Let's get lost ....

that was the mindset I awoke with yesterday morning. Melissa was working third shift and was planning to be home, so I did some chores around the house and then jumped on the KLR with the idea of "getting lost" on some gravel roads.

I *did* do some preliminary scouting using google maps so I would be aware of some of the roads in the area I would be in -- (heh) provided they were marked, which is rarely the "norm" on forest roads!

I left without a clue that this would be my route, but in retrospect, I formulated one. Here it is ...

http://goo.gl/maps/Y84NS

So if you're following along with the map, TN-32 is an absolute blast -- and with fresh asphalt! Zoom in and see how it wiggles!  ; )

I had been on it before, but it's been years. I was with Isaac on the big Magna (yeah, *that* many years!!). We knew it was going to turn to gravel but had no idea how long, but we were both curious enough to find out.

Anyhow, it doesn't turn to gravel until after you get across the state line. Sadly, the road was wet in the shaded hollows, so I kept a real sane pace through those tasty twisties. I never slipped but it was only about 40-50* up at that elevation and I was not confident that I *wouldn't* find icy conditions.

As mentioned above, shortly after crossing the NC state line it went to gravel. However, it was hard packed, easy to navigate, gravel. At one point, I saw an old building down in the hollow and wanted to play with the camera. However, it was a significant drop-off and I didn't feel like hiking down just to have to hike back up, just for the sake of photography. I guess I'm not a dedicated artist.   ; )

So I took a couple pics from above and moved on. This one seemed to be the one that come out best ...



and here is a shot of the bike waiting for me to come back to it ...











I continued on along this, now, hard-packed dirt road. There were many little "trails" leading off the "beaten-path" that looked intriguing, but being alone, I decided against this since my first single-track adventure turned out poorly and *now* I have no phone if I do indeed find myself in trouble.

I then saw a sign for Cataloochee. I have heard of this but never been. Time to change that!

Cataloochee (area C on the map, if following along) is an old early 1900's pioneer-type live-off-the land settlement that has since become a government-owned, protected area. Not only that but they have decided to try and repopulate the area with elk -- which used to roam the area but haven't for a long time.

It was a pretty neat place. I have never been even *near* as close to elk (that weren't in an enclosure) as this ...

They are beautiful animals. And, as you can see, they are not too bothered by humans. I was able to get as close as 10 feet from them. I probably *could* have gotten closer but didn't want to make them uncomfortable.

Here is a shot of a huge barn that was built by one of the early settlers ...

And here is a few more elk from a pasture further up the road ...

From there, I headed on. With a late departure, and waaaayyy much more camera time than I had expected to spend, the sun was getting low, and I needed to think about headed homewards.

I knew where I was (remember I said I had been on the road before with Isaac?), even though I had never been to Cataloochee before. I could backtrack and see if I remembered how to get to I-40 but I saw a sign and followed it instead. Again, it's getting late in the day.

I got to 40 and stayed on it ... for about 15 miles or so. That is when I saw the Harmon's Den exit. I recall seeing a road named Harmon's Den when perusing Google maps earlier that day. Hmmm .... I haven't got "lost" yet and that was the day's objective, so I got off 40 and decided to see if I could get myself lost.

All the while thinking "this is a bad idea" but I just ... wanted .... to! So I stayed the course to ???? and the road quickly turned into a Forest Service road and began climbing .. and climbing. Soon I was looking at I-40 from some 2000' above.

The road kept going on and on and the sun kept getting lower and lower. Uh-Oh. I'm about lost now as I don't really know where I am. I have a sense of direction and with the sun's position that helped. I was headed in the right general direction, but daylight was no longer on my side.

Then it got *more* interesting. The road I was on "T" 'd and to the right (which was where I thought I needed to go) was a gated road with enough wheel tracks around the gate that made me think. (If you're following along on the map link, I could not find it on Google). After doing some careful thought, I went right, after all, this is *where* I need to be heading ... I think?? ... HEY! I'm lost!

After about 5 miles or so, the road is much less traveled. It is now strewn with leaves, the road is barely visible and the substrate seems to be pretty much ... MUD! I'm alone, it's getting dark, I have no phone, SHIT!

(sigh) I turned around and headed back.

So I went the other direction of that "T". It quickly turned into a dead end. Well, I guess I got lost, so mission accomplished. Once again, I turned around and re-traced steps.

There *had* been a road earlier that went downhill, but I passed it as the road signage indicated the road I was on went straight, not downwards. Now, left with no other options but to backtrack entirely, I took this new road that again, went in the direction I *think* I needed to go.

And it did! It wound up where I thought it would and I was home a half hour later and there was still some residual daylight remaining. Happy, but sore!

I found some places I would like to explore further. Now, I just got to find the time and someone locally that has a DS bike and is crazy enough to take some of these single-track offshoots to check out.

if a picture is worth a thousand words .....

this is several thousand words long.    ; )

I got the camera out and played with exposures and took a couple hundred pictures. The fall colors are really pretty up here on "rocky top". anyway here are some pictures for your enjoyment ....

 

Mother Nature sure does put on quite the show during the fall months!

take a hike, eh?

It's been just about a year since Sean and I last got together and went for a hike. We haven't seen one another for a while and he sent me an email suggesting we do so. I am game!

Now, for the record, Sean is not the most decisive person, so for him to come up with this was good, but he also had a place and day suggested. I felt like typing "Who are you and what have you done with Sean?" Anyway, the details were sorted and we just had to wait until the time came to go.

Then the day before we were to go, he emails me that he thinks a different place would be better this time of year. I told him I didn't care where we went; to me, it was more about the company. It's all good! I just have to be home by 5 PM. He was fine with that, so it's a go!

We didn't have to go too far before the fall colors were presented in all their glory ....

I DO love this time of year! Pleasant weather and plenty of beautiful scenery!

This hike was only 2 miles each way and it was a fairly moderate level, too. Out of shape as I am, and with Sean nursing a bad back to health, it was the perfect call.

  

As we walked down the path, we would hear the crunch of leaves beneath our feet and the sound of the water as it coarsed over the rocks and boulders that made the bed the creek flowed through. Other than that, there wasn't much other noise. It was quite nice!

We made it to the falls and hung out for a bit taking pictures and taking in the scene. 

For whatever reason, I always feel the need to cross the water to get to the falls. I don't know why, but I just long to do this. 

photo taken by Sean Kelley

photo taken by Sean Kelley

photo taken by Sean Kelley

photo taken by Sean Kelley

 If you look really hard, I am at the top of the falls. Due to the time of day and the angle of the sun, it is a bit overexposed. There was little that could be done about that, though.


After getting my workout (scaling the hill up that falls, is tougher than it looks), I crossed the "creek" once more. After a few more minutes of taking in the scenery, we headed back. We goofed around and took some more pictures on the way back.

Between a rock and a hard place?
photo taken by Sean Kelley

Hey Sean feel like the weight of the world is on ya?

Photo taken by Sean Kelley's camera     ;j )

What a great day! Cloudless, baby blue sky, with temperatures in the mid 70s amidst some of the best that Mother Nature gives us, and all the while in the company of a very good friend. Hard to take!

Another ride, another deadline ...

A friend recently got a bike and has been wanting to get together and ride. We found a time we could both sneak off and I threw together a "short" run over some pretty fun roads. Cloud9 has a near-bald rear tire so taking the KLR is the smartest option. Besides, having the KLR will keep me at a more sane pace and help even the score between my bike and Ivor's Nighthawk. Although I will say, for someone who has been on a bike for about a month now, from what I did notice he seems pretty smooth.

