Dedicated Video Post!!!

441 South from Gatlinburg to Cherokee

Nothing was open so I could eat. Turned around and headed back up 441 to Gatlinburg for some dinner.

My first try on US129. It was extremely wet which made it that much more entertaining.

My final run on the Dragon for the day. It was my third go at it. Run number 2 is for my own personal memory banks :)

And that concludes my recording of this fantastic trip. Thanks for riding along with me.

Who knew getting home would be so hard...

March 17th

More rain. Steady and cold. Hit snooze too many times and I'm running late getting things together. Jarvis still needs a looking over before we hit the road and I need to eat.

Everything was packed the night before so that's taken care of and just needs to be hooked up to the bike. Maintenance is done and I still have to eat, check out, and get gas. I'm really short on time, so I wolf down two cereal bars. Gear up, check out and head to the ridiculously expensive gas station. Water is already starting to penetrate my gear and I haven't even left town yet. It's slow going due to clouds again and I choose not to take 32 out since it's super wet and I don't want to do the unpaved portion in the rain. I go the normal way GPS tells me and right before I get onto 40 my front cylinder drops.

For those who are familiar with the SV650, this is an all too common issue that is easily rectified with the application of dialectric grease to the spark plug boot. I had done this prior to leaving, but removing and cleaning the boot on the way up rendered that useless. I know exactly what to do, but I need to find a place to stop to do my work. A rest stop should do the trick. It's freezing and this is the first time I can see my breath in my helmet.

This is where people started to offer assistance to get me on my way. A first for me, I must say.

Another older couple parks beside Jarvis at the rest stop as I'm sitting on the ground in the freezing rain with my hands in his innards trying to dry up the spark plug port. They ask how far I have to go and I can see the concern on the woman's face as I tell them I'm alright and I've done this fix many times before. They go inside the visitors center, do their business and come out just as I get everything set and fire Jarvis up.

He's running OK now, but the woman is still insisting that I take a dry towel she is trying to give me. I respectfully decline, telling her that it wouldn't be very dry in a few minutes anyway and thank her for the offer. The couple give me their well wishes and off they go. Not 30 seconds after they leave, the cylinder drops again and I haven't even left the parking lot. I hurry to get going in hopes that the heat from the engine will help evaporate the water, but there is just too much moisture on the road and I end up causing a back-up in traffic because I have very little power to negotiate the hilly mountain road. Every vehicle on the highway is trying to get by me so I pull off at the very next exit to find a gas station in hopes that they carry the dialectric grease I so dearly need. No dice. Every other automotive thing you could imagine... except for what I need. So I grab some more towels and get to drying things out again.

The rain has died a smidge, so I thought I would get lucky and finally get the engine up to temperature to boil off any excess water. Nope. Same story, different on-ramp. The next exit is for Canton and looks a little more populated than the previous ones I limped into. There is an Ingles grocery store and I finally feel like I will catch a break trying to find what I need. I call my fiancee' on the headset to update her on the situation and ask her what time it is since I don't want to take my phone out in the rain. 10 in the morning. It has taken me 2 hours to go 63 miles. FANTASTIC! As I wander around the Ingles, a voice behind me asks "Hey, didn't I pass you on 40? You were going awfully slow for a bike." An older gentleman who owns the voice walks up and I explain to him what the situation is and what I'm looking for. He says they probably won't have any, but walks around with me anyway to try and find it. I guess he could see how frustrated I was getting and tells me that he might have something in his work truck that could help. Electrical contact spray or something. I thank him, but spray would wash off just as soon as it is applied in my case. He goes on his way to finish his grocery store run and I'm finally able to get my phone out to aid in my adventure without it getting soaked since I'm indoors.

I find an auto parts store about a mile from where I am! Finally!!! Light at the end of the tunnel! As I'm getting my gear on, the man from Ingles has found me in the parking lot and pulls up next to me, rather adamant that I use the spray he has, which is now in his hand hanging out the window. Again, I politely decline and thank him, but tell him what I've found not too far away. I shake his hand and get back on the road, very slowly. It's only a mile, but I still miss a turn and end up going into some sort of factory that smelled of sh**. Turn around, make the proper turn and find my auto parts store. I buy a small tube of grease, just enough to cover what I need. Grab some more paper towels and get to work. I'm pretty sure that I was colder in Canton than when I was in Gatlinburg. I was having a hard time working my fingers because of the cold, but I still got it done.

