Smoky Mountain Rider

IN ACCORDANCE WITH GENERAL STATUTUE 20-16 (a) (10a) & 20-23 FOR SPEEDING IN EXCESS OF 80 MPH – 00S YOUR NORTH CAROLINA DRIVING PRIVLEDGE HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR SUSPENSION.So reads the OFFICIAL NOTICE. The DOT likes that ALL-CAPS print. I suppose they want to be sure I get the message. Trust me guys, I got [...]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SerCyf_d2q0&hl=en&fs=1] This video shows a dozen or so of the roadside waterfalls included on America Rides Maps “The Best Roads South of Great Smoky Mountains National Park – EAST“. When combined with the campanion map “The Best Roads South of Great Smoky Mountains National Park – WEST“, nearly 20 roadside waterfalls can be enjoyed on [...]

The section of the Blue Ridge Parkway near the highest mountain east of the Mississippi which has been closed for nearly 1 1/2 years due to a slide is set to open on Friday, May 15. Located about 20 miles north of Asheville, NC, near milepost 367, the visitor center at Craggy Gardens will also [...]

Did you get any rain? What’s it doing over there? It’s blowing like a hurricane over here, what’s it like at your house? So begin many phone conversations amongst friends and family – in town. There are times when the weather is similar everywhere. When a major rainy front moves across the country or a [...]

A few times each year I read about a motorcycle wreck nearby on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s a small town so details travel fast, often not reported in the newspaper. The story is typical – somebody hit a guardrail in a turn and either them or both they and the bike went over it. [...]

The Lynn Cove Viaduct is located at milepost 304.6 on the Blue Ridge Parkway where it skirts Grandfather Mountain at an elevation of 4100 feet. It’s just outside the town of Banner Elk, NC. and not far from Boone, NC., convenient midway stopping points for a cruise down our nations longest National Park. Completed in [...]

The jaws of Alligator Rock loom ominously over the roadway on NC 215 not far from Rosman, NC., near the point where NC 215 makes a brief intersection with US 64. Beleive it or not, it’s easy to miss Alligator rock as you zip beneath it – this section of road is very tight and [...]

One of the greatest things about getting off the main roads is the secret sights revealed, some beautiful, some awe inspiring, others curious. The mountains are full of old barns, enough to keep any “old barn aficionado” busy with his camera for the rest of his days. This one was unique though as it was [...]

Here’s another trick from the motorcycle racetrack which has applications on the street and will improve your ability to carve through the curves by slowing the whole process down and making the turn less sharp. These are not pure racing lines. Save those more elliptical and aggressive paths for where they belong. This is a [...]