Weekend trip to Iron Horse.

[klaviator]

The weather forecast for this past weekend was too good to waste.  So I decided to head up to the Iron Horse Motorcycle Resort for the weekend and ride some of my favorite roads.  I got on the road around noon on Friday and headed east.   I took the I-65 and 72 to Scottsboro. Yes they are boring four lanes but it would take too long to bypass them. Then it was back roads the rest of the way.  Since I have ridden most of these roads many times before I didn't take very many pics.  I did get a couple:


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I got to Iron Horse in time to set up my tent before it got dark.

Dinner was a Subway sandwich I had picked up in Robbinsville.  Camping fees had gone up to $20 per night which is more than the other motorcycloe campgrounds.  I still can't figure how they manage to make money on a place like this since it is a seasonal and mostly weekend business.  They were packed this weekend.  There was a sidecar rally and many of them brought their dogs. 

I walked around a bit.  This is a pretty nice facility although I can't say it's a better place to stay than Cherohala Mountain trails which is much less expensive at 10 bucks a night.  The reason I came here is location.  It's much closer to the roads I wanted to ride.

There was a bike parked nearby that I thought was a NC700X but on closer look it was Honda's VFR based adventure bike:

That's it for Friday. My plan for Saturday was to ride some of my favorite roads most of which are off the beaten path. There were numerous car and bike rallies in the area and I figured that Deal's Gap, the Skyway and the other popular roads would be clogged with heavy traffic.

It was 272 miles to Iron Horse.  It would have been less taking the Interstates through Chattanooga but this route was more fun.

[klaviator]

I got up Saturday morning intending to get an early start and beat the traffic. I guess I'm getting old. I hung out and talked to some of the other riders. I had breakfast at Iron Horse. They tell you that you need to sign up the night before but I have yet to be turned down if I didn't.

So I rode 28 to Franklin. Traffic wasn't too bad and I had a clean run down one of my favorite parts of 28.  After Franklin I got off the main roads.



I stopped at this spot and experimented with taking different shots. I have always liked this spot but never got any pics that really do it justice. This was probably the one that I liked the best.



Then I went exploring and tried some new roads. My first try took me in a big circle but it was a nice ride. The second road I tried turned to dirt but I followed it through to an intersection with a paved road.

Panthertown sounded interesting so I took a left. Keep in mind that I had no GPS or map of these roads so I was just winging it. This turned out to be a pretty nice road with plenty of curves and hills and it was scenic as well.


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Then the pavement ended. No problem. My Versys has an ADV sticker on it so it can go anywhere.  Well almost anywhere. When I got to a barrier I turned around. It turns out that Panthertown was some sort of hiking area. So I back tracked to the last intersection and this time went the other way. Too bad that turned out to be a straight, flat and boring road:



I finally got back to a main road and headed off to ride some more twisty roads.

I took a break at a small park and was soon joined by a rider from South Carolina who was also out exploring. We talked for a while. He had never been on these roads before. I recommended he follow 281 back to 64.

Seeing a photo opportunity I shot this pic.



At this point I hadn't decided where I was going next. I was thinking about heading to the BRP but that would make for a pretty long day.

As the Duc rider was suiting up I was still thinking.

At the last minute I decided to follow him back down 281.

[Johnny Tobyone]

Nice ride

[klaviator]

I stopped in Cashiers and had a salad at Wendys. Then off to ride some more of my favorite roads.



Of course my favorite roads are always flat, straight and boring.



This is one of my favorite photo spots and I have taken many pics here before but I'm always trying to see if I can improve my photography.



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There's no shortage of waterfalls around here.



This next one is one of the hardest to photograph well IMO. I had to climb up a real steep hill to get this next pic.



I love how everything is so bright green this time of year.

[Hammerdown77]

Is this off of Wayah Road?

I was thinking about that road the other day. That's one of my favorites, I'm itching to get back soon.

[klaviator]

Is this off of Wayah Road?

I was thinking about that road the other day. That's one of my favorites, I'm itching to get back soon.

