A week of riding TN, GA, NC on my 250

[scorch]

Being a teacher definatly has its perks. I had a week of vacation and decided i needed to get away. I wasnt sure where i wanted to go. I had hopes of going to New Orleans, but never made it. But i had a hell of an good time riding around Tennesse, North Carolina and Georgia.

my 2002 ninja 250, i bought for 600$ from craigslist. All packed with givi bags



I had hoped i could camp most of the time. But only did it a few days. I had a nice tent i got on craigslist that is a 1 -2 man tent. Really light weight that did well. But after a while my back ached from not having a pad. So off i went to walmart to buy a pad, but they only had air matresses. I bought one. Inflating it was a different thing altogether.

had quite a few rain showers on the way there. luckly i had a rainsuit. But managed to always get a little wet, this made me get sick midway into the ride.


some factory



I never stop to read these, but when i do its quite interesting. On a ride to california, i saw alot of native americans. But never realized that so many lived here.


I ran into alot of waterfalls, after a while i wonder why i stopped at so many. TN is so filled with these.



The hotels i styed had these. Never actually read this book. The futher south you go, the ore jesus saves billboards and signs you see.



After camping, in the early mornings in the smokey mountains. Its always like this. pretty neat. ANd i think this is my favorite photos i took



creepy and beautiful at the same time.




On my way to the dragon, i did ride the dragon before i came there . But it was rainy and i didnt feel like taking photos.


Deal gap resort. I admire the people who turned a road into an attraction. And its funny that other roads are trying this too. In virginia, locally to DC is route 211. Which had the same potential, as a hang out for motorcyclists and motor enthusiasts. But Virginia cops and politics do not like playing. It would have been nice for Sperryville and all the business it could have brought.



Tree of shame. I did talk to a guy who had just crashed his KTM 525 SM. Actually his friends. He nailed it into a guard rail, and blew out his rear tire. I had a can of fix a flat and gave it to him, and hopefully he made it home. He was okay, but this is the gap for you. Lots of crashes on there.



All this week, i had pretty much all roads tomyself. I rode around TN, NC and GA for hours upon hours without seeing other motorcycles or even cars on the road.

I saw this while riding. As you go further west fro the dragon almost hitting GA. i think route 68 near the highlands, there are a ton of water falls there



Parking was limited, so i parked in the concrete patch



discovred a waterfall that ou could walk behind. I've only heard of those int he movies





on the other side of the waterfall was a rainbow.


behind the waterfall



when i got back from the waterfall, i had a friend. thats a cool bike, i wish i had the money for one. But alas my 250 is my ktm 950.



after going almost to Ga, i decided it was time to do some stealth camping.


As the light got dimer, i took a photos of the scenery in the campsite i chose



I made a stove out of 2 coke cans, and used some alcohol to ignite it and made myself some pasta and rice. Forgot to bring some spices. it would have been much nicer if i did. But this is living on the cheap if you are a schoolteacher




A can of sardines and pasta and then i was ready for bed.





This night int he campsite was something else. Its always a little nerve racking camping byself in places unknown. But first while sleeping i heard what i thought was a turkey making mating calls right next to me.. And then i was listen.. and could hear its partner further up the smokeys calling. This went on for 20 minutes. I didnt think turkeys were this beautiful sounding. Im anly assuming it was a turkey because i almost ran over one of them on the dragon.



Then... in the middle of the night. I heard a loud crash into the water.. I was like what the hell was that! So loud and i thought, damm that was a bear or something. But later realized it was a tree that fell into the water. For a while i was just wondering if i would going to get devoured by a bear.

The next morning. While riding the roads around tail of the dragon, i saw what was a bear. A dead bear on the shoulder. Poor thing, it was a brown bear that was dead. He must have gotten hit while going to the water. I saw below down the cliff a dumpster, and that must have been what he was looking for.

back at the tail of the dragon. The resort had a new dragon


But killboy has the coolest of all sculptures! Now this is something to be amazed. Im not a fan of modern art sculptures. But i am a sculptor www.ricardopontes.com and i thought this was really well thought out and very well executed.








What can i say. Killboy is really smart. Think about it. He really has done quitewell for himself. And a sculpture is genious. Now imagine all the people stopping there and taking photos of this thing. If you want to draw attention to a place sculpture is the method. Smart move.




These are goldwings, and its interesting as i was here a uy on a goldwing dropped his going up to the road. Apparently its pretty normal since the road is slightly decreasing and they dont realize it when they stop. I've seen this twice in other occasions too. But picking one of these up is tough.


Some days i got completly rained on. But this is why they call it the smokeys



This is Blue Ridge Georgia. A nice little town with a nice fancy historic district. While iw as taking this photo i met the owner of 1cinema2, which closed its doors. Rick the owner told me i was welcome to stay at his theatre ground. He had 4 acres. I talked to him for quite a while. Super interesting uy. He ran 5 cinemas across the region and was going to close them down because everything was turning digital. It was too expensive to upgrade. So he was going into another business. He was tuning his cinema into a distellery. I thought that was really cool. Great guy, and next time im in georgia im going to stop by his distillery and see if its operational.





Before i pitched the tent, i wanted to ride around Georgia to get a feel for it. It was pretty nice. It seemed not to be as poor as TN.

Its amazing when you are paying attention, how poor America is. Tons of mobile homes everywhere, and people living in terrible condition. But i have alot of respect for mountain people, they are much more resourceful than most. Georgia was nice, and it felt like there was less trailers here. Maybe not a good way to judge a whole state.

The georgia foothills, right near the TN border were nice and twisty. And completly empty from motorcycles and cars!




Alot of homes in these areas i wonder how expensive they are. But they are in beautiful serene locations.




