Cherohala Skyway & Tail of the Dragon Rides

I thought I'd go ahead & post this before it recedes further in memory.

Thursday, May 14

Tim, Lori, Rita, and myself made a weekend motorcycle trip to the Suzuki V-Strom Ride-in held at the Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort in Stecoah, NC (go ahead, look at that map again).

We left home around 2:00 p.m., rode to Walhalla, SC, took Hwy 28 north through Highlands, NC [really twisty mountain road :) ]. We continued north to Franklin and stopped for a great supper at the Sunset Cafe, good home cooking. Stayed on Hwy 28 all the way to Stecoah. Arrived about 7:00 and checked in at resort. Nice. We had 2 separate cabins. It rained through the night but had stopped by morning.

Friday a.m.

After a big breakfast, Tim and Lori rode off in one direction, Rita and I in another. I was a little leery of starting off the day riding the "Dragon" (318 curves in 11 miles). They proceeded to Deals Gap, we headed for the Cherohala Skyway via Robbinsville. Later we all met up in Tellico Plains, TN for lunch at Nut-N-Fancy restaurant. Good veggies. Then we visited Tellico Motorcycle Outfitters. Rita bought some riding pants made by Olympia. Olympia distributes out of Hendersonville, NC (Lori's almost daily, work destination). The outer layer of the pants are mesh, for cooler rides during the summer. A liner is included for inclement weather days.

So, the store has lots of temptations for the motorcyclist (read as $$). The rain started again before we left Tellico Plains. For the second time, we headed out in different directions. Tim & Lori reversed our ride on the Cherohala, and ConRita reversed Tim & Lori's route on the 'Tail of the Dragon'. We agreed to meet back at Ironhorse. Our route was north out of Tellico Plains on Hwy 360 (recommended) to Vonore, TN, turned right onto Hwy 411, then right again on Hwy 72 to Pumpkin Center and Hwy 129.

The 'Dragon' basically starts at Pumpkin Center on Hwy 129 and continues south to Deals Gap (near Fontana Village, NC).

I admit to being reluctant at first to ride that dragon two up in the rain with darkness approaching. But I was determined to (carefully) ride it as we may never pass this way again. I guess it was a 'bucket list' type thing.

We'd driven it before in a car, so we knew what to expect; curves, dropoffs with intermittent guardrails, wet road, and traffic. Though late in the day, still lots of motorcycle traffic. We now have intercoms on the bike, so Rita kept me careful. We probably set a record of slowest ever, but we did it!

In the wet! Not raining by then, but wet road.

Our goal was to arrive back at Ironhorse before they stopped serving supper. Lori had promised to save our food if we were late, but we arrived at 7:40.

That evening a riding seminar was conducted by Susan Galpin. I've known Susan for several years as she has always been active in the Alabama BMW motorcycle club. She has many years of racing and touring experience on BMWs. She's ridden 875,000 miles in her 62 years. Toward the end of her talk, she offered to take eight riders out on local roads for some one-on-one riding instruction on Saturday a.m. I was pleased to see that Tim was one of the first to sign up. Tim is a much better rider than I am already, but he's open to learning new skills.

Saturday, May 16

Since we'd ridden so much on Thursday and Friday on more than a few 'technical' roads, Lori, Rita, and myself spent most of the day around the Ironhorse site while Tim rode out with Susan's group. My only ride on Saturday was a trip to a nearby cafe for some (really tasty) sandwiches.

Tim returned around 2:00 or so. He said Susan's instruction was very good, and felt it was beneficial. Our picks for the evening meal was prime rib or grilled salmon. Tim chose the prime rib, the rest had salmon. It was all excellent.

Sunday, May 17

The weather continued to be iffy. Hey, we've been needing the rain!

We had showers as we packed up for the ride home.

Lori and Tim decided to put off a ride to the Joyce Kilmer National Forest until a later date, and hopefully better weather.

After refueling, we all headed out toward Bryson City , then on through Cherokee. We jumped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway in Cherokee. The higher we climbed on the BRP, the more fog (and rain) we saw. The fog was the only thing that really bothered us because of lowered visibility. Because of the higher elevation, the temps were dropping a little.

Tim & Lori exited at Hwy 215 and rode home via Rosman, Hwy 11, Hwy 25, and Hwy 290.

Rita and I exited a short way on up the Parkway at Hwy 276. We rode down and into Brevard and a stop for a BBQ lunch. Well, we ate well on this trip.

We continued eastward on Hwy 64 to Hendersonville, jumped on I-26 for a few miles to Hwy 25 south, to Hwy 290 and home.

It was a great weekend spent at a new (to us) location. We plan to return to that area as soon as we're able. Rita wants to take the camper while I ride up. We will then be able to stay longer at less expense.

....'til next time.

A Momentous Occasion

Of course, the occasion is my first, ever, blog. I've decided to try this awhile. It'll be fine if it's just me reading it. Sort of a sporadic Christmas letter of what's going on in our part of the world. shhh! .....it'll be our secret for now.
Yesterday was a great day for lots of Mothers. They were given proper recognition at church. Sara attended with us. Rita taught her Sunday School class. Big day for our little church. Three baptisms (including a mother and daughter) plus three new members who transferred in. One of the new couples recently transferred here from Alabama because of the birth of a new grandchild (a somewhat familiar story).
Since Sara had an afternoon birthday party to attend at the Travelers Rest fire station, we dropped her off at Pat's while Rita & myself celebrated Mother's Day by attending a filmfest event at the Greenville Peace Center. That was a part of the annual Artisphere event in downtown Greenville.
The short films were all produced by film students located in the southeast. The films were varied and interesting. Hopefully the idea will grow with successive years.
Sara's extended family (Tim, Lori, Pat, Sharon, Rita, & Conrad) got together later for dinner (supper?) at Mythos Greek & Italian restaurant to celebrate the day with some good eatin'. Gerald called his Mom while we were there. Most all of us got to talk to him. Sara kept us entertained the whole evening.

...... til next time.