Last NC mountain ride before winter. Help me decide

[LordSmoke]

Okay, work is about to consume my every moment until mid December so this is my last chance before winter for a nice long ride in the mountains. Where should I go from Winston-Salem? I'm looking for an all day 300-400 mile ride. Here are my current choices:

1) Take I40 down to Asheville and find the southern end of the BRP and ride it north to Wilkesboro.

2) Hop on US421 over to Bristol, TN and come back the same way.

3) Any other suggestions.

[dlrides]

rt 16 North to Frog Level Service Station (Tazewell Va), 91 from there to Damascus VA, Damascus to Shady Valley (421), 421 to home.

[Desmo Demon]

Do it in style......get a room at the Stations Inn ( www.stationsinn.com ) and spend the whole weekend up there. If you figure it will be your last mountain ride, make it count!  

[falcofred]

It's only October, why are you calling it quits for winter?
I just had a great weekend riding from Asheville, took alt. 74 down toward Bat Cave, then took 9 north winding on another road east towards Marion where we got on 226 to Alt. 226 then up to Little Switzerland for lunch. Took the BRP back through Asheville and did a loop of 276 and 151 out of Chandler.
I'll ride until it snows

[sprint_st]

Desmo has it right.  How's this, run 421 to 44 just before Bristol and then go up VA 80 come back down 16 from Tazewell to 600 and 603 around Mr. Rogers mountain state park, bring it back to 16 at Mouth of Wilson on US 58 where you have lots of options to get home.  There is also Tn 143 through Roan Mt to NC 80 down to Marion, NC.  If you run out of roads in that area, you have OD'ed on ridalin. 58,16 and NC 80 are my current favorites south of WV.

[TRaGiK]

It's only October, why are you calling it quits for winter?

I was thinking the same thing. Last year, about 10 of us took off for a day trip to Shady Valley (421) in mid-november.

Personally, I'd stay away from 421 right now...or ride it very cautiously. THP is 'trolling the area pretty hot still from what I understand...

[servicerifle]

The only real problem with riding in the winter in this area is that Virginia puts rocks everywhere once the first snow falls.  That being said I was doing ESTN07 research in January and February.  Get some electrics and you can ride all year.  

DLRides and Sprint_ST's recommendations are great...same route only different directions.

[LordSmoke]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I ride all year around W-S, but I won't have any days off from October 17 to December 15. Realistically, I probably won't be able to hit the road for more than a couple of hours until January, then my fingers (though this year I have heated grips) and toes limit my range. An overnighter is out, too. We've been spending a LOT of time with my mother-in-law lately who is in failing health. My wife is taking a long weekend for herself, so my ride is, in part, a give-her-the-house-for-a-day trip, then we'll be doing stuff together.

The first route through Tazewell looks about perfect - 320 miles over kinky roads I haven't traveled.

Other nice looking suggestions, too. Will put them on the list as well. I HOPE to get a lot of riding in this Spring as I will be moving the Florida next summer.

PS: servicerifle - you PM'd me a couple of years ago during my Oct-Dec blackout period. I never got around to writing back. Has bothered me ever since. Please accept my apologies.

[servicerifle]

You can make up for it by getting rid of your dangling weiner avatar.  Otherwise, huh?

[rajflyboy]

Desmo has it right.  How's this, run 421 to 44 just before Bristol and then go up VA 80 come back down 16 from Tazewell to 600 and 603 around Mr. Rogers mountain state park, bring it back to 16 at Mouth of Wilson on US 58 where you have lots of options to get home.  There is also Tn 143 through Roan Mt to NC 80 down to Marion, NC.  If you run out of roads in that area, you have OD'ed on ridalin. 58,16 and NC 80 are my current favorites south of WV.

We have a "Winner"

[dlrides]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

The first route through Tazewell looks about perfect - 320 miles over kinky roads I haven't traveled.

 

If you have never ran 16 from Marion to Tazewell, do it ! IMHO, it makes "Squid Gap" (Deals Gap) and "The Worm" (421) look tame.

[cultureslayer]

Hmm, I might have to do some of these routes too.  Thanks!

[LordSmoke]

You can make up for it by getting rid of your dangling weiner avatar.  Otherwise, huh?

There. I switched back to the ATGATT avatar. Happy now?  

And, explanatory PM sent.

[servicerifle]

You didn't have to change it, but something wiggling that fast tends to draw your eye to it...so every five seconds when I'm reading one of your posts I wonder what that damned wiggling thing is and I'm compelled to look...then DANG it's that damned weiner again!  