Back at Ricks Theatre, i pitched the tent. And i wanted to inflate the airbed i got at wallmart. Not a good idea to buy an air bed i found. It took what it seemed forever to inflate.

I used the air tire pump from my motorcycle and cut a mouth wash bottle to seal it, and then wrapped some plastic bags around the hose to make sure it didnt leak air. I ran the pump for a while and finally got it inflated enough that i could use it. I stuck it inside the tent and went to bed. I slept pretty well. But the thing is too large to carry and just takes too long to inflate, specially if you are doing stealth camping.


Rick had a trailer there that i setup camp behind, just wanted some more privacy.


bought myself a dragon to keep company. a present to my niece





Cherokee - its a nice town. But feels as i its been raped and pillaged. Alot of exploitation. I dont know, its nice that its there. And i like the culture.





some of the things you can do in Cherokee is mine for gold. Stuff like this is really what makes it feel like a tourist trap. I prefer the Cherokee outskirts.



I said goodbye to CHerokee and headed north

This is Shady valley TN . The Snake. Not as popualr as the dragon, but on the weekends alot of bikes come here. Too bad its impared by police. Alot of these roads could be very profitable in the right hands.



route 16 north of marion is one of those roads with alot of potential. And i think i saw signs up saying it was te "Back of the dragon" road. Well, only time will tell.





A week of riding. And about 2500 miles late. My 250 had 28000 miles. I bought it with 9000 miles for 600$. not a bad deal. My 2008 ninja has 81k miles and it has been to the dragon too.

Most of the time i had these roads all by myself. A hell of a time. And i also averaged 78mpg in this ride. I geared my bike high too.

[Sirref]

sounds like a fun trip. That is some seriously high mileage on your '08

[Alex]

[Finesse]

I really really enjoyed that post @scorch

This is exactly what I would try and do if I had a week off... camping stove, small tent, small bike, roads to yourself.. looks ideal. I like your christmas bike, the red and green, it looks like a great travel companion.

This made my day, I love seeing the adventures of likeminded people and 250s as touring bikes and all the photos of the little things that are different from here.

[NevadaWolf]

More reports! More! More!

Loved your tale and fantastic pictures. Thank you so much for sharing with us!

[burningscooter]

thanks for sharing @scorch. looks like you had a blast. Ill have to do this sometime in the future.

[DaBlue1]

Stealth camping. That's funny. Nice pics.

[vman1313]

@scorch - Greetings fellow teacher...the definite perks of our job is the long breaks we get. That is an awesome trip there. I live in GA and you were only 30 minutes or so away when you got to TwoWheelsOf Suches. The dragon is awesome isnt it? Did you ride Blood Mtn here in GA? My first overnight long trip I am planning on my motorcycle is to Key West from Atlanta...your trip has inspired me to get that going soon. Thanks for sharing!!!

[alex.s]

looks like you had a good adventure. i really miss the smokeys.

[csmith12]

Nice pics! Looks like you had a good time.

Hint* - Put your spices in straws and plug/melt the ends to keep them waterproof. Tic-Tac boxes work really well too. Easy carry and use while camping or at the track.

[EternalNewb]

Now I really want to take a trip around the states on a motorcycle. I tried to plan one, but nobody seems to want to be in the saddle that long.

Really gorgeous pictures, and good story. Sounds like a blast! Thanks for posting it all up and taking such nice pictures.

[scorch]

Originally Posted by vman1313

@scorch - Greetings fellow teacher...the definite perks of our job is the long breaks we get. That is an awesome trip there. I live in GA and you were only 30 minutes or so away when you got to TwoWheelsOf Suches. The dragon is awesome isnt it? Did you ride Blood Mtn here in GA? My first overnight long trip I am planning on my motorcycle is to Key West from Atlanta...your trip has inspired me to get that going soon. Thanks for sharing!!!

Hey Vman, Im not sure what blood mountain is. But if its in northern GA near Suches i rode that area and sorrounding areas. It is nice, and completly clean of traffic.

I did a ride from DC to Key West a while back on my Triumph Speed triple and it was really cool. The whole vibe of Florida was nice its very flat there. The speed limit on key west is about 25mph, and there is some nice camping around there.

[scorch]

Originally Posted by EternalNewb

Now I really want to take a trip around the states on a motorcycle. I tried to plan one, but nobody seems to want to be in the saddle that long.

Really gorgeous pictures, and good story. Sounds like a blast! Thanks for posting it all up and taking such nice pictures.

Did a cross country trip on a cbr600 a while back too. Thats the thing, if you try and get people for a trip you will end up waiting a whole long time, and it might not even work out. The best thing is to do it by yourself, that way the only person holding you back is you.

My trip across the U.S. was awesome, loved getting out in Utah and Arizona and California. Ill do it again, with that said. Im always up for a cross country trip. And plan on doing it not this summer, but next summer.

[scorch]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Nice pics! Looks like you had a good time.

Hint* - Put your spices in straws and plug/melt the ends to keep them waterproof. Tic-Tac boxes work really well too. Easy carry and use while camping or at the track.

Great tip about the spices in straws. Ill try it next time.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by scorch

....i went to walmart to buy a pad, but they only had air mattress. I bought one. Inflating it was a different thing altogether.

.... i wanted to inflate the airbed i got at walmart. Not a good idea to buy an air bed i found. It took what it seemed forever to inflate.

I used the air tire pump from my motorcycle

I noticed you have a slime air pump. I have the same one. They are a little slow in inflating big stuff, but what I found out is they are even slower with the bent hose (original packing)they come with. The longer they stay bent the smaller the inside diameter of the hose is and the harder it is to straighten.

Mine was bent so long it formed a small hole. I wrote Slime about it and they sent me a free replacement that was straight. So now I just lay it inside the case with no hard bends.

[scorch]

Look its me!