Time again for the annual Turner Brothers weekend ride. The past two years it's just been my middle brother and me because our youngest brother was stationed at Fort Lewis on the Puget Sound and unavailable for a weekend run. This year he retired after 27 yrs. of flying for Uncle Sam and moved his household to Debary, FL. Wally trailered his Road King to my place in Alabama and the next morning, Sept. 2nd, we set out for the mountains of Western North Carolina. My plan was to avoid four lane highways and the interstate and to make it as interesting as possible. After all, Wally's been riding the Pacific Cascades for years so I felt like the Appalachians had something to prove...
We waited until the dew burned off and then got the bikes out and started away. That is, right after I broke Wally's left mirror on the wall mounted tire in his trailer while attempting to off load his bike. Hey, at least I didn't drop it completely...man, is that Road King ever heavy compared to our seek Triumphs. Anyway, back to the trip: I used a route I know pretty well from Fort Payne (AL) over close to Chy's neighborhood in Dahlonega and then we turned northwards on GA 9 to US 19, up through the Chattahoochee National Forest. I couldn't pass up a chance to run through Turner's Corners and pick up US 129 on the way to Blood Mtn. for a quick photo-op and we were rewarded by a nicely twisted road that was lightly traveled:
This path parallels one of the Georgia Rally's notable runs, Wolf Pen Gap and I was eager to give it a go. The air was clear and even though it was starting to heat up, the shady spots along the road and cool riversides evened the temps out. Quickly we roared over Blood Mtn. drving along the lovely twists and turns that carry you up and then down past Lake Trahlyta, Brasstown, and Rocky Knob through Chatuga State Park, passing the Hiwassee, crossing the Little Tennessee River and slipping along the Nantahala river through the national forest up to Sylva, NC where a short section of four lane the carries the trip into the greater Asheville area. Just outside Sylva we made a brief pit stop for lunch at the Dillsboro Smokehouse ordering the obligatory pulled pork sandwiches and were rewarded with scrumptious BBQ and perfect southern sweet tea. Nice. Back in the saddle we hit the four lane and after just one missed turn we moseyed into the parking lot at our lodging (the but great free breakfast Hampton Inn near Biltmore) where we were joined by the northern contingent of our group, middle brother Tim and his wife's brother-in-law Gerry. That added another Road King and a Valkyrie to our group.
Our normal thing is to go for a jaunt once we all meet but since Time and Gerry had already put in 450 miles we went to supper instead at the Apollo Flame Bistro where we rewarded with an excellent supper that lived up to their claim of being voted the best area eatery three years running. Kind of an odd mix of Greek and Italian menus but it was good eats and that's what counts. Then it was off to the Stone Ridge Tavern to visit and share some road stories before putting in for a good night's sleep.
The next morning we set out early, I wanted to hit US129 before it became a parking lot and I figured Friday before noon was our only hope. I was pretty much correct, too.
We ripped out of Asheville on US19/23, slowing only for the dense morning fog between Canton and Clyde picking up US 74 outside Waynesville where we had a brief moment of indecision as I wasn't satisfied with my memorized directions.
Turns out I was on track, I just hadn't memorized the left and right forks of the highways properly.
US74/19 runs along the Nantahala river and the morning was cool and delightful. The sky was showing some cloud build up but the weather forecast only had a 20% chance of showers so we were feeling pretty lucky. After a brief but exilharating run along the Nantahal Gorge we turned left onto US 129 headed for Deals Gap and our morning target, the Tail of the Dragon.
This stretch of US 129 is always a blast to ride, this time I enjoyed the fact that we were well ahead of the weekend crowd and we could ride it at a real pace...at least until we caught up with that slow pickup truck, but, at least he was kind enough to pull over once he found a spot. My floorboards scraped a few times and I caught the kickstand once (which is always unsettling) but hoo boy what fun. A brief stop at the top overlook and we were off again; this time the planned route took us well past Chilhowee lake through the Tallasee Recreational Area. We turned left onto TN 72, left again of US 411 and left once more on TN 360 passing Fort Loudon State Park on our way to Tellico Plains and the wonderful Cherohala Skyway.
We managed one overlook stop before the drizzle began so it was mount up and get on our wet riding game. Luckily, we were chased all the way to the end of the Skyway by the rain clouds but all we ever got was a light drizzle from time to time and the ride was fantastic. Then to top it off we hooked back up US 129 toward the Deals Gap Resort and took NC 28 (aka the Hellbender) to Fontana ****** and then along the mountains that contain Fontana Lake.
That NC 28 might be a better ride than US 129 but it can't claim the 318 turns in 11 miles so I think it's largely ignored by folks who otherwise would really enjoy the road and the scenery. Then to close out the day it was back toward the hotel the way we came (no missed turns) and then straight to the Stone Bridge Tavern for supper and beverages. A long day at 300+ mountain miles but well worth the memories.
I kinda knew in advance that running heavy bikes over those three pathways would be physically challenging so I planned a lighter day for Day 2. We pulled out a bit later that Saturday morning with two objectives: one, to run the Blue Ridge parkway until it ends, and, two, to visit the Wheels thru Time museum in Maggie Valley. The cloudy sky was gone by the time we hit the BRP and instead it was chilly, very chilly.
I'd hazard a guess that the temps up on the ridge were in the low 50s in the sunlight and high 40s in the shade...oh, yes, there's lots of shade on this stretch of the Parkway. What a lovely ride up and down and round and round from 2400ft to 6000 ft.
They're still repairing two rockslides on the Parkway so that makes for an intersting minute or two but otherwise it couldn't have been more perfect, even as chilly as it was. Once we dead ended into the Smokey Mountain Parkway (US 441) and dropped down into Cherokee the temps warmed substantially. A short stop at Hardtails Saloon proved that their claim to the best burger in town was indeed correct and Blondie (the owner) gave us perfect directions to Wheels thru Time.
All I can say is that if you love American motorcycles, this is the museum for you. We met Dale the owner and his son Matt who gave us a guided tour, kick starting any bike we wanted to hear run and knowledgeably answering all of my questions. It is so cool to hear a 1914 Henderson bike kicked to life...and everything on display in the museum is a runner.
Once we left we decided to try our luck a joining the Blue ridge Parkway and taking back to the hotel. Turns out Gerry really had taken quite a beating with the 450 miles down from northern Virginia (after riding from PA to Tim's house) and the 350 (more or less) of twisties the day before so he peeled off for the hotel. He's a pretty big guy and along with that heavy Valkyrie trying to keep up with my much more nimble Triumph just flat out wore him out. That left the three of us to muddle out way back up to the top of the mountain which I did by dead reckoning...that's just guessing which left or right will get you there...and it worked. Following a couple of great farm roads I managed to find US 276 and up a convoluted path we went climbing and twisting right up onto the Parkway. We were rewarded with a much warmer and pleasant ride back to the Hampton Inn and another great day of riding was had.
We parted ways the next morning with Tim and Gerry headed back to northern VA with Wally and me headed south to Alabama. We tripped along US 64 all the way to Highland, NC and then cut south over Scaly Mtn. to Sky Valley and around the Hiwassee down into north Georgia through Blue Ridge and Cherry Log. I know a nice little bit of road from Ellijay back to Fort Payne so we took it and had a nice final ride complete with more mountain motorbiking and twisties finished us off. It just makes me want more...
