I have been watching the weather in the mountains - it is still too wet to plan anything very far in advance.  Just like our weather here has been very wet - you might be able to sneak in one or two dry days....but you will only get a day or two to figure out if the weather will be suitable.  Tellico Plains seems to have good weather sooner than it arrives in the Robbinsville area - and yet it is still a bit too damp for my liking.  The Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground has some nice and affordable cabins, they serve breakfast most days, they have camping available without any advance reservations.  https://cmtrails.com/

(A friend of mine who was been riding his whole life says you can't really do any normal riding until June).

My neighbor and I have started to go riding in the area around the KY/VA border.  The area is mountainous and the roads are nice riding.  There is little to attract tourists and traffic is light - the coal and logging activities are not busy like they once where and the area is a bit depressed.  There aren't fancy restaurants or bars in the area and getting breakfast sometimes requires an hour of riding before we find something to eat - by lunch/dinner time we are always out riding in areas with places to eat.  There are a lot of very small towns and great riding - the roads tend to be located in the valleys between the mountains and are very curvy, and a few of them go over the mountains and have steep roads and curves.  This is a nice place for us as we can get there with a 4 hour drive - while it takes us 5 hours to get to Tellico Plains, 7 hours to Robbinsville and 8 hours to Suches.  The "Gateway to the Breaks" is a nice little hotel in the area:
https://www.gatewaymotelva.com/
There is also the Breaks Interstate Park with lodging and camping:
https://www.breakspark.com/lodging-main-page

If you want to go ride 2-3 days soon at Tellico Plains - I am up for it if we can find a few good weather days (after the coming Memorial Day weekend).  Both 315 and 68 are great roads that you may not have ridden yet.  And there is always the Cherohala Skyway and roads on the east side of the mountain.

That looks like a nice place MM. I hope I get a chance to catch up with you guys sometime this year. You sure are making me jealous with all that riding.

I hope to check out the Tellico camp next time.  

ok I'm in... soon as the nights warm up a bit !  

I just need somewhere cooler and dryer right now.  Houston is a swamp sauna oven until October.  When we can catch a break from this rain, riding in the early morning before 11am is tolerable.

 You sure are making me jealous with all that riding.  

Hay Springman

I just got back from a 1500 mile (4 day) bike ride .   To and from Atoona PA .  
It was the CMAUSA's 50th birthday National Rally .
There were four of us from my local chapter went and I didn't have to do any of the planning.  

Here are some conclusions I learned from ridding with a group like that for multiple days.

1.   Some folks have to EAT a BIG MEAL 3 times a day .
2.   Some folks don't hold a steady speed out on the interstate.
3.   Everybody , (including me) takes a wrong turn sometimes.
4.   Some folks get grumpy after 350 miles a day even on big roads.
5.   Some folks seem to think constantly working the throttle is Normal ?
6.   Some folks think leaving at 5:30 in the morning is a good thing.

I've made several BIKE trips to Kerrville Texas (1000 miles ride).     Several of my trips have been:
1.  To take a 400 mile RELAXING RIDE down the Natchez Trace Parkway (45-55mph)  to the FREE campground (running water) at the South end of the Trace.  (10hr day.)
2.  Take a 600 mile run on the Super Slab on day two.  (10hr day.)

That combo has worked fine repeatedly .

One of those trips was a 835 mile day on a Savage with a Harley Seat on it and a 2.7 gallon tank.   I got a bigger tank after that one !  


The conclusion from ridding with those folks is :
Next time I'll be in on the route planning .

 I likely won't be able to go on a fun ride out of town for another month - the end of July.  We are going on a 2 week trip with Deb's sister from July 9th - 23rd.  When I get home it will take some time to get our property back in order.  

Getting things back in order !      I'm caught up in that very thing now.  Yesterday and today I put about 60 acres of hay on the ground.   Now its a race to get it rolled and in the barn before rain returns.  I'm raking and rolling solo this year so it take a while.

Kent has a new Granddaughter in Florida , so his rides this year will be to Florida and back !  

I'll aim at the last part of July !