Several years ago before we bought our bike, I don't remember the exact year, Julie and I borrowed a Nomad that had been traded in at the shop I was working for at the time. It was (supposed to be) a simple day trip to the mountains that ended up starting a tradition and marked the beginning of 'The Curse'.
The tradition obviously became our annual 4th of July rides. 'The Curse' is our uncanny ability to become rain magnets, drawing any rain cloud within 100 miles to us then having it dump it's contents all over us, AND whoever might be with us.
We planned this years trip to be a three day, two night adventure for not only Julie and I, but Jordan and Bryan too. We were originally planning on heading up Hwy 16 into West Virginia.
The problem was that by the time we were able to actually sit down and make hotel reservations we found that there were none to be had anywhere around where we thought we'd be at night.
OK, plan B then...
We were able to secure a couple of rooms in one of our favorite spots, Helen, Georgia, then we found two more for the next night in Athens, Tennessee. The game plan being we'd ride to Helen the first day, get up early and ride the north Georgia mountains, then head to Tennessee for the night. From there we would get up early again and ride some of our favorite roads in the western North Carolina mountains while working our way back home.
Good in overall theory.
Julie wasn't able to leave work until after lunch on Thursday so with everything else involved in getting ready for a trip like this, it was almost three when we pulled out of the house. With almost 300 miles to ride!
It really wasn't that bad though, it wasn't getting dark until after 9:00 pm so we rode in daylight almost the entire way, and were still able to ride the way we enjoy, i.e. making some time, but stopping along the way to enjoy ourselves and each other.
At one time or another, Bryan and I have both raced dirt bikes with the number 178 on them. So as you can imagine this road was a must for us. We've all been on it, just not this trip. We did however get this picture this time around.
We arrived in Helen just after dark and got checked in at our favorite hotel. After unloading the bikes and locking them up we walked downtown in search of something to eat. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants were closed or closing for the night! We ended up finding a Mexican place that was open late and had a great meal. Then took a stroll down main street before heading back to the hotel for the night.
The plan for getting up early was blown the next morning as it was after 9:00 am before we had everyone up and moving. Since the kids had only seen the town at night (and closed) we decided to take another stroll down main street and look around before loading up the bikes and heading out for the day.
Julie finds some puppies to love on.
The city of Helen actually calls itself "Alpine Helen" and over the years has remodeled and rebuilt the buildings, especially those on main street, with a Bavarian theme. 
Flower gardens and a fountain in front of some the many little shops downtown.
Bryan and Jordan.
Some of the shops off main street.
I honestly don't know what business this windmill belongs to, but it really did work!
I was just looking around and happened to see this. Couldn't tell you exactly where they were coming from, other than that roof, or why they were even there. But it was cool!
Pretty flowers along main street.
Jordan's and Julie's beauty outshine the flowers.It was close to, or maybe even after noon before we were fueled up, packed up, loaded up and heading out of town. Starting out that late we had to re-think my plans for where we would ride too. We decided on a loop that would take us out by Brasstown Bald (the highest peak in Georgia) and then out of Georgia and into Tennessee via some scenic routes, a few of which Julie and I had been on back in 2006 on our vacation trip to the Trace.
We hadn't been riding for an hour when the sky's began to look ominous and dark, especially on the mountain tops. We kept going, hoping we would miss it when 'The Curse' reared it's ugly head and the bottom fell out! The road offered no where to stop at all so we just kept going getting soaked and worrying about the luggage on the bikes. One of those mini storage facility places came into view so we pulled into the parking lot so that we could at least cover the bags.
We hadn't been riding for an hour when the sky's began to look ominous and dark, especially on the mountain tops. We kept going, hoping we would miss it when 'The Curse' reared it's ugly head and the bottom fell out! The road offered no where to stop at all so we just kept going getting soaked and worrying about the luggage on the bikes. One of those mini storage facility places came into view so we pulled into the parking lot so that we could at least cover the bags.
No sooner than we stopped a car pulled up beside us and the lady inside rolled her window down and told us that she had a little store up ahead and we were welcome to come inside out of the rain there. We thanked her and then followed her just down the road and pulled in here;
The Bearwassee Furniture Store. Our temporary haven from a summer shower. It was truly a cool place. A little pricey, but handmade quality furniture is. We spent almost an hour there waiting on the rain to stop, looking around and talking to the nice lady that owned the store. She showed us several photos that had been taken in her back yard with a deer camera. There were pictures of a deer, a raccoon, and a BEAR. Julie was thrilled! We asked her over how many nights the pictures were taken and she replied, "Oh just one." *gasp!* Busy back yard!!!!
After the rain let up we got back on the road and headed to the Brasstown Bald. As I said earlier, the Bald is the highest point in the state of Georgia. Originally a weather station and fire look out tower the facility now also houses a visitors center and is one of those places that is a must see. It is said that from the observation deck you can see four states, and I believe it. Regardless it is spectacular!
Julie being silly. This was taken in the parking lot as we went in. Notice the visitor center and observation deck behind her on the mountain top.