[LordSmoke]

I took the backroads from W-S to 21N in Jonesville. Up 21 to Twin Oaks, then 221 over to 93, 93 to VA 16N in Mouth of Wilson. 16N to Tazewell, VA. After some chocolate milk and a PayDay, I traveled 16S to 42 over to 91. 91 down through Saltville, Damascas, etc. on to Mountain City. Picked up 421 back through Boone to W-S. Left about 9:30-10:00 and got back at 6:30 after 350 miles.

I missed some of the mentioned routes and sites: Frog Level service station   and it wasn't obvious how to pickup 91 in Tazewell, but a repeat of 16 coming from the north was nice (actually better for me than from the south since I was in the outside lane on the switchbacks). That was okay. though, since I got in some really technical twisties on 16, nice mountain/valley scenery, and I was taken by surprised by the fall foliage change that hasn't reached my area, yet.

All-in-all a great end-of-season ride I hope to make again when I get some work out of the way. Plus, I've got some other route suggestions to try when I next get a chance.

Thanks to all for the advice.

[sprint_st]

I took the backroads from W-S to 21N in Jonesville. Up 21 to Twin Oaks, then 221 over to 93, 93 to VA 16N in Mouth of Wilson. 16N to Tazewell, VA. After some chocolate milk and a PayDay, I traveled 16S to 42 over to 91. 91 down through Saltville, Damascas, etc. on to Mountain City. Picked up 421 back through Boone to W-S. Left about 9:30-10:00 and got back at 6:30 after 350 miles.

I missed some of the mentioned routes and sites: Frog Level service station   and it wasn't obvious how to pickup 91 in Tazewell, but a repeat of 16 coming from the north was nice (actually better for me than from the south since I was in the outside lane on the switchbacks). That was okay. though, since I got in some really technical twisties on 16, nice mountain/valley scenery, and I was taken by surprised by the fall foliage change that hasn't reached my area, yet.

All-in-all a great end-of-season ride I hope to make again when I get some work out of the way. Plus, I've got some other route suggestions to try when I next get a chance.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Lordsmoke, what's this end of season stuff?  There will be weekends up into December when these same roads will still be rideable.  Now there was this insane guy, was his name servicerifle????, who took me over Roan Mt for my first time last year when I started to see this white powder on the road, I think they call it salt.  Then we saw ice formations from ground water seepage up near the top.  It was still a great ride and I didn't have electric gear at all at the time.

[dlrides]

I took the backroads from W-S to 21N in Jonesville. Up 21 to Twin Oaks, then 221 over to 93, 93 to VA 16N in Mouth of Wilson. 16N to Tazewell, VA. After some chocolate milk and a PayDay, I traveled 16S to 42 over to 91. 91 down through Saltville, Damascas, etc. on to Mountain City. Picked up 421 back through Boone to W-S. Left about 9:30-10:00 and got back at 6:30 after 350 miles.

I missed some of the mentioned routes and sites: Frog Level service station   and it wasn't obvious how to pickup 91 in Tazewell, but a repeat of 16 coming from the north was nice (actually better for me than from the south since I was in the outside lane on the switchbacks). That was okay. though, since I got in some really technical twisties on 16, nice mountain/valley scenery, and I was taken by surprised by the fall foliage change that hasn't reached my area, yet.

All-in-all a great end-of-season ride I hope to make again when I get some work out of the way. Plus, I've got some other route suggestions to try when I next get a chance.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Frog Level Service Station is at the STOP intersection, where 16 goes into Tazewell. Route 91 is 400 feet west of Frog Level. Sounds like you turned around at Thompson Valley Grocery, one mile before Frog Level.

[servicerifle]

DLRides is right.

When you're heading north on 16 and you're ALMOST to Tazewell you will come to a stopsign.  At the sign 16 continues to the right, but if you turn left you'll go toward Frog Level.  Don't go too fast, because you'll be turning left onto 91 w/in 1/2 mile...maybe less?  Never measured it.  Basically when you see the stopsign, plan to make two left turns in rapid succession to get onto 91.

Personally I think 91 is a hoot.  You can really squirt down it and it holds a couple of surprise turns.  When you SEE the WHITE CEMENT bridge, hit the gas and prepare to get the bike a little airborne.  You won't see the jump but if you hit the gas upon sight of the bridge, your timing will be perfect.  This only works if you're headed west.

