I don't know about "before I was born", I am 50. As for broken pavement on the BRP, I did not notice much. Nor do I even worry about a few cracks I the road surface.
The park rangers are few and spread thin covering the NC portion, and they are usually concentrated in high foot traffic areas, not in the more remote and more fun parts of the BRP.
I see very few on weekends and even less during the week days, which is the time I prefer to ride.
Oh and in said the speed limit was 45. You are free to go faster...
Guys over 50 say, "just sayin"?!
Agreed, while I might have ridden that stretch on my R26 when I was 17, I've got Halfheimers and can't remember! Official residence was GA though until I was ~ 19, so not unlikely as that was always a favorite long ride.
Good to hear that there are still few rangers in NC. They've gotten fairly thick from Mile 0 to Mile 70 for no good reason I can think of..., and that's a fairly unpopulated region too. I've got some credentials in my pocket which have proven to work well with state and local, and even some European cops, but might not want to test them vs a Federal ticket!
Wasn't talking about cracks on the BRP. More like wash-outs and deep pot holes. They've started to resurface a few short stretches in the first 30 miles recently. Nothing like the glass it was in years prior. I guess windmills take priority these days.
Initially I mentioned my area only because the I-64 corridor from Williamsburg to Charlottesville offers a retiree just about anything you could find in NY/NJ/CT Metro, all within an hour drive, but MUCH friendlier natives!
Asheville for me remains a nice place to spend a week, but somewhat limited as a year round environment. VA is super MC-friendly too, BTW, although HAWGS predominate. At least they're friendly!