While I was working in the parking lot, another Canton resident comes over and asks me if I'm alright. I explain my situation again and he tells me that he's a member of the "G2 Riders". I can't remember his name to save my life. He tells me it's a legitimate operation and would have given me his card if he had one on him. I'm in the process of putting everything back together when he lets me know that I can contact him through a phone number (that I immediately forgot) and he and his friends will get a truck to take me and the bike somewhere so I can use their tools to finalize my repairs and get my operation back on the road. It is a very generous offer, and I am rather skeptical about it since I'm so far from home, but I know all I need to do is liberally apply some grease to my spark plug boot and button everything back up. Sure enough, that's all I needed. Jarvis' idle was bouncing all over the place while I let him warm up, but I think it was just from how cold it was at that particular moment. Fairly certain it was the coldest either one of us had experienced together, wind chill and all.

I can't find anything on the "G2 Riders" anywhere on the web, Facebook, or anything of the like. If anyone happens to come across this and/or knows of this group, please tell them I said thank you for the extremely generous offer to help me get home. I greatly appreciated your genuine concern to get a fellow rider back on the road.

Finally headed home for good! The grease did the trick and Jarvis is running like the champ he is. The rain never stops. The hours go by, people sending me their well wishes as they pass by me at gas stations and rest stops. I had to stop more than I would have liked in order to ring out my gloves. The nitrile gloves had long since bitten the dust during my attempts at repairs, so it was just regular gloves and under-liners. Since I hadn't eaten a proper breakfast, my body was much colder than usual during my stop for lunch. It took me 25 minutes to properly warm up and be able to use my fingers for more delicate tasks like using the phone or handling money. I don't think I have ever enjoyed a cup of coffee so much in my life, or a meatball sub for that matter. Altogether I think that break lasted nearly 45 minutes.

Getting closer to home, I begin to realize that there is not a dry spot on me. My headset had stopped working some hours ago, Jarvis' speedometer was behaving strangely because of the rain not letting up at all during the entire trek. Until I made my last gas stop at the Woodbine exit, where it reduced to a drizzle. An hour left and it was 7 pm. I just wanted to get home. Would have already been home, showered, eaten dinner and unpacked had it not been for the malfunctions as soon as I got on the road. Made the call to update my ETA, gassed up and made the final streak.

Rounded the corner to see the garage already open and my smiling fiancee' awaiting my arrival. 12.5 hours later, my adventure had come to a close. It was an awesome feeling to pull in and officially put the kickstand down on such an incredible trip. 

An Epic Sunday Funday

March 16th

It's raining. A drizzle at first while walking to go eat breakfast at the Donut Friar, but it ended up becoming a steady downpour by the time I left. 

Inside the Donut Friar

I could clearly see those mountains the day before.

I was in a hurry to get on the road because I was really excited and had completely forgot to grab the box of attachments for the cameras before I left. That left me with my helmet mount for the ActionCam only. Bummer, but I still got some good stuff. Headed south on 73/441 for a bit to Old Scenic Highway 73 and Little River Road to the strip that would lead me to Foothills Parkway. I didn't mean to take Little River road, but I'm glad I did. I would have missed some beautiful stuff.

The rain had picked up by now, but I was still able to get some amazing views from the parkway. This photo sums up my views until I got to US129.

Note the soaking wet asphalt.

The parkway takes you straight to US129. I stopped for a little bit next to a huge rock outcropping on Chilowee lake to ring out my gloves and warm up some. For some reason, I got extremely excited during this stop. I was yelling as loud as I could and laughing, not believing that Jarvis and I had actually made it. Aside from a car here or there, things were quite desolate. I had not seen another motorcycle since I-95. Despite the rain, cold and general removal from everything, I was unbelievably happy at that moment. 

Putting things into perspective...

I thought there would be more signs indicating when the Tail of the Dragon actually started, so I didn't realize that I was on it until I had the first few curves under my belt. 

"Hey, you're about to be on The Dragon"

Stopped, fired up the ActionCam, and filmed my first, very wet, run on the Dragon. It was loads of fun even with the rain. Before I knew it the Deal's Gap resort was in front of me. I pulled aside so I could dry off and buy some tokens of my completion of this famed road. A small truck had pulled over to let me pass during my run, and it had also come into the resort. The old couple that was in it walked up to speak with me, the lady starting off the conversation with "You're a true die-hard!!!". Continued to tell them that I was up from Florida and it was actually my very first time on the road. 

