A few other shots from today ride:

 

Hwy 18 North of Wilkesboro. Going under the Blue Ridge Parkway with Stations Inn on the Right and Freebornes on the left:

 

In your last photo there is a sign that points to Damascus Va. Have you ever done the Virginia Creeper bike trial that starts in NC and ends in Damascus?
I highly recommend it. And don’t worry there is very little peddling it’s downhill all the way.
https://www.vacreepertrail.org/

 

Funny you should ask. We have been to Damascus many times. Actually made reservations last year for bikes and woke up and it was raining cats and dogs. Hopefully we’ll get to do it soon. A lady that used to work with my wife goes up there a lot and really enjoys it.

 

Hey CR… You haven’t posted anything up in a couple of months, everything OK brother?

 

Looks like the past few days he's been busier than a one-legged cat in a sandbox...

 

BRP, Motorcycle Heaven. Thanks for sharing.

 

Hey Rocky, Yes doing well and I hope you are also. I've followed your rides. That is some beautiful country. Yeah as mentioned I have been busy. The last four months have been crazy from work, to a car accident, death in family and yes a few rides and updates on the bike. Not real sure how we have done so much but behind in posting for sure. Was talking to one of my church buddies that rides and looking back we were in Daytona when Covid hit. Then I went on my first Iron Butt, then our first Covid ride to Myrtle Beach. We have been up on the Parkway five or six times which we really enjoy. Visited a few dealerships in the area we had not been to in some time. Then we went to Birmingham, AL to Barber Motor Sports Park and over in to Lousiana to see the ambush site of Bonnie & Clyde. We recently did a long weekend in Maggie Valley which was awesome. I'll try and get caught up by the end of the week.
CR

 

2020 Annual Wild Hogs Ride



“Hurricane Sally Edition”



3 Friends, 3 Bikes, 4 Days, 3 Nights, 6500 Feet, 43 degrees to 77 degrees, rain and lots of Great Roads



Praise be to God for another wonderful ride, beautiful county, good weather, good food and friends.



We rolled out of my undisclosed bunker just west of the twin cities that tobacco built at 7am on Wednesday the 16th of September. With our bikes pointed West we cruised I-40 through Statesville, through Hickory, Morganton, Marion. I jumped off at Old Fort at the base of Black Mountain to show the guys “Andrew’s Geyser”. Must to my dismay it was DRY! Oh well they got to see where it is and learn the history of how it came to be. Hopefully it’ll be flowing again soon. As we rolled back onto 40 there was a terrible 18-wheeler accident East bound down near the base of Black Mountain. We hope the guy lived to tell about it. In no time we arrived at Exit #53 for Bat Cave and the Blue Ridge Parkway. In no time we had climbed about the 2500-foot range and into the clouds. The weather is dry, overcast and in the lower 60’s. We were all very comfortable and excited about the trip. As we reached 3500-feet visibility was getting very low and we were running around 25 mph. As we broke through the clouds at 4500-feet WOW we saw the sun shinning bright and it was amazing looking down over the clouds laying in the valleys. We all knew at that moment this was going to be a great ride! We stopped at three lookouts for photo’s because it was so beautiful. Our next stop was at the highest point on the BRP motor road which is 6,053 feet. After a couple of hours on the BRP it was lunch time. We ran down to the beautiful city of Dillsboro and had a wonderful BBQ lunch at Haywood Smokehouse. Time to roll and we jumped on 74 and toward Bryson City, got on 19 and rode the river stopping at the NOC to watch the guides practice rescues which was cool. Before we knew it, we had arrived at our home base for the next two days. The Two Wheel Inn in Robbinsville. We must have talked with Eva and Dan the owners for an hour and finally got into our rooms, unloaded the bikes and tucked them away safely in the garages that each room has. We met for dinner around 6:30pm and we were hungry. We walked across the parking lot to the Moonshine Steakhouse and it was every bit as good as we had been told. One guy had a steak, one a burger and I had Cajun chicken tacos and we were all pleased. Before we were finished with dinner it started to rain. We knew the rain was coming from Hurricane Sally and it arrived on schedule. We had originally planned to spend a night in Helen, GA but changed those plans because of the hurricane. It rained steady all night long. At 7am on day two I’m outside sitting under the eve waiting for the guys to get up for breakfast. We walked over to the Moonshiner at about 9am and enjoyed a very good breakfast. Met a couple of HD riders from Syracuse, NY and had a nice conversation with them. We got maps out and shared a couple of roads with them to hit on their return home.



