Rotten Ronnie! Great idea with the wet nap. No tank bag but I could've put it someplace. That one will be stored away for future use! I like the Adventures by Garmin (good idea with the tm!). I can't blame the GPS. I think it was my route plotting on the computer that got me.
Tuesday May 24th
The ride to Barbers the day before kicked our *****. Literally! Nobody ever mentioned in their treads about how sore they're ***** get after long rides. A word of warning to those about to try it. It gets damn sore! I know how those poor old cowboys felt a 100 years ago! We could hardly walk, and sitting was just as bad! Thank god we brought along bigger chairs, and not those little stools! We were up early, but draggin butt bad. I didnt get the impression my friend wanted to ride at all today, it probably wouldnt have taken much to keep me in camp mode, but somehow we got ourselves in gear. No rush at all today. Took our time, the showers were hot. Even tried to clean the bugs off my no longer hi-viz jacket.
Finally around 11ish we mounted the bikes. Our rears went from sore, to pain. It was going to be a long day...
Fired up the GPS. Figured we'd take it easy today. Selected the Cherohala triangle route. The run starts with the Dragon, but because today we were leaving later, the road was nice and dry. We got stuck behind a truck for the first little bit but as we discovered with most drivers in the south, they pull over and let you go when they get a chance. Once we were past, we picked up the pace and started to have a pretty good run. My friend was in front and he radioed back that there was a rider down. I throttled back and cruised slowly through the next corner. Sure enough there was a rider down. Right by one of the guys taking pictures. Not sure how bad it was, there were already a bunch of riders pulled off and trying to help. We knew it wouldnt be long before the po po came up the road so we behaved the rest of the Dragon. Sure enough, before the bottom a couple of Sheriffs drove past.
The rest of the route to Tellico Plains was pretty tame. Mostly straight and flat (compared to the rest of the roads). At Tellico Plains we stopped at the visitor center and took a look around. My friend told me later, he didnt think he could get off the bike, his *** was so sore.
The visitor center is more of a gift shop but the lady working there told me of a side road to take to see some falls. We made note of it and headed into town to check out the Tellico Plains Motorcycle Outfitters. Its one of those places that you have to visit because its there. Its a super small shop but its still a good little stretch.
Went in and checked it out, and ended up buying a powerlet accessory for my bike. Couldnt find it anywhere in Toronto, and sure enough this little shop in the middle of nowhere had it. Sweet! My friend was checking out everything else, but nothing his size. While checking everything out, I came across an anti-chaffing cream. Looked just like deodorant. Showed my friend...he took one look and said its probably just deodorant and a $13 we passed. Spoke to the owner about someplace to eat and he directed us to a local sandwich shop just around the corner. Sorry but the name of the place has escaped me. I think it was called the Bakery. I had a toasted sandwich and ice tea. The place is expensive. Good sandwich but the price was too high. If I remember correctly it was $20 for two sandwiches and ice teas.
Anyway, after lunch we headed back to the shop, my friend wanted to get a powerlet for his bike too. This time I decided to get the cream. $13 buck was worth the bet. If it did nothing, then oh well, if it worked it would be worth every penny. When I went to purchase it, I asked the owner. He had never tried it before..Oh well. I asked where the change room was and ran back with my new purchase in hand.
Yes I took a picture of it, and hell yeah this stuff worked! I ran out with a smile on my face and told my friend this stuff is great! I could actually walk with no pain! I've since heard of another product called Monkey Butt. My friend bought some later on but didnt get to use it (it was right before we got home). Anyway. Here's my ringing endorsement. This stuff is great! Works great! If you're going on a long ride you're gonna need something! You've been warned! lol
Here's a shot of downtown Tellico Plains.
My *** slathered in my new favorite product, we mounted up and headed towards Cherohala.
Now my buddy was still in no mood for a big ride, but this soon changed! The temp in town was getting pretty high, we couldnt wait to get into the mountains to cool down.
Off we went at a pretty good pace. Keeping an eye out for hwy 210. We roared along and came to a scenery stop mid way thru. We'd missed the damn road. Oh well. I said lets finish the parkway and we'll head back to check it out. Our backsides were no longer hurting and the ride was getting goooood! Towards the end of the Cherohala a large group of Ford Cobras passed us in the opposite direction. Sweet rides! We finished the parkway and ended up at Thunder Mountain general store.
We fueled up, looked around and had quick drink. We spoke to the owners and mentioned the Cobras. They told us the Cobra club was in town. They were all original Cobras, no repo's. Sweet. Back to the Cherohala we rode.
Our speeds picked up. The second time round was so much better. We had a feel for the road this time. The lean angles were increasing, and the speeds increasing with them.
Mid way along we got stuck behind a slow car. I had the GPS and could see a chance to pass coming up. Got myself ready and at the last second blew past. My friend couldnt make it. Just as I planned. I knew he'd be ****** and pass as soon as he could, so I pinned it. The road was really twisty and I knew I was opening up a good lead. I also knew once he passed he'd be hot on my heels (he's a better rider on a much faster bike). I raced ahead. Finally, I came to a rest stop in the middle of a long sweeping turn. I pulled off, grabbed the camera and waited.