We had set up a time and place to meet up and then would head out from Newport and cover roughly 150 miles before winding up in Sevierville, where he lives. Probably 180 or so, for each of us, I guess.

The only caveat was that I had to be back home by 4:30 PM, so that Melissa could head off to work. Oh boy ... Ed's got a time frame and on a bike ... you can only wonder how this will wind up!

This morning Ivor tells me he will be there around 10-ish. Judging from where he left from I tried to time it so we both arrived at the same time. I pulled in within a couple minutes of when he did. Sweet! I topped off, we chatted for a bit, and then headed down the road.

Southeast bound on 25/70 we go. We get through the 20 (Okay only 12 I think, but YEESH!) traffic lights and then are finally rolling. I am enjoying the serenity of the blue skies dotted with little, white, powder puff clouds and the fall colors filling the countryside while rolling along.

Then I realize that I hadn't reset the trip meter (for gas purposes) when we filled up. I figure it's been 10 miles since we left so just need to add 10 miles to keep track of when we need to fuel -- or rather when HE does. He gets 120 to a tank.

There is construction somewhere near the state line on 25 so they detour you. This is my normal route, even though it's a 20? mile detour, because it's a lot of fun. It was more enjoyable before the detour as traffic was less prevalent.

Anyhow, luckily today it wasn't too bad. We had pretty much all of 107 to ourselves which is a nice, tree-lined and shaded run through the forest. Gently curved -- good stuff!

Then it's onto TN-70. There is a two mile stretch just before the border which is a cowpath switchback climb of the mountain. You *always* want a free run at it when you can. (big grin) Knowing the road and that the KLR cannot get out of its own way, I knew passing two cars in the space allowed before hitting the mountain wasn't going to happen.

Still being about a mile from the upcoming switchbacks, I just backed the throttle down about 20 mph trying to generate space between us and the cars. It worked for the most part. We got a run at about 2/3 of the climb.

YEAH! right off the bat-- that first hard right ....KRRRRKKKKK ..... ground that peg most of the way through the turn. It is a perfectly banked right hander with a constant radius. that set me  on a pretty decent rhythm for the rest of that 2/3 of free space .. YEAH!

Shortly after this 70 becomes 208. It soon parallels the river with very clear, long sight lines all the way through the curves. You ... can .... reeeaally laaaaay into these turns with confidence! Great fun!!

Then the highlight! One of my favorite NC roads! 209! hands down! It climbs the mountain n a very snakelike manner. The first 8 miles is just back and forth, back and forth, zoom zoom!!

I managed to get past nearly all the vehicles I encountered. I came up on a Harley riding two-up, but sight lines were scarce. A few curves later, he finally waves me by. I accelerated into the next turn -- a downhill right-hander when, all of a sudden, there is s a group of people standing alongside the road, and IN the road -- "IN the road" in that they are IN my lane and just as I am accelerating through the corner.

WTF?!! I dropped anchor and nothing came out of it except for some dilated pupils, since there was a motorcycle lane to get around and before having to go onto the other side of the road. You would think they would try to find a safer place to congregate. I am sure I that came to their attention as much as it had mine.

The thing with 209 is the middle lulls you to sleep. There's a long, straight stretch in the valley that is quite the letdown after all the curves you were just on. However, it's been a LONG time since I have been on THIS part. Just as you are getting Ho-hum! WOOWEEE! crossing another mountain and the curves are back. These aren't as tight so you can really scoot along if you get in tune, so to speak. YEEHA!

We zipped up this mountain with very little traffic to inhibit us. Soon we were to the I-40 interchange and, since time was a concern, I incorporated about 20 miles of slab in the route. Now, that stretch of I-40 goes over the mountain and the wide sweepers are best enjoyed at about 85 mph. When you time it just right you can slalom between vehicles. Fun, fun, fun!

The idea was to pick up the Foothills Parkway (the eastern one) over to 321 then onto a road I hadn't rode for way too long -- 416. The Foothills Parkway was a great choice.

The leaves are really popping right now up there. Plenty of reds, orange, yellows .. really nice! The road gently weaves its way across the landscape and the tourists all seemed to be parked at the overlooks. SCORE!

However, 321 was a rolling traffic jam. Hadn't given tourists much thought until this point. Good Lord! I looked down and the speedometer at one point and it told me we were doing an agonizing 20 mph. GAH!

Now in fairness, it wasn't 20 all the time, but it was still friggin' slow! Again on a time crunch here so this is resonating in my mind. HAHA!

Problem was that there was a line of cars, and even if you picked them off one by one, it would take forever. I passed a few before I settled in line and just rode along knowing that 416 is coming in the next painstaking 15 miles or so.

We hit 416 and it is freshly paved. I have been on it, but it's been ... forever! WOW! I forgot how much a blast this road is. Swish, Sway, Up, Down. WHEE! It's very roller-coaster-ish. As Mr. Mazur would say, it's one tasty "ribbon of asphalt"!

We were moving along at a good clip now away from tourist traffic. What local traffic we encountered was quickly dispatched. Until, that is, we came upon a Sheriff-led Trash Pickup Patrol with trailer rolling towards their next stop.

He is crawling along, too. GRR! There is no way I am going to pass him ,though.

Granted, he has enough problems to handle he probably wouldn't chase me, but he DOES have a radio. At his first opportunity, he pulled over to allow us to pass by. That was pretty cool of him and I offered up a friendly wave and smile as we rolled past.

From there we wondered back to Ivor's house to drink a beer before I headed along my way. JUST ONE! ; ) After that, onto home.

I grabbed 139 along the river to Dandridge, then 92 south. It was about 5 miles up the road when the bike starts bucking. Out of gas! remember about not resetting the trip meter? Yeah! I forgot about that!

I switched over to reserve. However, I am unsure how much fuel is in the reserve -- I should really find out. So now I'm in fuel conservation mode.

Off the gas and coast downhill, just before ascending, gently roll on and hold speed, coast, roll on, no gas modulation in the cuves, etc. I soon found a gas station and my mind is at ease. I put in a gallon and a half to get me home.

92 south is another windy, twisty, fun piece of road. I had planned to take it to 411 then on home, but then came across a side road that I had forgotten about. Only thing was this ... isn't ... familiar.

There's a store there and storage locker place where there used to be ... nothing. I am curious if I this is the road I think it is. Ah well, I am going to find out. After a few turns, it is evident that this IS indeed the one I throught it was. I have used this as a tire scrub run before. Another joyous piece of asphalt.

