Riding North Carolina, TN and VA

Been repairing my bike since the theft, got out on the parkway today and checked out Stoney Fork Rd.

I was Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Both of us were smart enough to get out.

Hey Y’all,

Have you ridden sections 1-4 of the MABDR? I am wanting to ride them this spring on my only bike, GS 1200 LC, and camp. I am looking for any constructive suggestions or advice.

Thanks

Did it a few weeks ago. Was a blast. It's big bike friendly, plenty of places to camp. Fuel is not an issue. There's a few water crossings that could be problematic if a lot of rain, but the entire route is easily bypassed if there's something you don't like, tree down, etc. Have a great time! Post pics!

Nice to see you around! I unfortunately can’t help with Big Walker Mountain, hopefully someone can.

@kvango it was a pleasure meeting you today I had a blast! @justBert i enjoyed the unexpected 2 days in a row!

My riding partners for the day at the 209 Cafe



We started off the fun on Shelton Laurel and then jumped right in to Hurricane Creek. The leaves were thick and it made things more interesting for sure.



Hard way or easy way out? Hard way it is.



Wesley Creek





We ran into an older couple heading up Hurricane Creek stopped in a weird spot. She was on an XT 225 I didn’t pay enough attention to his after I knew they had an issue. He asked me for brake fluid, seems the reservoir cap came or got knocked off and she had no front brake. We had some crap with us as we found out shortly thereafter, but no brake fluid. They were going to limp the bike out and were as good to go as they could be so we rolled. We headed up Max Patch Rd. to Martha Sundquist and passed them at the top of the easy way, it’s not easy just easier. I clapped and waved, they deserved a kudos. Heavy leaf cover again in Martha made it fun fun fun!









After a loop we headed back down Cold Springs Creek over to FS 288 and baby heads. First we stopped at Buzzard Roost.



Then baby heads, we did it the easier way (down from 288) because even though we were moving quickly all day time wasn’t on our side.





Thanks again guys for letting me get my groove on today!

Amphib gave you good advice. I did a bit of a report about my experience that may be of some assistance: https://advrider.com/f/threads/next-in-the-bdr-series-mabdr.1257324/page-174 Post #3463

Mike

Looks like a good day!

Up near Wytheville? It was closed a couple years ago when I was up there.


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I was one half of the “older couple” on Hurricane Creek. A drop twisted loose the banjo bolt on the front brake cylinder and started squirting brake fluid. Got it sorted and with adjustments there was enough fluid to get brake pressure.

At the end of the day, she got her Hurricane Creek Merit Badge.

That's awesome, glad it all worked out, we saw y'all again later in the afternoon when we were headed back to the barn. That Hurricane Creek Merit Badge aint no small achievement either!!

Thank you Ken! That's recent enough to assume the forest service hasn't changed their mind about limiting access. The newer gate at the top puts a stop to it I guess. Shame.

It made my day seeing you two at the top. I hope “older” wasn’t offensive, it was not meant to be.

Total Blast! Great to meet Josh and @justBert. Josh/ @JRowland is the best human GPS for the area, so nice to not watch a track on a screen while riding!

Hurricane Creek is no joke even when it’s dry and not covered in leaves!

Riding today with @kvango ~8hrs and 157 miles consisting of 81 to River Rd to Turkey Crk to Seng Garden Rd to Rafter back to Turkey Crk to Indian Boundary to ICitico to Doublecamp Crk to Cold Springs to Buck Hwy to Chestnut Valley then 360 to Tellico for gas and awesome burgers at the Tellico Beach Drive In then the Skyway back to 81 then home. Somewhere in there we also hit Shaw Mountain Rd, Crane Crk and Belcher Lp and some very interesting stuff that I think was on 434/34. All and All a great day of riding but @JRowland we definitely missed your superb navigation skills and I can only hope Kevins did a better job on the pictures than I did. Video to follow as soon as I can figure out how.

Last weekend, in the Pisgah near Grandfather Mt...
Not sure what the road is called but it continues north of Curtis Creek, across the BRP and connects with S. Toe River Rd. As for S. Toe... the gate near Black Mt CG was open but State has closed the road 2 miles in so...
Paddy's Hollow Rd looking at Shortoff Mt with Tablerock and Hawksbill in the distance...

Here's a few more pics from mine and kvango's most excellent adventure, I took these from my GoPro, still trying to figure out how to get the video edited and posted on here.

Cheers!

Hey @justBert - great day!

This ride was generally more leisurely, HOWEVER the short 434 (I thought 432) link from River Road (before Baby Falls) up to the Skyway. was a highlight, and a challenge. Lot of the route we did (including this) are included on Kyle’s SM+500+ tracks.

I followed the route using ReLive app - I think to make this work, it would need more pictures - but with a 128 mile route not enough time

Nice post Kevin. I love that ReLive app it really lays out the ground covered in such an awesome visual way!! I'm already planning our route for next weekend. @JRowland you gonna join us?

Cheers!