[LordSmoke]

sprint_st: Yeah, but I have no days off between Oct 17 and Dec 15. Then, I need some time to recover, catch up, do the Christmas thing, etc. Will be January before I get more than an hour or so on the bike.

I actually went through Tazewell looking for a BP station and came back. I think I stopped and tried to call Mrs. Smoke from some convenience store called "The Cave" for no apparent reason.

There is a general lack of BPs in the region. Finding none in Tazewell, I decided to ride until the gas pump started flashing and look for a BP, then take whatever was next when the last bar on the gauge started flashing. That happened just as I was leaving Damasus, and it was some miles down the road before I found a Marathon station in Laurel. Whew!

Next time I will try to look into some of these other sites and roads. I am not very good at detailed trip planning and such. Mostly I pick a direction (my on-bike GPS consists of a compass stuck on the mirror with a suction cup) and head that way to see what I can see. I would like to see more of 91.

[Desmo Demon]

when I started to see this white powder on the road, I think they call it salt.  Then we saw ice formations from ground water seepage up near the top.  

This picture is from a section of Hwy 64 between Cashiers, NC and Highlands, NC from a few years ago. It's nothing to see these formations from Oct-March, especially near the BRP on Hwy 215....



This is one of the wife with her R1 at the top of Hwy 348 (Richard B Russell Parkway) in northern Georgia, last year....

[stefrrr]

Do it in style......get a room at the Stations Inn ( www.stationsinn.com ) and spend the whole weekend up there. If you figure it will be your last mountain ride, make it count!  

 

We stayed there this week. The beds were cheap and uncomfortable, the whole room smelled like cigarette smoke, there were stains on the towels, and the "breakfast buffet," consisting of biscuits, canned gravy, ham, sausage, bacon, eggs, and rancid fruit salad was $8.00 per person. I figured I had a $4 biscuit with butter and jam, $3 for two pieces of sausage, and $1 in frozen dried-out homefries.

The people were friendly, and the location was fantastic, but I'd go just a little bit further and stay in the Alleghany Inn in Sparta for $20 less instead. Plus you can also ride 221 to get there. Just watch for gravel.  

[Desmo Demon]

We stayed there this week. The beds were cheap and uncomfortable, the whole room smelled like cigarette smoke, there were stains on the towels, and the "breakfast buffet," consisting of biscuits, canned gravy, ham, sausage, bacon, eggs, and rancid fruit salad was $8.00 per person. I figured I had a $4 biscuit with butter and jam, $3 for two pieces of sausage, and $1 in frozen dried-out homefries.

That was a much different experience than we had back in June. I can't remember if we had a non-smoking room or not, but with both my wife and me being non-smokers, we can't stand a room reeking of cigarette smoke. We only had a burger at the restaurant and it was one of the better ones that we'd had in a while. No issues with the bed nor towels. My wife said it was better 10-15 years ago before it became more popular, though.

[sprint_st]

 

We stayed there this week. The beds were cheap and uncomfortable, the whole room smelled like cigarette smoke, there were stains on the towels, and the "breakfast buffet," consisting of biscuits, canned gravy, ham, sausage, bacon, eggs, and rancid fruit salad was $8.00 per person. I figured I had a $4 biscuit with butter and jam, $3 for two pieces of sausage, and $1 in frozen dried-out homefries.

The people were friendly, and the location was fantastic, but I'd go just a little bit further and stay in the Alleghany Inn in Sparta for $20 less instead. Plus you can also ride 221 to get there. Just watch for gravel.  

Steff,
You must have gotten the HD Biker special  

[stefrrr]

I'd hope it was just an off-chance experience. If it had been a smoking room (we're both non-smokers though, so we asked for no smoking) it would have been understandable that the room faintly smell of smoke, but even the "fresh" towels smelled of smoke.  

The burgers and hot dogs for dinner I give   . I just wouldn't stay there again.

[servicerifle]

Stef, you need to change the color of your sigline ad.  The "Want a new bike" in orange makes me think KTM, which makes me want to click your link and drool/hand you my checkbook every time I see it, but no matter how many times I click it, there's never a KTM at the other end.  Please change the color!  

[stefrrr]

 

I'll think about it. Maybe purple...

[servicerifle]

Thanks!  Anything but orange, that color just makes me want to spend money!  (and not on your bike, unfortunately for you)

[stefrrr]

Unfortunately for Ray. It should be up on Cycletrader this week, so hopefully someone will buy it soon.  

Sorry for the