I got home right at 4:30, which was my outside target time. Which was *just* enough time to see Melissa heading out the door. I was trying to make it by 4:15, and almost did, but I at least I got here "on" time. Hey it don't happen much, let me brag!  ; )

It's soo good to get seat time. Had perfect riding weather, good roads, no pucker moments, no imperial entanglements, and good comapny. What more can you ask for?

let me ramble (HEY IT'S MY SPACE ... oh wait that's part of the problem)

(for the grammar purists ... first off ... FUCK YOU, HAHAHA ... NO capitals in this and maybe run-on or fragmentary sentences, this is free-style writing but heart-felt, soulful issues that *i* need to deal with ... so accept it or move on!)

this could easily be titled self ________

 pity, absorbed, centered


..... the list goes on,. your choice!  and it's all about me! (sadly) -- which is the point of this post. these all describe my character ... or lack of!      you fill in the blank!

this is hard! but then i seem to have no problem calling out folks in my life so maybe i ought to examine myself with such criticism as well! that's always a tough thing to do without bias, right? if you cannot throw stones .......  but a conversation with the woman of my life (my wife) has made me examine this closer.

yes, i knew it is part of my makeup. i am not proud of it, but have become more aware. okay, i knew it was an issue, but maybe not to thsi extent. i was certainly cognizant of facets of it, but. damn it sucks to be called on it.

in a way it is a wake-up call to make yourself to NOT be that guy! thanks love! (yes she is likely reading this) sometimes i need that smack in the face! NOT ALL THE TIME...  but, SOMEtimes!

so i am selfish. i have perceived tendencies, values, priorities .... whatever ... that i hold dear and fail to find a compromise on; and that is a definite fallacy! admitting it is only PART of the problem, but i do acknowledge it!

i don't know why. i -can- say the examples i have had (my father and grandfather ... also quite selfish) have certainly impacted that, but shouldn't we strive to be better? why haven't i seen (all of) this before now? is it too late? how do i change this?

heh. i thought i was searching before! i reckon i had no idea! i need to figure out how to make ed a better guy. you know, the guy that makes everyone else in the room better, because he is there. not the guy that will take everything without thinking of others' welfare first.

hmmm got some soul- searching to do ............


oddly, megan, my daughter, is that person. she walks into the room and a light shines. it is a brighter, happier place, BECAUSE of her. she got past the darkness her father casts, why can't i be that person?

i guess it's about compromise. i can give in ... to a point! and i guess that's my point. i can't or won't just give in wholly -- it's conditional. i don't know how to leap this hurdle.

looks as if i have my work cut out for me.

Timeless lament

Sittting here in the darkness,
Searching for light.
This search appears futile,
But the notion makes me smile.
   Day in, day out,
   Time just rolls on.

Nothing ever changes here,
It sure is tiring.
The sun rises, the sun sets,
And older is all I get.
   Day in, day out,
   Time just rolls on.


Going through the motions,
Helpless and without purpose.
Having total lack of control,
Makes me feel as if I have no soul.
   Day in, day out,
   Time just rolls on.

Tellico bound

My SME started Thursday night when Skip Smith and Ben Russo stopped by to visit en route to Tellico. We drank a few beers and spent some time hanging out. Skip left me about a dozen or so craft beers -- most of them I have never had before. Very cool, thanks buddy!

Since Skip was trailering, he agreed to haul my camp gear down for me. That meant I just had to get on the bike in the morning and go. Sweet!

On Friday, I left around 11, I think.  I had to stop in Knoxville to get some brews. After picking out a couple, I headed down US 129 planning to cut across the Cherahola Skyway to get me to Tellico.

I was scooting along pretty quick down US 129 and one of the folks I passed, I recognized as I passed him. It was Erik and Jakob Kauppi with Don Scoda in tow. However, I came upon a Harley parade (8 or 9 of them) and was unable to get past, so I just pulled into the overlook and waited.

Shortly thereafter, Erik, Jakob, and Doug pull in. We chat for a bit and then decide it's time to motor on.

On the Dragon, I see a guy whose bike is over in the ditch. He had an old vintage Honda. Oddly, the last time on this road, I helped someone else pull their bike out of that very same ditch.

He was fine and there was nothing more I could do, so I mounted up and took off. I got to the Skyway and Mother Nature was showing off a full array of fall colors. It was so pretty up there. I was having a hard time focusing on the road.

I stopped at Tellico Beach for a burger and onion rings, that way I wouldn't have to go back out later. I set up the tent that KB gave me (thanks again Katherine) and was done for the night. Lies were told, beers were drunk, and good times were had.

call me anything but "late for dinner" ...

usually that is a true statement!

So Saturday dawned and I managed to get up at a decent hour. However, since breakfast is rarely dished out prior to 10 AM, that's not exactly a hard goal to live up to (although, I have slept through it before (including cleanup) once).

Lori and team once again served up a full complement of food for all of us to feast upon including (but not limited to) biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, hash brown casserole, scrambled eggs, and, of course, Ms. Wyn's Goetta .... OH MY! I went about hardening arteries and after breakfast Kent came up to me inquiring what my plans for the day were. 

Well, RIDE, of course! With the "glib reply" out of the way, I informed him that I wasn't sure if I were going to head towards Georgia or hit some stuff in central Tennessee that I haven't been  on for a while. 

Well, Kent mentioned he wanted to find something he hasn't ever been on before. Dude! I can fix you up! So the decision was made ... central Tennessee it is! 

I pull out the map and set us up a sweet route with some tasty twisties. Two problems ... one, it will be a LONG day and two, because of the first problem, we will have to slab an hour and a half to get there so we can be back in time for dinner. By now, Curtis Cavanaugh, and Bob Nelson have expressed interest in tagging along. Cool! I like all 3 of them!   ; )

Here is a map of the route we took:

http://goo.gl/maps/UsR2d

If you use this link ... zoom in! there's some *good* stuff here!! Actually I have run this very same route (with exception of the departure point) and it's always enjoyed.

So we got rolling right around 11. Lori typically serves dinner around 7 PM-ish. 8 hours? that's plenty of time right? (now, for context I did NOT take the time to try and assess how many miles we were looking at or our return time, we were burning daylight as it was!) Okay, by now I have tipped you off enough, you likely know the answer to that.   ; )

As mentioned above, the first part was slab. Nothing to report there. 

Upon exiting slab, we are in urbana and dealing with light after light. I finally look over after the third or fourth light (we been riding *almost* two hours now!!) and say, the fun stuff is about 10, 15 miles away. I don't know if I did that more for them or more for me!

(Not?) Soon enough we are on TN-61. Immediately a grin is pasted on my face. I *know* what's up ahead!

Suffice to say, ZOOM! ZOOM! swish, sway, repeat! all the while you are giddily laughing in your helmet! YES baby, I'll take some more of this please!

Then it's US 441 across Norris Dam. A really beautiful area as you ride right next to the river that feeds the dam most of the way in. Then you climb, cross, the dam and there's another short stretch of fun. 

Well, I had held off passing this pickup truck, giving the driver a chance to pull over before basic traffic tenets had to be compromised. I had been following long enough for him to get (the hell) out of the way, but he expressed no interest in doing so. Good stuff coming up, it's GO time! ... and I did.

I got around, Curtis did (as he was on my six ALL day) as did Kent. Past that I could not see. I later found out the guy must've gotten pissed because when Bob made his attempt to pass the driver put the truck in the middle of the road making it a balls on or just cool tires issue. What a prick! 

Bob chose the latter (and I would've too ... when a  driver acts like that, he may take you out! SCREW THAT! -- live to ride another day! good call Bob! but sorry buddy).

Uh-oh! Within a mile of that pass, four deer cross the road. I damn near stopped looking for #5 but it never showed. Roll on!

With Curtis' 120 mile range (on his big Magna), we needed to fuel up again. This would be the perfect opportunity to put the idea that gravels are a problem on the next road we are going to hit. The next road? TN-116 ... Rich Dluhy's favorite!   HAHAHA

I LOVE this road. Uber fun! y'know when you see the typical warning sign with the S (curvy road ahead) "for the next" XX "miles" I automatically grin. I just can't help myself. The XX in this case was 25. 

