the movie . For our road trip , we had chosen an eight-day itinerary from our homes outside Atlanta , Georgia , through the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia , then east to the Atlantic shoreline and south along the coastal islands of the Outer Banks . The trip offered a spectacular ride up the Blue Ridge Parkway , a winding two-lane that clings to the ridgeline through North Carolina and Virginia . The elevation often reaches 5,000 feet or more , so temperatures were cool despite a heat wave down below . See map '' Our motorcycle motorcade passed panoramas of blue-tinged mountains and rolling meadows set off by split-rail fences . We motored through dense forests whose overhanging branches turned the road into a cool green tunnel . Rhododendrons and mountain laurels in bloom lined the road . See photos of this Harley road trip '' It all looks better from a motorcycle , because you 're so immersed in it -- not just looking out from inside a cage of steel and glass . In fact , we call cars cages and the people who drive them -- you guessed it -- cagers . See how
Editor 's note : The author has ridden motorcycles more than 125,000 miles since 1999 , including solo trips from Georgia to California and Canada . She takes us inside the world of motorcycle travel . Bikers approach Mount Mitchell , North Carolina , during a road trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains . SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK , Virginia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- We were parked at a peaceful , shady overlook beside Virginia 's Skyline Drive , admiring the green mountains and the river far below , when Keith realized he needed a new rear tire , and he needed it now . A bald tire is a serious problem when you 're traveling by motorcycle : We do n't carry spare tires , for obvious reasons , and a blowout on two wheels could be life-threatening . Keith decided he could make it 100 miles to the Harley-Davidson dealership in Richmond , Virginia , as long as we kept it slow , so our seven bikes headed that way . It 's been said that a great trip in a car is like watching a first-rate movie -- but a great trip on a motorcycle is like living