Riding the Cherohala Low Way!

Wow.  Yesterday was something else; 440 miles total, combined rides.  And ALL for a cheap little "multi-tool" with the Indian Motorcycle logo on it!

I had been pushing since Wednesday to do a "long" ride on Saturday.  Rain all week was pop up showers, which had prevented me from ANY work rides.  I keep having a hankering to ride out to Rock Island State Park, which is out in the general area of all the other little state parks we've been to.  But then Indian Motorcycle of Marietta had to post their little poster on facebook that not only were they doing the IMC "multi-tool", but they were also doing a key chain.  Soooo, we HAD to head down that way to get both!!

City of Knoxville at midnight

The morning dawned WET.  Lovely clouds, wet roads, and dry people!  We took our 3rd Muskateer with us; he's undecided whether or not he really enjoys the longer rides.  I think he comes along for the food!  We hit trusty 'ol 411 S down to the Ocoee area, where we then hit Hwy 68.  We just took it easy, as the roads were wet enough to be kicking up water and wetting the bottom of our pants.  We went through Suches, which we coined "The Cherohala Low Way".  Dang, that would be a FUN ride on a dry road.  Twists, curves, and twisty little easier switchbacks going DOWNHILL.  Plus, on Hwy 68, we've come UP that way twice, but never down.  Totally different experience going DOWN. 

Barely missing a downpour

I was still shaking off my shakiness.  I have been reassured that my tire is just fine; that back one will be replaced within about another 1000 miles (which, at the rate we're going, will be about a month).  For some weird reason, I'm just in my head.  I don't know why.  I tried to analyze it as I'm riding, and I think I'm downshifting/upshifting in the wrong place in curves, and when I accelerate after the shift, it messes up my trajectory.  I've just gotten in a BAD habit of shifting period IN a curve, and you're supposed to be all set BEFORE the curve.  So, with that self diagnosis in place, I made a conscious effort to fix it, and I THINK it got better.  Once we got down the mountain, there weren't too many more curvy, curvy roads.

Love having our buddy with us

We stopped off at a hiking spot in Suches to stretch, use the potty, and take a pic, and we had NO idea how lucky we actually were!  We'd hit enough rain to that point to have to close our face shields, but it wasn't enough to soak through anything; no soaked thighs.  Like I said, lower legs up to knees were wet, but that was mainly because the road was so wet there were standing puddles.  As we pulled out and began the roller coaster, curvy descent, you could tell a SOAKER had just come through, WOW!

We were uneventful down in to Dahlonega, GA.  It has been forever and a DAY since I've been there.  It is so interesting driving through areas on a motorcycle that you were used to driving through 7+ years ago in a cage.  We hit GA 400 up north to head into Alpharetta, and we just HAPPENED to see our lunch destination on our left; The Varsity.  We had no idea Dawsonville had gotten a Varsity; we were planning to hit the one in Kennesaw.  Whipped a U turn at a light, and enjoyed a delicious lunch of chili dogs and onion rings from a famous Atlanta iconic destination.

Areas not been in in a LONG time!

"What'll you have, what'll you have??"

From there, it was to Indian Motorcycle of Alpharetta, where I ended up schooling one of the employees, lol.  We loved their logo, which is why we even bothered to stop there in the first place (aside from we'd just never been there!).  As we checked out with our "dealer" T-shirts (with the cool logo on the back), the employee said he had no idea why their logo incorporated a train.  Um, hello!  The Polaris take on the Indian Chieftan fairing is BASED off the front end of a locomotive!  So I informed him of that little fact;)  On to Marietta!

Seriously?  Why the train?

We took back roads from Alpharetta to Marietta that I hadn't been on in SO long.  Certain areas were unrecognizable, it's crazy!  We dodged more rain, and finally the skies seemed to really clear up.  By the time we arrived, it was 3:00; 7 hours on the road.  We needed to get in a small hurry b/c the teenager had a party back home at 7 he wanted to attend.  We went in and they still have their race inspired Chieftan; oh, how I LOVE that bike!  When I win the lottery, I will get one, then have Jared Mees autograph it!!  The guys at Indian of Marietta really are awesome.  Super nice, very knowledgeable, and up front with all of their customizable options. 

Lottery bike!

