Blue Ridge Parkway by motorcycle

Riding the Tail of the Dragon

In May 2008 I set out on a new kind of travel adventure. I didn’t need a passport, and my husband stayed home. I did need a helmet, and quite a bit of leather. My travel companion? My dad.

We rode his Honda GoldWing along the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway and capped it off with the “Tail Of The Dragon.”

I blogged during the trip and have collected those posts here.

Also see the article I wrote for the Louisville Courier Journal:

Motorcycle ride with dad revs up bond
[pdf]

Pair savor journey on Blue Ridge Parkway

By Dana McMahan • Special to The Courier-Journal • June 15, 2008

A travel adventure of a new sort, with much leather, a roaring engine — and my Dad

Come spring I’m setting out on an entirely new type of travel endeavor. No passport required, no visits to ancient cathedrals or behemoth chateaus will take place (unless we hit Biltmore), and no dining will involve escargots or coquille St. Jacques. I’ll see (and hear and smell and taste) nearly 600 miles of a blue [...]

My dad is a good sport

My dad and I have decidedly different approaches to many things — travel styles and food preferences just a couple. His cheese and crackers is a packet — mine is brie and warm baguette slices. He’s meat and potatoes, I’m 10 course tasting menu. He’s sleep anywhere, I’m the front desk nightmare (can I [...]

Meet my travel partner and mode of transport

I begin my motorcycle adventures with my dad next week (7 sleeps and a wakeup, as he says). He’ll pick me up Thursday afternoon in Louisville to take me back to my hometown of Somerset, Ky. That ride will be the longest I’ve ever taken on the bike.
The next morning – -barring [...]

The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome

So I hear.

But then again a case of monkey brain in the middle of the night is pretty effective too. I wish they made a version of anti monkey butt powder for the brain, to help you turn it off in the wee hours. I have a lot to do in the morning and tomorrow before I leave on a motorcycle adventure and I can’t turn my mind off. [...]

Ride like the wind

I had my induction to motorcycling yesterday with 40 mile-an-hour wind gusts and Derby traffic leaving Louisville as I rode down to my parents’ with my dad and my cousin. [...]

I’m saddle sore but I made it – Blue Ridge Parkway trip day 1

I woke up at 4:30 this morning, ready for the motorcycle trip, but stayed in bed another two hours. I thought it prudent to lie prone as long as I could. And good thinking that was!
My dad and I set out at 8:30 this morning for Staunton, Va. It was funny to be on [...]

Blue Ridge Parkway trip day two – the day in numbers and pictures

I’m going to cheat a bit. Here’s our second day in numbers and pictures:
$0 – amount charged at the Staunton farmer’s market for some fresh mixed greens for my picnic lunch. (”I can’t charge you for that little bit,” the lady said)
1 – number of abandoned former “Lunatic Asylums” I saw (it’s a creepy place [...]

Reruns and new motorcycle friends – Blue Ridge Parkway trip day 3

We left Bedford early (I wasn’t in any hurry to linger at the affordable but grubby Bedford Days Inn) and took Big Island Highway back up to 501 to rerun a few miles of the Parkway. It was so rainy and cold [...]

So I can beat my dad at poker – Blue Ridge Parkway trip day 4

I’m cozied up on a lovely soft bed with a down blanket, I’ve just had a delicious dinner followed by hot cocoa and there are mountains outside my window. I can’t see them but I have the curtain open anyway because I like knowing they’re there. I’ve decided I was supposed to live in the [...]

I see mountains when I close my eyes – Blue Ridge Parkway trip day 5

When Brian and I visited St. Petersburg, I’d see onion domes when I closed my eyes. In Istanbul, I saw minarets. On this trip I see mountains. Now that we’re in North Carolina, the ridges look less like really big hills and more like actual mountains. And today was a mountain day!
After another late breakfast [...]

The grand finale — the last day of the Blue Ridge Parkway trip

The final leg of the parkway yesterday proved to be some of the most beautiful scenery of the trip. We left Asheville under cloudy skies but as we rode south the sun came out and shone on us from blue skies as we climbed to the highest elevation on the parkway.
The most dramatic view yet [...]

Fun with Blue Ridge Parkway pictures

For those of you who don’t want to fool with my multiple flickr sets of trip photos from the Blue Ridge Parkway ride, you can watch a few highlights from the trip on this two-minute video.

Enjoy!