I just got back from 4 days of riding in the Smoky Mountains. Read about day four here….. http://blog.ridedms.com/

 Stewart

Day 4, Monday September 24

The last day is always so bittersweet. Bitter because I have been away from home for 4 days and missing the wife, sweet because the riding down there is so awesome. We had originally planned to spend a day down in Rick’s stomping ground, the Georgia Mountains. In the morning we got together and decided instead of running the hour and a half down there we would stay local, go back to Krambonz for lunch and get back to the house early enough to get the bikes loaded before dark. We had a plan and we were off.

It does not get any better than an early morning ride up RT28 from Franklin. This road has been named the “Moonshiner 28” because local legend has it this was a favorite road for bootleggers. Since the bootleggers knew the road so well they could out run the police as they hauled their liquor out of the mountains. It makes for a great story. Even if it isn’t true it is a fantastic road to ride a motorcycle, one of the best in the area and my personal favorite. After a start like that we knew it was going to be a great day.

We made the left on RT74/23, went 3 miles and turned right continuing up Rt28 passed Fontana Lake. Once we got to Stecoah we made the right that goes by Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge and Campground. This another local treasure of a road that twists through the hilly countryside and comes back to RT28 that we have found to be a worthwhile side trip. At the stop sign at RT28 we had our only mishap of the trip. When everyone came to a stop, one of the riders, I won’t say who, stopped a little too close to the side of the road. When he put his right foot down it was on the very edge of the road which dropped off about 4 inches. You can guess what happened next; his foot slipped off onto the wet grass causing him and the bike to do a slow motion tip over. The problem was he didn’t stop there. The momentum from falling caused him to roll to his right into a rather steep, grass and brush filled ditch. All we saw was feet as he toppled into the ditch. Luckily there were 2 small trees that stopped him after he rolled down about 7 feet.  The thick grass cushioned his fall so he was unhurt. He came out laughing so of course we all joined in. The bike avoided any major damage and after a couple of quick tweaks we were back on our way.

I never get tired of looking at scenery like this.

We continued on RT28 along Cheoah Lake to RT129, The Dragon, but decided make the left at the store and continue on Rt129 South. At the bottom of the hill when you cross the bridge you can look over at the dam that was used in the filming of “The Fugitive”. You remember the scene where Ford turns back to Tommy Lee Jones before jumping off the dam to what would be, anywhere but Hollywood, his death only to survive. This is that dam.

We worked our way back over to the Cherohala Skyway for two reasons. First the Skyway on a Monday, when it is lightly traveled, is just about the most perfect motorcycling road, no matter what type of bike you ride. Nice curves, well placed outlooks and incredible scenery of the valleys and surrounding mountains greet as you ride along the mountain top at 5400 feet. Although on this trip we kept a brisk pace because we had reason two on our mind; lunch at Krambonz. I’ll say it just once more, if you like BBQ, you have got to eat there. How can you beat a huge baked potato (biggest I have ever seen) with butter, cheese and sour crème topped with two inches of pulled pork or brisket for only $8.00. Some our party split one, some of us (me included) didn’t but couldn’t or wouldn’t finish it all.

Taking a break on the Cherohala Skyway.

After a fantastic meal we decide it was time to head back over the Skyway. Since we were full and not in any hurry a more relaxed pace and maybe ever stop at some over looks to get some pictures was in order. We stopped at a few outlooks and the pace was still brisk enough to keep my attention.

 When we got back to Thunder Mountain Store we looked at the watch and the map to see what else we could squeeze in. The decision was to ride over to Bryson City and ride the “Road to Nowhere” out and back. The road has an interesting history that you can read about here. Since the road does not get any real maintenance it is pretty rough in spots but still worth the ride. It abruptly ends just before an abandoned tunnel through the mountains that is eerie to walk through. We didn’t walk down to the tunnel this trip but while taking a break at the end of the road meet a brother and sister who owned property in the area that filled us in on some of the local history.

The end of the road on the Road to Nowhere.

 Remember I said we wanted to get back early, well that was not working out so well. The sun was getting low as we headed down the mountain through Bryson City and back over to RT28 and back to the house. We just had time for a quick beer as we loaded up the bikes just before the sunset. Another great trip!

Blue Ridge Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

Over dinner and more beers in town (I am so glad Rick is our designated driver) we started planning for next year……possibly even a dual sport ride in Colorado, that will be epic!

I just got back from 4 days of riding in the Smoky Mountains. Read about day three here….. http://blog.ridedms.com/

Stewart

Day 3, Sunday September 23

We decided we had 2 goals for today; the first was to go check out the Wheels through Time Museum in Maggie Valley and second to find a road east that avoided the heavily travelled RT64. We succeeded at both.