As it turns out, 3 of the 4 of us damn near tried to kill ourselves in different spots. Kent started this ride with "You've crashed (pointing to me), You've crashed (pointing to Curtis), YOU haven't (to Bob), whose turn is it?" 

Well on this road 3 of us took a shot at being that candidate. Kent must be the only paragon of virtue and self-restraint and representing Mo well! 

Curtis tried riding into a rock wall, Bob, was within INCHES of the white line in a left turn, with nothing but air past that line, and I was in a nice stretch of switchbacks kickin' ass and takin' names, when the bike DANCED laterally across a gravel patch that I managed to point the bike at. I'm not happy with that!

I had enough time to formulate two statements in my head. One was "FUCK!" the other was "Oh boy! this is gonna hurt!!" as I was moving about 40 MPH when the momentary slide started. Obviously, I kept it on two wheels, but I sure chilled the next few turns while trying to regain composure.

The irony of the potential of this situation was that I warned THEM about gravels and *my* dumb ass is about to go over the cliff. DOH!

Well all 3 of us escaped ... bum, bum, bum, bum .... certain death .... and lived to ride another day! YAY!

116 is an absolute hoot! There are some challenging road conditions to handle, but ... just! .... fun!

This dumps you on TN-62 and then US 27. These two are kind of ho-hum connector type roads for this route. It's still good, but not "Oh wow!" stuff!

27 brings us to TN-297 through the Big South Fork area just south of KY-TN state line. This is another mountain-crossing thrill ride. Up one mountain, then down, the right back up another and ride the ridge a bit. I'll take it!

This dead ends on TN-154 which has a  lot of roller-coaster type hills to play on. If you work your throttle right you get that "whoop" feeling in your belly when you crest a hill on a rolly-coaster. I kinda like that!

154 drops you on to TN-52, another "dead end". We needed to refuel here too. According to Kent's GPS, there were a couple within a few miles away. Apparently we entered the "Land of the Lost" as the first place we found wouldn't accept credit nor debit cards but WOULD  a personal check. REALLY?!?

Curtis had the cash and filled up. The rest of us were looking for someplace that works with plastic. The friendly attendant points us down the road a few miles to their Co-Op. Okay. It's closed, but they do have *a* credit card machine -- as in ONE! 

Never seen anything like it! There was a "kiosk" that accpeted CC info and then you plug in what pump you are at, but it was a get-in-line and wait-your-turn situation. Us 3 (unfilled) bikes were among 2 other vehicles that showed. I cannot swear to it, but I think between the other store and this one, we lost damn near an hour --- REFUELING!!!

We get back to TN-52 and descend the mountain on some nice lazy type, but fun, S curves that sashay back and forth quite nicely. Not technical, but still fun.

It was funny because just prior to this Curtis asked where we were relative to Knoxville. From his expression, he wasn't entirely pleased about our position relative to the time on the watch. Understandably!

It was now that I realized getting back to camp prior to dinner? Not so much. Bob's GPS had more confidence than I, but was still tight even at that!

It was then I asked what their idea was to missing dinner and still hitting the fun stuff. Nobody was complaining about the roads and even though time was tight we figured we wouldn't arrive too late that Tellico would have rolled up the sidewalks so we could still find food SOMEwhere.

BOOM! back on track. We got back to 52 and headed west (yes further from Tellico) to catch one more of Ed's fun roads!

This would be TN-85. We get to it and, thankfully, the cop we had been SLO-O-O-O-O-WLY following (DAMMITALL!)   for the last 20 miles stayed on 52 instead of turning onto 85! YAY! 

On to 85 and up, down, left, right, rinse, repeat. Oh and a couple grins here and there for good measure. 

This is as far as I "planned". I knew this would get us back to interstate to slab it if we were close to dark-thirty (read as deer-thirty). Well it kind of was! 

We decided to set the course for the slab (US 127 south to I-40 east) ... until ... I get the idea that maybe we can "play" on one more road before having to yawn on the slab. I KNOW that all 3 of these clowns hate slabbing (almost, if not) as much as I. 

I quickly did some math in my head and since leading, I aborted the "let's get to slab now" idea and opted for TN-62 east to US 27 --- this would mean less slab and the avg. speed on the slab may be 80 mph and the secondary road speed would likely be close to 65 mph avg. and more fun! No brainer right? Well I never heard anyone complain.   The math related to about 10 minutes time and that wouldn't have got us there *in* time any-fewkin'-how! may as well enjoy it, and I know I did! 62 isn't too tough to take.   ; )

Well at this point there is no disillusion in any of our heads. Boys! we will NOT make it back in time for dinner! Kent, being Mr. Technolgy (bluetoothed, MP3'ed, and Lord knows what else), had called Steeeeevve and asked him to set back 4 plates for us. 

We, at this point, beat feet! Onto the interstate, since it's already dark! Kent had the tech. stuff (as in radar detector), so he led. We were told "You see me drop anchor, follow suit!"

No imperial entanglements were encountered and we got to Tellico as quickly as we could. We got off the slab and are on 68 headed south. About this point, Kent, sitll in the lead, flashes on his bright light upon clearing traffic, which makes night daylight! What a luminous display of electrons!

Nearly simultaneously with the flip of the high beam switch was his twist on the happy handle. After the second or third round I figured out the routine. Not just twist when you see light, but twist up to 90 mph (indicated on my speedo). BooYah!

We made pretty good time and made all those pour souls worrying about our dumbasses at ease upon our arrival. Before dropping my kickstand I let out a  very enthusiastic "WHOOOOO!!!" What a day of fun twisties and GREAT company!!! I live for stuff like this! We did about 400 miles and it was ALL fun!

Catchphrase of the event? Jack Smith came up to me shortly after the "WHOOOOO!!" and asked how many Rock-e-Philometers I did. LOVE IT! 

First time I met Phil, Melissa told a story about my routing procedures. Phil is grinning the whole time and says "A kindred spirit!" I've liked that man ever since!  ; )

Ahhh! beer-thirty! AND food! because the Hunt entourage left food out (and covered) for the "latecomers". Yup, I reckon you can call me "late for dinner" now, dammit! Thanks Lori and crew for leaving some food for us.

The night passed quickly especially because of the good company and some good brew was flowing. The lies flowed as quickly the liquid did. Good times! This group is nothing short of AWESOME!!

Just in time ..

Curtis and I had discussed swapping out bikes yesterday, but never got around to doing it. He is looking into getting a newer bike and expressed interest in riding mine.

He had no "curfew" to be home by, so I decided I would join him part of the way for his ride home then turn back north after a while. We could swap bikes today.

We stopped and ate breakfast and it didn't take FOREVER like it usually does. However, I guess most maggots have gotten tired of the poor service we have gotten over the years and skipped on it altogether. There were less than a dozen that showed (at least while we were there).

Curtis and I finished, settled up, said our good-byes and headed out. First order of business, was topping off with fuel, then we would switch bikes.

Heh. that was ... um ... different! It's been a *really* LONG time since I have been on a Magna. It felt ... weird. My bandit is more of a "standard" seating position, this is -not-!

The handlebars were so far back it felt like they were nearly in my belly. I struggled finding the footpegs. Of course, after a few miles, I got settled in, but I have no idea how I ever rode a Magna as many miles as I did.  ; )

We took TN-39 to TN-315 to TN-30, then US 64 west and then would go our separate ways at TN-68. After about 10 miles, Curtis pulls over and we switch back to our own bikes. He seemed to be impressed with it. I know I was glad to get my ass back in that seat.

