on the
left) and me on the right in the parking lot of the
Woodward House B&B where
we stayed the night before we
set off. Paul's 2000 BMW R1100RT is in front, and my 1999 BMW R1100RS is
in the rear. Paul and I bought matching leather jackets to commemorate
the trip - an impulse purchase but they worked out reasonably well!
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Skyline Drive is a
spectacular 105 mile drive along the ridges of the northern
Virginia Appalachians, with frequent vistas of the Shenandoah Valley to
the west (shown here - that's Paul on the bike) and the Piedmont country
to the east. The road was just what you'd expect for a national park
road - well maintained with frequent and overlooks and beautiful stone
walls . |
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Here you see the top of one of the stone walls.
We had a perfect day for the ride - sunny and in the 70's. The speed
limit was 35 and there was very light traffic. It was a marvelous ride! |
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We found a motel in
Waynesboro for the night. Here I'm having my usual gin and tonic and
Paul his vodka. The two guys in the next room were riding matching KTM
990 Adventures (highly regarded Austrian made dual sport bikes) and were
riding side roads along the moutains. |
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Thursday we began our ride
down the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is a 469 mile two lane road connecting
Shenandoah National Park on the north with the Great Smokey Mountains
National park to the south. Like Skyline Drive, the BPR follows the
crest of the mountains all the way south with frequent overlooks along
the way. The speed limit was 45 here, which was plenty - too much to see
to want to go faster. |
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| Occasionally we rode
right along the top of a ridge and you could look down on both sides! As
you see here, the road was relatively narrow with no side lines, and
little to no shoulder. It required constant concentration - you didn't
want to wander off the road here! |
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Most of the Blue Ridge
Parkway was built during the Depression as a public works project. The
Parkway was designed by Stanley Abbot, a landscape architect, and was
intended as a park for leisurely automobile drives. This is evident in
the way the road accommodates to the terrain, in the landscaping at
points along the way, and in the attractive bridges and tunnels.
Commercial vehicles and trucks are not allowed. |
| The R1100RS performed
perfectly throughout the trip. |
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I got a kick out of some
of the signs. This one is trying to show bikers they can crash if they
don't ride carefully and obey the signs. That sign down in the corner
announced a 10 mph U-turn! |
| This is a view of the
Piedmont area to the east of the Parkway. We had excellent weather again
on Thursday, and for the entire trip, for that matter.
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The designers of the
Parkway took pains to make it attractive and fit in unobtrusively with
the environment. We left the Parkway each day to find lodging and the
traffic, congestion, noise, and clutter always came as a jolt. When we
got back on the Parkway the next morning we were always pleasantly
surprised by the beauty, serenity, slowed pace and cool refreshing air. |
| This is Paul and me at
the highest point on the Parkway - 6047 feet. At this elevation it was
cool and very pleasant for riding. The Appalachians are surprisingly
steep and rugged, and are completely tree covered in contrast to the
Rockies and Sierras in the west. |
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Although there were many
lookouts with spectacular high vistas, much of the Parkway was
tree-covered, sometimes cloaking the road entirely in shade. T |
| After going through this
tunnel I had to turn around and go back to take this picture. The
Mountain Laurel were in full bloom, the arched stone bridge fit in
beautifully, and even the curve of the road seemed to be part of the
design. Unfortunately, highways today are built for speed and
efficiency, not for beauty and relaxation. |
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We finished the Parkway
on Sunday, and were immediately dumped into major traffic congestion of
folks coming out of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We
eventually got to our spot for the night - the
Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge in
Stecoah, NC. We stayed in the building in the upper right corner. It was
a great place - all bikers from all parts of the U.S. and even a group
from the former Czech Republic - many were repeat visitors. |
| Paul and I toasted our
ride on the porch outside our room - it had been a great ride!
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