Blue Ridge Ramble

[ctankcycles]

Last April two friends and I spent five days riding from Pittsburgh to DC on the GAP and C&O. We stayed in motels and B&Bs along the way and total distance ended up being 352 miles with (according to Strava) 4,100 ft elevation. We wanted to step up our game this year and settled on six days riding/five nights camping through the Blue Ridge Mountains. The plan was to do a big clockwise loop starting at the North Entrance of Shenandoah National Park in Front Royal, riding south on Skyline Drive, exiting the park at the South Entrance near Waynesboro, continuing south into the George Washington National Forest along the Blue Ridge Parkway, eventually exiting the forest to the west, crossing I-81 at Raphine and making our way through the valley until entering the western swath of the George Washington National Forest at Goshen, VA. From there we’d make our way northeast until we reached Lost River, WV, at which point we’d ride east back to Front Royal. Sounds easy enough, right?

Without a doubt, this was the most challenging experience I’ve had on a bike. Between the daily milage, elevation, and gear we were carrying, we were in for long days in the saddle. Total distance ended up being 387 miles with 28,973 ft of elevation. Zero mechanical issues or flats (none of us flatted on the GAP-C&O last year either)! My gear selection went something like this…

Soma Double Cross w/mix of 9sp and 10sp Dura Ace and Ultegra, Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes, King headset and hubs, Velocity A23 rims, Thomson stem and post, Ritchey bar, Selle San Marco Regal saddle, Ruffy Tuffy tires, and Poler Stuff bottles.

Tubus Tara front rack for Ortlieb Front Roller Classics

Velo Orange Pass Hunter front rack with integrated decaleur for Swift Industries Ozette Rando bag

Revelate Designs Viscacha seat bag

MSR Hubba one-man tent

Mountain Hardwear Phantom 45 sleeping bag

Dry bags (2x 13L, 1 6L, 1 2L)

REI Flash sleeping pad

Etowah Outfitters sil-nylon waterproof tarp

Snow Peak compact ti cookset

Snow Peak Giga Power stove

Camp plate, bowl, spork

Dr Bronner’s, toothpaste, toothbrush

Tools – Leatherman, Opinel utility knife, Allen multi-tool, chain tool, tire levers, tubes, repair kits

Anker external battery charger (for charging iPhone and Garmin)

Cycling apparel (lightweight merino is key)

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My trusty steed along the Blue Ridge Parkway

Day 1 begain in Front Royal at the Northern Va 4H Center (they allow AT hikers and other park users to park their car in their lot) and ended at Lewis Mountain Campground (Skyline Drive mile 57.5). Milage ended up being 63.8 with 7,310 ft elevation.

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[ctankcycles]

63.2 miles, 5,063 ft elevation from Peaceful River Campground in Millboro, VA to Todd Lake Recreation Area, GWNF (near Stokesville, VA).

http://app.strava.com/activities/145159746

The first half of the day was full of rollers along the Cowpasture and Bullpasture Rivers as we ascended 770 ft from Millboro to McDowell over 37 miles. There was no cell reception (not unusual for the trip) and no stores/places to fill bottles between Millboro and McDowell. As it turned out we were able to fill up at the Coursey Springs State Fish Hatchery 30 miles in which was just as our bottles were drying up. The first half of the day was great but looming over us were two steep climbs at mile 37.5 (600 ft over 2.5 mi) and mile 43 (870 ft over 3 mi). After 35 miles of having the road pretty much to ourselves, the section along the Hanky Mountain Hwy heading east from McDowell was another story completely. Apparently there’s somewhat of a rush hour in this area as all the construction trucks make their way back to Staunton at the end of the work day. I definitely don’t recommend this section of road at the time of day we were on it but we made it and were rewarded with a nice 7 mi descent and eventually a smooth gravel road leading to the campground.

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