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!

One long ride and 2 shorties

Well, Tennessee has fallen back into SUMMER.  Ever since our awesome ride into Kyle's Creek area, it has been low to mid 90's and HUMID.

The in laws opted to join us a few weeks ago, and the hubs once again planned out a stellar ride.  We planned to journey southwest, down towards Chattanooga so that when our track was "over", we were both half way home.  We headed to the state park we'd missed on our long, epic ride a few months ago; Fall Creek Falls.  I'll remind y'all that the ride where I dropped Khaleesi was the one where we were headed to Burgess Falls and Cummins Falls, as this little tidbit will become minorly significant later.

We all left as a group from our house to head west.  We decided to pay Kody to watch Colton for us as his babysitter was unavailable that day.  When little man woke up, we could definitely tell he was "off", but hoped for the best.

We had a late breakfast at Chik Fil A and hit the road.  David and I swept through the curves at a good clip, but certainly not fast.  His parents fell back a little bit, as they do call him a lead foot most of the time.  By now, I'm used to it and keep up because I don't want a ride to lead to an argument, but we hung back a few times to let the others catch up.  We live in the mountains and are accustomed to the undulations and the curves at speed, but the inlaws live and ride in GA where it's a little more flat.

We stopped a few times to stretch, get gas, and walk around a little.  We called to check in on the boys, and Kody said he had NOT stopped crying all day.  We offered up a few suggestions as to what he could do and asked if he needed us to head back, and he said no, they would manage.  After several hours, we finally found the park.  It's HUGE!  We found a parking spot and walked around a bit.  Realized the overlook for the falls was on the opposite end of the park, and we could in fact drive around to it, so we did.  As we were pulling out of the parking lot, my MIL got into a bit of a game of "chicken" with another car.  WE had a stop sign, but it was on a curved hill.  When David pulled out and turned right, I didn't hesitate and followed right behind him.  MIL thought about pulling out, stopped, was motioned out, then SHE motioned him on, then HE motioned again, so she went to go, then HE decided to just go on.  When she grabbed the brakes, down she went HARD.   I saw it happen in my mirrors, and I pulled over and parked really quickly, then took off to make sure she was ok.  The car went on; David was out of sight already.

By the time I got to them, she was up, and the bike was up, and she was spitting mad.  All that was said was HOW could that car just go on like that?  She was a mix of anger and adrenaline, so her hands were shaking a bit, but fortunately she just had a little road rash on the arm and shoulder.  The brand new floorboards she'd just put on broke off on the right side, but other than that, just had a scratch or 2.  Fortunately, she DOES have highway bars, so she had something to prop her foot on, but I don't see how she'd be able to use her rear brake.  Thank goodness it was the right one and not the shifter board!  We got her situated and back on the bike, and we safely drove over to the overlook where she could park in the lot and go over everything with a little more of a fine tooth comb.  After taking in the waterfall, we motored down into the next town and got gas and food.

By this time, it was around 6 pm and we were about 2 hours from home.  Checked in again, and baby was still miserable :(  We pulled off one more time at an overlook that reminded me of this AWESOME state park in Cali called Mt. Diablo.  It was really breathtaking; we just breathed it in, took some pics, and called it a day.  The inlaws headed south, we headed north, and I finally got to ride a FUN road that winded it's way through the central Tennessee farmland.  We could have done a professional photo shoot of old buildings and farms; it was so peaceful.  The road was near perfect; smoothly paved with gentle hills and a few tight curves.  We made it to the end with just a smidge of daylight left.  Shrugged our leather jackets back on and hunkered down for the final stretch up 411 back to the house.

Turns out Kody wasn't exaggerating.  Colton was as miserable on Sunday as he was on Saturday so David took a sick day on Monday to take him to the Dr.  Hand, foot, mouth disease :(  Fortunately, it ran it's course by Tuesday and he as been perfect ever since, but I DO feel bad that we left him all day.  If we'd had any inkling he was sick instead of just bored and fussy we never would have left, but can't change the past.

Last week it was so hot, we left out at 8:30 pm and just did a REALLY quick little 45 minute loop. It was one of my routes I take to work, but turned back towards town instead of towards Seymour.  Rode one day to work due to RAIN all week, and last night we ventured into Townsend at 7:30 pm for a hot air balloon fesitval.  Hit mega traffic, so we pulled off into a field and parked my bike.  I knew they were charging for parking, so we left Khaleesi and I got on Mufasa (David changed her name, and she's now a "him") with David and we sat in Traffic for a good 20 minutes or so.  We ended up parking his bike across the street from the festival and didn't have to pay anyway!  Upon leaving, traffic was crazy horrendous, so my human GPS turned down an obscure little backroad and left traffic behind.  Win/win for me b/c I got my ride in!  Yes, it was dark, but it was curvy and fun :)

Planning something special next week.  Don't want to jinx it, so I'll keep quiet until it actually happens.  I hope all y'all have a great week and enjoy the eclipse tomorrow!  Stay safe, lots of love <3 p="">

Curves in 5th gear

Had breakfast in Pigeon Forge at my favorite Apple Barn restaurant

One good ride this week.  I rode Wednesday to work and it was a GREAT day, but nothing special :)  I mean, it WAS special, but I didn't go "the long way" or anything like that.

GIANT moth

Awesome pic of Khaleesi and Cheyenne outside of Norris Lake

Saturday we rode 300ish miles up north close to the KY border.  The teenager had to stay behind due to having all 4 wisdom teeth removed the day before!  He's doing good, but definitely didn't need a helmet pressing against his chipmunk cheeks. The road on the map is called "The Copperhead", but it's made up of several state roads.  Hwys 31, 63, and 66.  The first leg of the road was actually a little bit scary.  Lots of sloppy patch work, open cracks (that my front tire caught a few times), tar snakes, and a crumbling shoulder.  We also had the good fortune (sarcasm) of navigating that stretch behind a tractor trailer.  Um, 15 mph switch backs behind a tractor trailer (cue the Tail of the Dragon pics of shame!).  There WAS road construction, so at least they're fixing it, but it was dodgey riding at first!

The mountain leveled out and opened up to 50/55 and we pushed the bikes to about 8 over.  It is flat out EXHILARATING to  sweep through curves at 60+.  A little counter steering goes a LONG way to smooth turns!  The cool air wrapped around our bodies as we leaned and rolled our way towards the next mountain.  I had to rig up a system for my very expensive piece of crap "made in China" Indian helmet.  (that NONE of my local dealers will help me with)  It has a visor that will NOT stay up.  When my speed gets up above 30 mph, the visor SLAMS back down.  I like to have the option of pulling it down while on the higher speed roads, but the rest of the time I like it up so I can feel like I can breathe.  So, I stuck a ... panty liner under the shield to keep it up.  I mean, it worked!  Only problem is then it's in the up position until I pull over and put it back down.  I am completely disappointed in that helmet and I will never purchase another Indian helmet again.  I like my HJC so much better, AND it was cheaper.  Live and learn!

Yep, that's a sanitary napkin!:o

At about the half way point, I had my first OH $HIT moment in a WHILE.  We'd approached an intersection, and I did as I always do and backed off.  It seemed as though David was going to keep going straight, so I rolled back on the throttle and THEN he decided to turn left.  I locked Khaleesi down so bad she fishtailed right then left then right again.  David saw me in his mirrors and rolled on down and pulled over.  I managed to keep it rubber side down and we pulled off to the side.  My heart was pounding and I sort of yelled at him a little bit and the look on his face made me back off.  HE wasn't locked down, so I'm not sure why I did.  I wonder if either my tires had something on them, or if I tried to apply the breaks in a sandy area or something.   Our angels were riding with us b/c we safely executed a U turn and continued on our way.

We found a cute little spot with actual motorcycle parking to eat a light lunch of fried pickles and potato skins, then pulled up and over the final mountain.  THIS mountain road was FRESHLY paved with nice bright white and yellow lines and not a single tar snake or pothole :)  We smoothly took the turns and hills and before we knew it it was back towards home.  The scariest part of the entire ride is the spaghetti junction like curves of the interstate system to twist around and through Knoxville towards home.  Traffic was BAD and David was flying through like he was driving the truck and not his bike.  In fact, he even had to give me the "speed up" motion but DANG.  Those ramps are concrete and I had You Tube videos of motorcycle crashes running through my head.  :o

We made it safely home.  Thanked God like always for a beautiful and great ride with more than perfect weather.  Today almost felt like an early Fall day instead of late summer.  Not sure what next weekend will bring, but I hope it involves 2 wheels!

