BRP end to end 10/9-11 RR

[reactortrip]

I made a plan to do the BRP over the Columbus Day Holiday weekend and camp along the way. All 469 miles from Waynesboro, VA to Cherokee, NC. I needed to do this as a test trip for my 2011 California Adventure. I enlisted two friends to come along with me. One would ride with me from Knoxville and do the whole trip and another from Maryland would meet us at the first campground and ride halfway with us and then go home.

Me and Kyle left from Lenoir City early on 10-9 and traveled up Interstate 75 to 81. We had to make a bunch more stops than needed for me because the FZ1 Kyle was riding was far more limited in range. Here is us stopped in Wytheville, VA because the FZ1 needed gas and it's rider had to poop.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/wytheville.jpg

All that Virginia interstate riding was terrible, luckily we were using the Sena SMX 10 headsets that I purchased and had a good time entertaining ourselves with the usual male banter and berating cagers we passed. We finally made it to I-64 and into Waynesboro and finally the start of our real trip, the BRP.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/brpstart.jpg

As you can see I was super excited to be here.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/mebrpstart.jpg

It started out with some sweepers and it was much more enjoyable than the stupid interstate, we had a good time making fun of a lot of the signs along the way, the BRP has some hilarious names for places and signs for our immature brains. We got our first real treat of scenery and ravens roost not far from the start. So we stopped and got a few "oh pretty pics."

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/ravenbikes.jpg

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/ravensroost.jpg

Don't want to fall off of it. It might hurt.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/ravendown.jpg

Well we get back on the bikes and make our way to MM 27 and down the road to Montebello Campground where we will spend the first night.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/montebello.jpg

Yes, it is that full and yes it was loud all night.

It was nice to be under trees instead of being in a hotel though.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/treesmonte.jpg

We decided to hold a rave for all the rednecks.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/glowstick.jpg

It was a loud night though. We had our neighbors start having a domestic dispute with the woman yelling at the man and then the man telling us it's always his fault. They were a lot of fun. He didn't know how to start a campfire and so he asked us and we told him to use pine needles and twigs as kindling and he promptly told us "he is not a woodsman." They also started having a long conversation at 1AM, 3 feet from my tent. Luckily a fellow redneck somewhere in the campground screamed at them a few times telling them "WHAT PART OF QUIET TIME DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND!" til they went to sleep. They lost their dog at 3AM and chased it through my tent area too. They were great people. There was also kids screaming for no reason all night. I do not recommend this campground. Only positive I got to say is I got a hot shower this night, because the food sure did suck.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/eggs.jpg

Yeah, we made eggs in the same dutch oven we burnt some bacon in. They look nasty, but weren't too bad.

We took off out of that redneck nightmare early on 10-10 and were treated to this view not far down the BRP.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/morning1010.jpg

It all started blending together after awhile though.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/view1010.jpg

We saw a sign for the natural bridge (we were bombarded with this all the way up interstate 81) and thought we would check it out. There was a nice twisty asphalt road to the natural bridge, so it wasn't too bad of a detour. We found this guy waiting on us when we got there, he looked like he meant business.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/raptorboy.jpg

We didn't go to the natural bridge, it cost money and we were not interested after seeing the prices and the line to get in.

On the way back to the brp, I tried to take a different route to get back on, but it led right into a gravel road. It was a great little surprise find that was twisty and fun.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/gravel.jpg

Kyle on the FZ1 with PP 2CTs was not amused.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/fz1gravel.jpg

We got back on the BRP and it sort of leveled out and was kinda boring Virgina roads and we didn't really stop much or see anything great in this lower section of Virginia. So I don't really have pics of it. Eventually the FZ1 needed gas again, so we made a little pitstop in Floyd, VA.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/floydva.jpg

We stopped in the dumpy section, apparently there was a much nicer part if we would of kept going a little bit as we found out on the way back to the BRP.