The last pic was taken off of Wayah road.  The road was in great shape with hardly any gravel on it like it sometimes has. 

Speaking of great roads, next up is one of my favorites:



This was my first time riding it on a street bike as it is a little rough but the scenery is spectacular as it winds it's way out of the Nantahalla gorge.  The dropoff to the left of the bike is nearly as steep as the cliff to the right.



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[kdtrull]

Is this off of Wayah Road?

I was thinking about that road the other day. That's one of my favorites, I'm itching to get back soon.

The last pic was taken off of Wayah road.  The road was in great shape with hardly any gravel on it like it sometimes has. 

I think that may be the most scenic road I've been on in that area....all the way up to the bald.  It was either Win or another member here that turned me on to it.  Actually, I think it was a combo-deal....someone mentioned it on the forum.  Then, we ran into Win, by chance one day while we were in the area, and he reinforced/endorsed the place as a great ride.

Whoever it was....thanks a bunch.  I want to go back soon and ride it much slower.

And thanks for posting another good report!!

[lazeebum]

Thanks for sharing.

Sent from my KYOCERA-C6742A using Tapatalk

[klaviator]

I headed back towards Iron Horse.  I didn't sign up for dinner at Iron horse so I stopped at the Stecoah Diner. Another rider on a Harley bagger was there getting ready to go in and we started talking. So we had dinner together and had a great conversation. The food was very good as well so it was a thoroughly enjoyable dinner. Nate, the Harley rider had ridden up on a whim from Nashville to cross of the "dragon" from his bucket list.  While I enjoy my Versys a lot I must say that his Harley looked a lot more comfortable.



From the diner is was just a couple minute ride back to Iron Horse where people were enjoying their dinners and the nice weather.



A shot from the front where they have RV spots. Someday when I grow up I may get an RV of some sort and if I do this is one of the places I'll take it to.



More tent spots along the creek.



One of the nice things about all of the motorcycle campgrounds I have stayed at is that there is always room for another tent so you don't have to worry about getting there and finding it full like many other campgrounds which have assigned spots.

That's it for Saturday. My total for the day was 225 miles. My plan for Sunday was to get up early and ride Deal's Gap before all thhe traffic showed up.

[klaviator]

I woke up early enough Sunday morning to get on the road by 6:40.  That's 6:40 EST or 5:40 here in Alabama.  That was early enough to beat the traffic but almost too late for good sunrise shots. 

Almost too late but not quite:



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I saw little activity at the Deal's Gap resort. Riders come from all over the country and Canada to ride the "dragon" and then sleep in until the traffic takes all the fun out of the ride.

There was a little traffic but not much. I stopped at the overlook.



I could barely squeeze my bike in among all the traffic there
::)



After hanging out a bit I headed back to Deal's Gap for breakfast.  Finding a parking lot was a real challenge ::)



One of the many car clubs in the area for the weekend showed up.



Then I headed back to Iron Horse to pack up my camping gear and head for home.

[klaviator]

After packing up I headed through Robbinsville and then over the Skyway. Traffic on the Skyway was surprisingly light at least until I got about halfway from the TN state line and Tellico Plains. While everything was lush green at lower elevations, higher up on the Skyway it was cold and no leaves on the tree yet.



After Tellico Plains I picked up some more back roads.



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Then once on 64 I took the shortest and fastest route home. I was hoping to beat the predicted thunderstorms home. Since my Versys is not exactly a Gold Wing I did take a few breaks.



I have ridden past this town dozens of times but this time I stopped and took a pic.



So now I can say I went to Hollywood this weekend.

As I got into Huntsville the skies ahead were pretty dark and ominous looking so I stopped and put on my rain jacket and the rain cover on my tank bag. Less than a mile later I rode into some really strong winds and heavy rain. Luckily it only took a few miles to get through it and into some calmer weather.

It turned out to be a fun weekend. Total for Sunday was over 300 miles and around 800 for the weekend. It was good to get out on the Versys. It was my first long ride on it for quite a while.

My next trip will be coming up before too long.