Wytheville VA, Asheville NC & Helen GA
Miles = 1,460

 
Needless to say by May of 2020 we were sick of the whole Wuhan Virus crap. We had been boxed up a good portion of March and all of April but things were starting to loosen up in May, so we decided we needed to ride. Georgia was open and good portions of TN and NC were open so we headed to our favorite area; the Southeast.

Day One
We began by following the Ohio River on US52 before crossing at Maysville and taking the AA Highway down to I-64. We rode that for a few miles before running down WV37 to East Lynn Lake where we made our first stop. We picked up WV10 which we have ridden many times, and during our first trip we remarked that we should call the trip "Poverty Tour" as there were some really depressed areas, and I didn't see a whole lot of improvement over the past 20 years. We continued riding only stopping for gas in Harts WV. After filling up we continued on WV10 but quickly ran into a road closure and there really wasn't any detour. We asked the construction flagger and he rattled off a number of turns and I understood about half of what he said. So, we began backtracking and relying half on what he said and half on the Garmin. We ended getting through but we had some pretty serious off roading we had to navigate. It was easier for me on the RT while Steve had to manage on his GA which was far bigger and far heavier. The only benefit he had was that he could follow my line. We got back to WV10 and soon we reached Pineville where we picked up WV16 which was our main target of the route. On WV16 we ran through a number of little towns like War and Berwind WV, and other larger towns like Welch WV but all seemed tied to the mining industry. Once we reached Tazewell VA the fun began. This section of RT16 is called The Back of the Dragon and it is one of the top roads in the southeast according to my ranking. There are three sets of mountain ranges the road crosses, the first being Clinch Mountain and we stopped there on the ascent to take some pics and try to replicate some earlier picture from the same spot we took 20 years ago. The weather wasn't all that great so we didn't stay long. After about 30 minutes of great riding we stopped again after the summit of the third range at Hungry Mother State Park. The main entrance to the park is further down the mountain but there is a little access road at the summit that allows for a stop. We rode through Marion and then into the Mt. Rogers Recreational Area as an indirect way to reach Wytheville as we didn't want to get on the interstate. Although we didn't ride through much rain the roads had been wet pretty much all day so we stopped on the way in to wash the bikes. We got some beer at the Food Lion and went to our hotel to order Pizza as there wasn't much if anything that was open for dine in. We stayed at the Tru Hotel which is a Hilton property but geared toward a younger demographic. In the end we didn't like it all that much, but due to the restrictions maybe we didn't give it a fair shake.

Day Two
No place to eat so we took our Hotel breakfast bag and made the best of it. We took US21 south and then some backroads over to US58. Before we reached Damascus we stopped along the Creeper Trail on an old Railroad Bridge that is part of the hiking/biking trail. We rode through Damascus and once agin through Backbone Rock area and into Shady Valley. This time we rode over Iron Mountain aka "The Snake" into Mountain City which was the first time in a long time we have ridden this road in this direction. Once through Mountain City we took TN67 at Trade back into the hills before turning south and stopping east Elk Knob State Park. We were hoping this would be a spot with nice scenery but it just a gravel parking area at the head of several trails, so there wasn't much to see. We rode through Meat Camp on NC194 which might be one of he all-time best town names. After Boone we took Shulls Mill Road as we began our run up to the BRP. This time there had been an accident and the Firemen on the scene told us it would probably be a while before we could get through so we back tracked again. We had wanted to ride over Lincove Viaduct so instead once we reached US221 we rode north and found a port underneath the Viaduct and we had a look at it from a very different perspective. Next up was a stop at an overlook look of Brown Mountain on NC181. It was only 3:00 when we reached Lake Lure and we weren't that far from our destination in Asheville so we decided to stop. Lake Lure is a very touristy area so there are not many areas to stop around the lake, so we pulled into the Lakehouse Bar & Grill which was closed for dine in eating and just hung out in their parking lot which was completely empty and had a great view. I guess there are some advantages to things begin closed. We had planned to stay in downtown Asheville but the Homewood Suites called Steve at 1:30 and said we could not stay there since we were not essential workers. What? How ridiculous! So we stayed south by the airport and made the best of it. We first went to Blue Ghost Brewing Co for a pint and got a couple of Crowlers apiece and then went to Sierra Nevada to pick up some food to go. We could eat there and we couldn't eat in the hotel lobby so we ate at the back of my bike. We didn't care we were out riding and would have been ok with PBJs. We had stopped on the way in to wash the bikes so we were all set for the next day's ride.

