Yeah, I did 2 of 3 days of the trip last year and the whole thing this year (plus the dragon on the way down to the starting point). I also joined the Great Ice Cream Run that was heading north starting right after the BRP Tour. I tagged along as they drove Skyline drive up to hagerstown before breaking off and heading home. My pictures (and one video) from the events are on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trout/
The speed limit on skyline drive is a bit slow, but there were a few nice corners and the scenery is great. It would make a great beginner run for those who like a slower pace. Traffic was light, but we were going through from 9am to noon on a Monday, so that's not a huge surprise.
The blue ridge parkway is 45 mph, but has a lot of really nice corners. Our pace was a bit quicker than posted and made for some very fun corners. Not a lot of back and forth twists like the dragon, but the long sweepers that pin you to your door for a couple of seconds. The great part is that it is like that the whole 469 miles.
The turnout for the Tar Heel tour was about double last year. We averaged about 40 cars with a max of about 45 at one point. They are starting to plan another one next year. If they follow the pattern, next year would be starting in waynesboro, so it would be a bit easier to get a full crew down from the DC area to the start.
And now back to unpacking and cleaning bugs off my car.
