Ride Report- Memorial Day Weekend

bertbrumfield · 05-28-2003, 05:53 AM

Had a great weekend ride. Got up Saturday morning planning to ride up to West Va. For the Cass Rally. While eating, I checked out the weather and it looked better (not as much rain) in Ga. and East Tenn. So my son, Mike and I leave Winston-Salem NC about 8:00 am and head west (instead of north) on I-40 toward the rain. Rode through about 45 minutes of light rain, then it cleared, and we were dry by the time we stopped for an early lunch in Asheville. Continued on to the Blue Ridge parkway, Cherokee, and then Fontana Village and got a room in the lodge for Saturday night. Used our frequent visitor registration from last fall and got a 25%discount on the room ($55). After relaxing and unpacking, we took the bags off and rode up to the deals gap resort (gas station). The entrance was blocked by hundreds of bikes, including a hoard of choppers in the middle of the drive. The gap was like downtown rush hour traffic. We instead rode over to the cherrohalla parkway and rode up and over to the Tenn. line and back with supper in Robbinsville, NC.

The next morning (Sunday) we ran the gap twice with no traffic and then back to the room for breakfast and packing. Saturday was supposed to be rain all afternoon and night so we headed toward Gatlinburg to park the bikes and play tourist. Cades Cove was lined up all the way back to the entrance and we decided not to spend 2-4 hours in that traffic so we continued into Gatlinburg and got a room. We unloaded and rode over to Pigeon Forge where we spent a couple of hours in a country music outlet store with thousands of used tapes, and cds of all kinds of music, not just country. Back to Gatlinburg and the rain starts just as we pull up to the hotel. Walked the streets with the other tourists the rest of the evening and went to bed.

Monday we woke up to sunshine and, after a big breakfast, we were on the road by 7:45 into Great Smokey Mountain National Park. At that time of the morning, the roads were deserted. Stopped at the ranger station near Cherokee, and by the time we left, (about 9:15) the traffic was beginning to get heavy. We rode the B R Parkway all the way to mount Mitchell, where we had lunch. What a great ride with dry roads and clouds above and below. It is really hard to enjoy both the ride AND the great scenery, so we had to stop and enjoy the view often. Passed Dan Greene going in the other direction just before the Mt. Mitchell turn off and turned around to run him down. Took almost 2 miles to catch up with him and then only because of two slower cars. Dan moves along pretty good for an old man : ). Great lunch at the restaurant on the top of Mt. Mitchell and then down hwy 80 and back on I-40 toward home. Stopped at the Russell Stover Chocolate outlet in Statesville, NC about 3:20 pm only to find that they had closed at 3:00 for Memorial Day. Oh well, a gas stop and a quick hour ride and we are home and the end of a perfect three day weekend with dry roads and temperatures from 55 to 75 degrees.

I hope every one else also had a nice Memorial Day weekend.

Dan Greene · 05-28-2003, 07:03 AM

Great trip report Bert. I enjoyed seeing you both on the parkway. I still can't get over how great Mike's R11S looks with the new decals. The breakfast invitation is still open any weekend if you are in the Linville area. I am leaving this afternoon for a four day stay at the cabin. Patti is firing her soda kiln for the first time this weekend. Lots of flames and excitement! BTW, took 40 minutes to put in the new battery in the S...I guess 10 minutes was a little optimistic.

bigwhup · 05-28-2003, 07:52 AM

BTW Dan, you mentioned Mike's S has a new sticker kit? Can we get a look at it? I am considering replacing my stickers on the hindquarters of my SBX. Was wondering if Mike did the same?

Dan Greene · 05-28-2003, 08:03 AM

Bert has some pics I think. It is a really neat checker flag-like pattern across both side panels, continued onto both rear panels. Looks great against the black R11S.

bertbrumfield · 09:46 AM

Ok, I tried this before. I do not see any way to add files or graphics. Need help here.

clicking "more smilies" or "Attach Multiple" does nothing.

Mike900 · 05-28-2003, 09:57 AM

Bert:

I was in the Asheville area the week before after attending the races at Road Atlanta. We had rain pretty much all week. Rode in fog and mist three times that week. Finally had good weather Saurday the day we left and had a great solo ride from Asheville up to Waterrock Knob at about 7:30 in the morning and had to deal with one car the entire ride ( about a 140 miles). Glad you had a good weekend because the week before was trying to say the least. We will be back in the area after the races at Barber Motorsports in September for another go at it. It remains my favorite area to ride after 20 some years for riding the mountains.

Dave Grinsel · 05-28-2003, 06:27 PM

I lived in Hendersonville in the 70's and rode my Suzuki GT 380 and later my Honda GB400F in the area as often as possible. I now live in Wisconsin and try to get back to the Blue Ridge area every year for a ride. There are some great roads. Wisconsin has some excellent roads as well - especially county highways in the southwestern quadrant of the state. I rode 420 miles on those roads yesterday.

Derry Walsh · 05-28-2003, 09:32 PM

Pelican Parts Technical BBS > 2- BMW Forums > BMW Technical Forums > BMW R1100S Tech Forum

How does this thread fit into the above heading of this forum?
Have we run out of "technical topics" on the R1100S ?
I don't think so.

The above with all due respect...

blakebird · 05-28-2003, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Derry Walsh
Pelican Parts Technical BBS > 2- BMW Forums > BMW Technical Forums > BMW R1100S Tech Forum

How does this thread fit into the above heading of this forum?
Have we run out of "technical topics" on the R1100S ?
I don't think so.

The above with all due respect...

The roads around Hendersonville are very....uh, technical (there, that covers that).

When my wife grew weary of touring on the Blackbird and holding on for dear life....we tried on all the touring bikes for size. After a demo of a GL1800, her mind was made up.
I flew to Hendersonville and bought it at Schroader's and rode it back to Denver (3 days after 9/11). Hooked up with JAS and rode a section of BRP, had lunch at the French Quarter, and headed out thru Deal's Gap.

It may be a humid hellhole in the Spring and Summer....but it was most excellent in the Fall. I plan a return ride as soon as I can convince the better half it's worth a 1600 mile ride to get there.

Blake