Tales of the Dragon

[emptysea]

The dates: 4/27-5/3 2014

The route: Chicago to Robbinsville, NC to Nashville, TN and back, with a side trip to Chattanooga for me.

The distance: 1825.7 miles round-trip, but about 1950 for me (side trip to Chattanooga)

The riders: Glen & Laura, Mike & Judy, Matt (me) & Cheryl, and (for a few hours) Mickey

The bikes: White Goldwing (Glen), Black F6B (Laura), Black FJR (Mike/Judy), Black CTX (Cheryl) and Red CB1100 (duh)

Kickstands Up



Sunny day, but a cool ride through the straightest, flattest, and most boring parts of Illinois and Indiana. I-294 and US41 are really boring. US231 and US52 were better.

See? Flat.


Interesting note on fuel capacity and travel distances: I find that I need to fill up at about 150 miles (that's when the gauge panic sets in for me). The other bikes in our group can go as long as twice that far. However, most everyone wants to stretch at about 150 miles anyhow, so the my smaller tank had zero effect on when we stopped. It only impacted WHERE we stopped a few times during the whole trip.

The highlight of Day 1 was an unplanned stop in a little town, Metamora, IN. Historic little town with interesting shops, most of which were closed by the time we arrived. We may have to stop back there some day.

Museum of Oddities. Perfect. lol


Cheryl and Me



Breakfast, Bump Starts, and Beautiful Roads

Day 2 began with breakfast with our guide for the morning, our own The Ferret (aka Mickey). The plan was for him to lead us on a pleasant ride from Cincinnati to Paris, KY where we would have lunch. What actually happened was one of the best riding days I have ever experienced. Mickey gave us a history and geography lesson while leading us down some "awesome" roads. We visited President Grant's birthplace (on Grant's birthday), took a ferry ride across the Ohio River, and discovered the roads that certainly influenced Mickey's love of riding. (Note: Mickey swore me to secrecy about the route we took) You can learn more of that day by reading his ride report titled "by the Sea", but here are a few pictures.

Mickey is quite the charmer


Ferry




Cheryl


Mike (aka Bump Start Mike)


Glen & Laura and my luggage-laden CB1100


After a wonderful morning of riding "Mickey's Route", we parted ways with Mickey in Paris, Kentucky so that we could continue on to Berea, KY and he could get back to the birthday party for his sister-in-law, Good Ol' WhatsHerName. Hugs for the ladies (of course) and handshakes for the men and we were off on part 2 of day 2...some real surprises in store for us in the next leg.... (to be continued)

[CeeBeeMe_imp]

Great Pics and the weather!! - looks like a cloudless sunny sky. Everyone smiling , great time and Adventure...

[emptysea]

Thanks, CeeBee....the weather DOES change in the middle of our trip. More on that in future installments.

[redbirds_imp]

Great report. Looking forward to more.

[the Ferret]

" Bump Start Mike" ... I can't quit laughing.

As Kramer on Seinfeld would say " I'm lovin it so far"

[emptysea]

TOD Continued:

April in Paris (and points south)

We took more time than expected for our morning ride, but it was worth every minute. We did, however, have to shorten our afternoon route which was to take us eastbound deep into Olympic State Forest in Kentucky before turning back west to our evening stop in Berea. But what would the new route be?? We figured we'd ask people, but apparently, the town of Paris, KY closes on Sundays and we didn't think the good folks at Hardee's would really know a good motorcycle route.

I have always promised that I would take Cheryl to Paris in April


In an effort to find out if anything besides the Hardee's was open, I encountered a gentleman who happened to be a photographer and he suggested that we take 627 to Winchester and then 89 south for a nice ride. What a surprise 89 turned out to be. 627 was beautiful with large equestrian estates lining both sides of the rolling highway. 89 was similar for a bit then it turned rural and a little more hilly for a bit. After, I think, Irvine, we were getting warm (it turned out to easily be the warmest day of our trip), so I stopped at this church so we could stretch and catch some shade.





Little did we know that we should have prayed at the church for safe passage through the next few miles of road. Almost as curvy and much more narrow than The Dragon, but at this point we didn't know that so we had to forge ahead. It was (what's that word again??) AWESOME!

It started out innocently enough... (that's Cheryl waving)


Then things got a little more interesting....




Turned out that this last leg was a great tune-up for the twists and turns coming up in a few days.

We arrived, a little disheveled, at the historic Boone Tavern & Hotel. This is a wonderful place to spend the night, if you're ever in the area. I was even able to find a quiet place to enjoy a cigar.





Rain was in the forecast for overnight and the next day. We set off to get a good night's night's sleep and hoping that we could stay dry for the ride to Clinton, TN and, hopefully, have a stop at Cumberland Falls State Park....(to be continued)

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Great photos and narrative. Am doing my best to follow on Google maps and am waiting for the next episode. Thanks.

Cheers

[Cormanus]

Great report and photos, EmptySea. I'm looking forward to the next episode as well.

[OldF7Guy_imp]

Great photos. I hope to get to the dragon this year myself. That looks like the the JJ Newberry Company in Paris Ky. I thought they went out of business years ago. Anyway, cool stuff and cant wait to read more.

What kind of bag is that on the back of the CB1100?

[emptysea]

The large bag is a waterproof duffel from Twisted Throttle. Works good except the opening is smaller than it needs to be, making it difficult to fit larger items. The smaller bag on top is just a dry bag from REI. I use this one for all my day trips and on longer trips to hold things that I may need easy access to on the road.