Waterfalls, Mountain Views and Riding Motorcycles

Spring is officially here of course.  The salt is MOSTLY cleared from the roads, and the warmth of spring has forced open the lilies, caused the trees to awaken from dormancy pushing forth their new Spring colors like a fashion show in Milan.

It's also caused the 2 wheeled motorcycle public to drag out their own drowsy machines, give em a good spit polish and cruise up and down the boulevard, by-ways and back roads.  It's spring fever time. Those of us that can...DO.

My Lil Girl is not running happily. Something is wrong. AGAIN...I hate this carb. It's the CV carb style that comes stock from the factory. I've had major problems with it for years.  Oh, yes I know, some years I will have no problems, the the next year I will drop in mileage until the problem is tracked down and solved.  This year my mileage has dropped from 50 miles a gallon to somewhere around 43 (depends on the type of driving I do.)  So now, with my new saddle bags, I carry an extra gallon of gas with me.  How convenient. (Sarcasm read here please.) I've only carried gas with me one other time, and that was when I was riding out west with fuel stations few and far between out in AZ, NM, and CO.  I hate feeling like a rolling bomb.

This spring is not one of those beautifully explosive springs that hit after a long, hard, cold winter.  This winter was hard to call a "winter". Sure, we had a couple inches of snow, but it didn't last. It was gone the next day in the lower elevations where I live.  Going into the mountains one could find the snow still lingering on the shady side of the giant rock masses, but where the sun was able to linger, one could find bare patches of ground and rivulets of melt-stream dripping down the rock face near the roadway.  Of course it was still colder than spring or summer, but if you hankered for a ride all you had to do was bundle up, plug in, and ride.

This spring, the color started to arrive as early as February. Because of this, there was no fantastic orchestra of of unrestrained joyous awakening of hard sleeping foliage.  They were all kind of in a twilight sleep, where they were out of their heads, but still awake, still sprouting color when they should have been sleeping.

No matter though. It's warm. The salt is gone from the roads, the birds are singing outside my bedroom window long before the sun is up, the bugs are thick as thieves in the Sudan.  No matter, I wanna ride.

So ride I do.  Here's the map of where I've been.

View Larger MapDriving Directions

Driving up to Roan Mountain and Carver's Gap is a ride meant to bring you closer to happiness. I made the drive feeling very good. I ran to very little traffic ahead of me, and made great time as I drove through the state park to the pinnacle of Roan Mountain.

The Appalachian Trail runs through here and I've read the Gap provides an excellent view of the valleys surrounding it.  It's a short hike to the Bald where no trees grow and an industrious motorcyclist in riding boots can get to without killing herself and snag some fantastic photos of the views.

I begin to climb the trial to the top of the Knob, it don't look like much of a walk when you see it like this, but it meanders left and right up the hill, through woods and around boulders.  It's a wonderful walk...even in biker boots.

This is a very popular part of the trail. Many tourists hike this small part of the trail in order to see the views.  They've had to install barb wire in some places in order to keep the idiots from taking "short cuts" to the top.

A small portion of the trail runs through this cute little forest.  It's very nice indeed.

After leaving the forest, it is still a bit of a walk up to the top of the mountain, but once you get to the bald, this is what greets ya.

There's so much more to this part of the world. You have to see it for yourself!

I left here and headed for Bakersville in N.C.  I decided I wanted to grab some photos of an old mill that is back in the woods there.  I did get the photos, but that's for another blog post.  As you can see from the map, I had a great ride visiting the mountains of North Carolina, Linville Falls, and The Snake in Shady Valley.  Loads of photos for y'all. Keep an eye out for the good stuff. It's coming. I promise!

SPRING: IT'S COMING...I can feel the drums!

Actually, it's only early February,but here in North East Tennessee we've had a very mild winter and bikes have been out more than they have been put up. NICE! 

The weather has been in the high 50's with a few days where the mercury has soared into the low sixties! This is the kind winter weather we as riders pray for. It's a blessing from ... well if you have God, it's from God. If you have something else such as Karma .... perhaps it's just that this region has been blessed with good Karma? How ever you choose to garner your blessings, it's what it is. I'm happy to have what I got. Yes, the days can be a bit damp and cold, but I'm still riding. Life is good. 

I have been planning to ride to Columbia, TN for Mule Days. This is a celebration of the animal that started our trek across America as the pioneers started to make their way from East to West. The event continues for the entire Spring season! It's amazing. 


Starting on Feb. 25,2012 You can start your day watching mules in the Tennessee state pulling contest, and close the day with a beauty pagent. OK, so the gals are dressed in blue jeans and plaid shirts not bikinis. It's still pretty girls contesting one another on stage. It could be fun...maybe? But the real fun starts with the wagon train that wends it's way through middle Tennessee on the back roads for 2 days of slow mule paced plodding. Still, it has to be quite the sight. You can join for a ride and a night of camping for only $60 bucks! If you choose to come to the park and forego the mule train, admission for the day is 8 bucks or you can get a weekend pass for 15 dollars. Don't forget you can also camp for the weekend. I want to do this. Even if I can only stay one day. I'd better let my boss know I need a day off for this event. 


