NH to Deals Gap and back in 100 hours: Part 3

Day 3:

Shortly after 6 o’clock in the morning I got out of a shower, loaded my gear on the bike, and turned on a local weather channel. There was some talk of a snowstorm in Chicago and the cold front heading up my way. Well, the weather outside looked nothing like it – mid seventies – but the air was really humid and thick. Nevertheless, both the bear and I were happy.

The anchor was mumbling something about potential severe weather once the cold front were to arrive, which was to be within the next day or so. After breakfast, I checked out and called Devo2002. We decided to meet just south of Asheville.

I found my way to the BRP and an hour and half later I ran into Devo2002 at a pull-off. He was planning to head to Sylva, while I wanted to hit Deals Gap.

We rode what was left of the BRP together. This section of the parkway had plenty of curves, ascends and descends, and was riddled with short tunnels. A very nice ride. Unlike my previous two days, we ran into quite a few other riders and some cars.

After the mandatory photo stop at the highest point, we continued south.

At the end of the Parkway I was running low on gas again, so I decided to cut across the Cherokee Reservation on my way to Deals Gap. Devo rode with me down the winding road, which looked like a lot of fun until we arrived in the populated area. There was just too much tourist crap down there, the traffic was pretty slow, and from the sights of it (casino and shops), it did not look any different than going to any of the Indian casino areas up north. We had a lunch at a local burger joint, checked out a Tribal Police cruiser, and then Devo left for Sylva.
My shoulder was hurting pretty badly, and I needed a little break, so I parked the bike and went to get a cool drink at the casino. An hour later (and with less money), I bailed out of there and headed for Deals Gap.

A few miles after the strip, the riding became more enjoyable. After I cleared the reservation and arrived near Robbinsonville, the roads were amazing. There were quite a few other bikes on the road, and at one point I passed by a squid doing at least 100mph wearing a T-shirt. I don’t get these guys. Before heading to the Gap, I stopped by Wheelers bike shop – I underestimated the wear on my rear tire, and I could feel it becoming unstable in the twisties. I still had some thread left, but it was pretty squared, providing less support in the turns. Wheeler had a tire I could use, but putting on a new tire just before the Gap would be rather silly. I told myself that if I was in the area the next day, I would stop by and change it, but this never materialized.

Anyway, onto the Deals Gap. The entire area is filled with awesome roads. I played around rte 28 a little, some of rte 143, then headed to 129. Yes, I did stop by the store and got my Dragon sticker (had to, after all those miles). The Dragon itself was a nice ride. Very cool curves, switching back and forth. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic, and except one supermoto I waved to pass me, there was no one behind me or in front of me. Still, the squared rear tire kept my speed in check. A few photos shot by Killboy:

 After that, I pulled off and enjoyed the spectacular views of the dam.

I guess I’m not all that excited about the Gap. Sure, it was a nice ride, and had many, many curves. Was it worth the trip? Yes, it was, and I’m glad I did it.  But there are many roads in the Northeast that I find more thrilling. I’m fortunate to have ridden on a few amazing roads in my life, and one that I tend to compare other roads to is La Masca in the Canary Islands. That sucker was just plain amazing.

Photo courtesy of: www.amazing-world-in-free-stock-pictures-and-photos.com

Photo courtesy of: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:PhilippN

I continued down on 129 to Maryville where I had a snack and filled up my tank. The mid afternoon air was just plain nasty – sticky and around 86 degrees.

The guy at the gas station suggested to take rte 321 to the Smoky Mountains. At the beginning, 321 was a nice ride. After Townsend, I took off on rte 73 for a little bit, then turned back and went on Wears Valley Rd towards Pigeon Forge.

 A bad mistake. While Wears Valley road had some wonderful views, this only made for a bigger shock once I hit Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Can anyone spell ‘hell’? One tourist attraction after another, traffic jams, traffic lights, construction, cars all over the place. The road was called Smokey Mountains Parkway, but trust me, sitting in traffic for over an hour to clear only a few miles, with the sun beating down on me, all the while my cooling fan ran almost constantly made me quite miserable. Unfortunately, there was no easy way out of that mess, so I just suffered through it until the mess was behind me.

At that point, I think I ended up on Rte 321, which was a good ride, and I started heading north/east.

 As the sun descended I was somewhere near Bristol, TN. I pulled into town, filled the bike up, and had a smoke. Looking around me, I did not feel all that comfortable down there. Something about the surroundings and the way people drove around triggered my spidey sense. I got on the bike again, rolled onto the highway, and drove to the next town over – Abigdon, VA. I found a hotel near the highway and called it a day.

Total for day 1, 2, and 3