NC Foothills Ride 5-21

[NCStephen]

Yeah I know there are a lot of pictures here to load but I liked the places they captured. Also there aren’t a lot of real purdy pictures of trees and valleys and bikes. I kept riding rather than stopping. Also I must apologize for the missing food pictures. Breakfast was a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit from Liberty Restaurant in Lewisville ( Take a picture of a MacDonalds one, add mustard, put it on a real dish and real glass filled with OJ and that’s it. Lunch was a hotdog with mustard slaw and onions and some chips. Most likely you have seen those before and ridden with those that had. I was alone the rest of the trip so the onions weren’t a bother)

 

The on bike camera was set up wrong so some of the awesome places that were ridden were after the camera cut off each time. Oh well. That’s a good reason to ride it again.

 

This was a foothills trip with just a quick foray into the mountains to check on the ADV Eastern Rendezvous . There I found the Airhead GS riders hard at work while others were out riding. There was some excellent teaching going on.

 

The ride began in Hillsborough at 7:30 AM and I thought some folks were going to meet up with me but they didn’t, No one from ADV, I-BMW, BMWMOA, or BMWST, Guess I ride a bit far and a bit slow and thus have to start a bit early. The BMW R-CL was just there at the start just was there.. Burned 4 lane roads( I 40 and US 421 for 130 miles) with breakfast alone the way and then met another Wilkes County native, RED F. He rode a ways with me until we happened upon his old riding buddies and they went off to play in the dirt together. But I guess I need to put the narrative together.

 

Once past the 4 lanes and meeting Fred, we rode some of old 421 back towards Boone. Where that ended we ran up to and rode across Fall Creek Rd.. This wound around back towards Parsonville and then we headed across near Purlear to Vannoy. We ran up old 16 to get to the parkway. Wow what a delightful ride!. It ended with a 5 mile climb up the mountain on packed gravel. I found that to be enjoyable on the K-RS as well.

 

Once on the parkway, we passed a group of riders heading off on a dirt road. We stopped and it was a bunch of folks from the ADV group, including folks I had met in Asheville (Cuttle, Johnnymac, and others). These were Fred’s ole buddies so he took his nobbies and went off to play with them. (What are the chances that we would happen upon them in the few moments they stopped there and that we would stop to check them out?). So I rode on down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Laurel Springs and checked out the ADV group.

 

Most of that group were out riding EXCEPT the BWM airhead GS contingent. They were doing a tech session. Notice in the pix the teaching even included how to hold your mouth just right to get things fitted again. Teacher even had students modeling that part. That bike had needed a throwout bearing repair and had a clogged carburetor.

 

I lingered there and then had lunch at Freebornes there in Laurel Springs and then headed back down the mountain via NC 18. At the bottom hung a left onto Long Bottom Rd over to Traphill and Stone Mountain. Then a quick trip across Oklahoma Rd (why is there a NC mountain road named that?) to Roaring Gap. This then made for a quick trip down 21 (other than the skate boarder enjoying the long down hill) (side notes This is part of the road used in the filming of the movie “Thunder Road” back about 1960. Another part was around Lake Toxaway with the final crash at the powerplant on 107 east of Cullowhee) Once down the mountain to Thurmond I grabbed Haystack rd back up towards 89. This had 2 miles of dirt that had been recently graded so was pretty coarse and rough and loose. I had to take my time on this part. This dirt part ends at the little community of Devotion, NC.

 

Leaving Haystack Road is where I began the part of heading east again towards home. I rode over to Pilot Mountain, the town near the mountain, then Moores Spring and Hanging Rock. Time was getting short so rode 8 up to VA and then through the country to Horse Pasture and then home just in time for some good BBQ with a best friend, 10.5 hrs and 410 miles later. (as it was I lingered too long at a few places so some parts of the route were saved till next time)

 

The non major roads were all a delight even as they were different. Hopefully you can get some of the texture of them from the pictures. They ranged from loose gravel to packed gravel to coarse paving over the dirt road beds, to marginally maintained county roads to well groomed ones to state highways. The variety always kept the ride interesting. It was an awesome ride and I still have some places around there to explore. Company is always welcomed if you want to ride along.

 

NCS

 

 

On the way up from Hllsborough to meeting RED F at 421 and 16 near Millers Creek. 4 lanes are 4 lanes but they did begin to have some hilly flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up Fish Dam Rd and old 421, Fall Creek, New Hope, Shingles Gap, 16, Old 16 to BRPW and the chance meet up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the Eastern Rendezvous Please take note that it is important to have your mouth just right when reassembling, 4th pic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down the mountain on 18, then Long Bottom Rd over to Traphill and Stone Mountain, then Oklahoma Rd over to 21 and down to Thurmond and Haystack Rd to Devotion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downtown Devotion, both ways

 

 

 

 

 

Pilot Mountain, Moore Springs, Hanging Rock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Glenn Reed]

Very nice!

[Mrs. Caddis]

My favorite kind of roads...curves with no cage in front!

[Matts_12GS]

That's exactly why we chose that area of the world for an UN Rally.

 

 

This looks like a typical tech day. Or maybe a union job

[Mrs. Caddis]

Timing of the UN conflicts with other obligations this year. We are bumming on missing it....

[NCStephen]

That's exactly why we chose that area of the world for an UN Rally.

 

 

This looks like a typical tech day. Or maybe a union job

 

I work for NC DOT and thus have to withhold comment about how many men/women are needed for all aspects of one task.

 

Please however don't overlook the one doing the work, the safety person on the job, the ones that have done it before that are doing quality control, the ones learning to do the quality control and the supervisor making sure there isn't anyone goofing off.

 

It is a great area to ride in. The state roads are great but the emptier county roads are a true delight. This is where all my family roots are and it is still nice to discover new places. This trip it was Old NC 16.

 

NCS