To bristol, tn in 300 mph with NitroMethane

[eddie98]

DAY 1(Friday 18th)
I left Woodstock just after 5pm and headed straight up 575. My first stop was in Andrews for gas and get some cash.

I continue to ride Hwy 74 after it splits from hwy129 and go thru Nantahala Gorge and the NOC. It was really nice and cool down the road and the river had fog on top.



After this I continue towards Cherokee, NC where I will be spending the night at Mile High Campground(or so I thought). I didn't take anymore pics for the rest of the evening as it was getting late and I wanted to make camp before dark.
I stopped in Cherokee to get some dinner, eat quickly and head back out to find the campground. My GPS tells me to get on the BRP to the campground. As I was getting ready to turn in to BRP it starts to pour rain and gets dark. It was almost 8pm by this time. I have been stuck on the BRP on downpours and it's not fun. I was not about to get into that again. I decide to take the long way to find this campground. Riding those roads in the dark and went is not fun.
I finally get to my entrance to the BRP and ride about 5 miles or so before I need to turn for the campground. I turn and my GPS tells me it's 10 miles up the road(according to the address on their website). So I start up the mountain I'm doing 30mph as I don't want a deer or anything else to jump out in front of me. I make it to the top and guess what, the road ends and turns into gravel. Just before that I had passed another campground. So I make the decission to just make camp at this place and call it at night. After setting my tent in the dark(forgot my flashlight) I ask some campers where this Mile High campground is, they tell me it's down about 8 miles and I must have missed the turn. I finally get to bed around 11pm.
Day 2 to follow later on.................................

[notarat]

subscribed.

[mike]

[eddie98]

Day 2(Sat 19th)
I woke up pretty early. It was a bit cool being that I camped at 5000+ ft.
This is the Campground I spend the night

Here is my camping spot

This are my stats for the first day

Get all my sutuffed packed and head out. This are some of the views heading down the mountain.





I make my way down the Maggie Valley and try to find a place for breakfast but I don't see anything and the one McDonalds that the GPS told me to go wasn't there. Finally I find a Hardees in the next town and eat there.
I get back on the road and hit a bit of interstate since I needed to get up to Bristol quick. I needed to head to the next campground to drop off my stuff and head to the track. I only make one stop north of Ashville at this rest area/overlook.





I continue to hit the road and my next stop is in Elizabethon for some gas. After passing this town is where the fun begins. To get to my next campsite in Shady Valley you need to get over the mountains and the road gets really twisty. Hwy 91 is what is taking me there.
I make some good time and get to my destination and here is the Switchback campground, nice place an isolated from everything else.

Bathhouse



After unloading and taking a little break and hit the road and head for the track which was about 25 miles away. To get to the track I need to ride the famous Hwy 421( The Snake) as I get going the road starts easy but then gets fun with some switchbacks and tight turns over the mountain. I finally make it to the track, I asked the parking guy where can I park and he points "right there" I look over and see this

I was like "next to it", yes he says I was like OK at least the bike is right there where they are and noone will mess with it and notice the port-a-potty is locked so there will be no traffic going in and out. I changed and head to the track. Won't bore you with all the pics I took inside but here are some.


The NASCAR track






This track is awesome, it's carved right between the mountains and the sound just echoes all over

After spending the day at the track I head back to Shady Valley and stop at the Country store to check it out, look at some maps and where to ride.



Someone hitched a ride


After hanging having a cold drink. I called Nancy to tell her I was back from track she tells me if I have gone see the "world's shortest tunnel" I said no. So I go inside and asked about it and they tell me it's 10 miles this other way. So I take off and sure there it was. It's called the Backbone Tunnel






After this place it was getting dark and I headed back to camp for the night.
Here are my stats of Day 2.

[eddie98]

DAY 3---- THE RIDE HOME.
I stopped again at the store to see if they had breakfast but they don't. The restaurante across the street usually serves breakfast on Sundays but this time they were not.
So I just snap a few more pics and hit the other side of Hwy 421 towards Mountain City to see what I can find to eat.


All I could find in the city was a McDonald's and fastfood. I was running late so I just got me a quick Micky D's and hit the road again. Looked at the GPS and just took the next Hwy heading south. Here I ran into a one lane bridge.

I finally come out in Erwin, NC on I-26 and rode down a couple of exits to catch Hwy 352, 212, 208 and then make my way to Hot Springs. I was in Hot Springs about 4 yrs ago on my R6 when I hit a deer.

I got to Hot springs and a couple of bike at the store where normally are more. Took a little break there and then hit Hwy 209 towards Lake Junaluska.
Here is one of the overlooks on Hwy 209.


After going over I-40, I start to make my way towards Hwy 215 that pretty much goes over the mountina on Pisgah National Forest. This is a very nice road that goes up and down the mountain and crosses the BRP and comes down in Rosman. They have paved most of it now and it's nice and twisty. At this poing I start to get a little hungy and make a stop at this overlook just after crossing the BRP and have a drink and some peanuts.


After Rosman I hit Hwy 64 and make my way towards Cashiers to have some lunch at this amazing BBQ place. I made it with a few mins to spare before they closed and had me some nice chopped pork plate.



After having a nice late lunch I hit the road again, it was hot and wanted to get moving. Headed to Highlands, down Hwy 28 to Warwoman, Clayton, some backroads towards Helen. Just around Helen I spot this place, looks very new, and it’s the Goats on the Roof. Funny thing is we just came back from BC, Canada and they have one that is famous in Coombs, BC. I wonder if they got the idea from them. Anyway, here is the place in Helen and below are the pics from the one in Coombs, BC.



See any similarities??



After this stop and make my way to the top of GA400 to hit the highway and make it home. 342 miles for the day

Almost 800 miles for the weekend.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Nice! Did you do the whole Snake? I've never done the Dragon, and with the way they patrol it now due to the squids, might never bother to. But, that's ok, there's some awesome roads out here, and they have much better views!

[eddie98]

Originally Posted by CYCLE_MONKEY

Nice! Did you do the whole Snake? I've never done the Dragon, and with the way they patrol it now due to the squids, might never bother to. But, that's ok, there's some awesome roads out here, and they have much better views!

Yes I did the whole snake, it's pretty nice, a few tight corners but not as bad as the dragon. The dragon is ok, once you do it a couple of times it gets boring. From Shady Valley, no matter which way you go, you have nice roads.

[mike]

Great report. Love the pic's at the dragstrip.