Day Three
Another crappy hotel breakfast but what we could do? For some reason it was decided that the BRP would open on the 15th so we were back in business on our route. We jumped just south of Asheville where the BRP crosses US25. We rode for several miles and stopped at the Stony Bald Overlook on the Parkway. It was still al little cold especially at elevation but the sun was out and all was good. We continued to US276 where we headed south and stopped at Sliding Rock. Of course it was closed but we went ahead and went in anyway. We walked around and took some pics, and didn't see another human, Good for us. Just down the road was Looking Glass Falls and there we did the same thing. Before we knew it we were in SC stopped at a nice overlook of Lake Jocassee. The riding had been so good to start it was hard to imagine it was only going to get better and it was only 10:00. It wasn't fair before we reached the GA State line at the Chatooga River. This was a stop from 2002 so we thought we would stop again. A lot has changed in those 18 years. The old bridge is gone, a new center was built and the current bridge has nice railing and steps going down to the river and a really nice pull off area that we used for a brief stop. We took GA180 to ride up Brasstown Bald in another attempt to re-visit a previous stop, this one form 1996, but the area was closed. We stayed on US19 to ride through Neels Gap. This is another great road and one of few with tight twisties and a three-lane road. It means one can really fly up the mountain. At the is the Blood Mountain Country store where the Appalachian Trail intersects US19. We stopped there for a look around and at the large number of bikes that were there. Down the mountain we stopped at Riverside Tavern for a bite to eat. We first visited this place in 1996 and I was able to show some of those old pics to the current owner who seemed quite interested. It was the first time we had eaten at a dine in restaurant since early March and it felt so odd. Since we hadn't had a big breakfast this really hit the spot. It was only 1:30 and we were nearly to Helen so we decided to ride some of the Richard B Russell highway before calling it a day. We rode to the summit and back down before coming into Helen. Before it got any later we decided to ride down to Tantrum Brewing which just a few miles south of Helen. They were open and serving inside, but we sat at an outside picnic table and really enjoyed ourselves as we talked about the day's ride and how enjoyable it was just to be out and about. We wen tracks to Helen and walked around some. They had a few things open. We had some wings from the Alpine Brew Deck where we sat outside and then went to Paul's Margarita Deck to enjoy a few beers on their deck overlooking the Chattahooche River. In general I thought the town of Helen was little hoakie, but in retrospect I would probably go back, but I also think it would be better as a couples trip. The Hampton in Helen was a very different design than is typical with garage on the ground level which made it really nice.

Day Four
We had a little trouble navigating as we left Helen. We had planned to run north on Richard B Russell but missed the turn onto 75A staying instead on GA75. Once we hit RBR on the north end it routed us back to an earlier point and it took us a little while to figure things out. Soon enough though we were back on the North side and riding down GA180 also known as Wolf Pen Gap. This is a very famous motorcycle road and is very twisty and very tight. It was a great start to the morning as we reached the halfway mark on Wolf Pen Gap where we stopped Lake Winfield Scott. There wasn't much to see at this stop but it was nice to get off the bike and collect our thoughts. We were going to ride all the way home so didn't have a lot of time for stops today. We rode GA60 north once we reached Suches and it was another good road. We could see the TWO Resort as we reached GA60 and could recognize that it has really been upgraded over the years. We stayed there in 2002 and it was ok but now it looks really first class. At Ducktown we caught US64 to run along the Ocoee River. First we stopped at Boyd Gap to have a nice view but the overlook wasn't all that great. We stopped along the river to watch some kayakers go by. It was only 10:00 but we had a lot of riding to do. We had some more good roads to ride before hitting the interstate. TN315 up to telco Plains is really nice and then on the other side of Tellico Plains it was also really nice to the point where we will ride that again as our entrance to Cherohala. On the way home we jumped off the interstate for brief time to go through LaFollette. We another stop on Highway 25 along the Clear Fork River. We made one last stop for gas at Clay's Ferry and then we rode over the old bridge and stopped one last time.