Forum friends explore Western NC and Tenn.

[The A-man]

While this ride report is by itself a stand-alone story, it's really Part 3 of a saga. Part one has been written about by Kiowa Eagle - where he rode from SE Pa to meet up with his friend Gary in Western Pa, and they arranged to ride for a day with RickCB and his wife in SE Ohio. Then, in Part 2, KE and Gary moved over to WV where they met up with Mtneers so that all could ride the "Back of the Dragon" in Tazewell, VA. I'll leave it to them to further elaborate on those adventures.

In Part 3, those three intrepid riders made their way south to meet up with me in Little Switzerland, NC. in mid-afternoon on this past Wed. After exchanging greetings, we headed down Rt 226A, "the Diamondback", to my home on Lake James. After getting everyone settled into their quarters for the night, we did a short Happy Hour boat cruise on the lake, before retruning for a nice evening of local BBQ take-out and pleasant conversation on the porch and deck.

Next morning, Thursday, it was kickstands up at 7:00 am with first stop being the summit of Mt. Mitchell. Our route there took us up Rt 80 to the BRP then up to Mt. Mitchell State park. We made one brief stop on the BRP which affords a view of Mt. Mitchell, then off to the summit.







After a brief hike up to the summit for the traditional picture, we took off on the BRP to meet up with Houtman at the Folk Art Center, on the BRP in Asheville, took some pics, then off for a pleasant lunch at the Pisgah Inn, south of Asheville.







No dessert today, as the storm clouds were moving in. So we suited up in rain gear, said goodbye to Houtman, and continued on the BRP down to Cherokee, NC, near the end/beginning of the BRP. Turns out that Houtman got drenched getting back to Asheville, but we only say a brief sprinkle on the BRP. After a fuel stop, we continued on Rt 19 to Bryson City, then picked up Rt 74 on to our "home" for the next several days at the Quality Inn in Andrews, NC.




After a pleasant evening happy houring in the outdoor gazebo, it was kickstands up at 8:00 am Friday, and headed up 129 to do the "Tail of the Dragon" in Deal's gap. Gary had to split with us for a few hours to get tires changed, so we did the Dragon in both directions, then headed out on the Cherhola Skyway for a very pleasant ride. We met back up with Gary in mid-afternoon, and decided to take the long way back to the hotel via Rt 143, 28 (the Moonshiner) and 74 back to the hotel.

The loose plan that we developed at happy hour in the gazebo was to ride the Dragon again, then allow folks who had to get back home by Monday to split off and begin their journey. Weather was perfect on Saturday morning, so we headed out at 7:00 am, stopping at the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort for a coffee.



While there, we all decided to just do the Dragon one direction, and split up on the Tenn side, with Gary making his way for Pittsburgh, and Mtneers, KE, and myself making our way back to my place for Saturday nite. We stopped at the overlook at mile 9 of the Dragon and to our surprise and delight, another CB1100 pulled in. That's where we met our new friend Suzuki, and invited him to become a forum member.



At our split on the Tenn side, the three CB forum members took the Foothills Parkway to Rt 321S (and Penn State fans, I didn't get to stop in Happy Valley TN). 321 took us to the town of Townsend TN, where we fueled, and headed thru the Great Smoky Mtns Nat'l Park to Gatlinburg. I'll pause here to say that all three of us described that 18 mile ride as the best scenery we had ever seen. Level, new pavement, twisty, and running along a beautiful mountain stream with trees forming a canopy over us.

After people-watching thru Gatlinburg, we continued on 321, where we picked up another Foothills Parkway all the way to I-40 in TN, just about 10 miles from the NC border. If you haven't been there, there's a stretch of about 40-50 miles of beautiful scenery, even though it's Interstate driving. We did a quick lunch stop 20 miles west of Asheville, then pushed on to MR Cycles in Asheville, where I ordered a set of Pirelli GTs. With perfect weather still - low humidity, near zero clouds, we headed North on the BRP, back to Rt 80, and back to my place for an enjoyable evening on the deck.



So... long story, but I'll make a quick re-cap: 690 miles in 3 days; 3 trips across the Dragon; saw a CB1100 "in the wild", and only got slightly inconvenienced by rain. We turned the return trip back to my house (about 140 miles) into a 275 mile adventure thru beautiful parts of TN. Only bummer was that MSCB1100 had been planning to join us in Andrews, but work conflicts got in the way. It was a great ride, made even better by sharing with great friends! Sort of a mini-rally before the real event in PA!!!

