3rd Annual Blue Ridge Parkway Scooter Ride
June 19 – 21, 2009

This ride is coordinated through the Heart of Georgia Super Scooter (H.O.G.S.S.) group, www.wildhogss.com. You do not have to be a member of the group to view postings on their forum or to ride with them. If you live close it would be worth it to join. The H.O.G.S.S. forum also serves as a coordinating point for a great ride in September – The End of Summer Ride, in Mentone, AL.

The discussion thread (pretty bare thread at this point) for the 3rd Annual Blue Ridge Parkway Scooter Ride is located at: http://phpbb.wildhogss.com/viewtopic.php?t=564

Friday, June 19, 2009
• 12:00 – Meet in Tellico Plains for lunch
• 1:00 – depart Tellico Plains to ride the Cherohala Skyway enroute to Robbinsville, NC, (?Deals Gap – Tail of the Dragon?) and on into Cherokee, NC

Pioneer Motel, Cherokee, NC. Rate is $68.00 per night (must mention or note that you are with the scooter riders to get the rate).
Register on-line: www.pioneermotel.net
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 397, Cherokee, NC 28719
Phone Number: 828-497-2435
e-mail: info@pioneermotel.net

There are plenty of other hotels (local and chains) in Cherokee, NC, but the Pioneer Motel is the hub hotel for this event.

Saturday, June 20, 2009
• 9:00 – Gas up and get ready to go.
• 10:00 – Depart Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Blue Ridge Parkway – Southern Terminus)
• Pisgah Inn for lunch www.pisgahinn.com

Sunday, June 21, 2009
• Depart for home

Dave,
This really looks like fun. I mentioned it to my wife and she said, "Hey, we are free that weekend." So, I'm going to try to figiure out your path. We live in Crossville TN so I think we could just ride over? I guess on Saturday you go round trip from the hotel?

Dennis,

I knew you lived close by and was hoping you'd see this. As of this moment Kim and I will probably ride up to Cleveland, TN on Thursday, then over to Tellico Plains Friday morning. We will ride out of Tellico Plains on Friday after eating lunch. Get into Cherokee Friday afternoon. Saturday is a ride to a destination and return to hotel in Cherokee. Hope you can make it.

Sounds like a lot of fun. I know it is a few months away but make sure you take some good pics and to post here. We would all like to see them. We are going to have a rally out here in the Bay area and I need to start working on it. Is there a registration fee to join this rally? Have fun.

Jeff,

No fee on this one and this is pretty loose as rallies go. No serious organization other than someone sets a date and picks / coordinates the hotel and it's on. I'm not sure how it got started, but it is promoted on busa and hogss. No unsafe riding - there is a safety brief and most of the riders are experienced.

Beautiful roads throughout the area and we'll do a good job of documenting the ride and shoot plenty of photos.

Just giving this a bump to put it in front of the eyes of those who have joined since I first posted it.

Getting down to within 3 month before this ride happens. Lets show out on SilverWings for this ride.

http://phpbb.wildhogss.com/viewtopic.php?t=564

Folks - Here is a bit more information for anyone who was thinking of joining this ride.

If you are planning to join this ride in Tellico Plains, TN for lunch on Friday, we will meet at the Town Square Cafe for lunch. It would be nice to finish lunch and be KSU (kickstands up) and rolling toward the Cherohala by 1:00 - 1:30.

link to Town Square Cafe: http://local.yahoo.com/info-42995735-town-square-cafe-tellico-plains?csz=Tellico+Plains%2C+TN+37385

Taken from the Wild HOGSS website.

Shadow - Join us, all are welcome.

i'll be there Dale, thank you for the invite.

Hey Guys,

I live in Greeneville, TN just a little ways north of Tellico Plains. While I've ridden these roads, i've never ridden with a large group and the wife and I would really enjoy this. We are going to tentatively plan on joining you guys. We will probably meet you in Tellico Plains around or after lunch. To save funds, we may also camp. For those who can hall some extra gear, there is a beautiful campground in the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park called Smokemont. It is located 10 minutes out of Cherokee on 441 heading towards Gatlinburg. The elevation is pretty high there and at night, it can get a little cold even in June so some warm layers would be adivisable. When you guys ride on the Parkway, are you going to stay at the Pisgah Inn or continue riding up the Parkway? I understand that Craggy Gardens has now opened back up north of Asheville.

ronjr009,

I'm glad you and your wife will join us. This will be a very good introduction to group riding because as you know the roads we are riding are good roads with decent speed limits. As a result people do not ride as a tense pack, but take it pretty easy and that makes it relaxing for a first time group ride.

Scooter camping (SCamping) is a good idea if you like that kind of thing. I was cured of my camping jones over the winter of 1990 - 1991 while camping in SouthWest Asia (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, & Iraq), shout out to my Uncle Sam.

