My wife asked me to leave the house on Mother's Day. She said I needed to get away and forget the worries of my job and mundane life. Little did I know when I left that she was secretly planning on doing nothing all day, just laying around without any children in the house. Apparently, it was exactly what she needed. And it was what I needed as well.
Let me just say right here, right now, that Mani sucks at planning a ride. I had attempted to meet this group a few weeks back but the meeting location was a huge secret. He will most likely come in here saying that he posted all the pertinent information, but he didn't. I think it was an attempt to keep me from riding with this group, but I was given better information this week so I made the trip. This group is out of Chattanooga and the meetup was 90 minutes away if I drove straight there. But who goes straight there on a motorcycle?
I finally remembered to turn on Relive as well. For some reason I always forget about this app and did so again, only to stop just past Fort Loudon Dam and at the Little Tennessee River. For those who don't know, Little Tennessee is the river that comes from Fontana Dam, Cheoah Dam, and Calderwood Dam, and a series of lakes that runs alongside US129. If you've ever stopped at the picnic tables along 129 going to Foothills Parkway or doing the 360/Cherohala loop, that is the water body.
Little Tennessee River
I took some goat paths down through farming country to eventually come to Reliance, TN. Reliance is in the middle of the Cherokee National Forest and along the Hiawassee River. The area is simply gorgeous.
Old barn
Some trout fisherman
BDMEM
The meetup time was 10 am, I left my house at 7 am for a 1+ hour direct drive which left me with time to go east and west as I made my way south. It also gave me the opportunity to stop for breakfast.
Breakfast of champions
I thought of Pete for some strange reason
I eventually made it to the meetup and chatted a bit. From there the plan was to mosey down to Two Wheels Only of Suches (TWOS). Many people here have been to that spot. It is a meetup location for both street and dual sport riders as the area is excellent for both. Mani and I were talking about riding the Hooch. Loggiebone turned us onto that dual-sport rally and I highly recommend it. The Ocoee Gorge was my path from Reliance to the meetup spot and then back towards Suches, GA. It is a fantastic ride through the gorge if you don't get hit by traffic. My westbound ride was glorious, eastbound was hampered by traffic. And the group I was riding with isn't the normal hooligans so passing on the dyl's wasn't encouraged.
Ocoee River
I love how the trees are growing in the river. Maybe one day there will be a little island there.
Bikes at TWOS
The man, the myth, the modder focker
We had lunch at TWOS (no picture of the food, but I had a chicken Philly with onion rings, fantastic!) and decided to do the 19/9/180 loop which would bring us back to Suches. I have ridden this many times and it is a favorite ride. It got me thinking about the DGR's in the next few years and maybe moving it closer to this area. There are a ton of good roads here. Anyway, along the way, I decided to open it up a bit. I scooted out in front and knowing that I was headed to Wolf Pen Gap, I was gone! During my little scamper, I passed two cops, one blazing Ka-band and the other with a BMW M4 pulled over. My handy-dandy radar detector helped me avoid a ticket as I was able to get down to 10 over by the time the cop could see me. I dodged that ticket and stopped at GA180 waiting for the group to catch up.
I saw this road and thought of Bill Morgan. I know he would want to explore it!
Turning around and catching a picture of the best damn motorcycle ever made, with the GP chip.
So I waited for a few minutes, then a few more minutes. I started to worry if there was a get-off. After about 15 minutes I head back and see the group off to the side of the road at a parking area for the Appalachian Trail. One of my new riding partners received a performance award. He was on a Tuono so there is that. He did not have a radar detector. Anyway, after regrouping we went back and ran 180, and retraced our steps back to Ducktown, TN where I parted ways with the group. I ran TN68 to Tellico Plains, then TN360 to Vonore. That whole route is pretty good riding and solidified the idea that DGR should move to the TN side in the coming years.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the write-up. Here is the Relive link: https://www.relive.cc/view/vxOQo1mDZMq
Let me just say right here, right now, that Mani sucks at planning a ride. I had attempted to meet this group a few weeks back but the meeting location was a huge secret. He will most likely come in here saying that he posted all the pertinent information, but he didn't. I think it was an attempt to keep me from riding with this group, but I was given better information this week so I made the trip. This group is out of Chattanooga and the meetup was 90 minutes away if I drove straight there. But who goes straight there on a motorcycle?
I finally remembered to turn on Relive as well. For some reason I always forget about this app and did so again, only to stop just past Fort Loudon Dam and at the Little Tennessee River. For those who don't know, Little Tennessee is the river that comes from Fontana Dam, Cheoah Dam, and Calderwood Dam, and a series of lakes that runs alongside US129. If you've ever stopped at the picnic tables along 129 going to Foothills Parkway or doing the 360/Cherohala loop, that is the water body.
Little Tennessee River
I took some goat paths down through farming country to eventually come to Reliance, TN. Reliance is in the middle of the Cherokee National Forest and along the Hiawassee River. The area is simply gorgeous.
Old barn
Some trout fisherman
BDMEM
The meetup time was 10 am, I left my house at 7 am for a 1+ hour direct drive which left me with time to go east and west as I made my way south. It also gave me the opportunity to stop for breakfast.
Breakfast of champions
I thought of Pete for some strange reason
I eventually made it to the meetup and chatted a bit. From there the plan was to mosey down to Two Wheels Only of Suches (TWOS). Many people here have been to that spot. It is a meetup location for both street and dual sport riders as the area is excellent for both. Mani and I were talking about riding the Hooch. Loggiebone turned us onto that dual-sport rally and I highly recommend it. The Ocoee Gorge was my path from Reliance to the meetup spot and then back towards Suches, GA. It is a fantastic ride through the gorge if you don't get hit by traffic. My westbound ride was glorious, eastbound was hampered by traffic. And the group I was riding with isn't the normal hooligans so passing on the dyl's wasn't encouraged.
Ocoee River
I love how the trees are growing in the river. Maybe one day there will be a little island there.
Bikes at TWOS
The man, the myth, the modder focker
We had lunch at TWOS (no picture of the food, but I had a chicken Philly with onion rings, fantastic!) and decided to do the 19/9/180 loop which would bring us back to Suches. I have ridden this many times and it is a favorite ride. It got me thinking about the DGR's in the next few years and maybe moving it closer to this area. There are a ton of good roads here. Anyway, along the way, I decided to open it up a bit. I scooted out in front and knowing that I was headed to Wolf Pen Gap, I was gone! During my little scamper, I passed two cops, one blazing Ka-band and the other with a BMW M4 pulled over. My handy-dandy radar detector helped me avoid a ticket as I was able to get down to 10 over by the time the cop could see me. I dodged that ticket and stopped at GA180 waiting for the group to catch up.
I saw this road and thought of Bill Morgan. I know he would want to explore it!
Turning around and catching a picture of the best damn motorcycle ever made, with the GP chip.
So I waited for a few minutes, then a few more minutes. I started to worry if there was a get-off. After about 15 minutes I head back and see the group off to the side of the road at a parking area for the Appalachian Trail. One of my new riding partners received a performance award. He was on a Tuono so there is that. He did not have a radar detector. Anyway, after regrouping we went back and ran 180, and retraced our steps back to Ducktown, TN where I parted ways with the group. I ran TN68 to Tellico Plains, then TN360 to Vonore. That whole route is pretty good riding and solidified the idea that DGR should move to the TN side in the coming years.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the write-up. Here is the Relive link: https://www.relive.cc/view/vxOQo1mDZMq
I still do that!
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