The Tail of the Dragon and the Blue Ridge Parkway

The first days ride up to Greenwood was busy as we left Charleston on the Sunday morning. Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest holiday weekends in the USA so everyone in the city was going somewhere. As we made our way into the countryside it quietened down until we were passing through small villages where Sunday afternoon was a quiet time after morning church, and believe me church is BIG down here in the south!! They even hire the local police department to direct the traffic when everyone is leaving.

After an overnight stop in Greenwood we headed for the hills again with the forecast of rain. We almost made it until the last 30 Km when the heavens just opened with the vengeance of the almighty! We entered the lobby of the Hampton Inn in Franklin looking like two drowned rats! The woman on the desk was wonderful and got us to our room with all haste, and then took our soaking wet jeans to get then dried. All the way into the mountains there was a que of traffic heading the other way. The end of the long weekend, and hopefully a quieter time on the roads for us.

Unfortunately the weather had not improved the next day so we stayed put and did some shopping and planning for the next few days to come.

Deals Gap is one of the must do destinations for any biker on the east coast of the United States. 318 curves in 11 miles (17km). There is a motel at the start of the run where all the bikers congregate or pull in to fill up with gas before enjoying a superb piece of road. The local constabulary is also usually present to make sure that people behave themselves!!


Nearly at Deals Gap


Claire getting used to the bike again


Biker friendly or what?


Just about to start or returning with a smile

An added bonus for us was a film crew which was filming an episode of the USA version of the Hairy Bikers cooking program. Having seen the original English version we were keen to see what was happening here. It’s more the kind of food that Americans will find in there own back yard and after having a quick chat with the guys who were actually cooking a whole Hog and three large pork shoulders on the most industrial looking BBQ you have ever seen in you life we were asked to join everyone for lunch and answer some questions by the boys if we were asked. The pork was unbelievable, melt in the mouth heaven that I can only dream of achieving when I get back home. But I’m going to try.


Now that's a BBQ!!


A whole Hog! 14 hours later, mmmm!


The three dry rub pork shoulders


Oh yes, the roads pretty good too.


There is a tree of shame for those who don't quite make it!

Wednesday morning saw us set of for the long run along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The road is fantastic and I think the scenery would have been equally so if not for the clouds that we ran into once we had climbed up over 2000ft! We did get an inkling of the grandeur later in the afternoon but were content with enjoying the ride through to Roanoke that night and some good (Tex Mex) Mexican food that evening.


A cloudy start to the day


It did improve though. The Blue Ridge Parkway, stunning.


Day two started better. This is Otter Lake.


And finally along the Skyline Drive.

Thursday saw us complete the run along the parkway and into the Skyline Drive which runs into the Shenandoah National Park and down towards Washington DC.