The seat, yeah, I totally forgot about that! I had sent the seat off to Spencer (http://greatdaytoride.com/Home_Page.php) to get redone as the stock was just pure torture! It arrived earlier in the week but I had not had the opportunity to get out and test it.

With the stocker, I was ready to get off after 60 miles. The upgrade allowed me to go through the 200 some miles on Friday and the 400 on Saturday without any issues. I am quite pleased! He is reasonable and great to deal with.

Anyway, back to riding we were moving along until we found construction on 315. Then we were crawling. There was the fine, thin gravel silt in the road for miles, so we crawled through. Then we hit TN-30! Oooh! I've forgotten how *fun* this road is! and the pavement was good, so the crawling crap was over! more ZOOM! ZOOM! happened.

We stopped at the dam on US 64 for a few minutes and watched the kayakers and whitewater rafters put in. We said good-bye before mounting up as he would be turning south shortly and I would be going north. Then mounted up and headed out.

I zoomed up 68 and joined up with two other riders that were scooting along at a nice pace. Sadly, we caught up to a line of traffic and a sane pass wasn't possible, so we all cooled our tires a bit. They pulled off to gas up and I headed to Cherahola Skyway.

I intended to hike up to the top of Hooper Bald and see if I can capture some of the colors. Apparently I wasn't alone. The Skyway was busy!

By the time I got near the bald, I was riding in a cloud. And it was thick! I couldn't see more than 10' -- literally! I was going about 20 mph hoping to stay on the road.


It wasn't until I got down about 3000' before regaining normal visibility. I stopped at an overlook and tried to get a couple pictures ....














From here, it was over to the Dragon and the Foothills Parkway. The first half of the Dragon was a free run, but then I caught up with some folks pokin' along. I pulled over and waited to create some space. When rolling again, I caught up to more slow-goers, so just decided to ride along for the last little bit.

On the Parkway, I stopped at Look Rock Tower. I have seen this before but never stopped. It is perched atop a mountain and offers a 360* panoramic view. I broke out the camera and hiked up the hill. More pictures ....

By now it's nearly 4 and I need to get my butt home, so I mounted up and got home just as Melissa had to head out. At least I wasn't late.   ; )

Logged about 250 miles today and as I parked the bike, I see this ....

Already?!? I just replaced that in July!! Darn!

Over hill, Over Dale, My Lust for Adventure Will Never Fail

So, I made a run today to grab some brews for me and an oil filter for Cloud9 since the oil needs to be changed prior to the Tellico trip. i HATE dealing with the closest dealer, because I went over there one afternoon and they wouldn't sell me what I needed. I was there FIVE minutes PRIOR to their closing but they wouldn't bother. I told them they could keep the change, but again no sale. No sale indeed! from ME *ever* again!

So, I usually head over to Knoxville for parts, but heard of a place in Asheville called "Bruisin' Ales" which is a high gravity beer store (-- context, I live in NASCAR coutnry, where we have BOTH beers Bud AND Bud light!). Well this Bruisin' Ales merits looking into! 

Since I was needing an oil filter anyway, I checked to see where the dealer is in Asheville. It turns out to be on the same road as this beer store just a couple miles further up the road. SWEET!

So I head across I-40 as time is somewhat an issue. About 20 miles into NC the interstate is a parking lot! SHIT! 

After sitting in it for a few minutes and watching the KLR's temperature gauge rises closer and closer to the H(ot) mark. I decide to jump off on the exit that was conveniently right there where I was stuck in line.

Once down to this road (that I have no idea where it goes, but at least I'll be moving), I see a sign pointing the direction to NC-209. Really?!? I mean ... really? I have to take *this* road? HORRORS!  (grin)

I get to 209 only to find I had missed all the fun parts (as in too far south). I had two options -- either go north and hit the fun stuff to backtrack, which would take me to US 25/70 -- the road I needed in Asheville. Or I could just head toward I-40 and hope that it was beyond the traffic backup. 

I chose the latter and, as I crossed the I-40 overpass, I realized it was a good choice. There was *no* traffic. NONE! it was all still up the road I guess. Suckers!  (snicker)

I find the bike shop, get the oil filter, get out, and head to the beer store. I arrived there without issue, as well.This is odd, because I ALWAYS, ALWAYS seem to get lost at least once when in Asheville. Not complaining, just observing! There were no problems this time and I browse their selection of fine craft beers and settle on a couple bombers that look good.

Okay, I get those stowed away and am once again on the road. There are some nice twisties along this route and I have become quite familiar with them by now. ZoomZoomZoom! fun stuff!

I have seen Google try to route me on a "shortcut" for this route before, but I always miss it as I'm riding along enjoying it. This time I see it in, time, and turn to take it. The road's called Rollins Chapel Road and doesn't really save much time or distance, but it's different than what I normally take.

Here is a link to the route I took home (it may be good to refer to this, for context, as you read along)

http://goo.gl/maps/YN2OW

The "shortcut" is supposed to start at letter B but Google deleted that after I added point C. Whatever! Basically it is the left turn off US 25 (just before TN-107).

So anyway, I turn onto Rollins Chapel, but apparently when given the opportunity to go right or left I chose left, which in retrospect didn't take me where I thought I was going, and I wound my way to point C. Long before hitting point C, I saw my favorite sign when on the KLR. It brings as much a smile to my face as the "S" sign indicative of a multiple-curve road ahead when I'm on the street bike. This sign said "pavement ends" -- time for the KLR to shine (as much as it's capable) (heh -- good at many things, great at ... NOTHING!).

The common sense voice in my head (YES, Virginia, there IS one, I just usually choose not to listen to it) said, "wrong way" but the inner adventurer said "so?" So off we went. 

For the most part, itt was easy hard-pack gravel and I was doing it all in 2nd or 3rd gear at about 30-40 mph except for some of the tighter turns where visibility was limited. On a couple of those turns I kicked the rear wheel out a little --not enough to touch a foot down but enough to notice. Then I began climbing ... and climbing ... and climbing! I was beginning to think I would never reach the top, but knew if I had, it would be epic! 

I came to an intersection and could either continue climbing or head downhill. Curiosity killed the cat, and it may well be the death of me as well, but I went up.

I found my way to the top at long last and there was an abandoned firetower there. KEWL! 

I parked the bike and climbed up to the top of the tower. The view was .... AMAZING! 

For my adventurous spirit, I was afforded a nice 360* panorama offering a sight like what the Cherokee must've been able to enjoy once upon a time. It was absolutely beautiful! and here I am *without* camera because I wasn't planning to do anything but asphalt that I've already seen before. Heh!

By now, I am absolutely clueless as to where I am at, as the road has wound around many times by now. I figure it will turn out ... SOMEwhere! and once it does, I'll figure it out then. The neat thing is there were many options along the way that I could explore further if I can ever find my way back there -- but at the time I did not have the time nor a phone to bail my ass out when (NOT IF) I did something stupid and no riding partner to help WHEN (not if) I did. 

Somehow point C on the map connected to point D on the map (Google doesn't recognize any "road" there). Point D is about 30 miles earlier (and further away from the house) than the turnoff for my "shortcut". Only me!    LOL    That shortcut cost me nearly an hour and a half and maybe a gallon of gas, but it was fun, so no biggie. 

I am now on the same roads I was on earlier and am hauling the mail, trying to recapture some of that lost time. When I got back to that "shortcut", I briefly entertained the notion of trying to go back and take the right turn, but I guess every now and then the voice of common sense DOES win out and I took the way I *knew* home. 

Earth, Wind, and Fire

Through the flame

Burning desire,

No amount of water

Can put out the fire.

So many roads to take

Spanning in all directions,

All lead to heartbreak

And much reflection.

The wind howls violent

Screaming out your name,

Blowing ash everywhere

And rekindling the flame.

bittersweet? sure, but worth it!

So  I have tried to type this writeup three times now and have been highly unsuccessful. Each time, I have managed to close out of this site without typing so much as a letter!

Grandpa (my father's dad) died here a couple Saturdays ago. Dad initially said he was going to go.

Of course, that was short-lived and he backed out as I predicted and expected. This pissed me off because *I* wanted to go! but apparently wasn't going to get the opportunity now.

As plans were being made, Melissa, who has a phone, kept up with arrangements and put in for bereavement leave. She told me that was her plan and I figured she was going up since I could not -- after all, no sense in BOTH of us missing it.

Nope! that woman is something else! She put in for leave so that *I* could go! BLESS HER HEART!

In the meantime (again since they had phones and could communicate) Megan asked her professors for the time off with good graces and was granted just that. So it was all systems go!

Grandpa's funeral was set for Thursday morning in southwest Massachussettes so the plan was to leave here at 6 AM Wednesday. The idea was to NOT hit rush hour in any major city. Going from east TN to southwest MA there aren't many, but I have fine-tuned it so that a 6 AM departure keeps me out of the worst areas at the worst times.

We left on time (possibly about 20 minutes early) and were rolling along just fine. We never did hit any major traffic and even had time to stop for lunch (something I don't normally do, but was with Megan so allowances had to be made). At one gas stop late in the day, I noticed a Friendly's sign and it was decided that would be lunch. I *do* LOVE their black raspberry ice cream ... DONE!

After lunch we continued making time and avoiding traffic. All good in my book! We rolled into Great Barrington right at 7:20 PM but I had wanted to grab dinner at Teo's (about 30 miles away) since they have possilby the best Hot Dogs anywhere. They are all of about 3" long but the chili and steamed buns is really what makes them special! (besides it was time for a beer)

We rolled into Grandma's around 9 PM. Grandma's! It's ALWAYS been Grandma's -- yet, *now* saying that has new meaning.

My sister and son were already there. Grandma had already retired for the evening. Heather, Isaac, Megan, and I spent some time catching up on life and all too soon they all went to bed. I wasn't tired yet though. I SHOULD be after driving ALL day, but wasn't. I stayed up for a few more hours sitting there thinking and processing.

Yes, I KNEW Grandpa was gone, but it probably hit home MORE sitting in his house knowing I would never see him, hear him gripe at me again for shortcomings, or his*rare*, but enjoyed laugh, or ... ANYthing.

It was a bittersweet moment! I sat there recallng many memories. Some good, some not -- all real. It was tough, but probably necessary because some of that probably would not have happened had I been unable to go.

So that evening was my opportunity and privilege to come-to-terms with the situation that I would not have (as well) had I just stayed home; and I think I did.

Thursday dawned  ... and poor Grandma. She has her routine and has been doing it for ... YEARS!!! She woke in the morning and was going to fix a pot of coffee and turned on the living room light -- until she saw me lying asleep on the couch -- then turned it back off to go back and get a flashlight. She then proceeded to make the coffee and went back to bed -- I am sure she sat there with eyes wide open. Bless her heart she did that because she wanted to let *me* sleep. Little did she know, I was not.

About 6:40, I figured I would walk over to the grocery store (which was less than two blocks away) to grab a toothbrush and toothpaste as somehow or another those items were missing from my travel bag. My bag is *always* packed with everything except the clothes I will need -- this time, not so much.

Anyway, the store didn't open until 7 AM, so I waited. By the time I returned Gram was up and about. I gave her a hug and we caught up a bit too. It's so awkward speaking to someone who just lost a person that has been a part of their life for nearly 70 years.

This would be a tough day for Grandma. She would have to face a lot of things this afternoon throughout the course of the service. You could tell she was NOT looking forward to it. I was not envious.

The service was beautifully done. The funeral home reception speeches were nicely prepared and quite a valid look at Grandpa's ambiguous life. The funeral itself, was very nicely done. Grandpa was a WWII vet and was given a full, and very touching (I dang near cried), military-style funeral. It was quite tasteful.

Then there was the reception at the church. To this day, I still fail to understand why eating is such a big part of any funeral. My uncle Scott, had put together a great slideshow of over 300 pictures of people that were a part of Grandpa's life and it was great to sit there with some of my family and smile and giggle over some of the pics of the past that popped up.

After all the formalities, we went back to Gram's house (yeah still an awkwardness to say that, when there never used to be) and hung out. It was just Grandma, her daughter, Margot (as well as her boyfriend and son), Scott (her son), my sister (Heather), my kids, myself, and Scott's kids ... all family! It was nice!

After a while, I decided to go sit on the floor next to Heather, only to find her getting up to leave. WTF?!?

I gave her a hard time when it was returned to me. I was told they were leaving and I should go. I told them I had no interest in shopping (it should be noted here, I had a "few" high gravity beers at this point). I was then told they weren't shopping. When I asked where they were going I was told to just put my shoes on and go and I would find out. OKAY THEN!

My favorite cousin, my favorite sister, and my favorite daughter were going! How could I not go since they weren't shopping? Yeah, three women! my mind says "Uh-Oh!" but I said "Okay" and slipped my shoes back on.

As it turned out they were headed to the local bar. Sweet!

We all grabbed a drink (well two really -- except my "innocent" daughter who only had one "light" one) and tipped a glass to Grandpa. Nice!

The rest of the day/night passed quickly and everyone had returned home. Grandma retires early these days and was out by 8 PM. Heather also retires early because she typically gets up around 4 AM. 4 AM?!? Really?!? If I see 4 AM it's because I'm still awake!  ; )

The kids and I, being more of the night owl "shift" decided to play some cards. We played cribbage (3-way cribbage whips my ass EVERYtime since you cannot count on peg points), rummy, and poker. It was good! I cannot remember the last time we all played a game -- of any sort! We all laughed at some point about stupid stuff -- good times!

Friday dawned early and Grandma once again grabbed her flashlight to make coffee, but instead of heading back to bed, this time she sat in the kitchen in the dark. I wasn't sure what to do, but then Heather got up, so I had a graceful way to approach it. She was headed out for her morning walk. 

I heard her leave yesterday but didn't wish to intrude since I wasn't invited -- only to be told I *should* have. Well, this time I decided to join her. As it happened both Megan and Isaac were also up and moving so it was the four of us. Still all good!

I needed to get online to get an idea how long the ride "home" would take so I went to the library to get online. We were taking a bit of a detour in order to see a friend of Megan's in NYC and a friend of mine in D.C. area -- two areas I *despise* driving through! but both areas required careful planning of when you hit them.

We were supposed to meet her friend at Penn Station (a bus and subway terminal) in Manhattan. Now, I have driven through NYC rush hour traffic before -- it sucks! I SWORE I would never do it again.

but Downtown NYC? OMG! it MAY well be worse!!

