So, as usual, I took it upon myself, since I am on a bike, to make sure I didn't take the easy two hour route. Even though the government shutdown tried to influence my decision by shutting down two of the roads I would normally take to get to Tellico (Little River Road [AKA TN-73] and Foothills Parkway), there are many good roads in the area, so I wasn't forced to take the short way. Tellico is southwest of here, so, of course, I planned a course that went northwest of here.
I set out so that I could pick up TN-61, which is a favorite of mine, but is about 40 miles from me. It is twisty madness for nearly it's whole duration as it winds across the eastern part of the state. I wouldn't be following but about half of that, but that is still good, too. The beauty of leaving on a Friday, is that there is little traffic to contend with.
The area near Big Ridge State Park is the most fun 10 mile stretch I have encountered on this road. I had the first couple miles to myself and am zooming along nicely. However, by the time, I get to the tight, real twisty stuff I have caught this little Honda Acura, that once was a tuned out little rod. It is now sick.
The driver seems to be unaware of this, or just used to something with considerably more horsepower than he know has as he kept trying to race out of the turns. Once I had a sight line, I let him know how futile an effort that was and that tired little Honda was soon gone from the rear view mirror.
After the fun, I find myself at US 441 and rolling southward towards Knoxville. The goal is to pick up some decent brews to share with friends. I already have the beer I intended to sip on, but there are a few "beer snobs" in the group (me being one of them) and I want to find something "good" (special/rare/odd) to share.
I have one in particular in mind, but the store I stop at doesn't have it. They have a better selection of stuff, typically, but not what I was specifically looking for. [sigh] I grab a few and decide, the day is still young, so I head across town to the other store that I knew carried it. They had it and I topped off the cooler with ice and turned the bike southbound down US 129.
There is not much to 129 until it breaks off from US 411 south of Maryville. The road is pretty clear then I catch up to two other riders. The lead rider is on a bike I cannot get enough details to recognize, but holding a decent pace. The guy behind him is on a yellow Ducati (something or other -- didn't get a good look at it either). However, they are both moving along at quite a respectable pace and I see no reason to try to pass, even if I could.
Before hitting the overlook, the Ducati ducks off. Once we get to the overlook, I notice Katherine in front of her Ural sidecar getting her picture taken with some guy (turned out to be her friend, Steve, whom I never met before now) by Erik. I wasn't planning to stop, but once I saw them I decided to say "Hi".
Greetings were exchanged, and I admired K.B.'s Ural and Steve's old Ariel square four for a bit. Erik mentioned going to lunch, but I wasn't hungry so I skipped out and am back rolling again. I was in complete rhythm. It was a thing of beauty.
I didn't encounter hardly any traffic. In the 11 miles that officially make up the Dragon, I encountered three cars going southbound. THREE!
One of them quickly pulled off to let me by, and the other two were quickly dispatched within a couple turns. It was magical, and an increased heart rate ensued.
Here are some pics of me on the Dragon ....
(thru #4736) -- that mustang was *really* scootin'! the exhaust note was quite sweet as he hustled that thing around the corners!
(thru #906)
(thru #1744)
From there it was a run across the Cherahola Skyway, my absolute, hands-down, favorite road to run! Again, what little traffic that was encountered was quickly disposed of and I have a perma-grin pasted to my face inside the helmet as I carve my way toward Tellico.
Once there, it was the normal attraction to an SME -- the camaraderie, the people. There were a bunch of us that decided to crash upon the local Mexican restaurant for supper. After that, we headed back to the campground for good company and a couple adult beverages. The time passed too quickly and it was soon snooze time.
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