# PCD Route Home Question - Open to Ideas



## Dave600 (Jul 30, 2011)

PCD route plan, in concept, is to drive to Ashville for the first night, then up to Lynchburg, VA for the second, then back to Arlington to conclude.

Question: I've bicycled on the Blue Ridge Parkway before, but have not driven long distances on it - is it really slow going, heavily monitored, etc? Given that it's 5-6 hours to Lynchburg, I'd rather not spend lots driving slow if we didn't have to. Thinking of crossing over to Johnson City, then up to Roanoke, then back through the mountains through Bedford to LBurg. Is there a better route? Looking for <8hrs, great scenery, places to stop off for lunch/coffee. I-81 is a bit numbing, but effective. Though it's not an Autobahn....

Thanks,

DV


----------



## GeorgeT (Jun 22, 2007)

Dave600 said:


> PCD route plan, in concept, is to drive to Ashville for the first night, then up to Lynchburg, VA for the second, then back to Arlington to conclude.
> 
> Question: I've bicycled on the Blue Ridge Parkway before, but have not driven long distances on it - is it really slow going, heavily monitored, etc? Given that it's 5-6 hours to Lynchburg, I'd rather not spend lots driving slow if we didn't have to. Thinking of crossing over to Johnson City, then up to Roanoke, then back through the mountains through Bedford to LBurg. Is there a better route? Looking for <8hrs, great scenery, places to stop off for lunch/coffee. I-81 is a bit numbing, but effective. Though it's not an Autobahn....
> 
> ...


Speed limit on the Parkway is 45 in most places (35 in some) but it's not heavily monitored in the areas I travel - Asheville west to Cherokee (monitoring is primarly by the Park Service and it is a Federal law violation, not a state violation). Traveling during the week is much better; there are fewer cars and biles on the road.


----------



## Dave600 (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanks, GeorgeT. We'll program in some bits of the Parkway and then work with the weather. Seems to be a few jumping on-jumping off opportunities between Ashville and LBurg.

DV


----------



## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

If you go to Lynchburg from Ashville you will be driving a little over 300 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. That is most of the length. I haven't driven it yet but I am planning to this year around the time the leaves turn (mid-October, typically). I driven the tail of the dragon, a much shorter and very fun 300+ turns in only a few miles. I use Garmin nuvis in my bimmer and SUV and have been planning routes in BaseCamp. The areas around Ashville and Roanoke cross a bunch of little secondary roads and I had difficulty getting the route to stay on the BRP when I used MapSource and Microsoft Streets and Trips. 

Jim


----------

