I feel bad for you guys still dealing with winter weather. So allow me to rub it in a little!
Today is got up to 73 degrees. We rolled out around 1pm heading North toward the foothills. At Wilkesboro, NC we jumped on Hwy 18 and went up the mountain toward the Blue Ridge Parkway.
When we crossed the summit and into Allegheny County the temperature dropped 7 degrees instantly. We rolled into Freebornes and there were about a dozen bikes there, one mini bike and a rail type dune buggy.
We were great s by a big smile from Diane. Nice to see here again for the first time this year, I think. Cheryl has not returned to work and we miss her. We enjoyed a nice meal, watched bikes come and go, watched all the sports on television doing heard a few tales.
Man those onion rings were delicious!
We rolled out and went North on the parkway. Stopped at an overlook and two friends were there. Tonya rides a SGS and Chris rides a 21 Limited with 131 kit. We talked with them about a half hour and they leaned left, and we leaned right. We continued North to Hwy 21 and rode back down the mountain into Elkin. Stopped for a quick break and headed on home. Total round trip was 125 miles. The bike ran perfectly and I am digging the new Pro-Action fork kits. They made a noticeable difference.
The highest elevation we saw today was 3800 feet.
The sun never came back out later in the day. It remained overcast with rain coming in tonight. But it was still 72 degrees when we returned home.
Got to love North Carolina!
Man these onion rings were great! Just not enough of them.
Thanks for thinking about us in your nice warm weather.
Looks like another 4 - 8 cms (2 - 4”) of snow tomorrow for us here in Southern Ontario.
We will survive hopefully after spending the winter months in Puerto Vallarta lol
another week or so and we should be riding. Let’s hope!
Thanks for thinking about us in your nice warm weather.
Looks like another 4 - 8 cms (2 - 4”) of snow tomorrow for us here in Southern Ontario.
We will survive hopefully after spending the winter months in Puerto Vallarta lol
another week or so and we should be riding. Let’s hope!
Cheers, Terry
The least I can do for my friends up North. You are welcome. Especially those that rub it in from all those warm exotic locations in the winter months! LOL
Originally Posted by jeffro09
I had 48 for a high, not much sun, just over 100 miles today........beat sitting in the house all day. Glad your weather was better than mine.
Jeff, I know you ride a lot and the cold does not stand in your way. People are sometimes surprised at me when I tell them that upper 40's to mid 50's is the temperatures range I enjoy riding in the most. Warm enough not to need heated gear, and I can dress safer without burning up. Plus the bike loves those temperatures.
I too enjoy how the bike runs in the cooler temps, it's so much peppier. If we let cold temps keep us off the bike the riding season would be really short around here.
We have snow on the ground today.....so that sucks.
Yet 75 miles as the crow flies, 101 miles at the fastest route and 150 miles as we rode from home.
The Carolina Girl and I packed our orange dry spec bag and rolled out of our undisclosed bunker just west of the twin cities tobacco built at 10am Saturday morning.
This was our first overnight ride on the SGS, it first night outdoors and it’s first water wash when we returned home on Sunday.
The theme of the ride was casual, slow paced and exploration. We finally got a reservation at Linville Falls Lodge near Linville Falls and right off the BRP. It has been on our list of overnight destinations a couple of years but stays booked up.
We ran up to Wilkes County and hit Hwy 18 North. There were a lot of bikes out as the weather was beautiful. Lows in the 50’s with highs in the 70’s, DRY and little to no wind.
Our first stop after filling up with 93 octane was at our favorite motorcycle destination “Freebornes” at Laural Springs at the BRP. There was a pretty good crowd there and Diane welcomed us with her BIG smile. That girl is a machine and works 7 days a week!
After we enjoyed a good lunch, it was off to explore. Few know that in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s there was a very productive copper mine in that area. It was known as “Ore **** Mine” and is located right off highway 88. There is a lot more to this story, so we’ll come back to that later.
This old boy was having some electrical issues on his Road King. He finally got it all sorted out.
Rolling on toward Jefferson we leaned left at the river and headed south back to the BRP. Time for a restroom break so we crossed over at Glendale Springs and stopped at the Northwest Trading Post. Then it was southbound on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were going to stay on the parkway and ride up to Mt. Mitchell prior to checking into the lodge. However, the BRP is closed at Hwy 421 South to Deep Gap. Looks like it will be closed a while. In standard Cosmic Razorback style we changed our plans for the better. We stayed on Hwy 421 to Boone and jumped off on Hwy 105 to Valle Crucis where we stopped at one of the many Masts General Store locations. Met a guy in there from Colorado who thought we looked so cool with our vest and gear on. Talked to him a while and a few ladies on the porch rockers eating popcorn. We rolled out and hit one of my favorite roads. Take note here folks as this is a “MUST DO” road if in the area. We leaned left onto Hwy 194 to Banner Elk. This is a fantastic road with some intense uphill/downhill switch backs depending on your direction of travel.
Soon we were in Banner Elk and stopped to visit a couple of stops. This is a beautiful little town and gateway to the NC Snow Ski area.
Back on the road we passed the entrance to Grand Father Mountain home of the mile high swinging bridge. We leaned right back on Hwy 105 headed toward Linville Falls.