I believe the Saturday ride is an out and back. The plan is to leave the terminus in Cherokee at 10am and ride to the Pisgah Inn for lunch then back to Cherokee. I could be wrong, I'm not the guy who is planning that part of the ride. Last spring when we rode the length of the Skyline and BRP we encountered that closure. I'm glad to hear it is open again.

I'm looking forward to this ride as it will be our first big ride this year.

As it turns out, I won't be able to make it afterall. We have a group of cyclists at church who are riding down to Cohutta Springs Resort in Crandall, Georgia on the same weekend. We've been trying to organize some type of ride for the church members with bikes for some time. While I wish they could've picked an alternate weekend, this was the date that worked for most of the group so I won't be be able to come after all and I will hate to miss all the fun. On the bright side of things... I will take a nice ride down 321 and 411 to Crandall, Georgia on Friday and then a nice ride through the Northwest Georgia Mountains the next!

ronjr009,

We'll miss you. But, enjoy the ride. Any one else from the group who would like to joins us is welcome. this will be a very relaxed ride.

Wohooo! Its getting closer. Im looking forward to it!

I'm afraid I'll have to bail out on my trip with you. The weather looks pretty good for the ride but I'd have to ride in rain for three days to get there. Been there, done that, got the T shirt . I'll be coming down as soon as the weather clears so if you see a red Swing with a Jersey plate on it stop over and say hello. I spoke to the owner of the motel and rest stop at Deal's Gap when I was up at the Americade and he told me that he was going to have a big tent sale this coming weekend. Have a good ride, stay safe, maybe I'll make it next year.

Will miss you. the ride is open to one and all. If you have been thinking about a nice get together - this may just be the ticket.

We started the day a little bit earlier than yesterday. Breakfast and rolling toward our first destination by 9:00am or so. Today was fun in the sun day. The roads we took today are some great little and big roads of east TN and west NC. Started the day on TN-30 north from the junction at US-64. This is a little two lane road that is tree lined with lots of canopy cover. Every now and then we break out in the sunshine, but the real joy of this road is the almost constant gentle hills and curves.



The route changes in Reliance TN we turn onto TN-315 for our jaunt into Tellico Plains. Just before turning onto TN-315 we stopped to take photos at this old church.



We got to Tellico Plains and I thought we had a bit more time than we actually did, so I made a bit of an error although it was not a big deal. But, we headed down the Cherohala Skyway to Bald River Falls. This is a small falls - about 100 feet high.



We headed back to Tellico Plains and met the folks coming from Atlanta. there are quite a few of us now (I do not know how many) and they were about done with lunch. We finished lunch and the Atlanta bunch had headed for Bald River Falls. Kim and I have a route planned and the rest of the group who have travelled with us are going a bit of a different route so we split up. We head out to the Cherohala Skyway.

The Cherohala is nice - wide and fast. It rises up over 5,000 feet above sea level and it is nice and cool which is very welcome today as it is hot. We meet lots of other bikes on the road and had a few sportbikes pass us. It was all good though and we got to Robbinsville, NC in good shape.



We headed out of Robbinsville to catch NC-28 south to Franklin, NC. This is a very twisty road and has a few 180 hairpin curves. Before we got the NC-28 we ended up in a bit of a mountain road traffic jam behind a truck and camper. Slow going for a while, at least we could watch the rafters float down the river along the road. after Franklin we headed toward Silva, NC on a very small county road 1001. I think it was a county road it was named Elijay Highway. Such a great road with a max speed of about 40 MPH due to the twists and curves.

We are in the Best Western in Cherokee, NC. Thanks for all of the birthday greetings. Most especially to Trent who called and left me a little rendition of the birthday song - that was great. Then to the Wulff pack - Katrielle Whitney, Jared, and Claire who called and sang the birthday song to me. I heard Andy and Melissa too. We are so blessed.

Hi Dale and Kim. It was great meeting you both. I had a blast on the ride. I hope you both made it home safe. It took me 7 hours to get home today. I went thru north Ga. mtns , nice scenery but so hot!

Take care,

-Matt

Matt,

Glad you made it home. We started out in the rain and rode through the Great Smokie Mountains National Park. Not a bad ride in the rain. Cleared up once we came down from the peaks. Only had about an hour of rain. But then the heat.

It was nice to meet you and we're happy you had a good time.

Dale,
I forgot to send you a note but I am truly sorry I could not go this year. My wife even said I could go but we had in-laws arrive and I just couldn't get away. Let us know the dates for the 4th annual and I'll tell them not to come.
>> Dennis

Dale and all who made the ride.
Great pictures and it looks like you had a great time. What a great country our God has blessed us with. You can't find a bd road in the Smokey's. Like they say, some are just better than others....