You can find more information here: MULE DAYS 


Did y'all hear? Last week I was riding around the Mars Hill N.C. area,

 and I stopped for gas. As I was in the store pre-paying for my fuel, some guy shouts "Hey! That guy just knocked that bike over at the pumps!" I fly out the door to give the joker some of my well earned ass chewing and to pick up my bike when he slides out from under my bike and jumps into a waiting pickup truck and takes off. 
I pick the bike up and check for damage. Not seeing any I go back inside to pay for the gas. The guy inside (whose ethnicity I shall not get into) is laughing his ass off at my predicament. I quietly tell him that he should remember me the next time he is facing down the barrel of a gun while some yahoo is robbing his store. It's the same feeling of helplessness and anger. That kind of shut him up. 

I fueled up and rolled out to the road, only to realize I didn't have a front brake. OK, Fred Flintstone panic stop before I get my wits and use the rear brake. Scary stuff. The front brake line had broken at the banjo fitting on the master cylinder. I'm ducking fluid as it squirts toward my face. Yeah, that was the muckiest part of it all (next almost dying.) My bike was down for a week, but the great guys at Smith Brothers Harley Davidson took care of me (as they always do) with compassion and speed. I love ya, Willard, Big John, and Tim.

So boys and girls, this is the start of a new year of riding.  I love the ride, rain or cold, sun or clouds, it's the ride that counts and the sights along the way!  Get yer dreams dusted and come on...let's ride!  

SPRING RIDE WITHOUT LONG SLEEVES

It's a great time of the year, don't you agree? The time when nature gives you a freebie, a day of sunshine accompanied by heat, warmth, and sun burns. The time of year when we take off our jackets and expose our Lilly white arms to the warmth of the sun. Exposure of a sort that don't do much for the libido but sure helps us forget the gloom of the past few months of winter!


View Larger Map

Sunday March 10th was just such a day. I waited for the fog to burn off. I puttered about the house until almost noon, then started the bike and headed for my spring destination: The Snake (US-421). I took a round about way to get there. I live less than 30 miles from this semi-famous motorcycle destination in Shady Valley, TN.

The way I take is SR-37 to US-321 in Hampton TN. US-321 heads up into the mountains and around Lake Watauga. This is a nice little twisty road that eventually leads out of Tennessee and into Western North Carolina.


image caption: Into the mountains

Our winter has been quite wet. It's a rock strewn ride around mud and rock slides as I travel this road.



It's here the road becomes of interest to me! All of a sudden, even though I've traveled this road for almost 5 years, I realize there are some very cool back roads that need exploration. I decide to take one of them as I enter the valley floor near US-421. The road is called "OLD US-421". I decide to take it. How can ya go wrong? It was worth the ride.


image caption: A blast from our past ESSO

Not far into the detour I ride into a small town known as Sugar Grove, NC.
As I'm weaving down the road, I spy an old ESSO gasoline sign! "This is gonna be good!" I think to myself. I was right! Here in little Sugar Grove, across the street from the Library is a little museum. It's known as "D.T. Garage Museum".


image caption: Antique gas pump


image caption: Antique gas pump


image caption: D.T. Brown Garage

Leaving the Garage Museum behind, I travel a few miles down the road to discover these photogenic buildings standing next to a creek whose soft, misty undertones helped produce a hypnotic beauty in my mind. I hoped to capture that same beauty through the lens.


image caption: early 20th century architecture

I barely kicked the bike into 2nd gear after leaving the old buildings, then I came across this old steam engine. I've not a clue what it was once used for. Do you?


image caption: Vestige of a steam engine

I'm a fan of the old style country church. I saw one that caught my eye as I was riding down the road. I decided to snap my camera as I rode. I like the way the tarmac of the road gives way to the speed of the bike while the old church sits center frame in the distance.



All too soon, Old US-421 rejoins the new and "improved" edition of US-421 and I turn my wheel toward the town of Trade TN. Trade sits on the shared state lines of Tennessee and North Carolina. It has a fun festival every year which celebrates the old grist mill that still sits in town. Some time, I'll have to look for the photos I took when I attended with my sister a few years ago.

Just after passing the grist mill is SR-67. I turn right at this road and follow it up into North Carolina again. The road now becomes NC-88. A fine road for photo ops, but I don't stay on it long. I want to get back onto US-421 and head for Shady Valley via Mountain City. I was ready for a few technical twists and turns on US-421 known locally to us bikers as "The Snake".


image caption: the Mountain City side of The Snake.



In one shot I took (on the west side of Shady Valley heading toward Bristol TN.) I stopped to get a few shots. I never noticed my lens took a hit from a juicy bug, but it tends to lend character to the photo.


image caption: Shady Valley

I turned the bike around at South Holston Lake, retracing my ride back to Shady Valley. I didn't stop at the Shady Valley General Store, which is the prime destination for many riders. I came to ride, not socialize. No time for the hundreds of bikers standing around telling war stories. I like to make my stories as I ride, and I'll them to ya here. Much better this way. Don't ya think?