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!