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Just over 2 weeks ago, a buddy of mine and I started on another week-long tour. He was on his FJR and I was on my Tiger 900. The goal was to go from DFW generally northeast, making an oval-shaped tour that lasted from Tuesday early morning to following Monday afternoon.
About 3050 miles after all was said and done. Lots of fun along the way!
The route:
Day 1 saw us slab it to Fort Smith AR and then after lunch, head east on 40 for a bit and then up 23 to 16, 21 south and then back north on 123, 327 and 7. Destination was Harrison, AR. I was a bit worried that we’d be riding late in Arkansas mountains, but it worked out just fine. I had experiences dodging deer up there before dusk, so I was not too keen to repeat that. Beautiful riding, great weather, very empty roads (it was Tuesday afternoon):
Boston Mountains are beautiful!
We made it to Harrison just fine. Funny thing here: his Fobo Bike 2 TPMS system kept giving him alerts that his tire is a bit flat. We were kind of tired so we went to dinner and then kind of forgot about it… of course…
Day 2 started bright and early. We were going to catch Peel ferry. We loaded up when he realized that in fact, he had a flat on the rear. Took my “rubber worm” patch kit out and fixed it but likely, I made a mistake of letting too much air stay in the tire because the tire would leak little bit of air over the day requiring few lbs in the morning for the rest of the trip. Sigh.
Anyway, we made it to the ferry and took the ride across. Never gone to a ferry with my bike. We were the only passengers. Ride across is about 15-20 minutes and you go from Arkansas to Arkansas, and then ride for few minutes to make it to Missouri:
Did I mention it is free? We chatted up the attendant going across, that was fun. Riding was fun up to about Poplar Bluff after which it became kind of flat and more boring, but we needed to go east so… We did a quick stop in Cairo to go where Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet and then headed east.
Bowling Green KY was the destination so that took some doing. Long day in the saddle! No major excitements here.
Day 3 was going to be a long day because we wanted to stop and do a bourbon distillery tour on this day. We made it to Maker’s Mark and had a tour + tasting which was just under 2 hours. It was neat! First time I was at one of those tours, my buddy did a few before. I’m not a big bourbon fan but this was definitely neat and was enjoyable!
Just imagine all the... vitamins stored in the barrels!
Tasting some:
After that, we headed sort of south toward Knoxville but then snaked our way east going between Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee a few times to eventually take 81 to Roanoke to spend the night. I loved this part of the country; KY was very pretty I thought and getting close to Roanoke was exciting just looking at all the mountains we’d be riding the next day! Some construction on that highway kind of sucks as it gets darker but oh well. This was the furthest point from DFW!
Day 4 was going to be cool! And it was… and literally too! We basically got on the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Roanoke (there is a section that is closed due to a landslide) and headed southwest. Destination was Asheville, NC, so we had a pretty slow and easy going say ahead of us. Turns out, we were going to be dealing with rain for about half our Blue Ridge stretch, with some riding through clouds at times.
The road was basically empty. It was a beautiful quiet day, mixed rain and cloud cover with sunshine peeking through. Another detour off Blue Ridge as we were getting close to Boone (lunch stop). Boone = traffic, LOL. College town, yo! We made it to Asheville and met with a good friend there, went and had nice dinner and a bit of company.
Day 5 was going to be LIT! This was the main course of our ride. Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, Foothils Parkway… tons of amazing riding! Perfect weather, fresh air… what’s not to love?
I was once on the Dragon before, but I was on a rental bike and riding in in pouring rain… and let me say that this time it was a lot more fun!! Perfect weather. Yes, it was Saturday, but the traffic was moving at the brisk pace and SUVs would pull over quickly. Lots of fancy hardware out there, on 2, 3 and 4 wheels (it was a Saturday) but we never felt too crowded. Picked up one of the photos from one of those companies that take a photo of everyone that drives by. $8 well spent!
Obligatory Tree of Shame photo:
Luckily, we saw no crashes or accidents during our time there.
On our way to Chattanooga, we dipped into Georgia and ended the day kind of early (by this point we needed a bit more rest LOL, this day was work and those gears don’t shift themselves!)
Day 6 started nice… our destination was Memphis. Got some rain (and a cold front) during the day, it was quite cold! We went through a variety of states that day. If I have my route right: Tennessee > Georgia > Alabama > Mississippi > Tennessee > Arkansas (we spent the night on the west side of Memphis). Went to Memphis downtown in the afternoon just to look around a bit.
The biggest surprise on that day was just how cool Natches Trace Parkway is! I read about it before going but this is a beautiful road; just like Blue Ridge, it is limited access so not too much local traffic as exists are kind of far between each other. Very beautiful, recommend it! We needed to take one detour that took some time, but it was fine.
No matter how close to civilization we were, there was forest around us pretty much all the time on the Trace:
Day 7 saw us leaving early and basically slabbing it to DFW. Nothing too exciting on that day but that’s what you just must do if you live in DFW! Oh yeah, near the end of the trip, I managed to pick up a rusty finishing nail in my rear tire so there is that!
Overall, this was a great trip! Lots of riding on some days, maybe we pushed it a bit too much to make it all the way to Roanoke, but it was worth it. Let me just say that having electronic cruise control is totally worth it. Once you do a tour with cruise, there is no going back. So much easier to move around, stretch etc. when on the bike.
My bike valves are overdue, my rear tire is pretty much gone (already bought a new one but will ride this one to the bars over next 2-3 months) but the bike was fantastic! Oh yeah - I managed to forget to take my pinlock which made that day on Blue Ridge a bit spicy. Live and learn!
