Road Cycling in Asheville and Western North Carolina
The city of Asheville isn't a great place to ride a bike - too much traffic and too little provision for bike riders - but the areas north, west and east of Asheville offer some of the best bicycling in the USA. Although there are some good rides south of Asheville, I think the best riding is on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in the areas north and west of the Parkway. Arguably, the Blue Ridge Parkway itself is the best riding of all, but I ride a lot of routes that I think are as good, and in a few cases, better than most of the Parkway. This page is an introduction to those routes for riders who have not explored that area.
Visit our Blue Ridge Parkway page for more info on the Parkway.
What's New - New Articles, Content and Blogs About Road Cycling
- Asheville named a finalist to host USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National... by Asheville Now
- 2nd Annual Blue Ridge Breakaway, An Adrenaline Pumping Ride through... by Katy McLean Gould
- Why You Should Put More Thought Into Your Golf Cart Wheels by Michelle B.
- French Broad River Fishing Report - October 26th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - October 19th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - October 12th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - September 28th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - September 21th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - September 14th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - August 31st, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - August 24th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- French Broad River Fishing Report - August 17th, 2011 by Chris Manderson
- Should a student take the ACT or the SAT? by Brian Caskey
- Have you heard about Blind Pig of Asheville??? by Justin Belleme
- North Carolina Drug Card by Bert Melancon
- Markets Don't Matter, Karma Does by Michele Williams
- Incumbent Reisinger Seeks Election to Buncombe County Register of D... by Justin Belleme
- New Year's Eve with Acoustic Syndicate by Molly Kummerle
- Toubab Krewe Returns to the Orange Peel for New Years Eve by Molly Kummerle
- The Billy Sea at The White Horse Black Mountain 12/10/11 by Molly Kummerle
- Free PSAT Results Analysis at Chyten! by Brian Caskey
- Vertigo Jazz Project and One Leg Up Announce a Masquerade New Years... by Erin Scholze
Entrance and Exit to Craggy Gardens Picnic area - Courtesy of Mark Boyd
Things to Consider when Riding Outside of Asheville NC
View from Town Mountain
Once you start to ride out of Asheville in any direction except along the river, you need to be ready for some serious climbing and, even along the river, you need to be comfortable riding in traffic. You should also carry water - climbing is thirsty work - and be prepared for some common bike problems like flat tires. Lots of folks ride into the mountains with inadequate supplies and no knowledge of how to repair a flat tire...
Road Cycling Rides in Asheville
Riverside Drive Bike Lane
There are few flat places to ride, but, in each part of Asheville, east, west, north, and south, of Asheville there are some decent short rides that are relatively easy and, just as important, relatively traffic free. These rides require little in the way of preparation...
Learn about Rides in Asheville
Blue Ridge Parkway Riding
Asheville Watershed - BRP
One of the most popular places to road cycle in Western NC is the Blue Ridge Parkway. Our riding the Blue Ridge Parkway guide covers rides up Elk Mountain, and various other rides around the Parkway.
Find out About Cycling on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Out of Town Rides
Forks of Ivy - Courtesy Mark Boyd
There are several great rides outside of Asheville in Western North Carolina. Some of these rides even cross over the boarder into Eastern Tennessee. Rides covered in this section include Newfound Road, Dogget Gap, Hot Springs, Lake Junaluska, rides around Black Mountain, Forks of Ivy, and five rides that across the TN border.
Explore the Cycling Routes of Western NC
Local Cycling Clubs
Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, BRBC works to promote bicycling (mountain and road)in the Asheville and Western NC area. They hold group rides as well as trail maintenance sessions in Pisgah and the Dupont State Forest.
www.blueridgebicycleclub.org
Pisgah Area SORBA, (Southeastern Off-road Bicycle Association) has recently approved the formation of the Pisgah chapter. Check out this great group for group rides, trail work, and advocacy.
www.pisgahareasorba.org
Local Road Cycling Outfitters
Whether you need a new bike, a tune-up, or just some advice on any aspect of cycling, you might want to check out one of Asheville's great local bike shops.
Bio Wheels
81 Coxe Avenue. Asheville, NC 28801
888-881-BIKE
www.biowheels.com
Hearn's Cycling and Fitness
34 Broadway St. Asheville, NC 28801
828-253-4800
www.hearns-cycling.com
Liberty Bicycles
1378 Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC 28803
828-274-2453
www.libertybikes.com
Ski Country Sports
1000 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804
828-254-2771
www.skicountrysports.com
Pro Bikes
610 Haywood Rd # B. Asheville, NC 28806
828-253-2800
www.pro-bikes.com
Second Gear
415 Haywood Rd # A. Asheville, NC 28806
828-258-0757
www.secondgearwnc.com
Carolina Fatz Cycling Center
1240 Brevard Rd. Asheville, NC 28806
828-665-7744
carolinafatz.blogspot.com
Epic Cycles
108 Black Mountain Ave. Black Mountain, NC 28711
828-669-5969
Youngblood Bicycles
233 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28801
828-251-4686
youngbloodbikes.com
REI - Asheville
31 Schenck Parkway. Asheville, NC 28803
828-687-0918
www.rei.com
Web Resources
Be sure to check the weather before you ride, and know what to expect while you're out there. Here are some resources you may find useful while planning your ride.
Asheville Cycling, great local site w/events, maps, discussion boards, and more
www.ashevillecycling.com
MTB WNC, for trail info, directions, maps, and photos of mountain biking in WNC
www.mtbikewnc.com
International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), provides trail advocacy, trail building schools, and various other services to mountain bikers across the US and beyond.
www.imba.com
Rays Weather Center, provides local forecasts, graphics, and area web cameras.
www.raysweather.com
High Country Webcams, what's the weather like outside right now?
Check out these handy area webcams to find out!
About the Author
Mark Boyd is an avid bicycle tourist, commuter, and recreational rider who lives in north Asheville. He takes long tours each summer and creates a web page for each day on the road. - typically 40 to 50 pages each summer. After doing this for more than a decade, he has created a unique collection of hundreds of web pages covering riding in almost all of the US states, Canadian provinces, and European countries. He also has pages on shorter rides in western NC and Colorado. Just use a search engine - google, yahoo, etc. - to search for Mark Boyd and you'll find his bicycling page whch has links to all these pages.
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