Taken from the same point using the zoom on our camera.
Now a view of the bikes in the parking lot from the observation deck, again using the zoom.
Different views from the observation deck.
"Oooo! Ooo! Take my picture!! I want to be a train driver!!!" A display from inside the visitors center.I guess it's only right that I mention the little 'incident' we had...
See, there's a place here in North Carolina where Bryan and I ride our dirt bikes called 'Brown Mountain". One of favorite things to do there is to find ourselves at the top of the mountain on trail number one then ride dead engine, coasting all the way down to the parking lot. It's loads of fun and teaches you a lot about using momentum and overall bike control.
Well, the road leading to the visitors center, Georgia Hwy 181 spur, is a very steep and curvy and nearly three miles long. As we started down I got the bright idea to slip the bike into nuetral and coast down, so I got on the radio and said "Bryan! Let's do like we do at Brown Mountain!", and off we went.
To be honest it was a hoot, and eye opening. As good a bike as the Nomad is, it is still a BIG and HEAVY motorcycle. It didn't take long for our speed to climb dramatically, and it took a good deal of braking to slow it down as well. As you would figure, right?
I found out later that at the very moment that Bryan told Jordan over their intercom that we had read where doing this was bad for the bikes, but we'd done it for years on the dirt bikes and never had any problems, I came over the CB and told Bryan and Jordan that I had lost my rear brakes!
Yep sports fans, Julie and I were now like a semi truck in (fittingly) 'Georgia Overdrive' that had lost it's brakes... potentially in a heap of trouble. Luck (and not good sense) was with us though as I could see the bottom of the hill just ahead.
I slipped the transmission into gear and slowly fed the clutch out while using the front brake. In all honesty it was no big deal and we stopped cleanly and effortlessly in a wide spot at the intesection of spur 181 and 181. But also in all honesty it could have been disastrous and Bryan and I both learned a thankfully painless lesson from it.
Only on the dirt bikes. ;)
The rear brakes got so hot that the brake fluid boiled in the lines, caliper and reservoir, causing me to have no 'feel' at all in the pedal, and applying no pressure at all to the pads. Now, we had this happen before, on the dirt bikes (but not on the hill at Brown Mountain), and knew that the only way this problem would be resolved would be to put new brake fluid in the system. So I sent Bryan and Jordan into the next town to get some fluid, while Julie and I waited on the rear caliper to cool.
When the kids got back Bryan and I flushed, filled and bled the rear brakes sitting there on the side of the road. My little 'fubar' not only was stupid it had cost us about an hour and a half of daylight. But we are fortunate that's all it cost us.
As I said, never again.
We left Brasstown Bald and started working our way towards Athens, Tennessee and our hotel. It was getting late in the afternoon and we really didn't know exactly how far we had to go, or how long it would take to get there.
Part of our route was US 64 in Tennessee, it wound along side the Toccoa River and through the mountains and was beautiful. Out of no where we ran upon one of the sites of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games! We all commented on the radio how we would have liked to stopped but we probably didn't have time and kept going.
Not two miles down the road we came up on traffic stopped in the middle of the road. We were told that there had been an accident and that the road was blocked and probably would be for some time. Another rider who was turning around told us how to get around the accident, but I was familiar with the route and knew it would take us several hours to do. So we decided to go back to the site of the Olympic Games and look around while waiting to see if the road opened up anytime soon.
The 'track' for kyack river rapids competition. I later found out the facility is still used for week end enthusiasts, but in the photo the water level is down for some reason.
The dam that controls the flow at the southern end of the rapids.
Another view if the dam.
Bryan and Jordan pose on the finish line bridge. Directly behind them in that 'V' was a platform that we think was used for a television camera.
"peak-a-boo..."
I took a picture of the gang... 
...of me taking a picture of him!It wasn't long before we noticed traffic was moving out from the other direction, and that it was long lines of traffic. Obviously the road was open again. It wasn't too long before dark so we hurriedly loaded up and got on our way.
We followed US 64 for another 30 minutes or so then turned north on US 411 looking for Hwy 39 that would take us into Athens. As it was now approaching darkeness and we still weren't really sure how far we had to go, it seemed to be taking forever. We came up on an intersection where 39 merged into 411 so we figured it couldn't be that much further.
We were approaching a town and decided that once we got there if we hadn't run up on our road we would stop and take a peak at the map. As we rolled into town things didn't look quite right...
There were people lined up on both sides of the road. They were sitting in and on cars and trucks, lawn chairs and benches. Then we came up on a city park in what we thought was the center of town and there was some festivities going on with tons of people and even a live band. Then it dawned on us. It was July 4th, everyone must be lined up to see a fireworks show! Cool!
We stopped at a store to check the map and saw where Hwy 39 was just on the edge of town. Bryan asked a local if the road was, or was going to be closed and was told no. We eased on through town and found our road at a traffic light, made the tuen and saw a sign that read "Athens 10 miles". So I asked Julie if she wanted to stop and see the fireworks, then got on the radio and asked the kids as well. It was unamious!
