Father & Son take on the whole TAT

[GotMojo?]

I know exactly where you are XC Rider... was just down there early August. You gotta run Big Walker Mountain, which is Rt 52 North (less than a mile to your west). It's a blast... I was just down there a few weeks ago.... one of my favorite twisty roads in that area. Cool little lookout tower up at the very top.

Not sure what way you are headed over to Tellico, but take 52 north to 42 and head west over to VA Rt 16, which is another twisty road. I know you are probably on knobbies, but those are some sweet roads that might be fun to checkout.

[rhino_adv]

Brad

[Kankujoe]

Originally Posted by XC Rider

Day one is in the books! Had great weather, great roads, and great company! Camping out tonight at Rocky Fork campground ( I think) near Wytheville, VA. Caped of the day with a sumptuous feast! Tomorrow we'll be getting to Jellico and meeting up with MrPrez and our outfit will be complete.

Will provide a full update tomorrow when I have wifi. iPhones are ok, but not great for updates.

XC,

Safe journey on your trip... I'll be following your RR. Hope you enjoy the time with your Dad.

[rangecon1976]

XC,

Looking forward to your thread, I live about a mile from the TAT in NW Oklahoma, (Buffalo) if you hit a snag I might could help. Although I am a crappy mechanic, but I know lots of people who arent.

A friend of mine and I are just getting into this we both have bikes now, and are eager to get some miles under us. Just working on getting the bikes geared up. We always watched all of you ADV'ers come into town and get fuel while on the TAT and the bug has bitten us.

Anyway have fun.

Dave

[Alcan Rider]

Well... now I know where I'll be spending a part of every day until this epic ride is completed.

Looking forward to it, as I know it will be well written, lavishly photographed, and a lot of fun for the participants, as well as those of us who accompany you vicariously.

Ride safe!

[XC Rider]

Pulled into Jellico a little over an hour ago. Got our rooms at the Days Inn, unpacked, and I'm in the process of uploading pictures so as to update the RR. John (MrPrez) pulled in a little while after us, and we all got to know each other a little bit. Going to go back to uploading pictures now, and will update the RR for today and yesterday in a bit. We'll also try to catch some dinner in there somewhere.

[mrprez]

Whew, long day in the saddle I may need a butt transplant! Rolled into the parking area and was handed a cold beer. Looking good! Had a great day even though Del Orme kept trying to get me on the interstates.

[One Less Harley]

...and so let the fun begin You guys are gonna have a blast!!!!

[XC Rider]

Got up early as I was too excited to stay asleep any longer. A pretty boring morning as the bike was already packed up and ready to go, so I grabbed a cupped of coffee and helped mom out with some of the morning chores regarding the taking care of the animals. In the mean time my dad finished up his packing and got all his stuff sorted out. The weather was looking a little gloomy, covered and a heavy mist/slight drizzle hung in the air. At first I put on my rain gear, but as we neared our departure time of 9am the sky started to clear in spots, so I decided to chance it and go without my rain gear on.

Hear we are, my dad and I, ready to GO!



Starting odometer. (Well it was taken about 8 miles down the road from home)



Plan for today was to go first to Harrisonburg to meet up with Warren & Clarence, and from there ride a good halfway to Jellico. Here are some shots from the road on our way over to Harrisonburg.













Arrived at the agreed upon meeting place about 5 minutes or so before the agreed time to find Warren & Clarence already there! We all checked out each other's gear, and then set out on the road!



The route was rough south westerly direction on back roads, two lane black top, as much as possible.

















We did hit a little road work, but it was a good time to check on everyone and make sure everyone was happy with the pace.





Back to riding, and in search of lunch! As you can see, the day turned out to be a beautiful one!







As we came to a T-stop, I spotted this little country store place on the right with this sign in front.



I figured it was a good place to stop for a break and grab a bite to eat!




Alright, we're off to get some dinner now, part 2 of day 1 coming up after dinner.

[One Less Harley]

The KLR rider is going to be lusting for one of those DRZ's...mark my word on that!!!!!! Is the KLR going all the way???

[XC Rider]

Originally Posted by GO_OUTSIDE!

What type of riding gear are you using?

Jacket- An older Joe Rocket mesh jacket that I used when I first ran the TAT in '09
Pants- Klim Dakar
Boots- TCX Infinity (like I ran in '09, but a new pair )
Thor Static knee pads/guards

Originally Posted by GotMojo?

I know exactly where you are XC Rider... was just down there early August. You gotta run Big Walker Mountain, which is Rt 52 North (less than a mile to your west). It's a blast... I was just down there a few weeks ago.... one of my favorite twisty roads in that area. Cool little lookout tower up at the very top.

Not sure what way you are headed over to Tellico, but take 52 north to 42 and head west over to VA Rt 16, which is another twisty road. I know you are probably on knobbies, but those are some sweet roads that might be fun to checkout.

Actually we rode right THRU Big Walker Mountain! Riding down this way in southwestern VA is spectacular!

Originally Posted by rangecon1976

XC,

Looking forward to your thread, I live about a mile from the TAT in NW Oklahoma, (Buffalo) if you hit a snag I might could help. Although I am a crappy mechanic, but I know lots of people who arent.

A friend of mine and I are just getting into this we both have bikes now, and are eager to get some miles under us. Just working on getting the bikes geared up. We always watched all of you ADV'ers come into town and get fuel while on the TAT and the bug has bitten us.

Anyway have fun.

