June 7 2023 Day Five

 June 7^th – Hickory NC – Day 5

 

And my timing couldn’t be any better. I pulled into Mark (Hermie) and Lisa’s driveway just after the rain had moved thru and left everything wet and the bike into the garage just before the rain started back up again, more on that later.

 

Yep, in Hickory NC and I should’ve known by the address that they’d be on the lake, that’s the way they roll. Today was a great day for a bike ride and by using my iPhone maps was able to ride the roads suggested to me by the Chattanooga, new name White Lightning Harley shop. According to the help they gave me, I should ride the Cherohala Skyway to Robbinsville TN because it’s one of the most scenic routes in the area. With only a 4 ½ hour trip to Hickory I have more than enough time to take the ride and it’s even on the way, maybe not the fastest way to Hickory, but at least the most scenic. I got a great start in the morning on the road by 8:30 Eastern that I’ll have all day to ride. It was a bit chilly at 56 degrees in the morning that I thought I might have needed my leather chaps but hit the road with just the heavy leather jacket that it heated up in no time. No problems with the roads to where I wanted to ride, and I was just that early that when I pulled into the Harley store in Tellico Plains I was about half an hour before they opened. No time for the restless to wait that I hit the Skyway to Robbinsdale, and it was a really nice ride. 

 

I must’ve gone thru a number of counties on the way to Robbinsville because the road service changed art least 3 different times along the way. Something that you notice on a bike when you have some smoother surfaces and rougher ones and roads with or without shoulders. This Skyway had a number of them, and I definitely preferred the wider than that narrower, but then again, on a bike I do have a little more room to play with. The ride was a quick one, or at least the way I rode that I was into Robbinsville by 11 and according to my directions Hickory was only 3 ½ hours away that I still have time to spend. Well, I pulled in the local gas station where all the other bikers were filling up and the Dragon Tail was only half an hour north that it would take me about 3 hours or less to ride it for the day, that will be up and back. 

 

Ok, the Dragons Tail is a road with 318 curves in an 11-mile stretch and one for the not so faintest of bikers to ride. It a lot like the roads that we ride out in Sturgis every year, but after riding it twice today, probably easier than the Sturgis roads. Yep, some pretty sharp curves that you have to be on top of things to shift, brake and whatever else (lean) that you need to do to get around the corners, Today, I can say that I taned the Dragon because with riding it twice, I was able to improve my time and speed on the way back South. I had pictured the road harder to ride than I remembered back in 2006, but a piece of cake, twice.

 

There were a few stops along the way to take pictures and it use to be a lot easier when I had a separate camera then my phone to take pictures with. I also wish I would’ve put my GoPro mount back on my bike when I got new handlebars because these would’ve been great rides to capture. Oh well, I’ll do it again someday and remember that. There was a nice resort along the trail that I stopped at and again, I still had time to kill that I might as well relax a little.

 

It had gotten hot enough that I rode back to Robbinsville with just a shirt, but once back and ready to ride to Hickory I figured it’d be a good thing to put the leather back on and it’s a good thing that I did because it started to get cold in these their mountains and remember there might be rain on the way to where I need to get. I did hit some construction that slowed me down before hitting the freeway and the speeds weren’t what I expected, but the freeways are a lot curvier than what we have up in the Midwest that 55 or 60 speed limits instead of 70 or even 80 in South Dakota, the speeds were probably what they should be. That meant I kept my cruise about 80 until I hit the 70 mph zones to pump it up, but all I could think about is how much I depend on my tires to hold the pavement when I’m going around a corner as fast as I was. One slip and I’d be down in a heartbeat, and trust me, I’ve already done that on a bike, but fortunately it was at about 30 mph which trust me, still hurt.

 

Back to the story, I took a break to visit with Hermie so if the story seems a little scatter brained, now you know and oh yeah, back to the timing. The roads weren’t bad at all from Robbinsville and every curve I went around it looked like it was taking me into rain, but the next curve would have me heading away from it. It’s something how the weather is so different in different parts of the states. The pavement was dry all the way and about 5 miles from my destination, although the road was dry the side roads and gas station that I stopped at were pretty wet. Less than 5 miles that instead of taking half an hour to put on my rain gear, I might as well go for it even if I do get a little wet. What luck, dry roads all the way to Hermie and Lisa’s and only the driveway that was wet. I did slip a bit on the driveway because it’s painted cement which get’s slippery when wet, but fortunately kept the bike on 2 wheels. Great to get the bike unpacked, pushed into the garage and before that beer that I need, a shower will do to wipe the days ride off from me…PBR me please!

 

Now to wrap up the day. I got a tour of the house on the lake, and this is a great place that they have. I get the downstairs to myself and what I view overlooking the lake. I think I’ll have to just enjoy the lake tomorrow (actually, today) instead of doing any other riding, again get caught up on my blogs and enjoy the weather. As I keep hearing, another day in paradise. Dinner was near the local Harley shop so just up my alley for food and I got a tour of downtown Hickory which was great. It is definitely different in the South and someplace I enjoy visiting and could probably live here. Stay tune for day 6 at the spa.