Rally

Had a blast on the ride.  Great roads and great company. Here's a pic of the bikes at the dam. 

Billy Way

2004 BMW R1150RT

Quick ride report.

Billy W, Michell Q, Bruce G, Geoff M and I rode what was basically the blue route Saturday clockwise.  Weather dry and sunny.  Easy going route.  Lot of nice mountain cove scenery.  Mostly open twisties with a few main highway connections.  Twisties a little tighter/more technical on the northern bight after Hiawassee Dam to around where John Taylor Road joins Joe Brown Highway from the west.  South end of Hiawassee Dam Access Road was shut, presumably for construction, which required a double-back and detour via Upper Bear Paw Road/Lower Bear Paw Road.  The road surface over the first three or so miles on this detour had the character of the worse Belgian Pavé I’ve ever ridden.  After a mile or so the simple suspension damping on my ‘bike just surrendered.  Others’ fared much better.  Downtown Murphy was cordoned-off for a street spring festival which required a detour via side streets.  (This was billed as their 1st annual event, so if repeated and coinciding with future GMR’s this might be worth noting as a something for GMR guests to take in.)  Also meant we opted out of stopping for a snack there.  Instead we headed directly to Rib Country BBQ on NC76 and then back to the GMR site.

98 miles covered in 2 hours 25 minutes riding time.  Would do it all again.

Mark
1993 R100R

Bruce,  Great.  This ride should not be a physical challenge.  I'm all but finished packing, so will be on the road to Hiawassee before noon tomorrow (Friday).  See y'all there.

Mark
1993 R100R

I would like to join you, sir!  Was going to hit the dirt with Kyle and Alejandro but afraid the should is not quite ready yet.  See you soon!

Bruce Grant
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2015 R1200 GS Adventure

If the weather’s really good and there’s suitable enthusiasm to ride a little more, heading north east from Murphy to Andrews and then via Junaluska and Wayah to pick up US64 west of Franklin to get back to the GMR site might be an option.  Adds about 60 miles and 90 minutes to the run.  We’ll see.

The GPX here has all the related options mapped.

Mark
1993 R100R

Billy, and any others who want to join in, let’s meet up inside the Music Hall in the Registration/Country Store area at 10:15am on Saturday with the expectation of leaving at 10:30am.  We’ll ride clockwise with an early stop at Cornerstone BP (intersection of US76 and Hwy17 – about 3 miles from the rally site) for gas.  Should be in Murphy for a lunch snack stop between 12:30pm and 1:00pm, and back at the GMR site around 2:30pm or so.  I’ll be riding my Cagiva Gran Canyon if the few tweaks that I am working on get completed this week, otherwise I’ll be on my, unfailing, BMW R100R.  See you there.

Attached here is a GPX file of the routes and a larger version of the JPG of the route map below.

Mark
1993 R100R

Mark,

I haven't ridden those roads before but I am interested in joining you for the ride.  Let me know when you plan to go and how to connect with you.

Billy Way

2004 BMW R1150RT

Assuming weather is reasonable (long range forecast is positive) on the Saturday at the GMR I’m thinking about riding the blue route below around Hiawassee Lake taking either the red or magenta options.  Either way, the ride is about 100 miles on all-tarmac roads.  If I have ridden the more off-beat roads here it has not been for a long time, so the ride will be very leisurely.  There’s a bunch or restaurants/cafes and other commerce in Murphy that makes it a likely snack/gas stop.

Question.  Does anyone have any recent feedback to offer on these roads?

Happy to have company.

Mark
1993 R100R