October 25
|
At a turnoff on NC 209 |
We were up and out at our regular time, 9:30, a little cloudy and cold with some fog in the higher elevations, but it cleared off into a nice sunny day. Eric used the heavy dew to clean and polish his bike. Firmly believing that a dirty bike is a loved bike, I abstained. We replenished our supply of tequila at our first gas stop, and tucked in behind some fast-moving cages on I 40 through Asheville, then turned north onto one my all-time favorite roads, NC 209. Eric was stunned. By this time the sky was clear and blue, and the trees were in full fall display. The road twisted and turned and dipped and dived, like it was trying to shake us off it’s back. There are “Speed Limit 55” signs on both ends of the road…about 20 yards in front of blind, hairpin curves. Only a god or a madman could make 55 on that road! I wanted to get a picture of those signs, but there was no place to pull off. We made a wrong turn at Hot Springs, turned around and headed into Newport, Tennessee for lunch at a Cracker Barrel. There were two riders coming home from a Christian motorcyclists retreat in the parking lot when we pulled up, and we shared a table with them and swapped road stories. One of the guys had a odd accent that I thought was Cajun but turned out to be French Canadian (same thing, right?). He was making wisecracks to the waitress, but she couldn’t figure them out for the accent. |
| After lunch we took 321 down to Gatlinburg, where I wanted to ride Little River Road in Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I had hoped that traffic would be light considering this was Monday, but it was not to be. Leaf peeping season was in full swing, and traffic was heavy all the way through the park. Thankfully, leaf peepers don’t seem to realize that there are beautiful areas outside of National Parks, too, and traffic lightened up as soon as we got to Townsend. We took 321 to the Foothills Parkway, then rode to the motorcycle Mecca at US 129, Deal’s Gap (link). Widely advertised as 319 curves in 11 miles, the little convenience store/campground on the southern end has built a thriving business on the principal of blatant disregard for speed limits. We paid homage to their entrepreneurial spirit by cooking up that road a fast as we possibly could. We stopped at the store and struck up conversation with three guys from Dallas. One was on a brand-new BMW LT, one was on a Honda Interceptor with a neat hard-bag setup, and one was on an SV650. I really had to respect the guy riding that SV all the way from Dallas. |
|
Deal's Gap Overlook
It was getting dark when we finished puttering around in the store. They had rooms at the little hotel, I asked Eric if he wanted to stay there. “What are the rest of the roads around here like?” he asked. “More of the same.” I replied. “I want to RIDE!” was his response, so we jumped on US 28, a great road with smooth, sweeping curves through heavy forest and alongside a lake, for a 45-minute run into Bryson City. I had stayed here before, and knew of a Sleep Inn and a good Italian place (yes, Italian two night in a row, so sue us). The food was good, but not as good as last night, and the waitress was very attentive, since we were the only people in the place. She had friends in Panama City Beach, so we chatted about Florida for a bit, then we headed back to the room to put a dent in that bottle of tequila.
Stats: 350 miles, moving average 51 MPH, overall average 38 MPH, moving time 6:46, maximum speed 85