https://www.relive.cc/view/vZqNnG78W3qThis past week has been 100% riding weather. I was house and dog bound most of it.
Sandra was away meeting an old friend in Savannah, GA and then riding a rugged Jeep trail as a passenger/spotter with her eldest son Nick somewhere in the depths of the
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recarea/?recid=48934Wednesday I decided to leave the dog on trust and go for a quick zoom about.
Pulled out onto Hwy 19 headed west towards Cherokee. I'm in the left hand lane because the right hand lane becomes right turn only a short way ahead of me.
A gaggle of Patched Harley riders erupt from a gas station on the left so being courteous I move to the right lane so they can take the left lane. No acknowledgment from any of them. I assume they have death grips on their grips in case they might have to "lay 'er down".
A quick shift back to the left lane and I tuck in behind at a non invasive distance.
The fun is yet to come.
They settle at about 10 over the posted limit and away we head up the mountain side passing the lookout tower with its sign claiming to be "The most photographed view in the Smokies".
The road widens into 2 uphill lanes and the group ahead keeps in the left and we are at the first of a few sweeping curves leading to the summit.
A twist of the throttle and I slip by the 4 bikes at the rear as they push their bikes down into the curve whilst trying to keep their upper bodies vertical. A straight away and the bikes ahead convert more gas to noise without any appreciable increase in velocity.
They slow for the left sweeper and I wait a second to make sure they don't use both lanes to make the curve. Now I can accelerate past them in the curve keeping to the right of my lane to avoid any unintended lane incursions.
As I turn onto the BRP access road a check in my mirror shows no headlights behind me.
At the Stop sign at the BRP I have to wait a couple of seconds for a car and 2 bikes to pass and the group pulls up behind me.
I pull out and the group is soon left behind after the first couple of bends.
I make the turn onto Heintooga Rd and all is calm and quiet with the promise of elk sighting.
There are 3 overlooks along this road that have some great views of the Smokies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ESf4Ldc0U
The paved road ends and the road becomes a forest road.
At the Mile High Overlook I spoke with a couple of bicyclists who told me they were going to ride the forest road to Cherokee tomorrow.
I didn't try to dissuade them but I drove the length in a Jeep and it took over 4 hours. They were on road bikes fitted with road/trail tires.
More power to them. I hope they had a good supply of puncture repair patches.
Back to the BRP and I wait for a slow moving SUV to pass. The driver is looking into Heintooga Road. I turn to follow them retracing my earlier route.
The SUV pulls into an overlook and stops and I pull up next to them. The driver lowers his window and we exchange greetings. I tell him I saw him looking into the road I was exiting and that the overlooks were worth going to. The couple thank me and after a few more pieces of local tourist advice I bid them farewell and away I go.
Further on I pull into an overlook and past a small group of bikes.
After I take a photo of the mountains below I walk back and we exchange words of greeting.
I ask which way they are headed and they tell me north. I ask if the know Waterrock Knob and get a no response. I suggest they make the short ride up to the wonderful 270 degree mountain views near the summit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterrock_KnobI ride on to the next photo view overlook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhdiw1_0NtUThen back onto the 4 lane and home.