After carefully analyzing the map Bob and I decided to try Walnut Creek Road off of RT64 south of Franklin and it was a great choice. The two lane road snakes through hills and valleys with beautiful well kept properties for about 18 miles. Towards the end it runs along Lake Glenville offering spectacular views of the lake. Once at the end, we all felt the same way, “why haven’t we been riding that all along”.

From there we turned left heading north on RT107, although more commercial, another great road we had never ridden. We pulled over and took a break just after turning right on Canada Road. This gave Bob a chance to hook up his helmet cam. As per the map this road would ultimately take us over to RT215 and complete the bypass we were looking for.

As the Monty Python Show said, “now for something completely different”. Every road we had ridden this trip was more or less “normal” although curvy, hilly, in great shape and much more scenic than anything in Delaware. Canada Road was like a step back in time. There were hardly any painted lines, properties were not so well kept, the road was narrow, and road signs, forget about it, there weren’t any. There were no signs to let you know how sharp the upcoming curve was, no warnings of any kind, and this was a road as twisty as The Dragon with much more elevation changes (blind of course) and very narrow. For the first time this trip we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. This road could just as easily been in the back woods of Canada, maybe this is how they named it? At one point, we passed a long bearded, flannel shirt wearing hillbilly in an open wheeled bare framed dune buggy going the opposite direction. Can you say, “WTH was that?” Canada road turned into Explorer Road, which was no better, before we finally arrived at RT215 where we stopped for a break and reflection. Someone made the comment they think they heard the dueling banjos from the movie Deliverance somewhere along that road. Hey, don’t laugh it was that kind of place.

After a very interesting ride, we made it to the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley.

From there, we went up RT215 to the Blue Ridge Parkway, to RT19 and into Maggie Valley. The Wheels Through Time Museum is incredible and worth the $12 admission if you are interested in the history of the American motorcycle. I cannot begin to describe the amount of old bikes, parts and memorabilia they have on display. It is even more amazing when you discover the most of them actually run. While we were there they took 2 of the bikes from the displays, fired them up and rode them around the grounds. Now I am talking about Harleys from the 20s and 30s and starting them is a little more involved then turning on the key and pushing a button. When we were there a few years ago the owner came out, grabbed a bike, fired it up and did a huge burnout right down the walk way between the displays and awestruck visitors (us included). By the amount of rubber on the concrete this was a daily exhibition. We didn’t get to see any burnouts this time; maybe their insurance company shut them down, lol. There is a sitting area upstairs with the biggest motorcycle magazine collection I have ever seen. I could have spent all day just going through the magazines I remember reading cover to cover as a teenager.

Just a sample of the bikes they have on display. Oh yea, it runs!

While it was nice to visit the museum we still came to ride so we decided to go back down RT19 to Rt74 and back to Wayan Road.  As I said in an earlier post, Wayan is a fantastic ride; nice curves, decent pavement, flowing river and lightly traveled. Everyone talks about The Dragon but there really are much nicer roads to ride in the area, you just need to know where they are. On the way across Wayan we came across a motorcycle accident scene. It appeared a Harley Ultra rider had lost control and laid his bike down on a curve. Since the ambulance we passed was moving rather slowly it appeared no one was seriously injured. Just another reminder to ride within your limits, these roads can bite. Our group safely travelled through the rest of Wayan Road, back to the house in Franklin where it was time for a cold one and the hot tube, gotta love it.

I just returned from 4 great days of riding in the beautiful Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Thought you might like to know how it went…

Stewart

Day two, Saturday September 22

Saturday was the day to go explore new roads. For 2 years a friend of mine, Tom, had been telling me how good RT32 out of Crosby Tennessee is, “it’s curvy like the Dragon only better with new pavement and practically no traffic.” He said “ride it until it turns to dirt, turn around and come back.” It sounded perfect but the problem was there was not a good way to get there. I despise RT441 through the Smoky Mountain National Park. It is a nice enough road but the speed limit is 35mph (it is mostly straight) and usually packed with tourists and RVs. On a previous trip I almost fell asleep while riding coming across this road after a long hot day, no really, I was nodding off. Earlier this year I read an article in Winding Roads Magazine about a road that runs on the east side of Interstate 40. This particular road, RT209 has been named the Rattler and it boasts 234 curves in 48 miles. Now there were 2 reasons to go in that direction.