We hit the Interstate up to Emerson; I-75.  Blech!  Crazy Atl drivers ... AND a Braves game.  Driving 80-90 mph on the interstate doesn't bother me at all, but all the stupid cars and idiot drivers make me hold my breath.  My windshield has made ALL the difference in the world, and my bike feels nice and steady at speed with no more head buffeting at all.  We filled up for gas for about the 400th time, then took backroads all the way to Calhoun.  In Calhoun, we hit a NEW road we'd just found in the car, Hwy 225.  It was fun; that area is just beautiful and peaceful.  Not too curvy, but not much traffic either.  That ended back on 411 just below the GA/TN border, and we took 411 home (dropping the teenager off an hour and a half late for his party).  My butt was SORE, lol.  And my glove was rubbing a spot on my clutch hand; and my hands were sweaty b/c these gloves don't breathe.  So I rode with naked hands for a few miles :)  And it got warm enough that I stripped ALL the way down to a Dri-Fit tank top, and my mesh jacket.  Felt pretty good!  Started with the tank top, T shirt, long sleeved technical pullover, and mesh jacket with liner.  Thank goodness David has saddlebags, lol!

First time seeing one of these in person; WEIRD!

Rest stop!

You THINK this story is over now, don't you?  Haha, NOPE!  We hopped in the car, went to the grocery store, stopped to get dinner, then sat at home for about 45 mins.  We then suited back up at 10:30 to get back on the bikes to go pick up the kid ... AND HE WANTED TO GO HOME.  Dropped him off, then David and I thundered off alone ... in the dark ... to who knows WHERE.  We took back roads over to Chapman Hwy, then into downtown Knoxville.  More traffic than I would have expected.  We rode over a bridge and looked to our left to see another bridge that was lit up so pretty; so we tossed in a U turn ... on a HILL ... to go back and get some pics.  By that time, we were so sore and exhausted, we made our way back home.  We rolled into the garage around 12:30. 

Just a pair of crazy kids!

Our longest mileage ride so far.  I don't think we've rolled over 400 in one day at all yet, even on our 2 overnighters.  Iron Butts, we do NOT have!  I can't wait for my Mustang seat to break in; it's really not that comfortable yet.  I still need handlebars and floorboards for my baby before those long rides can be done with no Ibuprofen, lol.  Happy to say ZERO issues.  No sliding stops, no close calls, no drama.  That's what I call a "SUCCESS".  Until next weekend!  Y'all have a great week.

Beautiful!  Never seen this park before!

So much more than just curves before coffee!

Oh my gosh, I have so many pictures from this weekend, I'll provide you the Flickr link!  But still, there's going to be SO MANY PICS!

FLICKR ALBUM

So, our weekend started yesterday after work.  David met me at the office, and we left from there!  Yesterday's ride seemed to fly by; I knew it would be today that would be the bulk riding (and our source of exhaustion!).  We had a nice and uneventful ride into Waynesville, NC.  We had to visit the Indian dealer out there, of course.  We took a fun back road into Pigeon Forge/bypassed Gatlinburg, then took the National Park out to Maggie Valley and hit the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit.  It was smooth and beautiful; not closed this time.  No elk.  In fact, the only live creatures we laid our eyes on was a few birds and squirrels.  I don't mind at all!  Makes my ride way less risky :D

Hendersonville is beautiful.  We found our adorable accommodations, unpacked, then found the amazing steak house David had already picked out.  It was SO GOOD!  Binions steak house in Hendersonville, NC.  GO EAT THERE.  We took a pass through downtown Main St, then fell into bed.

We woke up before the alarm this morning, and hit our first named road; the Sidewinder.  Loved it!  A nice mix of sweeping curves and tight curves; it took us up into Black Mountain for breakfast.  We both got this unbelievable biscuit/gravy/fried chicken/bacon/cheese concoction.  DANG!  Couldn't finish that, or the giant cinnamon roll we shared.

Left from breakfast and hit the 2nd named road; the Diamondback.  We had our sticker for this road; just hadn't put it on because we hadn't ridden it yet.  This road was a mix of the Devil's Triangle, the Copperhead, and the Dragon.  I tried SO hard to keep up with David; he just rides faster than my comfort level through the curves.  Hopefully this year is my year to work on that.  I constantly checked my tenseness, loosening my hands on the grips and rolling my head.  The first 3/4 of the road was perfect; coming down I was getting a little tired from pushing so hard, and I slid the rear tire a little on a particularly tight turn.  Just enough to shoot the adrenaline through me.   This little road has WICKED off camber curves at the end of it; in fact, I think this one should have been named the Sidewinder, as it was a weird kind of curvy.