In which I step outside of my comfort zone

Part 2, continuing the journey.  The heat wave continued through the end of the week.  Friday I again fired up the bike and let her float her way to Seymour.  The morning ride is pleasant, it's the afternoon that's brutal.  I left the mesh jacket at home and instead threw on my ATV riding jersey over my scrub top.  Nice and cool on the way there.

As my work day progressed, an idea began to take shape.  I was contemplating the same route as Wednesday, but the thought of getting stuck behind a big rig discouraged me from going that way.  Unlike my human GPS husband, I have NO sense of direction.  I have to go known routes, or else I will get helplessly lost.  David and Kody were on their way down to GA which meant my entire afternoon was open.  I ran my idea past the hubs, and  he approved which TOTALLY made my day!  Changed OUT of my scrub top and into strictly my jersey which made for a LOT more air flow.  I joyfully made that treacherous left hand turn, and made my way out to 321.  This time, instead of making a right turn towards Maryville, I made a left turn towards Townsend.  The sign for Foothills Parkway beckoned to me, and Khaleesi pulled me over to that direction.  I joyfully leaned and flew through the curves of the Parkway.  It's a 45 mph speed limit where you can safely push through at around 50 with VERY little traffic.  It goes up into a mountain, and you can feel the cool air push away the heat and humidity of the valley.  It was my first time tackling it solo.  Solo is me, myself, and Khaleesi which to date was ONLY when going back and forth to work.  

Don't get me wrong.  I prefer all day long to ride with David.  But he DRIVES for a living.  He's out in his work truck 10 hours a day in the heat and often with no A/C. By the time he gets off, he doesn't FEEL like driving his bike for recreation.  I get that.  Me on the other hand, works in the A/C sitting on my arse all day long.  I'm DYING to get out and feel the freedom of the wind, but since I'm most definitely still a beginner rider, David doesn't want me off gallivanting on my own for long rides ... especially since I have that little problem of being directionally challenged.  But I'm SO thankful that he approved of this ride.  It's familiar, it's challenging without being dangerous, and it fulfills the yearning in my soul to leave behind the aggravations of work and lose it all in the wind.  My compromise is that I don't mind taking a familiar route over and over if it means I get to ride :)

Before I knew it, Foothills ended onto Hwy 129.  A left hand turn takes me to The Tail of the Dragon.  A right hand turn takes me home.  With no hesitation, I turned right heading back home.  I kept my speed at a comfortable one somewhere in the vicinity of the speed limit, and before I knew it, Khaleesi was safely snuggled back into the garage, and I'd clocked 80 miles solo on my experience meter.  It was a GREAT ride, ranking below every single ride David and I have taken together, but at the top of all my work commutes.



The following evening, Saturday, the boys and I made a beeline to the IMOK dealership to embark on our first group ride.  KSU was 5:30 pm; a welcome time since Saturday dawned again hot and humid.  We dressed as lightly as possible with our lightweight pullovers, and met up with our "mystery" group.  We conversed with other like minded people and soon headed out to Dead End BBQ a quick 15 or 20 minute ride across town.  We enjoyed the food and the conversation, and just an hour and a half later, we were once again left to our own devices.  David devised a bold plan that would test my beginner legs big time.  Our first honest to goodness night ride.  Yes, we headed out in the dark last week to stargaze, but Foothills Parkway is a mere 30 minutes or so up the road ... and we didn't even take it all the way out.  We went to the overlook and turned around and went back.  It was a recital, a precursor for last night.