We turned around and went back into town, stopping at a Dollar General store parking lot. The store was still open so Julie went inside and got us some drinks and a snack then we settled in to see the show. As luck would have it we had a front row seat as the spot where they were lighting off the fireworks couldn't have been more than a quarter of a mile away!
It was nearly 11:00 pm when we left the fireworks show, and almost midnight when we got checked in to the motel. It didn't take long for everyone to get settled in and off to sleep. It had been a loooong day.
We did manage to get up early the next morning, and were on the road by 8:00 am. It was going to be another very long day with lots of miles to cover and we knew it.
We rode out 39 again and then took 411 south to Tennessee route 30. That led us to Tennesee 315 which took us through a beautiful piece of the Cherokee National Forest and into Tellico Plains, Tennessee.
From there we got on the Cherohala Skyway, which rates waaay up there on out list of favorite roads. As usual, we had a good time and a good ride crossing the Cherohala.
Just short of the peak we stopped to put in our jacket liners (it's cold at 5500 feet) and to make a plan.
The clouds were hanging low on the Cherhala Skyway that morning.
"Hey Jordan! Wha'cha doin'?"
"You'll see..." 
"Ta-da!!!"We had decided to make one pass on the infamous "Tail of the Dragon", US 129 near Deals Gap, North Carolina. We wanted to do it just because it is (usually) a fun road to ride, but we also wanted to take a few minutes to stop and talk with Darryl Cannon, aka "Killboy" of the Killboy.com website. ( http://killboy.blogspot.com/ )
I won't lie and will tell you that we also hoped to have him take some photos that would end up on his 'front page', which is the lead in page to his store. Getting your picture on the front page of the Killboy sight something that most riders who ride the mountains would love to do, as long as its not one of those "uh-oh" photos...
Bryan's plan was simple. Darryl had started this thing using a thing from a middle school game where you drop your hand below your waste and make an "OK" sign of sorts. In the game, if you sneak up on someone and do it, you get to punch them in the arm (I think), on Darryls web sight you stand a good chance of making the front page. Bryan wanted all of us to give him that sign as we went by.
I told Bryan that the game was after my time, and that I'd never remember to do it, but also added that when we stopped to talk to him and he saw Jordan's flowers he would definitely take her picture, and wouldn't it be a hoot if SHE made the front page and we didn't.
Bryan and Jordan get ready to ride "The Dragon".
Well... I was right. Darryl took Jodan's picture and it made the front page. But so was Bryan. He and Jordan both gave him the sign and that picture too made the front page of the Killboy site.
The caption for this picture was "Flower child".
This one read "Oh the first double finger trap"The rest of the ride on "The Dragon" was boring at best. Due to the notoriety of that road traffic has become a real problem, especially on the week end. We followed a couple of riders that were obviously new and shakey on their bikes as they rode no faster than 20 mph and even then couldn't stay in their lane, the remainder of our pass. However, I am not being condesending. It's a public road and they have every right to be there. It was just a little scary watching them and I'd be less than honest if I didn't say I got a little annoyed having to clutch the bike in second gear just to stay behind them. It's all good though.
From there we rode the Foothills Parkway to US 321 into Townsend, Tennesse where we picked up Scenic Rt 73 that winds through the Smokey Mountain National Park. That road is also always full of slow moving traffic, but you really don't care as it has to be one of the most beautiful drives in the country.
From there we rode the Foothills Parkway to US 321 into Townsend, Tennesse where we picked up Scenic Rt 73 that winds through the Smokey Mountain National Park. That road is also always full of slow moving traffic, but you really don't care as it has to be one of the most beautiful drives in the country.
We wound our way through the Smokey's and stopped in Cherokee, North Carolina at a Dairy Queen to take a break. By the time we left (another long story involving slow service and someone smitten by our Nomad) it was close to 6:00 pm and we still had a good four and half hour ride in front of us.
As we climbed our way over the foothills surrounding Cherokee we noticed some rain clouds. Julie and I were just saying on the intercom that we should probably stop and put our rain gear on when... you guessed it. The bottom fell out.
By the time we found a place to stop, put our rain gear on and cover our bags we were wet. Not really soaked, but wet. With no other choice to make, we got back on the road and continued on.
It wasn't long before Bryan told on the radio that he had a problem. Their intercom was squeeling wildly when they turned the unit on, and he couldn't use his connection to talk on the radio. They had already plugged his headset into Jordan's receptacle so that he could talk to me when he told us all this. They decided that they would be OK like this so we kept going.
It rained on us most of the way home. In order to make time we had decided to take I 40 most of the way home so we found ourselves on the interstate, at night, in the rain. Not a lot of fun to be sure. Because we had to slow down due to the heaviness of the rain at times and make a couple of stops for fuel and to just get off the bikes, it was midnight when we made it home.
Once again "The Curse" followed us on our trip, but it was also another fourth of July trip to remember. In all we logged just short of 900 miles on the trip. Not a staggering number considering the time we were out on the trip, but still a good ride.
I can't wait for next year!!!
Bruce
Not really, but I'm game!