Finished up there and mad our way to the third and final new road; the Devil's Whip.  I made a boo boo on this road, a pretty big mistake.  It was towards the end, and it was on a right hand switchback.  I thank God up above that it was just David and I, no other cars around.  There were some at the beginnings, so this little mishap was timed well.  Oh, AND David was behind me, not in front.  So as I started up the switchback, I just didn't set up well.  I looked up and to the right to make that curve, and I really needed to drop all the way into 1st but I was going too fast, so when I downshifted, it didn't go.  The engine revved as I gave it throttle, and with the curve climbing, I lost momentum FAST.  I grabbed my brakes and just STOPPED in the middle of the curve.  I am so, so, so grateful I wasn't further over to the right, or had my bars turned when I stopped.  David pulled up beside me, said don't panic, you're ok.  Just start out like you're stopped on a hill.  I got the gear down in first, then re-started.  I'm so thankful that it was just a hiccup; I know I'm not ready for a Chieftan quite yet because that mistake most certainly would have caused me to drop it.  Khaleesi and I stayed shiny side UP, and we completed the Devil's curve.  It couldn't whip me today!

All three new roads completed by noon.  The entire AREA we were riding was new to us, it is quite awesome and beautiful.  Areas reminded me of Tahoe, some other areas it was like Oregon; loved it so much.  Lunch time took us to Hot Springs, NC, a familiar face.  We ate again at the Irish Pub from St. Patty's day, then took the Rattler backwards in it's entirety for the first time.  I led again, and I just took the curves at my own pace without worrying about David being behind me. I did alert him when I was downshifting because he said the challenging thing about riding a road like the Rattler behind me is the inconsistency in my speed; the degree of slowing and setting up for a curve sometimes took him off guard, as he just rolls into the curves with whatever speed he's carrying.

We hit I-40 for a few miles.  I had a wall to my left, and a wall of semis to my right ... 30 mph wind gusts, 75 miles an hour down a tight, twisty, windy 2 lane road = a few tense and jaw clenching moments!  I was happy to get off by the river, where we stopped on the bridge and took a few pics.  Um ... as we made a few turns per the GPS, we both began to wonder.  And yes, the pavement DID end and we ended up yet again on a dirt road.  With uphill right hand switchbacks!  Its saving grace is that most of the gravel was washed away, leaving mostly just DIRT, but it was pretty rutted out.  I began to pray for the dirt to end, and shortly thereafter, it did.  It ended into a Tail of the Dragon, no joke.  Just a LONGER one.  Tight, twisty kiss your butt curves with zero guardrails and lots of debris on the shoulder.  I was exhausted mentally.  Unfortunately, I was burned out and actually ASKED for a straighter road!  This is completely unheard of for me, I'm a total sucker for those twisties!  But State Route 32 at the tail end of a 500 mile trip was just a little too much for me.  I'll do it again in a heartbeat, just at the BEGINNING of a ride.

Why, yes, that is an uphill right hand switchback looming ahead!

We stopped one more time for gas and a stretch then hit 411 home, avoiding downtown Gatlinburg.  So, so, so much fun!  So grateful for the chance to spend some one on one time with my awesome hubby, and had a wonderful experience riding some new, uncharted territory.  Plans to ride with some ladies this coming weekend, and looking forward to warmer weather for MORE epic rides with my hunny!  I give God all the glory for keeping both of us shiny side up this weekend, and lots of prayers for this upcoming week :D

As often as you can!

Sooo sad it took me 38 years to figure out this fact!

2 rides since my last blog post, yay!  Last week we got out on Sunday.  It was a few miles longer than yesterday, but both were super fun.  Sunday we headed south again down 411 towards the Ocoee/Hiawasee river scenic park.  Um, we finally made it down there, and it wasn't JUST a dirt road ... it was a MUD road.  We were only on it for a few hundred feet, and during just that time we were slipping and sliding BIG TIME.

See the mud on that tire?  Um, no dirt roads today!

So, we turned back north and hit some new roads we haven't been on!  David and I really enjoyed talking back and forth, and we enjoyed discussing the landscape as we rode through it.  David is amazing at finding curvy roads, and the route we took was really fun.  I have no idea where we were; just down 411 South towards Ocoee, lol!  Didn't go near the Cherohala this time, but it was still a great ride.  About 100 miles.

