I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!!

(Although I could subtitle this Beach to the Mountains via a lot of traffic and a lot more rain)

After a few days chill-laxing on the beach (Part 1)….without the excitement of sharks, we packed the bike up and headed to Smokey Mountains. In particular, we were headed to Maggie Valley, NC and the Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum.

What should have been a 5-6 hour ride turned out to be a nearly twelve hour ordeal. Unfortunately there were multiple accidents on our route, one of which resulted in multiple deaths and closed Interstate 26 for about 8 hours.

In addition to the traffic issues we also had a lot of rain in fact you can quantify the rain into the following:

2 rain showers

2 thunderstorms

5+ “sprinkles”

1 wet t-shirt contest

The reason for the wet t-shirt contest was we became tired of putting on and removing the rain suits. If it was not raining the sun made the suits intolerable and the last shower…we just decided to ride through.

One highlight of the day was, I thought, the built in infotainment system. The system worked very well, within the limits of the road network, and rerouted us through different parts of South and North Carolina. With the exception of a 30 mile section of I26 we were on the move most of the time. But that 30 mile section left my clutch hand very tired and sore (I required a couple of pain pills that evening). At dusk we gave in and got a room about 8PM and hoped for an early start to get to Maggie Valley.

We left the hotel for a quick McDonalds’ breakfast the next morning and met another couple on their own bike vacation. They were on the return leg of their trip, headed back to north Indiana on their GoldWing Trike. Back on our bike we were at Maggie Valley and the museum within an hour.

If you love motorcycles then you must visit the Wheels Through Time Museum. The bikes that Dale Walksler has assembled is nothing less than fantastic. But, what puts it over the top is that they all run, in fact he started a couple while we were there! He rode a 1930’s Harley trough the main lobby and out the front door. We also saw him riding a 1920 Harley with youngster in the side car.  Unfortunately Dale’s Discovery TV show “What’s in the Barn” was canceled.

There is no way that I can do justice to the quality of these museum with just a few paragraphs. If you are in this area of North Carolina/Tennessee for the awesome riding you must stop by and check out what the museum offers.

After a few hours we needed to mount up and put some miles down. This day the weather was perfect for riding, cool, clear and wonderful. We were headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway but decided to ride through the Smoky Mountain National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation to stop by Cherokee Harley Davidson, where I picked up another pin. We jumped on the Parkway and headed north crossing the highest point on the parkway and riding through multiple tunnels.

Although the speed limit is 45 MPH the parkway is still a great ride with awesome views of the Smoky Mountains. We either passed, or met at the overlooks, several hundred other bikers out for a great ride.