Dave

Thanks! Hopefully we won't run into any mechanical issues, but if we do, it's nice to know we've got people willing to help out. That's one of the great things about ADV!



[QUOTE=Alcan Rider;16824251]Well... now I know where I'll be spending a part of every day until this epic ride is completed.

Hi Jack! I'll do my best to bring you some warm and sunny pictures; how's the weather up there? Getting cold yet?

Originally Posted by One Less Harley

The KLR rider is going to be lusting for one of those DRZ's...mark my word on that!!!!!! Is the KLR going all the way???

Hahaha, that's a good question. Right now he's thinking about stopping once we're done with TN, maybe MS, but then again he's thinking he might just join us as far as CO. We'll see!

[XC Rider]

Alright, so I left of with us getting to this little country store to take a lunch break. The place looked nice and friendly from the outside, but this sign on the bathroom had us a bit perplexed.



But we went on ahead inside, and I ordered first and got the BBQ, and everyone else got the same thing!

Here's the crew, minus me (behind the camera), sitting down for a BBQ sandwich w/ slaw.





Having refueled the internal fuel tank, it was back on the road!











I've been playing more with taking pictures while riding!



Got a second shot of this guy as I passed him, but unfortunately it came out blurry so this one is all I got.



Stopping for a little, afternoon snack break.



The Big Walker Mntn tunnel.



As the afternoon was drawing to a close, we headed to Stony Fork campground near Wytheville, VA.





And we found a nice site, with a large grassy area where we could all set up our tents together.





While my father and Warren were put in charge of starting a fire, myself and Clarence went 9 miles down the road to a Food Lion to pick up some dinner supplies. Before leaving on this trip, I decided to experiment more with cooking, and not just stick to the basic stuff; to prep for this I had brought along some aluminium foil, vegetable oil, and spices along with the regular cookware. Then Clarence and I picked up some onions, zucchini, carrots, green pepper, potatoes, and some steaks; we also got some sausage links for in the morning. Back at the campground it was full time dinner prep mode, and the boys had a fire going!



The potatoes, cut up, spiced up, and a little butter!



The veggies, diced up, spiced up, and a little vegetable oil.



Everything, along with the steaks, cooking on the fire.



Ummmmmmm.....ribeyes!



Alright, it's time to eat!







A good time, and good meal was enjoyed by all! Then it was the typical "hang around the fire chit-chat" enjoyed with a cold beer thanks to Warren who'd packed some! Eventually, we all retreated to our tents, eager to see what tomorrow would bring our way.

STATS for the day:

[One Less Harley]

HUM, I think people kind of expect to loose weight on the TAT, don't think that'll be the case here!!

[Ks-Rydr]

Ummmm !!! Dang that looked good.... It would have been well worth the ride to have a feast like that.

[XC Rider]

Woke up around 7am, and got out of the tent around 7:30am once I'd heard Warren and my father who were already out and about. After last's night feast, we had an equally divine breakfast lined up. To start things off, Warren made some Starbuck's coffee.





In the mean time my father busied himself making some scrambled eggs (he'd brought 6 eggs from home) to which we added last night's leftover veggies. We also heated up the leftover potatoes, and cooked up some sausage links which Clarence and I had picked up last night when shopping for dinner. Are you drooling yet!?







I don't know why people call this camping stuff "roughing it"!?

The only down side to the whole morning was when I discovered that my old faithful camp cup from back in my Cub Scouts days had finally died. It had developed a crack or something that allowed the liquid inside the cup to leak into the cavity between the inner and outer shell of the cup.



Oh well, it has served me well over the course of many, many years and trips; I'll just have to find a Wal-Mart in the next couple days and get a new cup.

After breakfast I think Clarence put it best when he said something to the effect of: "Well I think I'm going to go and curl back up in my tent!"

However we did manage to pack up the bikes and were rolling a little after 10 I think.



Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy time!





There was still some lingering fog up at the higher altitudes.









And we also managed to find some great dirt! Highway 623.















Coming back down the mountain we were rewarded with some great views of the valley below.







We also got to drive some cattle!



Next stop, Burke's Garden, VA.







Then some more fantastic back roads.



















Having had a large breakfast, none of us really cared to stop for a real lunch, so instead we just stopped for a few snack breaks today. Here's the first a little after 12.



This little guy came down to say hi and beg some food!



The river that ran where we stopped.



Having rested a little, and snacked a little, it was back on the road.



Another little stretch of dirt.



And then more fantastic pavement.





The deeper into the southwestern tip of VA we got, the more kudzu we saw.













In some places, people still grow the cash crop from back in the colonial days, tobacco.



About 20 some miles from Jellico, one last little snack break. I got a bottle of the classic, southern Mello Yello, "the original smooth!"



Clarence was a hit with one local lady because of his "ears"!



The final miles into Jellico, and one more tunnel.

















Once in Jellico, we checked in at the Days Inn, and proceded to unload the bikes. We all pretty set up our tents as well; while it had not rained last night, there was a lot of dew this morning, and we all had at least a little bit of condensation on the inside of our rain flies and our tents had not dried out fully before packing up this morning.



As we had finished unpacking our stuff, John (the final member of this group) arrives. We have a little meet and greet session as we had never met John, and John had not met any of us before. We also decide to have dinner together at the pizza place across the street from the hotel.

Dinner was great; we had a lot of fun talking with the waitress, and enjoyed some good pizza!





Oh yeah, we also worked out some details about this "riding the trail" thing!

STATS for the day: