Finally, after 10 months of severe sport riding withdrawal, it was time to go for a real ride
Years earlier, while still living in Ohio, I had seen an ad in a motorcycle magazine for a motorcycle resort in north Georgia called Two Wheels Only (TWO). While in California my friend Phil told me he had visited TWO while in flight school in Pensacola. He said there were some good roads there and that the Owner of the place rode a Gold Wing like it was a sport bike.
So now it was time to go check this place out. I picked mid to late October because I figured that by then the heat and humidity would be bearable for a long ride like this.
I took a week of leave and loaded up the EX500 and headed north. My route was some Fl/Al back roads until I hit I-65 which I followed to I-85 to Atlanta. In Atlanta I picked up 400 North. At that time 400 was not the traffic disaster it is today. After 20 miles or so it became a scenic, rural road with little traffic and not much on it. Not too long after putting Atlanta in my rear view mirror I saw mountains ahead
Yes I was excited. Before too long I was in those mountains. I rode around a bit but it was getting late and I decided I needed to find a motel. I ended up going back down 400 towards Cumming to find a motel.
The next morning I got up early and headed back to the mountains. My plan was to head to Suches, Ga and see if I could find TWO. I got as far as Dahlonega when I got to roadblock. The main road through town was blocked off due to Octoberfest. I managed to find my way around town and ended up on 60 going north. 60 soon became a fantastic twisty road climbing up into the mountains
This was fantastic. It was also surprisingly cold but I was having so much fun actually leaning my bike around all the curves that I didn't care.
I got to the top of the mountain and started heading down hill. As I did that I saw a sport bike coming the other way
Not only that, the rider was wearing leathers
If you are wondering why I was so excited, I hadn't seen that since leaving California. So there were other sport bike riders east of the Rockies
But as he got closer, something didn't look right
He was all out of proportion. As he passed I saw that he was riding a Yamaha YSR50. OK then, a little strange but at least it was a sportbike. Then I saw two more sportbikes heading towards me. Another YSR50 and a Honda MB5.
What was going on here?
I ride a couple of minutes and saw a red building on the left side of the road with a bunch of people and bikes around it. It was TWO
I pulled into the parking lot. It was the weekend of the annual True Grits 50cc rally and the place was crawling with 50cc bikes. I wish I had taken some pics
I remember this part of the ride very well. After that, the rest of the week of riding is somewhat vague but I'll do the best I can.
I eventually headed north. I was really impressed with the great roads and scenery. It was completely different from the west but beautiful in it's own way. Everything was very green and there were a lot of rivers and lakes. The weather was off and on sunshine with occasional showers. My camera on this trip was a cheap $15 dollar camera. That $15 included film and batteries. It still took pretty good pictures. The biggest issue here was not the cheap camera, it was the cheap photographer
A lake in North Ga.
Eventually I ended up in North Carolina. I really had no plan. The only thing I had heard of in NC was the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). What I did was look for the squiggliest lines on my map and head that way.
I was following on of those "squiggly line" roads in NC when I came to an intersection. My plan was to take a right there because the road to the left looked straight on my map and the road to the right looked real curvy
At the intersection there was a gas station, store and small motel. Hanging out there were a bunch of sport bike riders. So I stopped to take a break and talk to them. They were all locals. I told them that I was in the area for the fist time looking for curvy roads. One of them pointed down the road to the left, the one I hadn't planned on taking because it looked straight on the maps, and said that it was a really great twisty road. So I pointed down the other way and asked how that road was. He said he didn't know, he never rode that way
I decided to follow the group when they headed off. It ended up being a real exciting ride as I chased these guys down one of the twistiest roads I had ever ridden
Eventually they pulled over at a scenic overlook. I took a pic:
Anyone want to guess what road I had just ridden?
How about if I show you the view from that point?