  We started the day at 9am going through Franklin and taking RT64 to Highlands. This particular piece of road was always scenic but the pavement was sketchy and it was heavily travelled. This fine crisp (low 50s) Saturday morning there was hardly any traffic and the pavement had been resurfaced making the ride along the river very enjoyable.

The over the road waterfall on RT64 is a great place for a break and pictures.

  Unfortunately the ride from Highland to Cashiers was as crowded as ever. We continued on RT64 to Rosman and got on RT215N. This is another great road that climbs up to the Blue Ridge Parkway that we seem to ride often. We jumped on the Parkway and headed north to RT74, stopping in Waynesville for lunch. The Legends Sports bar was good but it was no Krambonz. Sorry guys, I call them like I see them.

Roadside break to check the map as we got on RT215 and entered the Pisgah Forest.

We headed north out of Waynesville and found RT209. This was a road I would rate as good and definitely worth riding if you are in the area. When we got to the top we took RT70/23 west toward RT32. We knew something was up as we continued to see signs that said RT23 was closed in Tennessee. Somehow this did not seem right as there was way too much traffic from the opposite direction for the road to be totally closed. As we got to the river we discovered the bridge was out but traffic had been detoured along the railroad tracks that ran parallel to the river. This made for an interesting ride as this detour was basically the railroad service road that had been quickly paved to handle the traffic. In places it was barely a car wide.

We eventually found our way back on course and on RT32 to Crosby. Now Bob and I remembered being on this road several years ago and it turning into dirt a half a mile out of town. There were a few homes initially then, just like Tom promised; it became a newly paved roller coaster leading through the forest. We did come around a bend to find a police officer sitting on the side of the road which seemed strange since there was nothing out there. She seemed to be glad someone was using the road as she only gave us a wave as we passed. The road went about 7 or 8 miles before hitting the Tennessee line and turning to dirt just like Tom said it would. As we got off our bikes to check the map we also noticed the Appalachian Trail crossed the road in the same spot. Decision time; do we turn around and go back or continue on the dirt road. Since the sun was getting low, there were rain showers in the area and we were still a long way from Franklin we decided to try the dirt. This turned into the right decision as the dirt remained smooth and it turned to blacktop within a couple of miles. As of now, RT32 is on the “must ride” list whenever I go back down to the area. Thanks Tom.

End of the blacktop on RT32, decision time.

Appalachian Trail crosses where the pavement ends.

Once back on blacktop we jumped onto RT40 back to RT74 and down RT28 back to the house. This was a long day as it was about 7pm when we got back. Oh yea, RT28 rules!

I just returned from 4 great days of riding in my favorite, the beautiful Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Thought you might like to know how it went…

Stewart

Day one, Friday September 21

We woke up to a beautiful morning temperature in the low 50s, brisk but it felt good. Everyone was more or less on schedule as we went out to our bikes at 9:15. First problem, Greg’s R1 would not start. Although it had started fine back at the store on Wednesday, the cooler temperatures had weakened the battery to the point where it would turn over but not start. Luckily Bryan had a set of jumper cables so we had it jump started and were off on our way.

We headed into Franklin to find a battery. We found a Polaris dealership that did not have the size we needed but referred us to a local repair shop that had a replacement in stock. By now it was close to 11:00 and we planned on having lunch at Krambonz in Tellico Plans so we had some ground to cover. We headed west out of town and picked up Wayan Road. This is one of my favorite rides. The road twists and turns as it crosses the mountain and follows a stream. From Wayan we worked our way over to the Cherahola Skyway via RT129. As we refueled at the little store before the Skyway an ambulance and State Trooper went speeding past up the road, a reminder that these rides require your complete attention. The Cherahola is a blast. It is 50 miles over the mountain with no crossroads with curves tight enough to be fun but not switchback tight. We arrived at Krambonz for a late lunch and as always left stuffed.

Krambonz at Tellico Plains, best BBQ I have had.

We decided the best way back was the way we came so back over the Cherahola we went. Once back in Robbinsville we headed up RT129 to the famous Tail of the Dragon. When we arrived at the store we were surprised to see the parking lot almost full, unusual for a Friday. Since the parking lot was crowded so was the road. There was even a Tennessee State Trooper keeping an eye on everyone. We went to the Outlook and back. By this time it was getting late so we turned up the pace a little coming down RT28 to RT74. The group held a good pace and tight formation as we worked our way through the hills. Once you hit 74 you have to make a left, ride the four-lane a few miles before making a right to get back on RT28. This is definitely one of my favorites.

The Tail of the Dragon was busy for a Friday.

It was a great first day!

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