Washed my baby!  Looks as good as the day she came off the showroom floor

Yesterday, we headed into Townsend, ate lunch at a really good spot called the Dixieland Cafe, then took the backroads into Sevierville proper.  As a bit of a last minute thing, we decided to hit the gun range!  Never shot a gun in my LIFE.  One of my highschool friends growing up had a BB gun; that's the ONLY thing I've shot, and I didn't enjoy it much because it kicked me both in the collar bone and the eye.  I did ok at the range; shot a Ruger .22.  Very comfortable gun, but I was having a hard time with my aim; had to aim WAY low, and my shots were going probably 3 feet higher than I intended.  I alternated between 5 and 10 yards.  I just had no control over the "kick" of the gun, and it kept going high.  One of my 2018 "goals" is to take the gun safety course, get my concealed carry permit, and buy a gun!  Why?  Because it's my right as an American, and even though I've been fortunate enough to never be in an endangering situation, I want to be prepared if ever I am.

Baby figuring out how to load the ammo

Um ... dude in a different lane was shooting a CANNON!

And ... he's good at shooting too, just like everything else!

Hey!  I did it!

Had a good time; probably the gun I'll end up buying.

We left from there and came home back roads I've been down, but not often.  We managed to dodge the vast majority of the rain; I felt SO GOOD.  Khaleesi just is the most awesome bike in the world.  I NEVER feel like I'm fighting her.  Just look where I want to go, and around the corners she goes!  Wears Valley Road has one particularly gnarly uphill right hand switchback turn; I NAILED it unbelievable perfectly.  I don't think that corner has EVER felt so good :D  The roads were slightly damp, as there were spotty rain showers in the area.  Thundered back into the clean garage 85 miles and a few hours later.  Today; RAIN.  This week, COLD.  Next weekend, COLD.  So ... not sure when we'll get out again :( 

Had to do surgery on my horse chaps to get them to fit around my fat thighs :(

Different bandanna!

Thought this was a cool shot <3 nbsp="" td="">

Day 1: What goes up, must come down!

It has been a most amazing and unreal weekend!  David and I are off for the next week for vacation.  After waffling back and forth about a weekend in Nashville, or a weekend in Virginia, we decided to brave the weather forecast and ride the bikes to Marion, VA.  Marion is up in southwest VA, not far from Bristol.  We've been dying to ride the Back of the Dragon up in that area, but it's just a hair too far to do as a day trip (unless we wanted to iron butt it, and frankly, we're just not that hard core!)

We've never done an overnight on a motorcycle, so we were happy and excited to be doing something new.  In preparation, I decided to take one of Tiki's old sheepskin saddle pads to cushion my hiney.   I barely used the pad on him, as I think it really was too thick under his saddle.  I cut off the billet straps, sewed them to the center edge of the top of the pad, and stitched a piece of grippy drawer liner just under the wither cutout.  Flipped it over so that the seat of my bike just slid through the straps and sat on the bottom of it.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  It worked absolutely perfectly.  I didn't get those seat bone "hot spots" at all, but the extra thickness of the pad did create a little bit of pressure on my knees.  Overall, it was totally worth it!  And it REALLY does keep your seat warmer in cooler weather, and cooler in warmer weather; crazy!

5:00 am came way too quickly, especially since we didn't get in bed until midnight!  Strapped the duffel to David's sissy bar, loaded up the saddlebags, and North we headed!  Stayed off the interstate and took Hwy 33 to 25E to Cumberland Gap.  Cumberland Gap is right at the state lines of KY, VA, and TN.  It is some of the most breathtaking, beautiful scenery I've laid eyes on in the south.

We headed up the mountain to the Pinnacle Overlook.  Um, we just kept climbing up and up!  Much to my delight, most of the tighter switchback turns were to the right, which meant that coming back DOWN, they'd be on the left!  Relief, lol.  I have thought about how I approach the tighty righties; I get WAY to the left, look way over my shoulder, shift my hips to the left, and think more about pushing forward with my left arm vs. pushing down with my right one.  It's working pretty well because I had not one bad right turn this weekend :D

It was peaceful and quiet on top of the mountain.  Only one other family was up at the overlook and they were friendly.  We gawked and took pics, went to the restroom and hiked up a small hill where we saw some deer, and then it was time to go back down the mountain.  DAAAAAANG!  It wasn't quite McCloud Mountain, but it was close!

