Noon and 40F on the thermometer.
Relive and my phone conspired and only recorded my route up to the Clingmans Dome turn off.
I took a photo of the closed gate at that point. I saw the photo on my phone and when I got home"POUF" gone.
Any road salt was washed away at the end of last week by heavy rain and my only concern was water runoff freezing in shaded areas of the road.
However the road over the mountain to Cherokee was clear apart from a couple of slow cars.
Riding up the south side of Newfound Gap Road was in the sunshine and the bar code shading of leafless trees across the road was only a minor distraction.
Plenty of drivers out enjoying the sunshine and clear blue skies.
At the entrance to Clingmans Dome a young guy came over and asked me if he and his family could walk up to the top. I told him that the Road Closed sign meant to all types of traffic and that it was about 6 miles to the top. The family decided to use the few piles of snow to bombard him with snowballs. I don't think they see much snow in some parts of India.
I turned left out of the side road and putt buckered immediately. The shaded road surface on the north side of the mountain was black and I couldn't tell if it was damp, wet or .............
The ominous road sign "Beware of ICE" was the decider and I was able to do a U turn and head back to Cherokee. I was going to go ride the Foothills Parkway before the road closures came into effect.
Back to Cherokee and then the long way home on the 4 lane to blow the cobwebs out. A stop at Dunkin" Donuts because Sandra had mentioned earlier she wanted a donut and then home.
https://www.relive.cc/view/v4OGEJM715qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtAKHHfIkgMFull route here.
https://goo.gl/maps/kdK3ZRM2ziELttqH8
