Ride Report - Smoky Mountains | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Ride Report - Smoky Mountains

I use gpsvisualiser.com to convert the kml file into tracks and way points.

As I have an older Garmin 60cx the tracks have to be reduced to 500 points per, so typically I will break each day into a separate track under 500 points. Then I change the colour to Red or blue, and when I have the way points in, I have the option to create routes based on the way points, but many times I find I need to create additional way points to prevent the software from using the best or shortest distance between the points.

Back to the tracks. They are so accurate that I rarely stray from the route except for busy intersections that have multiple turns, like a four way stop underneath a highway cloverleaf. It's easy to sort out what direction you should have taken vice the road traveled, so the device doesn't constantly show 'recalculating' just when you are trying to find out where you screwed up. Lol.

Of course it's only as good as the data input, and in September I found that Google maps and my Garmin were unaware of construction in Nova Scotia that had me reroute to bypass it.
 
Recently have been using the Harley Davidson Ride Planner; http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/Ride_Planner/ride-planner.html
to plot my routes as it looks like Google but allows you to sync directly to your device once you have saved the route. To avoid the issue with recalculating to the shortest route, you may be able to turn off the re-calculate option or set it to prompt you if you go off route.
 
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Nice pics !

It reminds me of my trip - I had my bike in every single picture I've taken too LOL and my mom said "you must really love that bike" :)
 
Sorry to necro an old thread.... but great write up!


I wonder if your GPS / Navigational tech has changed much?
 
Hey Chasem,

GPS is much better now, even though I'm still using the same GPS. I use Tyre which is free and allows anyone to build a route using the Google Maps interface and then save the file as a .GPX and transfer direct to the GPS device.

This is a timely bump, because I'm going back down there on Friday. I bought some side cases from a guy in Asheville, NC and instead of shipping them, I told him I would ride down and get them. I'm going to ride to Asheville straight in one very long slab day and then take 2 equally long twisty backroads days to return. This time I will also try out a few roads I have never been on before and others that I have only been on in heavy rainstorms. Hoping for a dry weekend.
https://goo.gl/maps/xMBgCSnXoHn - BRMC to Boyer, WV
https://goo.gl/maps/GxrzPqGdvhy - Boyer WV to Mississauga

I would normally post an invite, but didn't think anyone would want to do this type of ride.
 
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Start early, finish late and take lots of breaks in between. It's all good, or I'll be hurting bad when I get back.
 
So I might as well just update this thread instead of posting a new one. Some new (to me) roads mapped out below which were pretty sweet and I would highly recommend. Sorry no pics, because I was too busy riding.

The ride there was pretty draining being on the slab all day, mostly because I only slept 4 hours the night before and was working 13 hour days outside for the previous few weeks every day. I forgot how much I hate the slab. The highlight of this day was eating my lunch at the New River Gorge, but this time I found a road that goes down under the bridge and makes for a great scenic detour. Overall, I left home at about 4:30am and arrived in Asheville around 6pm. I stayed and talked to the guy selling me the cases for about an hour - he had a nice place on the side of mountain with a great view of the mountains beyond. He was retired and just rides around a lot - what a life. Then I left his place and went to the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground about an hour south. Arrived at around 8pm and set up my tent and ate my dinner followed by a bunch of chocolate, so I couldn't sleep. Finally passed out around 10pm. About 1300km for the day and I felt I could have done more. It was nice to be down in the Smokies on one day instead of two or three like I have always done in the past.

Next day is what I was really looking forward to. I had originally planned to do about 800 or so km of really twisty madness, which can be a very long day when the roads are this twisty. But then I woke up early at around 4:30pm, so I just decided to pack up and be out before sunrise. I made it out of there by 6:15 and decided to add a bunch of roads onto my route since the next day was supposed to be raining. It ended up being about 1000km with this route - but with more roads added in that don't show because Google Maps won't allow more changes to the route. https://goo.gl/maps/uuoDiU1WkKU2 This was a great day because some of the roads were so twisty that I was getting pretty wiped from throwing the bike around, which is always a good problem to be having.