No KillBoy but at least I got him in frame! He was still cursing me in the headset as he went past. LOL
I jumped back on and caught back up to him and we continued on. This time we found our exit! It was pretty much at the beginning of the Cherohala! Well worth the extra lap! Although any reason under the sun was an excellent reason to run it again!
Here's the start of the 210 towards the falls.
You sure don't see this in the GTA!!!
Off we rode towards the falls. I took it nice and easy along this road. As you can make out from the pic, its not a two lane road..more like a 1.5 lane paved trail. Snakes are everywhere..slippery buggers!
A couple times I got worried that we were on the wrong road or missed a turn off, it seemed to take forever but we finally made it to the falls. It was actually a nice ride to get there The road follows and crosses over the river.
We took a bunch of pictures. Falls..falls and bikes, falls and us, falls and us and bikes. LOL Pure tourist stuff. Then back on the bikes. My buddy took point this time. The ride back to the Cherohala was not as nice and relaxed as the ride in. We booked it back, cranking around every turn. As fun as the relaxed ride to the falls was, it was just as fun with the fast pace back!
Back on the Cherohala in no time!
My friend took lead and quickly got small. I didnt want to hear the abuse when we stopped so I gave chase. This time, we really flew. I don't think I could lean anymore in a turn and my usually quiet boxer roared. He was way ahead but I kept a visual of him. He later told me he saw a bike behind and didnt think it could be me, but kept going faster anyway. On one turn he told me he scraped his clutch leaver. We flew! It was by far the best run of the week. We were way more confident in our bikes and our ability to handle them and we tested ourselves on every turn.
Towards the end we pulled over for a minute in one of the photo op stops. My friend told me his fuel was low..way low. We knew Thunder Mountain was at the end of the run so no worries (duh). Off we went. When we rolled into Thunder Mountain by friends computer told him he had enough fuel for 3 more miles. This as it turned out was a problem. Thunder Mountain was closed...
I played with the gps and had it find me the closest fuel station. 7 miles. DOH! I still had a little more than a 1/4 tank so I was good as gold. No chance for my buddy! So I told him to park it, and I'd go off to get some fuel. That 7 miles was 7 miles of crazy uneven twisties! I loved it. Finally got to the gas station and asked if they had anything I could carry some fuel in. Nothing..nadda..He suggested I by some water and use it to carry the fuel..Crappy idea but I was desperate. He told me to hold on for a second while he looked around back. Luckily he came back with what looked like a pickle jug. Not ideal but good enough. I went to put some gas in it. Of course only regular was left. All those racing bikes had sucked up all the good fuel. It would have to due.
Got the fuel and raced back toward Thunder Mountain. Just before I got there, I passed another biker and gave a wave, pulled into the station and looked around..He wasnt there...I listened for banjo's...Nope..all quite. WTF. I started to wonder if the biker I passed was him! LOL I turned around and started heading back. Sure enough it was. He had turned around too. He told me the owners saw him out front cleaning his bike and asked if everything was okay. He explained and they opened the pumps for him. He filled up until it was coming out his ears. Lesson learned..Or so we thought!
It was getting dark again and we still hadnt eaten. Our stomachs took over and we headed towards Robbinsville. Tired and hungery we stumbled upon Lynn's place.
Once again it was just after 9:00. We saw some people in so we crossed our fingers. They were open! woohoo. We dragged ourselves in. The waitress took one look at us and told us we sure looked rough. LOL We felt it!
We both ordered the dragon chicken, and I ordered a side of corn poppers (or something like that). They were corn nibbletes fried in a ball of batter. This stuff was crack! I gave one to my friend, and I thought he was going to stab me with his fork to get more off me. We chowed down and decided to try desert.
Fried cheesecake.
Not sure if its a matter of hours of riding, tired and hungry, or what. But this was awesome!
So another great place to grab a bite to eat. They stayed open late for us, service was really good and the price was right! Two forks up!
It was now around 10pm and well past dark. Our options were, the Dragon in the dark, or Moonshiner in the dark. Well...Already did the Dragon, so 28 it was!
This time I was way more freaked. I kept thinking I could see the reflection of eyes peering from the side of the road, and I was on the ready to grab me a handful of brakes. Happily, the ride was uneventful. We rolled into camp tired and with no beer again but the smiles were still on our face from the Cherohala. We got the fire going and regaled with stories of the runs. I went off for a pitstop and was hijacked by some campers on my way. They asked me to take some pictures of the their group. Afterwards they gave me a couple glasses of wine for my friend and I. Nothing like a vintage Chablis straight from the box. The wine was crap but it was a welcome drink by the fire.
Our last night at the site
Exhausted, it was also the best night sleep!
