Good Deal...

[MikeO]

23rd February

Woke after a crap night’s sleep and, declining the complimentary ‘Continental Breakfast’ (a selection of dodgy looking doughnuts), I’m on the road for 1000. As I leave Bristol, I ride past the massive Bristol Raceway – an oval NASCAR circuit (think Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder) …

and join the US23 which wends its way South West towards the Smoky Mountains. It’s without doubt the most picturesque divided highway I’ve ridden yet. The road surface is excellent and the views spectacular.

The temperature today is much better – 43 deg as I left Bristol – and I’m wearing summer gloves. I soon re-enter North Carolina and see a sign saying ‘Inmates at Work’. Yep, it’s Cool Hand Luke for real, there are road-gang convicts working on the edge of the road…(excuse the picture quality, over the shoulder at 70 )

I pull into a State Welcome Station – I was told to visit these places by Buddy – they have free maps! The whole set-up is excellent, with helpful staff and all manner of free leaflets. The lady behind the desk gives me a photo-copied map of Deal’s Gap.

I meet Gunther (on the left, in the above picture), who moved from Germany to Texas 30 years ago and then, last year, moved to Tennessee. He’s feeling the cold and doesn’t envy me being on a bike today. He used to ride a BMW R60, many years ago, but decided that, as his riding style was offensive, rather than defensive, he’d better give it up . We chat for a few minutes and he examines the Adventure and makes all the right noises. As we talk, the Department of Corrections buses turn up in the car park…

I rejoin the highway and we’re going downhill. Every mile or so are some serious runaway lanes for trucks with brake failure. The speed limit (55mph) here is, the lady told me at the Welcome Centre, rigidly enforced. Having no wish to join the road gang (using my laptop here boss?), I stooge along at 55…

Soon I’m turning off into the Smoky Mountains National Park. I follow US19 into, quite literally, Indian country…

It seems that the ‘noble savage’ has little dignity left as an image …

I ride through some spectacular scenery, although the winter is probably not the best time to see the forests…

I push on towards Deal’s Gap. The approach road, Highway 28, is a fantastic road to ride – excellent surface and long sweeping bends through beautiful scenery. It’s so nice, I’m almost disappointed to arrive at Deal’s Gap.

I ride the ‘Dragon’s Tail’. It’s twisty – every bit as ‘technical’ as I’ve been warned. The road surface is absolutely superb and I’m following a large (is there another kind?) SUV, who’s driving quite slowly. Eventually, I reach the end (Cheoah Dam) and pull over.

I tie the camera to the left hand mirror, using cable-ties, in order to try to get some pictures on the way back. I recognise it’s impossible to describe the road here, you need to ride it, but here’s a pic to whet your appetite (taken one handed )…

I get back to the campground (closed until 1st March) and meet Mike, a Guzzi rider from Maine (he’s trailered the bike down, on his way to Daytona).

He’s about to ride the Gap and asks me lots of questions about it. At the campsite is a tree which has become a totem pole to misery – it’s strewn with parts of bikes which have met their maker on the Dragon’s Tail…

It’s getting towards dusk, so I make my way back to Bryson City and find a cheap motel for the night. Tomorrow (weather permitting) I’ll return and ride the Cherohala Skyway – another spectacular road – it’ll give me an excuse to ride 28 again… Trouble is, the forecast is for rain…

 

[MikeO]

24th February

Woke to find the rain hadn’t arrived. Instead, I was greeted by a mild, overcast day. I pack the bike and set off towards Deal’s Gap. About 10 miles down the road, it starts to spit with rain. I pull over and put the rain cover on the tank bag and swap to waterproof gloves. I notice a sign I’d missed yesterday directing me to the Cherohala Skyway via US143 and the town of Robinsville.

I turn up the road and, although its views are quite pleasant, it’s hard work. The surface is a patchwork of different finishes, with gallons of overbanding poured over the joins. This, coupled with a misty drizzle, means I have little time to look at the view.

I eventually reach the Skyway, 20-odd miles later. On a clear day in the spring, it must be spectacular – in fact it’s pretty good today. The road surface here is flawless (I’m guessing that this road and the ‘Dragons Tail’ have both been re-surfaced very recently). The viewing areas are well placed, but the weather’s murky and I can only speculate on how far you can see on a good day…

I climb steadily up the winding road and, at about 4000 feet, enter cloud. Visibility is now down to 30 metres or less, with a steady drizzle hampering my attempts to see the road through my glasses and visor. The road continues to snake upwards, until, eventually, it peaks at 5300 ft – I take a picture of the view

I ride on, remaining in cloud, for miles – way below 4000 ft – it’s clearly worse this side of the ridge – until I come to the end of the Skyway. I decide that Deal’s Gap just isn’t going to be worth repeating in this weather and, having no set plans beyond what I’ve already done today, follow the road to see where it’ll take me…

Eventually it takes me to the Tellicafe, a small restaurant in Tellico Plains, Tennessee. I stop there for the ‘Blue Plate Special’ – soup, huge sandwich, fries, coffee – all for $6. Top tip – if the local Sheriff eats here, it’s probably reasonable food at cheap prices

I decide it’s time I started heading South towards Florida. My tyres are starting to get squared off, as my recent encounters with the ‘Dragon’ and the Skyway have shown me, so I decide to head down towards the good weather and see if I can find someone, in the next week or so, who’ll fit some new ones. My bike is also (already ) approaching the need for a service…

I head off, with no destination in mind, just following the front wheel roughly South East. I come across a strange sight on US52, near the unlikely sounding town of Tickanetley – I wonder if Longbridge are wondering where this one ended up…

Further on, in Chamblee (I’ve re-entered Georgia now) I pass a sign saying ‘Motorcycle Stop’ – so I do. This is the home of Buzz’s Psycle – but, unfortunately, Buzz is nowhere to be found, so I ride on…

I decide that I’ll stop somewhere just North of Atlanta tonight. Passing the various adverts that try to tempt me along the way…

…I find myself in Alpharetta. I pull into the car park of the Wellesley Inn and book an excellent single room, with high speed internet access, kitchen(including dishwasher!), breakfast etc – for $70. Bargain. I go to the petrol station next door to buy something to eat and a beer & I’m asked to provide ID!
I’m extremely flattered until the chap behind the till explains that, for some reason, Alpharetta has the most stringent liquor purchasing laws in the country…

Where to tomorrow?