https://www.relive.cc/view/vNOP4RyJKYOI posted on the Maggie Valley Rides FB page if anyone wanted to ride.
Jason from South Carolina replied and we arranged to meet at 10 in the morning.
He had been to MV a few times before with his wife but was traveling solo this time.
Riding a very nice looking black and chrome 2014 Indian.
No one else showed up so at 10 sharp we headed north on Hwy 276 out of MV.
Tuning off the 4 lane onto Rabbitskin Rd. a black cloud belching, gravel hauling dump truck pulled out in front of us and after a few miles was able to pull over to let us go past.
We stopped so Jason could shop at the “Rattler” store and get a photo in front of the “Rattler” sign.
Pretty uneventful ride through Mars Hill and Marshal until we passed under I 40 and started heading south on 352 from the Old Asheville Hwy. About 8 miles and there's a large tree across the road. Relive linked the photo in the wrong location. That and downed power lines meant a U turn and we dropped into the local firehouse to tell them about the tree. They told us the power went out about 15 minutes earlier. At the point we were stopped by the tree we were only about 30 miles from the Bobarosa Saloon.
Jason had never been to the Bobarosa so we decided to backtrack and get there for lunch. The new route was about 70 miles.
Pretty uneventful again backtracking apart from a couple of slow moving vehicles.
Stopped for gas in Del Rio, TN and saw smoke across the valley. My first thought was the Bobarosa is on fire. Happily it wasn't but the forest across the road from the Bobarosa and up a hill was and we could see a fire fighting helicopter dropping water it had sucked up from the French Broad River.
The burger was good as usual. Not the best but for the price and speed of delivery to table it's good value.
Then another uneventful ride back through Hot Springs and south on “The RATTLER”. On the last downhill section we caught up to a pickup towing a medium size open cattle trailer. The driver decided it was a race and at EVERY right bend they pulled all the way into the left lane so they could carry more speed through the bend. Blatant stupidity without regard to other road users.
Stopped close to where I was going to turn off back to MV. Said our goodbyes and Jason rode off to his AirBnB in Waynesville.