7:30, we pulled out of the restaurant, and made our way yet again to Foothills.  We cruised through its curves and undulations, and found ourselves at it's end, once again facing 129.  This time, we turned left.  As our tires began the 11 miles and 316 curves, the time rolled over 9:15.  I could feel my arms try to tense up and the voice in my head attempt to scream at me as I coaxed Khaleesi through the dips and curves.  We were run up on by the most sport backs EVER; each time, I pulled into a pulloff and waved them by.  They honked in thanks and took off, tearing through the turns at break neck speed.  David and I pulled into the Killboy parking lot and stretched our tense limbs in thanks.  The ride felt smooth, but not my MOST smooth.  Like I said, I was fighting my own brain and my muscles at times, but I just shook my arms out, turned my head left and right, and let the machine do it's thing.  This ride was about machine vs. asphalt.  No photographers, no distractions, just  us.



After a brief stretch, we zigged over to Moonshiner 28 and cautiously rolled through the higher speed curves towards Cherokee, NC.  We hit the Smoky Mountain Expressway and I held Khaleesi firm against the crosswinds and the buffeting of cruising 70 mph through the mountains.  I kept my head down against bugs as I had my visor anchored in the up position for now.  My oh so expensive Indian helmet has a defect in the visor to where it wants to SLAM down on me.  I HATE that.  I like to ride with wind in my face, but sometimes you need the protection of the visor.  I had one GIANT bug smack my cheek, but other than that I was pretty safe.  I began to pray for stop signs so I could stand and stretch my legs, relieving the pressure off my rear.  We made it into Cherokee unscathed and stopped to top off our tanks and relieve ourselves.  I'm here to tell you.  at 11:00 at night, Cherokee NC is ROLLED UP.  The convenience store already had their bathrooms closed, so after a quick chocolate pick me up, we found another store to avail ourselves of the facilities.  BARELY!


As we buzzed out of town and into the National Park, our radars were continually sweeping for wildlife.  David rather abruptly turned into an overlook that was filled with cars, but no lights and no people around ... strange.  By this time it was about 11:45.  We swept around into a parking spot, cut the lights, and we were shrouded by complete and total darkness.  Pulled off our helmets, stretched out flat on our backs, and took in the utter amazingness of God's creation.  The stars were the deepest and brightest I'd EVER seen, including when we took off into the back woods of Oregon, over an hour outside of any city.  The lack of light pollution and the lack of a MOON allowed the twinkling stars to shine in all their glory, even the line of the Milky Way was visible.  We laid there for an indeterminate amount of time just taking it in, then mounted back up to make the final leg home.

We soldiered on through the National Park in the complete darkness, trying to combine our headlights to illuminate the road as best we could, and motored through Gatlinburg.  It was in stark contrast to Cherokee, with throes of people happily wandering the streets at just after midnight.  The stores were all closed, but people were walking as though it was noon.  The coolness of the mountains had waned and a moist heat settled over the city.  I'd added an extra jacket after our stargazing, and I decided to leave it be since as I get tired, I get cold more easy.  The connecting road between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge invited us to urge the bikes faster and we rolled smoothly through the city to a McDonald's parking lot for a final rear end stretching.  I was almost too tired to appreciate the fact that I'd tackled my first REAL night ride incident free.  I'm NOT a night owl, so I was pretty shocked that 1:00 in the morning, my eyes were awake and my brain wasn't trying to shut down.  My body was exhausted, but mentally I felt fine.


Final stretch!  David gave me a scare pulling out of the parking lot; he wobbled so badly if it had been ME, I would have gone down.  We went through Wear's Valley across and down the mountain, back into Townsend and back to the house.  It was about 1:45 am as we thundered into the safety of the garage.  We went roughly 250 miles, STARTING at 5:30 pm.  It was a life changing experience!  Riding in the pitch black of the National Forests and the National Parks forces you to focus solely on the road, no distractions due to the landscape.  You feel SO small.  You can sense rather than see the vastness of the surrounding mountains and your headlights illuminate the road directly ahead of you with no hint as to which direction it will choose to twist.  It was much more a mental test than a physical one, but physically, I was exhausted!

I give all the glory to God for riding with us all night.  He gave us alertness, he gave us the glorious view of His vast universe, and he gave us both the endurance and the adrenaline to safely tackle tricky mountain roads at the wee hours of the morning when a typical LATE evening for us is 11:30.  We rarely see midnight roll around, lol.  It was an amazing experience that I'm glad I got to partake of, but probably won't happen very often. <3 nbsp="" p="">