As we walk back to the room the rain is very light and the sun it trying to break through the clouds. We put on our rain gear and hit 129 toward the Deals Gap. Along the way we stopped and met three guys from Dallas, Texas. They were all riding Road Glides with crazy long pull back handlebars. One of them offered me to sit on his bike and see how those bars feel. They are not for me!



One of our crew had never been to the dragon before. We stopped at the dam for pictures and while at Deals Gap store the rain was slowing to a drizzle. After pictures and introducing him to the “Tree of Shame we saddled up and hit the dragon. When we reached the lookout near the center top it was dry, and the rain gear came off and we never used it the rest of the ride. Our next stop was in Tennessee at the US 129 Dragon HD tee shirt store. After spending a few bucks, we were rolling on into TN, hit hwy 72 over to 411 and stopped for fuel and lunch. Then we pointed toward Tellico Plains, TN. We stopped at Cherohala HD tee shirt store. Then we leaned right and ran the Cherohala Skyway back to Robbinsville. It was cloudy above 3000 feet and we never popped out above the clouds as I had hoped. Back in Robbinsville the sun was shining, and it was 72 degrees. My buddies went back to the Moonshine Steakhouse for dinner and chilled and washed my bike. Day three after another good night’s rest and another good breakfast we hit to road back toward Deals Gap. But this time we leaned right onto the Moonshiner 28 toward Fontana Lake and Dam. There were bikes in large groups headed toward the Dragon. We rode it on the right day for sure! Had many stops along the way for pictures. Then we hit the “Water Fall Trail” in Franklin toward Highlands and got a real treat at “Dry Falls”. The recent rain had it flowing at three times more than I have seen before. It was absolutely beautiful. Wish I could post video. We backed tracked and ran over to Cherokee and stopped at the HD tee shirt shop. Then we hit 19 back over the mountain to Maggie Valley where we stayed with our good friend Thelma. We got there about 3:30pm, and immediately took a nap and met up at 6:30 for a one mile walk to J. Arthur’s for a steak. The meal was excellent, and I enjoyed the walk back to the room. My buddies wished we had ridden down.



After a great night’s rest, I was on the balcony early listening to the trout stream and enjoying coffee. Not long afterwards my buddy Ralph showed up. Ralph and I have been friends for 12 years. We have ridden 12 states together and several thousand miles. If you have read some of my previous ride reports, you will know Ralph. The other guy with us is Chuck. He is a friend of about 7 years who happens to also be my Sunday School Teacher. He rode many years ago and just got his 2005 Ultra last year. This was the first ever overnight trip he has ever done and the most miles he has ever rode on one trip. We packed up and rode down to Country Vittles for breakfast before hitting the road on day four and our final day of the trip. We ran 74 to I-40 back to Asheville and stopped for fuel. Then we jumped on the BRP north bound toward Mt. Mitchell. We climbed up over 4k feet quickly and stopped at Craggy Gardens for pictures and then proceeded to Mt. Mitchell. If you are not aware Mt. Mitchell is the highest point East of the Mississippi here in the good old USA. You can drive up to 6,578 feet and you have to walk/hike to the summit. We went from 62 degrees in Asheville for gas down to 43 degrees at 6500 feet. Ralph plugged in and Chuck was a little cold, but he was not complaining. I had the perfect number of layers on and it felt GREAT. We had planned to ride the Parkway all the way to 421 and roll home from there. However, the decision was made to take Hwy 80 down to Marion and hit I-40 back. If you have never ridden Hwy 80 it is another one of those roads that is probably better than the Dragon! There were lots of bikes passing by heading uphill. When we got to Marion it was 22 degrees warmer in less than 30 minutes. Now 65 degrees we stopped for a drink, snack and to shed some gear.



We all arrived back home before 4pm. Total mileage was 796.1.



Day 1 = 304.8

Day 2 = 135.7

Day 3 = 155.6

Day 4 = 200.0

 

Parkway just south of Ashville over 4000 feet looking down at the clouds.






Chuck on the right