[reactortrip]

Eventually we made it into North Carolina and at our stop for the night, Doughton Park.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/doughtonpark.jpg

We camped under some trees, which ended up being stupid because leaves, acorns, massive branches fell on my tent the entire night and I was once again forced to go without much sleep.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/doughtoncamp.jpg

It was nice and secluded at night though, we scanvenged for brush.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/doughtonatnight.jpg

Note: don't bring jealous KLR riders with you, as this one tried to attack me on this night.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/klrrider.jpg

This campsite was really awesome though, only thing they didn't have that I missed was a shower. I tried to take a shower in the sink of the restroom, but the only other dude in the campsite decided to walk into the bathroom as I was almost naked. It was awkward. My friends saw him coming and knew what I was doing, but thought it would be more hilarious if they let him find me naked instead of warning me. Great friends...

We took off from Doughton on 10-11 and headed to Bluff Mountain overlook just 2 miles down the road.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/bluffmtn.jpg

It was worth the stop.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/morning1011.jpg

We said goodbye to Fred, the KLR rider, here as he had to make his way back to Maryland. Sucks he couldn't end to end it with us.

The rest of the day is kind of a blur. It was filled with lots of views and beautiful fall colors, here is a small collection of pics I took from that day.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/treecolors1011.jpg

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/more1011.jpg

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/more1011b.jpg

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/more1011c.jpg

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/more1011d.jpg

I didn't any great shots of grandfather mountain or craggly gardens, but those were two of my favorite spots of the whole trip. We were being really time concious on this day, because we piddled around too much the day before and it took us a lot longer to do half of the BRP than we thought. So we limited our stops on this day to make sure we got home at a decent time. I really want to do the VA/NC border to Asheville section again, taking more time to stop and enjoy the view. This was the best section of the entire trip.

Here is my last shot of the trip. One of the many tunnels you pass through on the way into Cherokee.

http://www.twowheelfix.com/brp/tunnel.jpg

It was disappointing to not find a "here ends the BRP" sign to take a final pic, but oh well.

We went into Cherokee to fill up our gas tanks and then made our way across 441 in the GSMNP and then on Little River Rd into Townsend and finally back 321 into Lenoir City. It was a great trip and I am glad to officially be a BRP end to ender. ALABAMA MAN!

[Jogitu]

The BRP is a nice trip and a long trip as I am sure you know. I think people see the miles and thinks it is no big deal. From end to end that is some long hours in the saddle. On our recent trip we exited at Marion, NC for food and fuel and it was a good 25 minutes from the exit to the first signs of civilization. The BRP will definitely put you out in the middle of nowhere. Quite frankly except when you are around the Asheville area on the BRP you are always in the middle of nowhere. Have you crossed the Dragon off the list yet?

[reactortrip]

The BRP is a nice trip and a long trip as I am sure you know. I think people see the miles and thinks it is no big deal. From end to end that is some long hours in the saddle. On our recent trip we exited at Marion, NC for food and fuel and it was a good 25 minutes from the exit to the first signs of civilization. The BRP will definitely put you out in the middle of nowhere. Quite frankly except when you are around the Asheville area on the BRP you are always in the middle of nowhere. Have you crossed the Dragon off the list yet?

Yeah, I was really surprised by the ruralness of the road. Especially when trying to find gas for the FZ1. It was a different ride than anything I have ever done before. I was also really disoriented by the nature of mileage. It was like you said the miles just seem to expand on it.

Yeah, I got the dragon crossed off about a million times. I am a local up there.

[Beemeup]

Great trip and great pictures. I did the BRP from end to end for the first time myself just after Labor Day and had a great time. Great trip, I was thinking mine was a warm up for a western adventure next year too. One thing I would recommend to anyone who's never done the BRP......do it! I'd also recommend the Willville Motorcycle Campground in Fields of Dan Virginia (about 100 miles south of Roanoake) and The Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground in Cruso, NC (almost at the end of the BRP) Thanks for sharing your trip and your pictures, good luck on your preparation for your California trip. Don

[osbornk]

I've ridden the BRP round trip twice ( The return trip is a totally different experience and well worth the extra 469 miles). My favorite part of the BRP is the area around Mount Mitchell and the Viaduct. My least favorite part is near Roanoke, Va. (Civilization has intruded and the road is more like a country road with little good scenery.) I found out on my first trip that almost 1,000 miles of the very abrasive road surface can turn a fairly good tire into a slick one.