Wednesday was made for riding here in east TN. I had 67' on 72 as I made my way to the Dragon. Take a right on 129 and cruise the early afternoon sunshine soaked waters as I passed Chilhowee Dam. Traffic made my decision to skip the Parkway and Happy Valley. Graced with the Golden Ride across the Dragon to Deals Gap. No traffic in front and only passed by a handful of bikes and cars. Tennessee side salt dusted and wet on north shaded strips. Pause for the cause @ Deal's Gap. Closed for my visit with only a pair of portapotties available. Saturday 3/1/25 is season opener. South on 28 to 74 (Moonshiner's) is full of debris due to extensive tree clearing on Deal's Gap end. 1 area of construction has 1/4 mile down to gated 1 lane. 74 clear to Cherokee with not much salt dust noted. Cruise through town to 441. No elk this week. Throttle up as I pass the welcome center with 1 car in the distance. Reasonable ride to pass and I again, get the Golden Ride up to Clingman's Dome. Well, got held up the last 1 mile by a pair of Enduros. Their chicken strips were a bit on the slim side if ya know what I mean.
Got the pass on 1 being lazy but the other musta figured out my headlights looked a bit different.
So gracious of him to pull off @ Clingman's. NC side of 441 was clean. Top is still has snow and ice. TN side conditions got me riding conservative. Lots of sand on the road and lots of melting runoff. Catching slow traffic was a good thing. Took the left on Little River Gorge from Sugarlands towards Cades Cove. Had a couple wet runs in shaded areas. I like the cut across to Wears Valley @ Metcalf Bottoms. Wears Valley Road to 321 (Townsend) had some gravel and sand. Run up 411 to Smokey Mt Stealership to see the eye candy.
All and all, the fantastic ride on a fantastic day that I needed.
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Topic: My loop (Read 4287 times)