My best friend back in Louisiana had plans on hitting the Lone Star Rally in Galveston at the end of Oct. Sadly, probably not going to happen. So he tells me, instead he'll wait until after the holidays and take a week or so off, ride up to see me here in VA so we can hit some major bike roads. So I would GREATLY appreciate some planning assistance; even though it's some time away, it's sooo easy to get stoked about something like this.
From where he is in LA to Norfolk is a solid 2 days (at least in a truck...just over 1200 miles). I'm hoping it won't have to spill over into three on 2 wheels. Atlanta is roughly the halfway point. I told him if he can make it there, I'll meet him and we can ride the superslab back to my home, rest for a day and then hit it good taking some of the most famous and infamous roads back down south.
What I could use is two things. First, how long on average does it take to travel a particular road? (Provided all goes realistically well.) Second is filling in the road gaps in getting from point x to point y. So here's what I'm thinking....
1. Make our way up to the Front Royal area and begin our trek down Skyline Drive.
2. From Skyline Drive continue down Blue Ridge Pkwy.
3. Take Blue Ridge all the way to Asheville. From there I'm thinking up and over through Pigeon Forge to catch the Dragon southbound.
4. Now I'm at a loss. I've heard so much about northern GA but don't know enough to know what are the coolest roads to take. Somehow we need to get from the bottom of the Dragon to somewhere around the Atlanta area. From there we split and head back to our respective homes.
Timing is playing a key part; we're only talking 7-9 vacation days and at least 3 will be hauling on the superslab. So I'm hoping between everyone here, most if not all of this layout has been covered by someone. If you could pass me your experience on how long it took to travel a particular segment, I could add it all up and make sure I have something doable and exciting to work with. OR, if you think a different route would make sense. Like I said, I'll definately need this help for the north end of GA.
I know this is long and a lot, but Rob and I have been talking and dreaming of this for 20+ years. Not this particular route, but simply climbing on our bikes and heading out on the great roads. On thing or another has always prevented us. I think we both got old enough or fed up enough and are finally determined to live out our childhood dreams (I know, sounds like a sappy movie...kiss it! LOL).