We arrived at the lodge at 3:30pm and got a very warm welcome from Wendy the manager. She is a very sweet person and goes out of her way to make you feel welcome and make sure you have everything you need. Our number one need was a great dinner restaurant and she hit one out of the park recommending the “Tin Trout”. WOW
We got into our room, walked down to the general store for a few drinks and snacks for the evening and chilled taking in the beauty of the area.
Around 5pm we rode off toward Crossnore where we found the Tin Trout about 8 miles from the lodge. This place is popular and had we not been on our bike we would have been parking in the lower grass parking area. Inside we found a great vibe and a good place that used to be a garage with a nice stream flowing in the back. Well with the word “Trout” in the name, of course I wanted trout. They have trout as an appetizer, sandwich, salad, and main course dinner including smoked and grilled. The lady waiting on us recommended the grilled which came with two sides. I will sum this up very easy. “IT WAS THE BEST TROUT I HAVE EVER HAD”. The Carolina Girl had the same and she like me was amazed at how wonderful this dinner was. Of course, they have a great selection of homemade deserts also and we shared a large chocolate browning with ice cream and whipped cream. We left headed back to the lodge with all smiles. Stopped to top off with fuel and arrived back at the lodge around 7:30pm.
We sat out on our private deck and enjoyed the beautiful temps and watched the sun going down. Our neighbors next to us bought firewood and another couple in a cabin went exploring for wood nearby. They invited us to join them at the firepit and we had a wonderful conversation enjoying the fire until around 10:30pm. One couple was from Orlando, Florida and the other couple from Knoxville, TN. There was another couple that also joined us that were very interesting. He was from Scotland, and she was from England. They are both currently professors at UNC in Durham, NC. We really enjoyed the evening with these people that we will probably never see again. Time for bed!
Total mileage for day one was 179. Belinda ran perfectly and it a real joy on the twisty mountain roads.
We both slept very well waking up around 7am. I got up and showered and went back on the deck while the Carolina Girl got ready. It was 52 degrees out, felt wonderful and so quiet and peaceful. Then we were in for our next treat of the trip. We walked down the hill to Louise’s Rock House for breakfast. This is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1936 and has a unique twist. Three counties, McDowell County, Burke, and Avery Counties all meet inside. We enjoyed breakfast in Burke County. The food and service were excellent and it’s on our list of places to visit again when riding the area.
Easy 200 yard walk from the lodge.
We’re loaded up and ready to roll out when Wendy comes over and tells us how much she has enjoyed us staying with them. She invited us back and we sure hope to stay there again in the future. Our next stop was the Linville Caverns. It is just three miles down the very curvy mountain road and it’s been 30 years since we were last there. Much to our surprise they still require masks to enter and down in the cave. Screw that, I am done with the whole mask crap. We walked around and enjoyed the stream before heading out.
I asked the Carolina Girl if she wanted to go to Mt. Mitchell or to Linville Falls (actual waterfalls). The falls won out so Northbound on the BRP it was. In a few short miles we arrived to an almost empty parking lot. We headed down the trail 1.4 miles to the first and most popular view of the upper falls. Got some good pictures and hiked back to the bike. There was a lady on the bridge painting a picture of the stream which was looking good. We did not bother her, but I did take a picture of her picture. As we were getting on the bike a couple rode in on a new Hightail Yellow Pearl HD RG. First one I have seen outdoors. Beautiful bike!
Continuing North on the BRP we soon pass by Grand Father Mountain and arrive at what was the final connection that completed the BRP, the Linn Cove Viaduct. It is cool riding across it. I failed to pack extra GoPro batteries and did not bring the charger. I had enough battery power to video the area. We rode over and turned around and stopped at one of the overlooks for a few other pictures. Met a super nice guy there from Montana who is considering moving to NC and had 1000 questions.
Okay guys, listen up for road tip #2. In my opinion this road puts the Dragon to shame. We rode back South a mile or so and leaned left on Hwy 221 S toward Blowing Rock.
It’s been a while since we last took this road and it’s even better than I remember. Downhill southbound is the best in my opinion as you have nothing but high drop-offs on your right all the way down with no guardrails. There is a little dip in every turn and absolutely no room for error. There only a few pull offs and they have a lot of loose gravel. If you are paying attention, you can get a quick glimpse up the skirt of the BRP viaduct bridge a few 100 yards above you in one of the turns. We stopped at the rest area near the bottom for a quick break and met a couple from Charlotte on an FJR. He had a Ironbutt license plate frame and we struck up a conversation. We ended up running with them back to Freebornes for a late lunch. We ran the BRP all the way except for the detour around between Deep Gap and Hwy 421, maybe five miles.
The bikes were out in force! We arrived and there were about 100 bikes outside Freebornes and standing room only inside. Even the Outlaws were there occupying two tables in the dining area. The place was as busy as I have ever seen it and it took a little over an hour for our food. It was all good as we were enjoying the conversation and enjoying seeing and hearing the bikes roll by even more. The couple we were with went over to Blondies next door for a beer and we met them back out front as we all were leaving. They led the way down Hwy 18 to Wilkesboro and we rolled on home. We arrived back at 4pm with 154 miles on the clock for a two-day total of 333 miles.
While never being over 100 miles from home as the crow flies, it felt like 1000 miles!
What a great way to kick off the riding season in the North Carolina Mountains.
04-17-2022 | 07:45 PM