I've always liked the NC215 and the way it links up with the NC276 and a section of the BRP for a great 'figure 8' loop: https://goo.gl/maps/juzK3iQ3oCu. It was a nice way to wake up and hit some twisty stuff right away. The NC215 is amazing and watching the sunrise over the mountains along the BRP that early is breathtaking. No traffic this early on a Saturday morning.

After that I made my way over to the NC197. This is probably now one of my all time favourite roads. I did it 3 times - it was that good. https://goo.gl/maps/WLYgYpVwRTR2 There is a hard packed gravel section on there that was really twisty and about 5 miles or so, right in the middle of the entire length of the NC197. I think a lot of street riders would pass up this road because of the gravel, but I did it on my PR4's. If you do want to avoid the gravel, then hit it from the north instead, because that is the really remarkable section. It's a narrow two lane road, that has flawless pavement and an amazing rhythm this road has to it and there are 5 hairpin turns all back to back. They are so close together, that you don't even need to shift up on the straight aways, because by the time you are in the upper reaches of your powerband, it's time to get back on the brakes for the next turn. https://goo.gl/maps/8gw8U8fpMJH2 What an amazing stretch of road.

Then I headed over to ride the NC261 which crosses the Tennessee border and becomes TN143. https://goo.gl/maps/6Gd6PGNtH6E2 It goes up Roan Mountain and passes by Roan Mountain State Park which has the largest rhododendron gardens in the world. During May to June the rhodo's are in peak bloom in that area so it was pretty spectacular - if you like that sort of thing. I had been on this road before in a torrential downpour, so it was nice to ride it on a clear sunny day, because it's an excellent mountain road.

Then I rode the Snake US#421 and Denton Valley Rd again which are posted in the original ride report. Then I headed over to ride the Jeb Stuart Highway or US#58 which I rode last fall with a few guys from GTAM. We thought it was awesome and so I wanted to check it out again. It was awesome and just as I remembered it. It's not as tight and technical as some of the other mountain roads, but it has tons of very fast corners with not too much traffic. https://goo.gl/maps/NeGThkbTdcL2 You can take it all the way over past Meadows of Dan, where Willville Bike camp is located.

After the #58 I headed up the VA#16 'The Back of the Dragon' which is also in the original ride report, because the last few times I was on it it was either wet or raining pretty good. This time it was totally empty and sunny and hot out. After wards I made my way over to the VA311 which essentially runs between Roanoke and White Suplhur Springs. https://goo.gl/maps/veg541WfM9A2 It was suggested to me by another rider and it did not disappoint - it looks okay on a map, but is filled with really nice pavement and curves. Highly recommended!

The next day I rode some sweet WV roads and then used backroads to get home via PA and some of the gems over there, of which there are lots of threads about what's good to check out. It rained a lot on the last day and

Finally, for those who are looking for an alternate way to get south, instead of using the 219, try the 220. I took it for a long stretch and it's a very fast road with not too many small towns and lots of good twists and turns.

I did ride lot's more sweet roads, but this was the cream of the lot that don't already have lots of info posted about them. I have some video of NC197 going up and down, Smoke Hole Rd going both ways and some others which I will post up when I have some time... but overall it was a pretty intense 3200km over the 3 days and I gave my bike a pretty good workout:)
 
I did NC197 lat year for the first time and really enjoyed it. The gravel section is not too gnarly and well worth it for the rest of the road. Here's a pretty shakey video my buddy took following me.

[video]https://youtu.be/HTE7iUfufWM[/video]
 
Here's a vid of the NC197 just after the gravel section - heading north.[video=youtube;DLDGIzgRbto]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLDGIzgRbto[/video]

Also forgot to mention that another amazing road is the US221 south of Boone. It follows along some of the higher elevations with the BRP and passes by a bunch of sweet waterfalls on its way to Linville, NC. https://goo.gl/maps/bcgRvXzSzN72
 

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