Loop Ride With Two Friends From Ohio

It was a Thursday morning, August 27, 2015, 7:15 a.m.  The air was cool, maybe 67 degrees with a high of 88 for the day.  Sweet Thang was pushed out of the garage all gassed and ready for a full day of riding.  The neighborhood was eerily quiet at this time.  Plans had been made to meet up with Jeff and a friend of his, Dave, that rode into Sevierville the night before.  Plans had been made for a one day ride as they had to leave Friday morning back to Columbus, Ohio.  Jeff and I have known each other since 2010.  He's a fellow Valkyrie rider with a bike that looks like the one I ride.

The quietness of the morning was broken when I fired up Sweet Thang and she came to life.  No matter, we were leaving town for the day and by the time anyone disturbed by her throaty rumble go to the front door, we'd be long gone.

The blue loop is about what the ride came out to be.  I had planned a 250 mile loop ride as Jeff and Dave had ridden 450 miles the day before and was going to have to make that return trip the day after our ride.  But, about two thirds the way around the loop we made a road change to take in the Cherohala Skyway which Dave had not ridden.  No matter to me, it's still riding and I had no bus to catch.



As I turned onto Boyds Creek Hwy. from my subdivision I took this shot of the morning sky.  I just love the colors of sunrises and sunsets.  The highway was practically all for me at this time of the day.  Morning school rush was about to start along with all those people that "have" to work.





A bit farther up the highway I took this shot.  Darned powerlines, seem to be on the exact wrong side of the road for a clear picture and I'm not about to take the time to photoshop them out.








About half way up Boyds Creek Hwy.
I took this picture.  Ole Sol was just topping out of the mountains with its big fiery ball of energy letting you know that the day has started and it was going to get a tad warmer.

And in a few seconds, there it was in all of its majesty, sending out rays that reached forever.  What a pretty sight.  And lots of blue sky, special indicator that rain was not in the forecast for today.

Jeff had made arrangements with the manager of the motel allowing me to join them for a free breakfast before we departed.  I got there a little early and was sipping on a cup of coffee when Jeff walked up.  After greetings then Dave arrived and we joined together for breakfast.  Who am I to turn down a free meal.  And it was good.  Shortly afterward we mounted our trusty steeds and headed out for Newport, TN.

We were riding US 411 toward Newport, TN and after you clear Sevierville it turns from 4-lanes to 2-lanes making it a more enjoyable ride.  The mountains off in the distance were well silhouetted with the brightness of the horizon.

Took another look at the morning sky and although it looks mean, it is clearing out as the sun rises burning off the early morning mist.

                                                         

    






                                                         Traveling this route takes us through the home of Bush Beans and by the original Bush Grocery.  They have tours now and a cafeteria.  Lots of truck traffic on this narrow winding mountain road.

The mounts are getting closer now as we make our way to our first stopping point.  The air is starting to warm up so it won't be long before we start shedding some gear.










The roads don't have many stretches where it is straight thus you rarely ever wear the center of your bike tire out, just the sides from making all the curves.

                               

After a number of miles we crossed the French Broad River and then continued into Hot Springs, NC.  NC 209 is better known as "The Rattler" in this part of the country.  They have lots of names for roads like The Snake, The Dragon, Shiner Run, etc.






We arrived at our first stop of the day, Hot Springs, NC which gets its name from hot springs.  There's a fairly large spa here where people come from all over to bath in its warm mineral water.  I come because of the road.  If I want warm water I'll take a shower at the house.  This grocery is a favorite stopping place for bikers in the area.  Picnic table, shade tree and those other facilities that come in handy.

The above picture is Jeff on the left and friend Dave on the right.  Jeff is a retired aviator and Dave is a retired educator.  He taught high school and college for 50, that's right, 50 years.  Now you know why he rides a bike on crooked mountain roads.  He's not afraid of anything after all that time with students.





We pulled out of Hot Springs heading for Maggie Valley, NC on The Rattler.  If you think just a minute or two you can understand why bikes in this part of the country rarely wear out the center part of the tire tread.  You usually have to change tires because you've worn the sides off.

After a little while we came upon another bike riding double.  He apparently wasn't from this area as he was traveling very slow.  So slow that we pulled off the highway and waited a spell for them to get farther down the road.

We ended our ride on The Rattler and headed on US 276 from I-40 into Maggie Valley, NC.  This road takes you through a large valley with several large farms.

Some of the roads appear to ride right into someone's front yard or their barn or some other building but right at the last minute, they make a turn.

