September 20th - Blue Ridge/Smokies Ride - motorcycle campground tour | GTAMotorcycle.com

September 20th - Blue Ridge/Smokies Ride - motorcycle campground tour

BeastieGirl

Well-known member
I am planning a fall run to the Smokies (Deal's Gap, Cherohala, Tail of the Dragon, etc.), leaving Saturday, September 20th and returning Saturday, September 27th (leaving some "wiggle room" for inclement weather, etc.)
My itinerary is still tentative – but I'm thinking Saturday to Breezewood, PA, Sunday continue on to the Blue Ridge Parkway and riding the Blue Ridge to Willville motorcycle campground. Since Skyline Drive is so slow (35 mph) I am inclined to skip that and running other roads to the beginning of the actual Blue Ridge. Then staying at Willville campgrounds Sunday and Monday nights in order to explore the area. Leave Tuesday morning to continue via the Blue Ridge to Deal's Gap area – staying at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge for Tuesday and Wednesday night – giving a full day on Wednesday for exploring the area. Thursday start to head back home – then tentatively back up through Kentucky and West Virginia. I have some roads in Kentucky I wanted to explore further from my last trip.
The pace for this trip will be relaxed – but not glacial  Maybe 10 mph over state-side, or flow of traffic. Even though my pace will be relaxed, note that some of these roads are technical and challenging, and probably not for first year riders.
I am planning to tent it, however both Willville and Iron Horse offer cabins or bunkhouses and most importantly, morning coffee. I am not sure if this will be a fall colour run, though I suspect it will at least be transitional. Last year I did a four day run to Deal's Gap in mid-October and the colours were absolutely spectacular on the Dragon and the Cherohala.
If there is any interest in joining me, I will fine-tune the route – I have maps and brochures from previous trips and I am open to suggestions.
PM or post - will be doing ride even if solo.
 
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There is interest, just no money.

I hope you have a great ride.
 
There is interest, just no money.

I hope you have a great ride.

Ah yes - money. I blew most of my vacation budget on my fly and rent-a-bike jaunt to Phoenix in March - so this is my cheapie close out the season ride. I actually want to go to South Dakota, but twice the mileage, twice the cost. I've spent most of the season twiddling my thumbs - couple of times to PA, once to WV, once to Lake George - its been a sad season :-(
 
It's been a good year for me, May was a four day BRP ride, then Vermont in June, PA in July, PEI and Gaspe in August, CSBK camp out, the VRRA races this weekend, and hopefully a three day run to Tremblant and back this coming long weekend.

The PEI vacation hit my wallet harder than I allowed for.

How much are you budgeting for the trip?

Oh, and I see a new set of tires in my future as I put 15,000 on my current pair of shoes. Lol.
 
How much are you budgeting for the trip?

Oh, and I see a new set of tires in my future as I put 15,000 on my current pair of shoes. Lol.

Camping stateside is cheap - gas is cheaper - food is flexible - so I am targeting $500.00 for the trip. The 6 campsites I have in mind are $15.00 a night and the one in Kentucky actually has a sale on for September - lol. Stay one night during the week and get the second night free - so it would be $7.50 a night. Planning on bringing my sleeping bag, polar fleece sleeping bag liner, silk inner liner and maybe an extra blanket if I can squeeze it in.

I just prefer camping and also I like the fact that at a minimum, in an emergency situation you have shelter with you.
 
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When we rode the trans lab a few years ago, camping was the rule of the day, and it was fun.

Most of the time I was getting hotel rooms and sharing the cost with fellow riders, except when I'd head out to the east coast with Suzi on board, then the trip got more expensive with hotels, so this year I did it in a tent, and found that all the sites were under $25 except for a Quebec Provincial park in Drummondville that charged me $40, but as I had ridden five hours in the rain and got quoted $150 for a room on a Wednesday night (the cheapest of three qoutes), I grabbed it.

My tent is half mesh and can be quite chilly until body heat warms it up, and I've a warm weather bag that is working out quite well for now, although for colder weather I also carry an emergency foil bag, just in case. When in the Army I used to camp out in winter with snowshoes and toboggans, two down filled bags, a cotton liner, a silk frost cover and all that bulked soon heavy in the rucksack.

Where did you get the polar fleece liner?
 
Oh, every time I camped with the exception of a rain filled night in Drummondville, someone always showed up at my site to chat about bikes or dogs or both. It turned out to be much more social than hotels and very appealing.

One gentleman was stubborn enough to help me work on my misbehaving stove while using his own to heat up my supper meal.

Now all I need is to get my hard bags mounted on my Versys and I'm going to be a much happier camper. :p
 
Where did you get the polar fleece liner?

Oddly enough at Canadian Tire.

Camping seems to be either a love it or hate it kind of thing. I have a small, 3 season backpacking tent that I'll use for this trip, but I also have a summer tent that is mostly mesh with the rain cover, and yep it gets cold.
I like the motorcycle resorts because they have the communal fires, and aside from the social aspect, fire building is not one of my strong points.
I also like camping because I have never had anything stolen from a campsite - though I did have a tent blow apart in Flagstaff and had to resort to duct taping the joints on the poles and bungee cording the tent to a picnic table and a fence. Good times :)
 
Lmao. I wish I had the cash to come out with you.

I used duct tape in Newfoundland to hold my floor together. I felt a bit like Red Green.

Fires? No problem, I always have liquid boy scout on hand.
 

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