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With all of this going on I started getting and itch for a good ride, and I dying to start scratching. The weekend coming up was labor day and I had plans for the weekend so I figured Monday was as good as any other.
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I mentioned something to Josh about it and he was game as always. In turn he mentioned something to one of his good friends John who has a GSX-R 600 like Josh's but with a bit different color scheme. I extended an invite to a few other people who turned out to have other plans and could not make the trip.
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I started making a route plan on Google Maps that Saturday evening and came up with a pretty neat looking route. Seeing as how this was John's first full day ride like this I wanted to give him a days worth, lol.
So this is what I came up with. In total it was to be around 425 miles I believe round trip. I was taking care to avoid the main hwy's as much as possible since it was Labor Day.
Well things never go to plan it seems...
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We got a nice early start and made to Lenior in a little over an hour, oops. We got a bit side tracked and turned around near Lenior and ended up going the LONG way around which happpened to put us right on Hwy 90 somehow.
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Now 90 looked twisty on the map and to be honest it was, but it wasn't that much fun as far as twisty's go. There were way too many houses and the road was a bit rough with some debris here and there, which could be due to all the rain I spoke of earlier. I mean there were sections that were covered in mud. The only clear bath was where a few cars had been though and made a small opening.
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We went on down the road for what seemed like forever. It followed this nice river and to be honest the senery reminded me alot of the West Virgina country side, minus the toilet paper in the river thing.
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Getting stuck behind a car was actually quite nice, it allowed for more looking around. The river was extreamly high and due to this it was white caping over the bridges that are the residents driveways! What a site that was! (I should have got a picture) The kudzu had taken over and was covering the trees to make them look like the old run down castles and forts you see pictures of overseas. It really was beautiful out there in the middle of no where.
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I was starting to get concerned that I hadn't seen a road for 18 but my concern turned into confusion as I saw a sign that said, "End Pavement."
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"Rut Roh, Raggy'"
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Yup, I believe we missed a turn. We pulled over and looked the map and the surrounding areas. As usual these parts of the woods weren't exactly on the map and for apparent reasons. That movie "Wrong Turn" started coming into my memory...
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I pulled the ol' Cannon out and got a few shots for grins and giggles and then we got back on our way.
John is the guy in the full leathers, which he got for a steal. Luck guy. He squeeks everywhere he goes though, kinda funny.
Interesting site...
So as we were heading out as a group of bikes come rolling in with a look on their faces that I felt I was probably making when I saw the pavement turn to gravel.
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One of them was just tagging along with the group and knew the roads pretty well it seemed so why he was with them I haven't a clue. But he informed us that we missed our turn off a good ways back. Imagine that.
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Well he was right, our turn off was about 10 miles back the other direction. Turns out the sign was missing, so I guess it wasn't all my fault. John needed to use the restroom and as he was inside two guys on some, "Over Priced and Under Engineered Price Tags" rolled in advising us to not go up the mtn. "It's rainy and nasty up there. You can't see 10 feet in front of you. Horrible riding conditions."
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I wasn't about to just sit at this store all day and after all my parents weren't with me, so the curse doesn't take full effect.(Knock on Wood) Sure enough the HD guys were baby's, I guess any thing other than a sunny sky is bad weather for them.
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We went up the missed road which ironicly enough was the other end of a road that I have been down countless times in my life. Brown Mtn OHV Park is off this road and after I saw it I knew exactly where I was. A few miles later we were on 181.
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We headed up 181, but as we did we were greated with some rain. It wasn't heavy, just misting, but the roads were wet so that took alot of the fun away from that road. Now it would make the most since to slow down in these conditions and just play it safe. Well being the rider I am, which mind you is a safe one, I had to push it a bit. This road was extreamly wide with multiple lanes and long sweeping corners. Great bike road. So I decided that I wanted to see what it felt like to have the bike slide when it was wet. I had to find out where those tire let go and what it felt like. I had to.
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So I started to pick up the pace, corner by corner, little by little as to not come in too hot. Sure enough a little bit later she let go. Now before my mother and loving relatives get really mad at me. "It wasn't that bad." It wasn't a dramatic slide, the tire just let go for a second. I felt it slip and the back end may have stepped out a few inches from the front at the most. I stayed in the throttle to keep the bike moving. NEVER LET OFF OR TOUCH THE BRAKES IS A SLIDE!!! The bike straightend up and I rolled off the throttle. Now and I know. (I didn't push it anymore.)
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With the rain it also got cool and it was time to put on some sleeves so I pulled over at this little gas station on the left that had a bunch of bikes parked off the side. We all puts another shirt on and starting looking around at the bikes. A few them happened to be people that John know from a local forum! Inside the store they had a small grill and it turned out to be a bike hang out. Sport Bike mags everywhere, random oil and parts for sale and posters everywhere! It was awsome. The staff was great and apparently were riders as well. I got a chicken sandwhich combo, that came with chips and a 20 oz drink from the cooler for like $4.95. With tax it was like 5 and some change so I gave the guy a 10. He handed me back a 5 and said, "I don't want you to ride with the change in your pocket."
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A great place to stop if your in the area!
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We killed around 45 mins there letting the weather clear up and we headed off towards 221 North. Hwy 221 turned out to be a lot of fun, with plenty of tight and technical corners. The only draw back to this road would be the traffic as it is a main hwy leading out of or into Blowing Rock, NC. The asphalt for the most part was dry now, a few of the shady parts were still damp but not bad.
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Blowing Rock leads right into Boone so we fueled up there before heading into TN. I was starting to get concerned because it was already early afternoon by this point and we still had a good bit to go. Oh and it was nice and sunny in Boone...
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Going on up 321 to find some other road that would take us to Elizabethton, TN and from there it would take us around into Shady Valley through the Cherekee Forest area. We found out last trip that this road was rather fun and it had few nice switch backs that made for something interesting. I remember looking back a few times to see John all over Josh's rear with a knee out about to put some marks on those new knee pucks. (Apparently he has been practicing on Zion Church Rd.)
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Once at 421 we stopped again so John could check out the store and we could all get a bottle of water since the afternoon sun was starting to get to us.
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We had a clean run down The Snake, little to no traffic and no THP which was surprising however I missed another turn at the end, which was all my fault. It was getting late in the day and I really didn't want us to be on the roads at night on Labor Day so we set a path home. We left off the Jefferson side of the route and just headed down 421 to Wilkesboro and down 16 to Charlotte.
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I think we clocked just over 400 miles for the day. John was hurting, as were all of us, but he left with a grin on his face asking to go again in the coming weeks. Look for some more pictures of him on here because I am sure he will be joining us more often.
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Until next time:
"Yall Be Safe Out There."
-Killboy
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