Cherokee Climbing Camp May 2007

One of my most favorite things to do is go camping and take the bike with me. So, my friend Rob from Atlanta and Debi and I met in Cherokee, NC to do some climbing and camping. We camped at the River Valley Campground, which actually was very nice.....I hate campgrounds because of all the noise and how close you are to other people.....but, this was a very pleasant experience for all of us. There was no crowds or loud noise/music playing in the campground. We arrived on Friday night May 11th. Our Saturday plan was to ride the very busy US 441 up and over Newfound Gap from Cherokee into Gatlinburg, TN. We would then turn around and come back over Newfound Gap. On Sunday we were to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway to Balsam Gap then turnaround and descend back into Cherokee via US19. The total weekend riding was 130 miles and over 14,000 feet of climbing. US441 is not recommended for bicycle riding on the weekends. There is way tooooooo much traffic. The parkway was a total joy and there was hardly any vehicles on the road. The climbs on this section of the Parkway are nice long and a challenging grade. Great views are everywhere.

Enjoy the pictures.

-Frank