About 3050 miles after all was said and done. Lots of fun along the way!
The route:
Day 1 saw us slab it to Fort Smith AR and then after lunch, head east on 40 for a bit and then up 23 to 16, 21 south and then back north on 123, 327 and 7. Destination was Harrison, AR. I was a bit worried that we’d be riding late in Arkansas mountains, but it worked out just fine. I had experiences dodging deer up there before dusk, so I was not too keen to repeat that. Beautiful riding, great weather, very empty roads (it was Tuesday afternoon):
Boston Mountains are beautiful!
We made it to Harrison just fine. Funny thing here: his Fobo Bike 2 TPMS system kept giving him alerts that his tire is a bit flat. We were kind of tired so we went to dinner and then kind of forgot about it… of course…
Day 2 started bright and early. We were going to catch Peel ferry. We loaded up when he realized that in fact, he had a flat on the rear. Took my “rubber worm” patch kit out and fixed it but likely, I made a mistake of letting too much air stay in the tire because the tire would leak little bit of air over the day requiring few lbs in the morning for the rest of the trip. Sigh.
Anyway, we made it to the ferry and took the ride across. Never gone to a ferry with my bike. We were the only passengers. Ride across is about 15-20 minutes and you go from Arkansas to Arkansas, and then ride for few minutes to make it to Missouri:
Did I mention it is free? We chatted up the attendant going across, that was fun. Riding was fun up to about Poplar Bluff after which it became kind of flat and more boring, but we needed to go east so… We did a quick stop in Cairo to go where Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet and then headed east.
Bowling Green KY was the destination so that took some doing. Long day in the saddle! No major excitements here.
Day 3 was going to be a long day because we wanted to stop and do a bourbon distillery tour on this day. We made it to Maker’s Mark and had a tour + tasting which was just under 2 hours. It was neat! First time I was at one of those tours, my buddy did a few before. I’m not a big bourbon fan but this was definitely neat and was enjoyable!
Just imagine all the... vitamins stored in the barrels!
Tasting some:
After that, we headed sort of south toward Knoxville but then snaked our way east going between Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee a few times to eventually take 81 to Roanoke to spend the night. I loved this part of the country; KY was very pretty I thought and getting close to Roanoke was exciting just looking at all the mountains we’d be riding the next day! Some construction on that highway kind of sucks as it gets darker but oh well. This was the furthest point from DFW!
Day 4 was going to be cool! And it was… and literally too! We basically got on the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Roanoke (there is a section that is closed due to a landslide) and headed southwest. Destination was Asheville, NC, so we had a pretty slow and easy going say ahead of us. Turns out, we were going to be dealing with rain for about half our Blue Ridge stretch, with some riding through clouds at times.
The road was basically empty. It was a beautiful quiet day, mixed rain and cloud cover with sunshine peeking through. Another detour off Blue Ridge as we were getting close to Boone (lunch stop). Boone = traffic, LOL. College town, yo! We made it to Asheville and met with a good friend there, went and had nice dinner and a bit of company.
Day 5 was going to be LIT! This was the main course of our ride. Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, Foothils Parkway… tons of amazing riding! Perfect weather, fresh air… what’s not to love?
I was once on the Dragon before, but I was on a rental bike and riding in in pouring rain… and let me say that this time it was a lot more fun!! Perfect weather. Yes, it was Saturday, but the traffic was moving at the brisk pace and SUVs would pull over quickly. Lots of fancy hardware out there, on 2, 3 and 4 wheels (it was a Saturday) but we never felt too crowded. Picked up one of the photos from one of those companies that take a photo of everyone that drives by. $8 well spent!
Obligatory Tree of Shame photo:
Luckily, we saw no crashes or accidents during our time there.
On our way to Chattanooga, we dipped into Georgia and ended the day kind of early (by this point we needed a bit more rest LOL, this day was work and those gears don’t shift themselves!)
Day 6 started nice… our destination was Memphis. Got some rain (and a cold front) during the day, it was quite cold! We went through a variety of states that day. If I have my route right: Tennessee > Georgia > Alabama > Mississippi > Tennessee > Arkansas (we spent the night on the west side of Memphis). Went to Memphis downtown in the afternoon just to look around a bit.
The biggest surprise on that day was just how cool Natches Trace Parkway is! I read about it before going but this is a beautiful road; just like Blue Ridge, it is limited access so not too much local traffic as exists are kind of far between each other. Very beautiful, recommend it! We needed to take one detour that took some time, but it was fine.
No matter how close to civilization we were, there was forest around us pretty much all the time on the Trace:
Day 7 saw us leaving early and basically slabbing it to DFW. Nothing too exciting on that day but that’s what you just must do if you live in DFW! Oh yeah, near the end of the trip, I managed to pick up a rusty finishing nail in my rear tire so there is that!
Overall, this was a great trip! Lots of riding on some days, maybe we pushed it a bit too much to make it all the way to Roanoke, but it was worth it. Let me just say that having electronic cruise control is totally worth it. Once you do a tour with cruise, there is no going back. So much easier to move around, stretch etc. when on the bike.
My bike valves are overdue, my rear tire is pretty much gone (already bought a new one but will ride this one to the bars over next 2-3 months) but the bike was fantastic! Oh yeah - I managed to forget to take my pinlock which made that day on Blue Ridge a bit spicy. Live and learn!
Bout 8 hours IIRC from my SS1K.