Then the sad part - saying goodbye (til the next time) at 7:00 am Sunday so that Mtneers and KE could head home. And please feel free to add on to my re-telling of the experience!

And thanks to: MSCB1100, Offroadfx4, SCCBrider, Houtman, Mtneers, and Kiowa Eagle -- because of you all, I've put many, many miles on the CB and seen much more of NC than I have in any summer previously!!
Oops, I forgot an important pic. As the Eagles rock group says on their "Hell Freezes Over" album: "...and here's how it all started..."!

[Cormanus]

Great report, A-man.

[The A-man]

OK, just got this one sent to me, and it's a real rarity: 3 CB1100 members in one shot on the Dragon! That's Mtneers in front, followed by A-man and Kiowa Eagle (on his VTX).

[suhawk305]

What a great experience!

[KiowaEagle_imp]

Here’s the other side of that shot



Had a fantastic time on this trip largely due to the selfless contributions by Rickcb, Jennifer, Mtneers, A-Man, Joan and Houtman. It’s a trip I will never forget and will post about in more depth soon after I recover. 2800 miles in 10 days ending with about 600 miles yesterday riding straight through from Asheville to Philly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[17-CB-002]

OK, just got this one sent to me, and it's a real rarity: 3 CB1100 members in one shot on the Dragon! That's Mtneers in front, followed by A-man and Kiowa Eagle (on his VTX).

Nice shot

[peterbaron]

Holy cow!!, what a great riders and bikes assembly, CBs ++.
Gorgeous pics while curving on the Dragon and more....
Make sure, you guys don't spend all your money on souvenirs and save enough for gas to get back home
Have a pleasant rest of your trip and safe return!!
*****

[Cormanus]

That’s a great shot, A-Man!

[SCCBrider_imp]

Wish I could have made it, but work got in the way.

[Mtneers]

The second leg of the trip was KiowaEagle and his friend Gary arriving at my house around 12:15 on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
After a taste of “real Honda power” by riding my Monkey, we took off towards Pounding Mill Va. Lunch was in Man WV at Keith’s Bar and Grill. We made it to the hotel around 5. Dinner was a mixture of wings at Coaltown Taps, which provided outdoor dining. (Throughout the entire trip, we made an effort to find restaurants that served outdoors or provided curbside delivery. We all used masks and carried hand sanitizer.)

The next morning, we headed towards the Back of the Dragon, a road that is 32 miles long, has 438 curves, an elevation of 3,500 feet and goes thru Hungry Mother State Park. Unlike Deals Gap/Tail of the Dragon, it has long sweepers and is very scenic. It’s a more relaxed ride.

After we finished that, we headed to Boone NC to pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway. We rode the parkway for about 40 miles to Little Switzerland where we met up with A-Man. He took us down 226A, known as the Diamondback, and then on to his house. There is no shortage of curvy riding roads in N.C.

This was the longest trip I’ve ever taken on the Cb, about 1,395 miles over 6 days. The trip going down was over 2 days, which wasn’t bad. The return trip home, about 305 miles, was 99% interstate.

Although we didn’t get pictures, we saw 2 black bears on the parkway. One was while we were stopped at an overlook. We saw it crossing the road about 5O yards away. The other sighting was a cub alongside the road as we passed by.

We also saw a sport bike over the embankment on Saturday morning while riding the Tail of the Dragon. According to one of the roadside photographers, it was an accident from the day before. No further details.

Undoubtedly, one of the best trips I’ve taken, primarily due to the accompanying riders and the hospitality from the A-man and his wife, Joan.
It was also great to meet John Houtman and have lunch at the Mt. Pisgah Inn. (Thanks for lunch John!)
Of course, I can’t leave out their two four-legged family members, Hamlet and Goldy. You’ll see a pic later on of Goldy “having dinner” with me.

Finally, on my way home, I took a side trip to Mt Airy NC, to visit some old friends...Andy, Opie, Emmett, Howard, Floyd and Wally.

It’s true. “ You meet the nicest people on a Honda”.















Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Goldy....at dinner


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk