I spent the day riding in Tennessee mostly around Newport. It’s not a particularly scenic area hence so few photos. Most of the motorcycle rides I explored were not up to the quality I was looking for, but I more or less expected that. Even so, I did add a few good connectors and found a couple of outstanding rides.
This is Rocky Flats Road on the north side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It's freshly paved and a very nice ride through some tight and hilly country.
There are a lot of little single lane roads, barely paved, in this region. It reminded me of some of the roads in western Virginia. If you’re into adventure riding you won’t run short of options. I strayed down a lot of bumpy little backroads, but few have enough scenery to make me want to revisit them. Unfortunately, when good scenery did present, the winter sun was so low in the sky I couldn’t get a decent photo.
It's common for the back roads to follow creeks and streams. It was difficult to find sunny spots to shoot photos as the winter sun is so low and the valleys so steep.
I think I covered what was needed for the motorcycle ride map I’m working on. If not, I’ll be back through this way once I get into the next map. I’ve still got to head south again and make a sweep along the border with South Carolina and Georgia. There are a handful of possibilities I want to check on there.
The Foothills Parkway was closed when I rode over this morning, but open on my return. I hit once patch of snow on it but it was no problem. I snapped this photo from an overlook.
The weather is supposed to turn for the worse with rain / snow moving in tomorrow. I’d chance another half day out but I’ve run out of tread on the rear tire. It will be Monday before I can get it replaced, though the coming snow may delay rides for several more days. Glad I got this done now.
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- Wayne Busch – Cartographer
