wiseanhyzer
Two Stroke
My first ride report, so bear with me.
I've owned my Triumph Scrambler for going on two years and my buddy has recently purchased a Suzuki Bandit. Neither of us had done any motorcycling in the mountains so we decided to take off for a day of riding. After talking it over, we settled on a route that carried us through north Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Based out of Blue Ridge, Ga, we headed up Hwy 60 towards Tennessee around 7:30 in the morning on Saturday. Hwy 60 turns into 68 in TN and we made haste to Tellico Plains. The ride was cool and traffic was very light. Once in Tellico Plains, we headed east on what turns out is the Cherohala Skyway. Neither of us knew, it just looked like a fun road on Google Maps. What a blast! Cherohala is a great motorcycle road. Very little traffic (mostly motorcycles), excellent views and plenty of curves.
We dipped off the Cherohala at Santeetlah Road and headed north around Santeetlah Lake. Part of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest borders our next turn at Joyce Kilmer Rd.
We stopped for a break and then headed towards Hwy 129 and Deals Gap. Joyce Kilmer Rd winds along beside Lake Santeetlah and will beat the hell out of you if you're not careful. Rough pavement with lots of grooves, dips and potholes. They should have just left it dirt.
Quick stop at the Slickrock Creek Trail head. We've hiked here many times. Good stuff...
Deals Gap is a trip. We didn't ride "The Dragon" but we did see some douchebag on a short-bus colored Can-Am try to ride up the grass for a photo opp. He failed and we fueled up. South on Hwy28 now towards the Nantahala Outdoor Center for lunch. Some pizza, a beer, and a little break was just what we needed. A check of the radar says we're going to get wet. There were some pretty heavy thunderstorms passing through to our south.
Hwy 28 in North Carolina is awesome. No pictures cause we didn't stop. Riding was too much fun. We left Hwy 28 to have a go at Tellico Road.
Tellico Rd turns to dirt and winds up to a cool little pass.
Unfortunately by the time we arrived at the top there was some serious thunderstorms going on right behind us. We pressed on and found out there had just been some serious thunderstorms where we were headed. The roads would be pretty wet for the rest of the trip. Tellico Rd turns into Otter Creek Rd and at the end we made a left on Wayah Rd. Wayah is a great road too. It dips down and hugs Nantahala Lake for a minute and has some pretty nice twists. We left Wayah Rd cutting over to Hwy 64 towards Hiawassee, Ga. We took another pit stop for gas and snacks. We left Hiawassee south on the Unicoi Turnpike. Hooked up with State Route 180 and crossed Hwy 129. On the west side of Hwy 129, 180 is Wolfpen Gap Rd. Wolfpen is an awesome motorcycle road as well. Lots of great turns and not much traffic.
Wolfpen Gap
Wolfpen Gap Rd runs into Hwy 60 in Suches, Ga right at TWO. North on 60 back to Blue Ridge wrapped up the ride. We put a little over 300 miles on the odometer and 10 hours including stops. It rained everywhere we were after lunch but we didn't get more than a sprinkle. Don't ask me how we beat the odds on getting soaked. Overall it was a great trip and I highly recommend any of these roads to anyone who wants to ride a little pavement in N. Ga, TN and NC.
I've owned my Triumph Scrambler for going on two years and my buddy has recently purchased a Suzuki Bandit. Neither of us had done any motorcycling in the mountains so we decided to take off for a day of riding. After talking it over, we settled on a route that carried us through north Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Based out of Blue Ridge, Ga, we headed up Hwy 60 towards Tennessee around 7:30 in the morning on Saturday. Hwy 60 turns into 68 in TN and we made haste to Tellico Plains. The ride was cool and traffic was very light. Once in Tellico Plains, we headed east on what turns out is the Cherohala Skyway. Neither of us knew, it just looked like a fun road on Google Maps. What a blast! Cherohala is a great motorcycle road. Very little traffic (mostly motorcycles), excellent views and plenty of curves.
We dipped off the Cherohala at Santeetlah Road and headed north around Santeetlah Lake. Part of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest borders our next turn at Joyce Kilmer Rd.
We stopped for a break and then headed towards Hwy 129 and Deals Gap. Joyce Kilmer Rd winds along beside Lake Santeetlah and will beat the hell out of you if you're not careful. Rough pavement with lots of grooves, dips and potholes. They should have just left it dirt.
Quick stop at the Slickrock Creek Trail head. We've hiked here many times. Good stuff...
Deals Gap is a trip. We didn't ride "The Dragon" but we did see some douchebag on a short-bus colored Can-Am try to ride up the grass for a photo opp. He failed and we fueled up. South on Hwy28 now towards the Nantahala Outdoor Center for lunch. Some pizza, a beer, and a little break was just what we needed. A check of the radar says we're going to get wet. There were some pretty heavy thunderstorms passing through to our south.
Hwy 28 in North Carolina is awesome. No pictures cause we didn't stop. Riding was too much fun. We left Hwy 28 to have a go at Tellico Road.
Tellico Rd turns to dirt and winds up to a cool little pass.
Unfortunately by the time we arrived at the top there was some serious thunderstorms going on right behind us. We pressed on and found out there had just been some serious thunderstorms where we were headed. The roads would be pretty wet for the rest of the trip. Tellico Rd turns into Otter Creek Rd and at the end we made a left on Wayah Rd. Wayah is a great road too. It dips down and hugs Nantahala Lake for a minute and has some pretty nice twists. We left Wayah Rd cutting over to Hwy 64 towards Hiawassee, Ga. We took another pit stop for gas and snacks. We left Hiawassee south on the Unicoi Turnpike. Hooked up with State Route 180 and crossed Hwy 129. On the west side of Hwy 129, 180 is Wolfpen Gap Rd. Wolfpen is an awesome motorcycle road as well. Lots of great turns and not much traffic.
Wolfpen Gap
Wolfpen Gap Rd runs into Hwy 60 in Suches, Ga right at TWO. North on 60 back to Blue Ridge wrapped up the ride. We put a little over 300 miles on the odometer and 10 hours including stops. It rained everywhere we were after lunch but we didn't get more than a sprinkle. Don't ask me how we beat the odds on getting soaked. Overall it was a great trip and I highly recommend any of these roads to anyone who wants to ride a little pavement in N. Ga, TN and NC.
Last edited:
