Monthly Archives: November 2009

Motorcycle Quote / Photo for the Day

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Young riders pick a destination and go… Old riders pick a direction and go.
– Author Unknown.

Photo - Roaring Run Road, Virginia

Roaring Run Road, Virginia – isn’t this what we’re all hoping to find?

Trust your instincts and feelings when exploring and you’ll often be rewarded. I’d passed by this road earlier in the day yet something drew me to circle back later and investigate it. Despite rain and the failing light near the end of the day, I backtracked and was rewarded with one of the most beautiful rides of the trip. It was worth it.

Roaring Run Road in Virginia is just a short ride, a little more than 4 miles long, but it was so nice I stopped for a photo to share with you. It was probably once just a remote and rugged forest road over a ridge, but it had been recently paved with clean smooth asphalt that maintains the curvy character you see here for its length as it follows the course of a mountain stream. It goes from nowhere to nowhere, but it’s the kind of places I’m always looking for.

This road and many others like it are found on America Rides Map “Great Rides Near the Start of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia“.

Motorcycle Quote for Today

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Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.
~Hunter Thompson

Photo - Carving a curve on Charlie's Creek Road

If you’re not hanging off it, you’re not trying!

Ahh, one of my favorite backwoods twisties, Charlie’s Creek Road. My wife calls it “the most dangerous road we ride”. The “Tail of the Dragon” is tame in comparison. It’s predictable. Charlie’s Creek Road throws everything at you, tempting you to roll harder on the throttle then throwing it right back in your face if you give in too freely. Can’t get enough of roads like this and it’s not hard to. It’s part of a 100 mile loop I love which keeps you on the edge of your tires the entire time.

You find this road and the others in the loop on America Rides Maps “The Best Roads South of Great Smoky Mountains National Park – EAST“, a.k.a. the waterfall map, and it’s just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Take the time to check it out when you’re coming this way.

Motorcycle Quote for Today

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“Two-lane blacktop isn’t a highway – it’s an attitude.”
– Author Unknown

Photo - two motorcycles passing beneath Backbone Rock, TN

Two riders approach the tunnel through Backbone Rock, Tennessee

SR 133 is found on America Rides Map “Great Roads Near Boone, Banner Elk, And Blowing Rock“. It’s part of one of my favorite loop rides in the area, a ride which clips the corners of three states – Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. There are sections which rival the infamous “Tail of the Dragon” and a wonderful area to spend time on two wheels.

Rock Slide on US 64 near Cleveland, Tennessee

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Yet another rock slide has occurred in the southern mountains, this time closing a section of roadway on US 64 in the Ocoee River Gorge of Polk County, Tennessee. A series of slides has blocked both lanes at mile 17.4 near the Ocoee 2 Dam. As of yet, it remains unstable as the remnants of rain from tropical storm Ida play out over the southern mountains.

Photos and more details can be found at this link;
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/nov/11/rock-slide-shuts-down-us-64-through-polk-county/?local

TDOT’s recommended detour route from Chattanooga and Cleveland toward the Copper Basin or McCaysville, Ga., is:

North on I-75 to Exit 60 at Sweetwater, then south on State Route 68 to Ducktown.

From North Carolina;

Take U.S. 74 to Ducktown and go north on SR 68. Traffic is being rerouted along State Route 68 through Tellico Plains and Sweetwater, Tenn.

The detour more than doubles the trip time between Copperhill and Cleveland.

Wayne@americaridesmaps.com

>> Go To America Rides Maps.com – http://americaridesmaps.com