Looking for ride ideas

[autogates]

Hi everybody,
I am coming down your way for some riding in a few days.  I have a couple days to ride before my wife will fly in to me in Atlanta, at which point the ride will have to mellow alot!! I am thinking of getting somewhere around Knoxville on the 16th or 17th of March and spending a day riding there.
Of course I want to ride Deal's Gap, but also any other great roads I can do from there in a day. I usually ride 500+ miles in an exploring day but I don't know how feasible that is there.
I also plan on going to the Barber museum from Atlanta , so any nice routes to there and back are appreciated as well. Twistier the better, and I don't mind roads that are a bit rough either...you should see how the frost "massages" the pavement here!!
If anybody is ever coming up to Ontario and needs some ride ideas let me know too.

Ken

[MK96xj]

Ken,

Welcome.

Where are you coming from, how many days do you have with/ without the wife (will she be with you after ATL)?

There are a great deal of sweet roads in this area and Knoxville/Deal's Gap/ATL/Barber is also a large area. If you could give some more details we could probably help better.

MK

[autogates]

MK,
I am coming down from Ontario Canada.  Looking out my window right now and it's snowing like mad. Again.
I was thinking I would come down the I75 and I plan to have two days, ( probably the  17th and 18th), before I have to get to Atlanta to get my wife on the 19th.
Then I planned to take her with me to the Barber museum in Birmingham on the 20th.
I do have some idea how beautiful it is where you are as I did the entire Blue ridge in the fall last year and ended up in Gatlinburg, but ran out of time and had to scoot home before I could explore down there.
I sure can't wait for some riding as winter came early here. If you ever catch yourself taking your neck of the woods for granted, just come spend a January in Toronto eh!

Ken

[MK96xj]

Ken,

I grew up in the North East so I know about the winters. I don't miss them.   If it is any consolations, there are flurry's here today too but not sticking

Personally I would not spend two days in Knoxville. Maybe someone from the area will chime in knowing something more then i do about the area as i have only been there a handfull of times.

I would make my way to Deals Gap and the surrounding area's. West of Deals Gap, the Chattanooga area is nice and any road in and around the Deals Gap area is a good one.

This time of year not much is going on in the way of crowds so that is good for riding but the area interests will be limited. There is Helen GA but it is a relative ghost town during the winter months during the week. There is Maggie Valley and the Motorcycle museum there. Chattanooga has a Train Museum i believe. I have not been to it yet.

[blackbuell]

Ken,

If you ride the dragon, you might as well check out the Cherohala Skyway just a few miles away. I ride in that area once or twice each year, and the Skyway is my favorite road. Avoid weekends, if possible.

Jon