Awwww yeahhh!!! Nothing to donate!

Needless to say, they were impressed. Hung out in the maintenance bays to dry off a little more and congratulate myself on not having anything to donate to the famed tree of shame. So I buy a hat and some stickers, chat with the employees that were working for a bit on where I should go next, then got back on the road headed for the Cherohala Skyway.

Honestly, I couldn't really tell you much about the North Carolina side of the Skyway because I COULDN'T SEE A DAMN THING. It was covered in clouds and I could barely see more than 30 feet in front of me. At first it wasn't that bad, but as soon as the climb started, man did things turn sour. Prior to riding into the clouds, I was actually admiring how cool they looked crawling down the mountainside. Little did I know that for the next 45 minutes Jarvis and I would be going 30 mph up this winding road. A small break allowed me to assess the full gravity of my situation... 

Where I just came from...

Where I was going...

I passed the highest point of the road at 5,377 feet but didn't bother to take a picture of the sign because I was just too damn cold. Shortly after, something wonderful happened. THE SUN CAME OUT!!! Never thought that something so simple would bring me so much joy. I stopped at the first pull off I found, parked the bike and spread out on the ground to stretch and warm up. If you ever get the chance to ride through a cloud at the top of a mountain, I would suggest that you pass up the opportunity. The down hill back into Tennessee was beautiful and made for some spectacular views. I tried to stop for pictures as often as I could, but by this time I was so cold and hungry that I wanted to get to Tellico Plains as quickly as possible. 

"Sunshine yes! Sunshine yes!"

Winding through the valleys was uber fun and I did actually have to brake for wildlife once as I came through a turn. A fairly large buck decided to plant himself in my line, but took off before he could cause me any more trouble. Arrived at Tellico Plains around 2:00 and ate at the TelliCafe and conversed with some wonderfully hospitable people. The old lady who ran the place kept wanting to feed me coffee and place my gloves over the oven to get them warm and dry. That beats Jacksonville "hospitality" any day.

During my research before the trip and speaking with the Deal's Gap employee, I added "Moonshiner 28" to the list of roads I wanted to complete, but I had to go a round-about way to get back there since there was no way I was going to head back over the skyway considering what I had just dealt with. Went up 68 to whatever the main road is it runs into to 72 then US129. Did the Dragon again in order to get to 28 and noticed that it was drying up. Made a note to come back this way in order to do it one more time going north. 

Just one of a thousand waterfalls I passed.

Fontana Dam

28 was more relaxed a very pretty. Civilization was so far and few between that I could essentially stop in the middle of the road to take pictures and rest, as shown in the waterfall picture above. Made a stop at Fontana Dam to take some pictures and continued on my way. Went up and over some more mountains and through more clouds to get to Robbinsville, gas up and head north on 129. Cell coverage was nil in these areas and GPS on my phone was generally unavailable, so I actually had to use a paper map to figure out where the hell I was. Filmed a fast, third and final run on the Dragon. It started out wet, but dried up nicely afterwards. Went on to take Foothills Parkway back to Gatlinburg. Because it was raining that morning, I missed a lot of the views offered by the pull-offs. Because it cleared up for the most part, I was able to catch most of them on the way back. Same goes with Little River Road and Scenic 13. A pretty epic selfie was taken before I got back to the hotel.

Am I doin' it right?

You may be wondering why my hands are blue in the photo above. Through my browsing of forums, I read that wearing a pair of latex or nitrile gloves under your liners and gloves helps keep your hands warm and dry. Riding a motorcycle with hands that are wet and cold is not safe at all. This was put to the test when riding Cherohala. It did work for the most part, but there was just too much water to keep things completely dry. They never got too cold though, which made me extremely happy.

 Altogether, Jarvis and I probably scooted around the mountains for a good 300 miles that day. I tested my mettle and riding skills on many unfamiliar roads in less than favorable conditions (sometimes much less than favorable) without incident. A sigh of relief was exhaled when I did get back to the hotel. All in all, I was happy, Jarvis was happy, and everything was right in the world.

**If you're wondering where the videos are, they are still in post production so I can make them nice and pretty for you. They will have a dedicated post in a few days.**