Yes, this is a real sign at the bottom of McCloud Mountain resort!!

Rolled down in mostly 1st gear so I didn't have to burn up my brakes, and headed to our next destination; Tazewell, VA and the start of the Back of the Dragon.  There was this one road.  I had 2 ... um, incidents.  We had turned onto this small, country backroad, and my tripodometer was at 130 miles.  I've never gone beyond 150 miles on a tank of gas, and of COURSE, we had no cell signal.  We'd gotten part ways down the road, and David got nervous that we'd get too far gone and no gas stations.  He decided to cut back over to the main road, get gas, then go back to the back road.  He had his GPS ... that LOVES gravel roads!  The driveway we picked to turn around at was a freaking booger.  It had a sharp drop down with a gravel bottom.  I normally don't have any problems with starting out on a hill, but it rolled back on me so bad since I was at such an angle I almost choked it.  Rolled back more and snatched the brake; foot slipped and almost went over on my right side.  Saved it, breathed deep, held the rear brake with my foot so I could concentrate on coordinating the throttle and clutch to get in the friction zone, and pulled out very drunkenly and awkwardly back onto the road.

Made a right hand turn on the 'cutover' road, and it was GRAVEL!  And this gravel road was NOT the nice, hard packed gravel road leaving Cade's Cove.  THIS gravel road was rutted, washed out, and poured over with what seemed like a recent load of gravel (cue grimace face emoticon here).  Hit 1 or 2 bone jarring pot holes, and made it UP and over the MOUNTAIN, then as we were coming back down hill and we could SEE the main highway, I hit this rut that nearly yanked the handlebars right out of my hands.  I have never been that close to falling down, but I was able to save it, and we got back down to pavement.  Holy Smokes, I was so glad I lived!!

We throttled our way through the curves to the Back of the Dragon store in Marion.  There was a huge group of bikers parked outside.  Much to our surprise, we hardly passed any motorcycles.  Yes, the morning started out cool.  Yes, the clouds were threatening at TIMES, but for the most part it was a beautiful day.  Saw 2 lady riders with that group.  Not sure if they'd already ridden the road or not.  Went inside and was taken aback by how TINY it was, lol!  About 4 racks of shirts, then stickers by the register.

Turned opposite the BOD to head into downtown Tazewell and parked with another group of bikes.  As we walked into the swanky restaurant, the gentleman were standing outside and asked us how we liked all those curves.  Told them we hadn't ridden yet, and they just said to be careful.  Enjoyed a crazy humongous club sandwich, then off we went!

As our tires began the coveted journey up the Back of the Dragon, I was actually surprised.  The road was NOT that challenging!  We pulled over to grab a picture or 2, and I had another ... incident :o  I choked Khaleesi TWICE!  And I've never choked her.  Again, I sort of internally panicked and thought something was wrong.  There was.  I was in 2nd gear (cue rolley eyes emoticon here).  Kicked her down into first, pulled out with no further issues, and continued our journey down the 32 miles into Marion.

My assessment of the BOD is that it is fun.  It's beautiful.  It reminds me very much of the series of roads we rode about a month ago called the Copperhead.  There were a few curves, but to my recollection, not anything under a recommended 20 mph curve.  Definitely no Tail of the Dragon.  Definitely no Devil's Triangle.  Harder than Foothills Parkway, but certainly rideable for all levels.

Our hotel in Marion was fabulous. It's called the Francis Marion and I HIGHLY recommend if you're ever in the area.  It's a charming old hotel decorated to keep the decor of the 1920's.  Rooms have actual keys.  No hideous carpet.  Hardwood floors in the rooms, and tile floors in the bathrooms.  Every room is different.  We crashed on the bed for a few minutes, changed clothes, then walked the streets looking for dinner.  Ended up choosing a pizzeria called 27 Lions and highly recommend that place too!  VERY good pizza and VERY reasonable prices.

You've reached the end of Novel #1, congrats!  Even though we were missing our boys, we also were enjoying the company of just. us.  It's been YEARS since we have had more than 24 hours completely and utterly alone.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I'm SO happy and excited and blessed that David and I have discovered riding motorcycles together.  It's an activity that really brings us together and it's something we totally enjoy separately as well.  Riding TOGETHER is the best, and it has enriched our lives in countless ways.  

In part 2, I reveal what is a GAME CHANGING tip that David taught me this weekend.  Tune in!