BRP Harley Trip – Day 5: First Day on the BRP!

We definitely paid our dues with lousy motorcycle riding weather on this trip, but we received the payoff today. The weather for our first day on the BRP was amazing!! Today we’re riding from Waynesboro, VA to Roanoke.

Get yourself some help

While researching this ride, a couple things popped up. There are no gas stations on the BRP, and there may be spots where you won’t have a cell signal. This is part of the reason I bought a Garmin for my bike. Satellite-based GPS always works, even when cell tower-based navigation doesn’t.

I also highly recommend the Blue Ridge Parkway app. It provides detailed info about the BRP. The Parkway has mileposts, starting at zero at the north end, and is divided into four regions. The app tells you what milepost overlooks and other attractions are at. We used the app to plan what major points on the Parkway we wanted to stop at. So, if we got separated, we knew we’d see each other at X milepost.

Short hops

The BRP speed limit is 45 mph, and we planned on making a lot of stops. As a result each of our days on the Parkway are pretty short in terms of miles. You definitely don’t want to feel like it’s a footrace each day to get to your end point.

Traffic

There was none! Or very little. It turns out that this time frame, September, is one of the lowest traffic times of the year. If you want to ride the Parkway without being tire to bumper with a bunch of other traffic, do some research before deciding when you’ll go.

More rides

Check out all the great rides in Fix My Hog’s Ride and Rally Series.