07-22-2025, 09:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-22-2025, 09:19 AM by misterprofessionality.)
Ride Day 2 
This was the one That I worked the hardest to make sure it was both passable and fun, because it was the one that worried me the most. We're going to be headed down into North Carolina to ride some roads that, despite two whole rallies in NC, we still haven't covered! Its amazing what a bottomless well that place is. However, once again Helene is going to stick her nose into our business. Many of the roads I would have chosen or would have liked to use are going to be off limits, so I've managed to string together a series of fun rides into something resembling a moderate distance, all of which are verified by to be safe and fun! So, after much deliberation It occurred to me to place this route on Day 2, so that it could have the maximum benefit of being on the lowest traffic day of the week.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQqBCffRJfdpBKA29
![[Image: ixDWnex.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/ixDWnex.jpeg)
The day starts leaving directly out of Kingsport by way of 93 and 81. 93 will be a short hop but isn't interesting in any way, while 81 starts right in with the scenic and the smooth and the engaging turns. This is still a leisurely ride, though, meant to take us past Historic Jonesboro (don't worry, we'll visit that on another day). After we make it all the way down to Erwin, we'll finally pickup the legendary 19W , which is a border crossing country highway that's a hidden Gem. I took a select few people down this road last year when we were in Marion, and those that tried it gave it glowing reviews! It climbs up into a small mountain and then drops back into the river valley where some of Helene's devastation was at its very worst. Entire communities were wiped off the map, roads erased, bridges torn down, ect. The good news is, the road and bridges themselves down this road have all been repaired and are even covered in gorgeous brand new pavement, so the ride itself is phenomenal. The scenery however....Let's it'll be a different kind of sight seeing. You'll get a chance to see first hand what all happened down there and what it meant to the lives of the people that live along these roads we love to ride. Take special note as we ride along the lower half of 19w by the river of the hundreds of tiny stacks of river stones, each one a memorial.
After that we'll get a timely rest stop at a colorful general store called Price's Creek. Get your bathroom brakes, get your snacks, because after this it could be a minute before we find a suitable place to rest. Continuing down 19E for a little ways, we'll bypass both 197 and the famous hwy 80, both of which are stunningly fun roads but are unfortunately damaged beyond any hope of safe riding. Instead we'll continue a little further and use Penland road. This is a nice little secret country road that's in top condition (Special Thanks to The A-Man for personally verifying this road was good). After we've made the cross over to 226 we can follow it north through twisty mountains and river runners all the way back too Tennessee and the tiny town of Hampton, where ***lunch*** awaits at Libby's Restaurant. This is a pretty standard country diner with everything you might need. We'll stay a while and get all our energy back before making the return to Kingsport.
That's not to say our return will be boring, however. I've managed to scout out a few fun and less traveled back roads that wind between the suburbs of Johnson City and Kingsport in order to keep us out of the worst of way of the Local Fauna. We'll pass by some attractive farm and river country, over a dam bridge (Suhawk this ride's for you), and finally back into city of Kingsport for the end of the day. All told this is a pretty big day at 172 Miles, and while i haven't chosen to bore you with a list of all the stops we could make to rest, I'm going to make every effort to keep people energetic and hydrated throughout.
See below for a video of the most recent run on 19W! Below that I've also included a video we took from NC 80, showing the ride before we got to the heinous gravel patches that ultimately made me strike it from the itinerary for good.
This was the one That I worked the hardest to make sure it was both passable and fun, because it was the one that worried me the most. We're going to be headed down into North Carolina to ride some roads that, despite two whole rallies in NC, we still haven't covered! Its amazing what a bottomless well that place is. However, once again Helene is going to stick her nose into our business. Many of the roads I would have chosen or would have liked to use are going to be off limits, so I've managed to string together a series of fun rides into something resembling a moderate distance, all of which are verified by to be safe and fun! So, after much deliberation It occurred to me to place this route on Day 2, so that it could have the maximum benefit of being on the lowest traffic day of the week.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iQqBCffRJfdpBKA29
The day starts leaving directly out of Kingsport by way of 93 and 81. 93 will be a short hop but isn't interesting in any way, while 81 starts right in with the scenic and the smooth and the engaging turns. This is still a leisurely ride, though, meant to take us past Historic Jonesboro (don't worry, we'll visit that on another day). After we make it all the way down to Erwin, we'll finally pickup the legendary 19W , which is a border crossing country highway that's a hidden Gem. I took a select few people down this road last year when we were in Marion, and those that tried it gave it glowing reviews! It climbs up into a small mountain and then drops back into the river valley where some of Helene's devastation was at its very worst. Entire communities were wiped off the map, roads erased, bridges torn down, ect. The good news is, the road and bridges themselves down this road have all been repaired and are even covered in gorgeous brand new pavement, so the ride itself is phenomenal. The scenery however....Let's it'll be a different kind of sight seeing. You'll get a chance to see first hand what all happened down there and what it meant to the lives of the people that live along these roads we love to ride. Take special note as we ride along the lower half of 19w by the river of the hundreds of tiny stacks of river stones, each one a memorial.
After that we'll get a timely rest stop at a colorful general store called Price's Creek. Get your bathroom brakes, get your snacks, because after this it could be a minute before we find a suitable place to rest. Continuing down 19E for a little ways, we'll bypass both 197 and the famous hwy 80, both of which are stunningly fun roads but are unfortunately damaged beyond any hope of safe riding. Instead we'll continue a little further and use Penland road. This is a nice little secret country road that's in top condition (Special Thanks to The A-Man for personally verifying this road was good). After we've made the cross over to 226 we can follow it north through twisty mountains and river runners all the way back too Tennessee and the tiny town of Hampton, where ***lunch*** awaits at Libby's Restaurant. This is a pretty standard country diner with everything you might need. We'll stay a while and get all our energy back before making the return to Kingsport.
That's not to say our return will be boring, however. I've managed to scout out a few fun and less traveled back roads that wind between the suburbs of Johnson City and Kingsport in order to keep us out of the worst of way of the Local Fauna. We'll pass by some attractive farm and river country, over a dam bridge (Suhawk this ride's for you), and finally back into city of Kingsport for the end of the day. All told this is a pretty big day at 172 Miles, and while i haven't chosen to bore you with a list of all the stops we could make to rest, I'm going to make every effort to keep people energetic and hydrated throughout.
See below for a video of the most recent run on 19W! Below that I've also included a video we took from NC 80, showing the ride before we got to the heinous gravel patches that ultimately made me strike it from the itinerary for good.