Tim Murphy - Road Cycling the Blue Ridge High Country

ROAD CYCLING

THE BLUE RIDGE HIGH COUNTRY

Published by John F. Blair, Publisher

Copyright 2003 by Tim Murphy
All rights reserved under International and
Pan American Copyright Conventions

The paper in this book meets the guidelines
for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for
Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources

Cover photograph by Tim Murphy

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Road cycling the Blue Ridge high country / by Tim Murphy.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-89587-283-8 (alk. paper)

1. CyclingBlue Ridge MountainsGuidebooks. 2. Blue Ridge MountainsGuidebooks. I. Title.

GV1045.5.B59M87 2003

796.6'09755dc21

2003007948

To
Heather

CONTENTS

Many people helped bring this book to life, and I am grateful to them all.

I offer my heartfelt thanks to the folks who helped me develop routes for this book:

R. G. Absher of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, who acquainted me with the route for The Happy Valley Tour during an Overmountain Victory Trail cycling event

Shaw Brown of Boone Bike and Touring, who suggested the route for The Beech Ball Loop

Michael Davis of the Bicycle Inn in Bakersville, North Carolina, who proposed the basic design of A Climb to Cloudland: The Roan Mountain Tour

Matt Daye, who shared the Glade Valley route with me, and left me in the dust for most of it

Tom Horsch of Adventure Damascus, who contributed the route for The Shady Valley Sojourn and offered valuable advice on the route for The Road to Damascus

Scott Warren of Magic Cycles in Boone, who shared the route for The Bulldogs Bite Loop

Gary Wyatt, for his patient leadership during a grueling group ride to the top of Mount Mitchell

My thanks also go to the creators of the Blood, Sweat and Gears; Blue Ridge Brutal 100; Bridge-To-Bridge Incredible Challenge; and Rides Around Wilkes (RAW) road-cycling events. These events feature imaginative and challenging routes that have served as the inspiration for several of the rides in this book. These and many other High Country road-cycling events are listed in . Come ride them if you can.

I first cycled The Valle Crucis Loop during a ride to benefit Peter Congelosi, a beloved employee of Rock & Roll Sports in Boone. Peter lost a valiant battle against cancer in October 2000. I appreciate the members of the Boone biking community who generously gave of their time to organize this special ride.

I extend hearty thanks to Lee McMillan of Shatley Springs Inn for his willingness to allow cyclists to use the inn as a base for Fountain of Youth: The Shatley Springs Tour. Thanks also go to Allen and Sandra Hincher of Windy Gap Vineyards, who have agreed to host cyclists riding The Moonshine and Wine Tour.

A tip of the helmet goes to all my good friends in the Brushy Mountain Cyclists Club. Lonny Bumgarner, Nick Cheek, Brandon Eller, Skip Erb, Richard Fink, Jim Hutchens, Sam Hutchens, Bailey Koch, Dwight Levi, Christie Scott, Mike Smithey, Bruce Watts, and Gary Wyatt accompanied me on many of the rides included in this book. Several of them kindly agreed to have their Lycra-clad physiques splashed across these pages. I am especially grateful to Dwight and Jim for their encouragement, their amusing antics, and their willingness to hit the road with me. Weve ridden thousands of miles together, and I look forward to many more.

I appreciate the confidence and support of Carolyn Sakowski and all the good folks at John F. Blair, Publisher. This project was the best excuse to ride I could ever imagine.

I owe a huge debt to my wife, Heather, and my children, Kevin, Michael, and Megan. Theyve put up with me while Ive hogged the computer, while Ive rolled out weekend after weekend on rides, and whenever Ive disappeared into a writers trance. I hope I can support them in the pursuit of their dreams as theyve supported me in mine.

To me, the Blue Ridge is truly Gods country. I offer thanks to the good Lord for my health, my family, and these inspiring hills.

After cancer, superstar Lance Armstrong was burned out on cycling.

In January 1998, Armstrong moved to Europe to train with the U.S. Postal pro cycling team, hoping to regain his form after treatment for the testicular cancer that almost took his life.

I was riding with buried doubts, and some buried resentments, too, Armstrong recalls in his autobiography, Its Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. Some less-than-stellar finishes in early-spring European races sent Armstrong into a tailspin. He quit the U.S. Postal team, flew home to Texas, and became a self-described bum who drank too much beer, ate too much Mexican food, and channel-surfed his way through the day.

Armstrong might still be on the couch today, a forgotten footnote in the history of sports, if it werent for his visit to the Blue Ridge High Country.

In April 1998, Armstrong, overweight and out of shape, traveled to Boone, North Carolina, in a last-ditch effort to get his cycling career back on track. With the help of riding buddy Bob Roll and coach Chris Carmichael, he threw himself into riding. All we did is eat, sleep and ride bikes, Armstrong writes. Through fog and chilly rains, he attacked the rugged hills of the High Country, regaining his fitness and his confidence. In a grueling climb to the top of frosty Beech Mountain, Armstrong found his form mentally and physically.

He took the summit of Beech a restored man. I was a bike racer again, Armstrong writes of his peak experience. I passed the rest of the trip in a state of near-reverence for those beautiful, peaceful, soulful mountains. The rides were demanding and quiet, and I rode with a pure love of the bike, until Boone began to feel like the Holy Land to me, a place I had come to on a pilgrimage. If I ever have any serious problems again, I know that I will go back to Boone and find an answer. I got my life back on those rides.

From the depths of despair and disease, Armstrong rebounded to win the Tour de France four years in a row and become the worlds top endurance athlete. And his renaissance as a rider began in the North Carolina mountains.

In the Blue Ridge High Country, road cyclists can find natural beauty, challenging climbs, and exhilarating descents for their own peak experiences. The western part of North Carolina is simply some of the best road riding in the world, Bicycling magazine said in March 2001. The 470-mile Blue Ridge Parkway bisects the area, and the hills are laced with a network of paved, low-traffic back roads that offer both inspiring scenery and rugged terrain. With its weathered barns, log cabins, and old country stores, the countryside sometimes looks like the land that time forgot. But a few miles away in Boone and Blowing Rock, great restaurants and a variety of accommodations pamper visitors.