[rola643]

Received this in an email this morning so I am gonna just do the 'ol copy and paste to save time.

Will the new Blue Ridge Parkway plan limit cycling on the scenic road?

Growing up in Virginia, we have always had a special affection for the Blue
Ridge Mountains and since taking up cycling, the Blue Ridge Parkway has become one of our favorite places to ride. The parkway stretches 469 miles
long the Blue Ridge in Virginia and North Carolina and was built to connect
Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Today we received notice from our friends at Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine
that the Parkway may become closed to cyclists -- a newly released draft
management plan calls for the Parkway to be “actively managed as a
traditional, self-contained, scenic recreational driving experience.”

It may be a stretch to say this draft plan would ban the use of the parkway
for cyclists, but having a management plan focused exclusively on "driving"
limits future improvements for bicycle access.

Public input is being sought by December 16th and we hope you will read what
Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine has to say on this matter and join its call
to action. The National Park Service needs to hear from everyone on this,
not just us folk who grew up exploring the Blue Ridge with our families and
friends

To make it easier here is the external link and you can/should copy and post from the newsletter!

National Park Service - PEPC - Blue Ridge Parkway Draft General Management Plan / Environmental Impact Statement - September 2011 -Submit Comments

[rola643]

Bump, I know you all are taking the time to do this right?

[Poolie]

Any of you living east of the Mississippi should care about this. Riding the BRP should be on your bucket list, it is mine. I haven't ridden on a bicycle yet but have put countless miles on it on my motorcycle and I can tell you, it's 400 of the most beautiful miles you can imagine riding through.

[rola643]

Originally Posted by Poolie

Any of you living east of the Mississippi should care about this. Riding the BRP should be on your bucket list, it is mine. I haven't ridden on a bicycle yet but have put countless miles on it on my motorcycle and I can tell you, it's 400 of the most beautiful miles you can imagine riding through.

You know, we should have a Twospoke ride the BRP

[Poolie]

Originally Posted by rola643

You know, we should have a Twospoke ride the BRP

The idea crossed my mind.

[rola643]

Originally Posted by Poolie

The idea crossed my mind.

Hazy?

[Hazy]

Sounds awesome If we could make it happen.

[Poolie]

What might be our best option is to find an existing organized event that rides the Parkway and plan a trip around that. I'm assuming that there are events that use the Parkway for the route, but maybe not. SAG's could be a challenge due to the distance between access points to get on/off the road. I see a lot of info on Google related to cycling on the BRP, but much seems to related to touring.

My legs burn just reading about it this morning. I saw this several times, "Make and honest evaluation of your abilities before beginning a bicycle trip on the Parkway. In some sections, you will climb as much as 1,100 feet in 3.4 miles."

I'll dig around and see if I can find an event on teh Parkway that's far enough out that we could all make travel plans.

[rola643]

Speaking of burning legs I have looked at this several times and wonder why I would still consider doing it I know Alex would burn it up!

Major Uphills and elevation climbed

[Poolie]

Originally Posted by rola643

Speaking of burning legs I have looked at this several times and wonder why I would still consider doing it I know Alex would burn it up!

Major Uphills and elevation climbed

Lol... if Alex were to participate in the ride, we'd have to tie sand bags to his bike to level the playing field. After reading about his Immortal ride, he's my cycling hero.