Here's another one of those government missile stations that appears in all reality, to be a farm with a silo.  Just another attempt at disguising a facility.  Certainly smells like a barn yard.  And they even had black and white cattle included.

And to feed those cattle I guess is the reason for these large fields of corn.  A good choice in camouflaging the area.  No one would ever suspect a highly secretive base looking like a farm.

We rode into Maggie Valley, NC where I first met Jeff.  We stopped to gas our bikes up and decided since it was right at noon we should grab some lunch before continuing our ride.  This we did, at Geno's Sports Bar and Grill.

After lunch we left Maggie Valley heading for Cherokee, NC.  This lookout tower is located on the west side of Maggie Valley at a gift/tourist stop.  Gives you a real good position to take a picture of the valley below.  However, we did not stop and just rode on by.

We hit Hwy. 19, a much improved version of the old highway and rode it pass the downtown area of Cherokee.  Now this town is definitely a tourist trap located on the Cherokee Indian Reservation.  Our next goal was to reach Robbinsville, NC which is a few miles from Deal's Gap and the start of the Dragon on the NC side of the mountain.

Just outside of Robbinsville, NC is where we stopped to make a decision, ride the Dragon or ride the Cherohala.  Since Dave had not ridden the Chrohala Skyway, we elected to take it.  Just added a few more miles to the ride and it was such a pretty day.  Why resist the opportunity.

At a pull off we stopped to take a picture.  Sweet Thang and her twin sister are parked at Santeetlah Gap, Elevation, 2660 feet above sea level.   

Here Dave is preparing to take a photo as evidence he wasn't hiding in the back room of his house but actually out of town.

This is not the highest point on the Cherohala.  The high point is where we stopped also and it's about 5577 ft. above sea level.  Dave had me to take a picture there so he could show home folk why he wasn't answering the door.  I took the picture with the sign in the background.  If he needs, I'll sign an affidavit that he was with me, for a sum of money before signature.

The mountains from Santeetlah Gap.  This is a Native American name and in this case is sort of like French, leave out a letter or two.  It is pronounced as San - Tee - lah.

We traveled on through the chilly mountains of the Cherohala Skyway and at one point the sky looked rather gloomy, like getting wet gloomy.

Then you'd break a bend and the sky was beautiful. Hmmm.  Wonder what's going on up here.  Maybe an altitude thing.

There were several vehicles and bikes out today.  In fact, this was an excellent day to ride there.  Usually on a pretty day it will be wrapped up in bikes and cars.  Here we're meeting a bike crossing from where we're going.  Now that sounds funny, even to me.

We passed this ice cream stand BEFORE we got to Tellico Plains.  When we stopped to gas up Jeff wanted to know if we were going to get ice cream.  I told him yes, as the store sold ice cream.  He asked someone gassing up where the best ice cream was and yes, we made a U-turn and rode back a few miles to this place, Tellico Beach.  And the ice cream and shakes are very good.

They had a nice parking area also as the Tellico River ran behind it.  They had picnic benches and plenty of shade to park under.  The river had a rather soothing effect on you with the gurgle of the little rapids below us.

Leaving the ice cream stand we hit TN 360 to ride northward back toward Seymour. 

TN 360 is a nice curvy ride across and through the valley to eventually arrive at Vonore, TN.

There are some pretty farms and mountainous areas along the route.  Not heavily traveled with good pavement.  You can relax as they have good sweeping curves.

That large tree is a Willow.  It is one of the largest Willow trees I have seen in this area.  That's usually a tree found in low areas and near streams.

A little TLC could help this old barn and side shed last a little longer.  But it will have to come from the owner as I don't have time nor feel the urge to do so.

This is the last picture of the day.  The sky was so blue, the company so good, and the ride so great that you really hated to see it come to an end.  But that it did.  We came out at Vonore, TN, ran US 411 through Maryville and on to Seymour where we caught Boyds Creek Hwy. (TN 338).  A quick detour took them by my house and then back own BCH to Old Knoxville Hwy. over to TN 66 and their motel.  It had been a wonderful day.


A beautiful morning, a good breakfast with friends, a great day of riding and lots of laughter at each stop.  It just doesn't get much better than this.  The lunch was very tasty, the waitress very sweet, and the ice cream treat just topped it all off.  I hated to see them go but, alas, they were compelled to return to Ohio.  I shall miss them.

Door to door for me was 307 enjoyable miles.  Another day to remember.  So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, you take a good friend out for lunch or coffee or just sit and talk.  Good friends are hard to come by and we often forget to acknowledge what that friendship means to us.  I pray that you and yours live a happy and joyful life filled with plenty of friends and memories.  Ride/drive safe.