HORRIBLE! it took from 1:00 to damn near 2:30 to get 3 miles!! TOTAL disregard for traffic etiquette! not just drivers, but pedestrians!

I can see why New Yorkers can be a hateful sort! If I had to drive through that shit on a daily basis ... OH MY (and this is coming FROM an asshole!)!!!!

It was horrible! yeah I said that, but it was bad enough to merit repeating! We finally found a parking garage (@ a rate of $22/hr) and got to Penn station and waited on her buddy whom had missed the train and decided to drive over from "nearby" Long Island.

Her buddy not only missed the train (by 1 minute -- poor guy) but also got off in the wrong area to meet us and was 15 non-traffic driving minutes away -- which took 10 minutes to figure out.

He went back to his car and got to us as fast as he could but time was ticking away. I grabbed a mandatory? Hot Dog from a street vendor stand -- it's like going to Philly -- gotta grab a Philly Cheese kinda thing! ... and we people watched!

Interesting melting pot New York is. And the cabbies! Oh my! I don't believe i have EVER heard so many squalling brakes and horns in a given time period as I did this afternoon ... EVER!!! I have no idea how these cabbies can stop! It's a mechanic's wet dream!

I told Megan we WERE leaving  by 3:30 whether he showed or not! I was going to get out of THAT city before rush hour .... PERIOD!!

He finally shows at 3-ish. I didn't want to be a jerk and cut them short of their visit, so I re-adjusted to a 4:00 mandatory departure time. It still sucked, but had to be that way.

We all got to hang out for a far-be-it short time, but we *had* to go -- as did he. He scored Springsteen tickets for a show in NJ with his girlfriend that night. Admittedly, I was a little jealous.

Leaving the parking garage was no simpler than driving through that Hell. There was some confusion with the parking garage attendant and apparently I skipped line? because the parking lot attendant used the wrong exit gate? still unsure what happened there.

All I know is some idiot wanted to kick my ass because of it and I was clueless as to what was going on. However, I had had enough at this point I was prepared to give the boy his money's worth. It didn't come to that, and I apologized to the attendant and was told I did nothing wrong and just hang on while they fixed it. It still cost $22-fuggin' to park for less than 90 minutes. If I never see that part of town in my own commissioned vehicle, I will be okay with that!

Anyway, we were able to navigate to the Lincoln Tunnel fairly quickly and I swear I never thought I would say, let alone HEAR, this, but .... I was damn glad to get into New Jersey. However, we still were not out of the woods (errr ... city), yet. We got turned around a couple times and Megan, not being used to her GPS probably told me to go the wrong way a "couple" times.

Pair this with the fact I was in the wrong lane to make the turn I wanted to a couple times -- not good! And I am "getting" frustrated by now. The game plan was to avoid the turnpike and any other TOLL ROAD!

I pay enough in gas taxes, I cannot bring myself to pay extra to ride on the road so I wanted to get to US1 (just west of where the toll part of I-78 was). After all the turning around and seeing it was nearly 5 PM now, I decided fugg it! I was getting on 78 and paying the toll -- just ... get me .... OUT of here .... NOOOWWW!!!!

As my mind came to this reasoning there was a set of road signs up ahead saying what Megan told me (go this way to US 1). However, 78 was the lane I was in and US 1 was 5 lanes (yes FIVE) ACROSS traffic to the left.

I figured there was no way in Hades I was going to make it to the US1 lane. Well, the light changed and if I goosed it, I had a chance. It was likely the worst gas mileage that truck has ever gotten!

I can honestly tell you, that for the first time in over two hours worth of driving, the smoke wasn't coming out of *just* my ears, but also out of my (well, the truck's) exhaust. I beat ALL traffic across ALL 5 lanes and got where I wanted to be. I thought it was too easy and expected doom and gloom but from there all else worked well and we made good time across 78.

We made good time across the commonwealth of PA and turned south. We got dinner at Arby's, somewhere in Maryland, and then continued on to see my buddy Skip (Smith) and his GF to join them for  a couple beers. Heck, I had Megan to drive for me at that point. She got to see a friend, and I wanted to as well since it was "on the way". I mean when are either of us going to get the opportunity to visit with either of them again?

We rolled into Skip's GF's house between 9 and 10 PM and sipped on two good beers but 11 PM came too quickly and that was the "time-to-make-tracks" time if Megan was to be back to meet her obligations, so we split ways and made some time.

About 2 hours later, my eyes got heavy so Megan took over for a couple hours to let me nap before we switched back. We rolled into Jefferson City about 6 AM (2 hours before her committment) where she had to be and I was home by 7 -- snoring commenced soon after.

Great trip! Really wish it were under different circumstances but again ... God Bless Melissa Wilbur Rockefeller for allowing it to happen! I am blessed more than I am worth!

Been too long ...

A buddy of mine was coming up to visit this past weekend. He used to be one of my psych. professors and the first day of classes (was a night class) he walked in with his helmet and leather jacket in hand. Alright, I gotta talk to this guy. A friendship was immediately forged and we have been able to keep in touch over the years.

He recently accepted a position northeast of Atlanta and is now "close enough" that we can get together and ride periodically. He has lived in Louisiana the past few years and the riding down there just sucks! He was needing a "good roads" fix and thought a visit to Knoxville was in order. I convinced him to come crash here for the night.

It was arranged that I would meet up with him on the ride up and we could ride together. It's been six? years since he and I last rode together, so this will be great.

The plan was to be in Tellico Plains at the Hunt's Lodge around 1:00 so we could make a lunch date he had with a former colleague of his (who also is a former prof. of mine) at 2:30 at the Downtown Grill and Brewery in Knoxville.

I got up on time, grabbed a snack bar, strapped my cooler to the bike (after all, I was going to be in Knoxville, I can get some good beer), and was rolling earlier than necessary. I planned to arrive around 12:30 hoping that Lori would be around and I could hang out and visit with her. The early departure would mean that I would have more time to visit.

Something about riding on a bike staring into a cloudless, blue sky makes me smile! Paired with some fun roads, I'm quite the happy camper.

I was rolling along at a fairly spirited pace and enjoying myself and wound up on 321 west of Gatlinburg when I fell in behind a guy riding an R6 or R1 (was hard to tell) following a line of cars. Eventually he got tired of droning on and pulled a DY pass on a long straight. It was long enough and Cloud9 has enough power that I was able to easily follow suit.

When the road went to four lane, traffic got us shuffled and I wound up leading. Once it got twisty, I cranked back on the throttle and he didn't seem interested in playing. We split off when I came up to the Foothills Parkway.

I had the Parkway all to myself. There was traffic coming from the other direction, but nothing in my lane the *whole* way. It was odd. I like this early morning riding!

Again, a spirited pace was maintained and I quickly find myself on 129 and run down to the Dragon. Again, this early morning deal, ain't so bad!

I'm cooking along pretty well and all I encountered was a guy on a Vmax poking along. After a few turns, he waved me past and I happily obliged. Then came up on two other riders who were out for a stroll and they promptly pulled into a pull off and again I scooted past. That was it! no other traffic!

A half mile or so later I am preparing to enter a right turn and there is a guy standing next to his bike just off the other side of the road, but the bike is facing the "wrong" way (the same direction as I was headed). The bike looked fine, the rider looked fine, I waved and he returned it, but something didn't seem right.

