# Hickory, NC area rides?



## tmb

I'll be in Hickory visiting friends over the week of the 4th and am looking for a few ride ideas.
I'm looking for 1 or 2 routes(25ish mile range) starting in the NE part of town, maybe along the south shore of Lake Hickory.
One day I'd like to drive up to Blowing Rock and do an out & back on the Parkway(30-40 miles total). Any opinion on which way to head?

As much as I'd love to hear ideas for an epic 100 miler w/ 15,000 ft of climbing, I just spent the last 2.5 weeks w/ the ankle of my dominant leg in an imobilizing brace. Long story short, I'm not bringing my A game so I need to scale back my plans.

Thanks for any help

T


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## badback1

*Hickory rides*

www.hickoryveloclub.com list some rides. 

For the distance and pace you mentioned (not your "A" game), there are usually several rides on Sat and Sun. The long standing Sat breakfast ride is 18 miles at a "C" pace and takes in a route that borders Lake Hickory. Starts and ends at Cafe Guoda.

The "B" ride includes the "A" riders that aren't racing covers 60-70 miles over various routes. 

These routes are posted on the yahoo groups site for the club.

Another option is to check with the two local bike shops:

Rock and Road - more of the Hickory Velo Club crowd
MotoVelo - www.CatawbaValleyPeloton.com

The Blue Ridge Parkway is 30 miles away in Blowing Rock


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## Cat 6 RCR

Thanks for the post. This information will allow me to work out some of the beers from LR Homecoming


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## markt_99

Feel free to look at some of my rides on http://trail.motionbased.com/. under advanced filter filter for username equals markt99 and remove the last day filter. I've got rides ranging from 20 to 60.

For the parkway. you could drive to Moses Cone Manor and ride from there to grandfather mountain and back. It's about 30 round trip. Take the parkway south from the manor house until you come to the 221 exit AFTER the lynn Cove Viaduct. Take 221 to the gate of grandfather mountain(only about a mile from the parkway). On the way back take 221 all the way back. It's mostly downhill with alot of curves. It's a blast. On the way out to Grandfather you'll descend to Price park and then have a slow ascent to Grandfather. Its mildly challenging, a beautiful scenery.

Also the HickoryVeloClub.com has a bunch of cue sheets for rides around hickory

Mark


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## tmb

*Just the kind of info I need...*

Thanks guys. This is just what I was looking for.

Markt- I remember seeing your username on motionbased when I did a quick search, I'll go back and look closer at some of your rides. Still trying to figure out all the bells & whistles on the Edge 705. The Grandfather Mtn route sounds perfect.

I bookmarked the Hickory velo club's site, I'll do some poking around later.

Thanks again.

T


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