Doug and I had decided the night before that if there was rain in the area that we would avoid the Blueridge Parkway and just take the Interstate home. Neither of us really wanted to do this because riding on the Interstate with a motorcycle is terribly boring. The weather in the immediate area of Cherokee was 90% overcast and it looked like it the bottom would drop out at any moment. The weather radar indicated that we would run into rain about 90 miles into the ride on the Parkway, but if we cut north via back roads then joined I-81 just southwest of Bristol TN. that we not hit any rain until Bristol or northeast of Bristol. I quickly laid out a route based on weather, presented it to Doug and we agreed on the route.
All parties went back to their rooms, packed, and then we loaded our bikes for departure. The only thing left to do was to top the fuel tanks in each bike and we were ready to hit the road. With a thumbs up and the GPS ready to lead, we left on our set route for the long ride home.
Our first road was US19 over the hill and into Maggie's Valley and it had been many years since I run this short but fun little twist of a road. Since most of the Memorial Weekend Vacationers had gone home, hardly anyone was on the road. We made our way through Maggie's Valley and joined US 19/23/74 and took this to 209. The first 5 to 10 miles of US209 was innocent enough and then its evil side showed up and didn't let up what seemed like forever. The trees closed in on the road and overhung like a canopy, the road started to climb, and the straights turned into one wicked switch back into another and another. Deals Gap is 11 miles long and this stretch of 209 was 25 to 30 miles long and much tighter than Deals. One minute the road was dry the next it was wet and then the occasional dirt patch was thrown in just make sure that you were paying attention. This was a per adrenaline rush. Now just for fun, put a 300 pound trailer behind you and a wife and let's see you power into a downhill corner.
We got a little rest as we went through Hot Springs on US 25/70 but as we left town, this road had some high speed sweepers that were a hoot. Lots of room to run on this road. Our next road was US 208 and unlike 209, it was nowhere near as tight, but still the same amount of fun. Once we got around Grandpa, who would not move over and let us around like most folks did, the road was a pure joy. You could carry a lot more speed though the corners and the road was dry. You might be wondering why dry was so important? 90% of the tread that channels water on my tires is gone. In some spots on the side of the tire where you lean, zero tread. That leads to a no confidence from me when leaning into a wet corner. Call me chicken. After we finished with 208 we rolled into Greenville TN and took a short break for Lori. Seems that I shook the old bladder pretty good and she let me know about it.
From Greenville to I-81 was mostly just flat country roads that transferred us from point to point. We had decided that we would stop for lunch around 12:15 so as we were rolling down I-81, I was watching the weather in front of me and the food stops on the GPS. I decided that we stop just short of what looked like a major Thunderstorm in front of us in Bristol TN.. We stop and ate, refueled our bikes, took a look at the skies and hit the road.
We ducked and dodged the first Thunderstorm and that got us up the road about 40 miles, but it was not to last and we pulled over and suited up. We hit at least 3 or 4 major down pours from this point to just south of Roanoke Va., some of which slowed us down to 50 mph, which makes you nervous on the Interstate. I remember saying to Doug somewhere along are route that if I got below 50 mph, I was bailing off the Interstate and onto Route 11 so we would not get run over by someone not looking for us or worse yet, being plowed by an 18-wheeler. It never got that bad, but just south of Roanoke, it went from Thunderstorm that we drove through to a constant light rain for the remainder of the ride home.
Our rain suits kept us mostly dry, but there were a few leaks here and there. The main culprit was the temperature drop that caused me to pull over in Staunton area to put on my Winter gloves. No more stops were required and we pulled into our driveway at 6:15. The entire trip included several stops for fuel, gear, and food took us 9:15 minutes. This was the longest leg of the trip at 443 miles.
Conclusion: I woke up this morning ready to go for some more riding, so I guess you would have to assume that I had a good time the entire time. Yea it ended in a little rain on the way home, but the entire trip was driven in 90% sunshine, so I cannot complain. We saw lot's stuff and met a lot of nice people along the way. I had no hiccups with the routes laid out, motorcycle, trailer, wife, or myself. All the hotels and restaurants we visited were fine and there we some that we fantastic. So would I do it all again? Yep in a heartbeat, but next time I want to go west to California and back.
Today’s mileage = 443
Total for the trip = 6134
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