Will porbaly have use of a place here/Alpine Village this summer. Will take my road bike and moutain bike. Can anyone tell me what the riding is like, esp on the road?? The mountain bike will be used primarily to just cruise around some with my girlfriend on her bike. Keeps her happy and involved!!

Thanks

You know those flashing signs you see in construction zones that say "Expect Delays"? If they had such a sign for cyclists in Burnsville, it'd say "Expect Hills".

Is Alpine Village on NC 80 near the golf course? If so, you're about a three mile climb away from Buck Creek Gap and the Blue Ridge Parkway. From there you can take off north toward Crabtree Meadows and Little Switzerland or south toward Mount Mitchell and Craggy Gardens. The Parkway is wonderful road riding...challenging cycling on a scenic road.

The Parkway from Buck Creek Gap south toward Asheville sustained some major damage during our late summer/early fall tropical storms. Hopefully it will be open by the time you visit.

The proprietors at the Celo Inn near Burnsville and the Bicycle Inn in Bakersville can hook you up with lots of loop routes through the area.

The Burnsville Metric is an annual ride that starts and ends in the square in Burnsville. It's a nice route and I'm guessing it is probably still marked although I'd suggest getting a route sheet before going out solo. There aren't any serious grunts on the route and almost 20 miles of it is along the Toe River and pretty flat. You can even race the train in the area if it happens to come by. Most of the route is rolling with some really nice rural scenary.

There is some really wonderful cycling in that area so be sure and pack your road bike.

If you're a golfer be sure and bring you clubs and play Mt Mitchell Golf Club. The back 9 there is as good as it gets.

I cannot tell you the route, except that it does track along the river for quite a bit, but you can actually get in a 50 mile ride that is almost entirely flat. (Seriously. I didn't believe it at first either.) The biggest hill you'll encounter will be coming back into Burnsville itself. You might check at the Nu-Wray Inn for a map from long ago when a touring club used it as a base for a weekend excursion in late September. Maybe, and only maybe, they might have a map from those many years ago. You can also ride to the top of Mt. Mitchell from Burnsville. I cannot remember the distance, but it's not outrageous. And at the very least, do have at least one breakfast at the Nu-Wray Inn. It has southern cooking that cannot be beat.

I have done a ride out of Burnsville to the top of Mitchell. I made a great loop by getting to the parkway via NC80, then after Mitchell I descended the parkway by taking this crazy dirt road from Craggy Gardens down to Barnardsville, then another crazy gravel rode over some mountain to Pensacola, which led me back to Burnsville. I think the mileage should be 80 something, assuming you don't get royally lost looking for the Barnardsville road as I did. Truely spectacular, needless to say. I've only done that ride once as I'm not from the area, and I remember every visual detail of the experience as if I've done it dozens of times. I have a profile of the ride here:

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/mshelbur/NCprofiles/

Just click on the Mitchell link. Also, check out the Roan Mtn ride, which was another monster loop I did out of Burnsville. If you want the exact routes for these rides, I can give them to you, but it goes without saying, they both take some balls......... climbing and mileage that are not to be taken lightly. Probably not something suitable for cruising around with the girlfriend unless she's a pro. I'm positive I overlapped parts of the Burnsville metric, however.