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Greg Howard: Guitar Technician - Hall & Oates
contact: guitartech@mindspring.com | 919-345-0830 cell | 801-681-5796 efax
aim - threecheers4me | My Roadie Weblog

Moto Trip Day One

Start out early in the a.m. Go out to off load the bikes and there's 1/8" coating of FROST on them. Decide to enjoy the continental breakfast at the hotel first. Get underway about 9:45am. John's 20 year old BMW R100 decides it doesn't like the cold, he has to bump start it down the hill. He gets it going and it dies at the bottom of the hill. Oh well, we push it about 1/4 of the way back up and off he goes. I jump on my Duc and we're off.

From Waynesville we are going southwest into Georgia. As soon as we hit US64 it gets twisty. Neither one of us are up to it so early, we even pull over to let a girl in a Honda Civic pass us! The shame. We go for a while and stop to take a photo of a waterfall.

Soon after we cross into Georgia we turn off the beaten path and onto a cool twisty road going up the mountain. We stop in Clayton, GA for Chinese lunch and hit the road again our bellies full. Soon we take another turn off the main road onto one of the coolest roads of the day. So far we've passed quite a few fellow bikers, mostly Harleys and Sport Tourers. I'm about to remark to John that we haven't seen any Squids yet today, when a half dozen or so pass us going the other way. And they were going FAST.

At the next break we swap bikes and head out. The Beemer is smooth, but takes some getting used to. It handles, brakes, shifts, etc. completely different than my Duc. Soon after the Squids pass my slower butt going the same direction as we are. We catch up with them at a gas station. One of the bikes is a Ducati 749, driven by a woman, who's husband informs us was his anniversary gift to her. Now that is love!!

Leaving the gas station I follow John (I'm back on my Duc) and after about 5 miles we stop and figure out we are on the wrong road. No matter it still goes to our destination of Tellico Plains, TN. We arrive at Tellico Plains 20 minutes later and not a hotel in sight. Doh! We keep going as the sun falls and eventually see a "Motor Inn of America" in Madisonville. We check-in, kinda dodgy but we have no choice :)

We've ridden just under 250 miles in one day and we are pooped! Grab a quick dinner and shower and off to bed...

Tomorrow the 'Cherohala Skyway' and 'Tail of the Dragon'...

Getting Excited!!

Three days to go before we leave for the Mountains. I can't wait.
Weather looks like it will be good, maybe a little chilly, we'll see.
Ordered new waterproof boots that arrived yesterday, very tall in the
toes, won't even fit under my shifter. DOH!! Decide to exchange them
with the friendly people at newenough.com, great service!! My new boots
should be here Friday, just in time!! Hope they fit... I'm getting
together with John tonight to go over the routes and sort out his
trailer with my truck.

Planning the trip

On the first weekend in November, John and I are planning on hitting the Blue Ridge / Smoky Mountains on our bikes. We hope to ride NC, GA, TN and possibly a little SC. Definitely planning on riding the 'Tail of the Dragon' with its 318 turns in 11 miles. Stay tuned for more.