I turned around and saw why he was standing there. He now has parts to contribute to the tree of shame and his riding day was finished. The left side of the bike was all tore up. It was a Suzuki-something. I didn't pay too close attention to that. He told me he felt the exhaust bottom out and it was surfing time.


The rider was fine as the gear did its job. He had a good outlook as he said "I was going to make this a track bike anyway, I guess now I definitely will." Heh!

By now, the riders that had let me by also stopped and there were 5 of us to get his bike out of the ditch. Once we got him squared away, I offered him a ride back to the resort where his truck and trailer was, but he said he doesn't "ride bitch" and would wait until someone in a car came by to get him back. Okay, nothing more I can do, so I headed on my way.


Soon I am at my favorite road. Ahhh Cherahola Skyway! what absolute asphalt bliss! So much fun!

Sadly, I see that Killboy is now up there taking pics too. Damn I hope they don't kill that road like they did the Dragon.

I arrived at Hunt's Lodge shortly after noon. Wow! even with the stop to help the guy on the Dragon, I made darn good time! Sadly, though Lori was not there, nor was anyone else.

I waited around and figured Brian would be along shortly as he is usually rather prompt ... and waited ... and waited. It is now nearly 1:30 and I'm getting worried. Again, this is very uncharacteristic of him and all the "what if's" are going through my head. Of course, my cell is out of service for now and I cannot call to check on him.

He showed up shortly thereafter cursing the traffic that is the urban sprawl of Atlanta. I was just glad it was a traffic issue. We catch up a bit, look over his GS and my Bandit, and then head towards Knoxville. TN-360 is a nice run and he is holding right to my tail. By the time we get to 411 and he is grinning ear to ear! (as am I)

We got to the brewery a little late but not fashionable and Brian did call the guy we were meeting to let him know, but he was nowhere to be found. Ah well! we ordered a beer (their porter is quite good!) and he calls another buddy to see what he is up to and if he wishes to join us. Turns out, he was just up the street at another bar and they came right over. I hadn't seen either of them in a long time either so it was a great session getting caught up.

After lunch and another delicious porter we head over to the beer store where I grabbed a couple beers he hadn't tried before, loaded them in the cooler, got some ice at a nearby convenience store and we're off to take the long way to Newport.

We got caught in a light, 10 minute spitting rain shower, but it was rather welcomed as the temperature was quite warm. What was really neat (and I should've stopped and snapped a picture, but didn't) was the rainbow that appeared. You could see the whole thing. Only once before have I seen the whole span of a rainbow. Additionally, on the end closest to us, you could actually see where the colors "touched" the ground. That was really cool! but never spied a pot of gold.

We were on TN-131 for what seemed like, well, forever! Good Lord, it just went on and on and was a mostly straight boring stretch. I had to abort the route I had put together as it had gotten late and neither of us are particularly crazy about night riding. We got to the top of Clinch Mountain and took in a million dollar view and decided to just take the quick way back to the house as daylight was getting scarce.

We beat the darkness home and both had an interesting path up the driveway. I had just graded it the day before because it was pretty rutted and washboard-like. Problem is that the gravel is getting thin. You can only spread it so far.

When I came in, I accidentally downshifted into second, not first. I figured it out about halfway up, but by then it was too late. I kept momentum and let the bike dance around under me on the loose gravel. I made it up it okay, but it was interesting. Brian also had his bike dance on him on the way up but no drops, so it's all good!

Once home, we sat back and drank some good beers (both mass-produced and from skipp'n rocks brewery -- that would be my homebrews   ;j ) and great conversation for the rest of the night. Good times!

Cutting it close ...

I told Brian I would ride with him a little of his ride home, but since Melissa had to be at work by 6 PM, I would be unable to join him for much of it. To further shorten my participation, Melissa had to run a text book over to Megan. By the time Melissa returned and we were ready to roll it was nearly 2 PM, leaving me 3 1/2 hours to ride with him.

I figured I would ride down to Waynesville with him and then turn back. We took off down US 25 and before leaving Newport, I asked if he was hungry. It was decided we would stop somewhere down the road about 30 miles or so.

US 25/70 is closed (for some reason) and detours you off to TN-107/TN-70/NC-208. This is a great run and usually how I would go to Hot Springs to take NC-209 (fantastic road). Unfortunately, now EVERYONE is going this way.

Funny story, before we got to the detour, we came upon a line of Harleys (4, I think) followed by a pickup truck. They were poking along, as you may expect, and the pickup truck pulled  a pass on the bikes. I was laughing inside my helmet. Of course, Brian and I followed suit.

On 107 we came up on a line of cars and two bikes. The lead bike was a Magna, but I couldn't tell what the bike directly in front of me was outside of a sporty standard. They pulled a pass of the cars, as did Brian and I once the opportunity presented itself.

The bikes turned onto 70 and I was a bit bummed because I knew the stretch coming up is great fun and we would likely be stuck behind these guys. The Magna rider was pretty smooth but the other guy wasn't as seasoned.

We get to a junction of NC-208 and NC-212 and the bikes stayed on 208. For some reason, I was thinking  I wanted 212 as it is nice and twisty and DOES connect to 25. Besides, the bikes were taking 208.

I opted for 212 and after about 8 or so miles realized it doesn't connect. Brian confirmed that on his GPS and we turned around to head back and were able to enjoy a fairly clean run on 208. This stretch is awesome. It runs right next to the river and offers some tasty curves with PLENTY of sight lines. WOO HOO! what cars we encountered were quickly dispatched.

We got back to US 25 and headed towards Hot Springs when we encounter the same 4? Harley riders we had passed before the detour. Heh! Of course, we had to pass them again. Seriously, they were going *that* slow!

Pulled into the Smoky Mountain Diner in Hot Springs. EVERYtime I have ever gone by this place the parking lot is jam-packed. I suggested we stop there to eat and Brian was fine with that. I am glad we did.

I understand why it is always full. Great food and prices are very reasonable. I had a chicken wrap (that I needed two hands to hold) and cucumber salad. YUM! That hit the spot nicely.

However, due to the detour, my error on 212, and some casual conversation, it is now 4 PM. I considered just heading back to the house, but figured I was this close to 209 that I had to run at *least* some of it and then turn back.

We crossed a bridge and there was a left turn as you exit the bridge. The road surface goes from concrete to ashphalt. Well today, it was *sand*-covered asphalt. I slowed down on the bridge once I saw the sand, but once I got to the sand the bike started sliding.

HOLYMOTHERFUCKINGSHIT!!! NOT AGAIN!! Oh, I was mad! the bike slid for maybe a 1/4 second but I had enough time with my thoughts that I considered hanging up street riding. I was ... ugh!! ... yeah THAT upset!

Luckily, that 1/4 second was not detrimental and I was able to keep the bike upright.

I love NC-209! I know it like the back of my hand. I even got a free run for the first 2 miles of it. Ahhh! good times!

But all good things must come to an end. There was an SUV ahead and there were no more pull offs and sight lines were limited, so I just cooled my tires in behind it. The next place I could find to pull over, I did, and Brian waved as he continued on back to GA.

I am now in "go" mode and wicked the tempo up considerably. I am running between 85 mph and up the whole way and passing ... EVERYthing! I had to get home -- and it was going to be close!

I pulled into Newport at 5:30 and am 10 minutes from the house. Melissa typically leaves at 5:40 so I can *just* make it. As I pulled in she was heading out the door. Perfect!