August 16th Trip to Cherohala Skyway

[Joey_Dude]

Being the "Official Georgia Ambassador" for VFRWorld, my first line of duty is to organize a ride to Cherohala Skyway. 2nd line of duty is to hire a hot secretary, any takers?

I have been there before and even logged it at this thread: Cherohala Skyway Tour
It's a lot of fun because it's all road and best of all no

UPDATE:

So far I have the following confirming they're going:

1. GeorgiaRider
2. GrayVFR750
3. SCraig

The following might be going (haven't gotten confirmation)

1. Coward
2. Krash
3. nunyadamnbiz

For the GA Folks we're going to meet up at the gas station at the intersection of Hwy 515 and GA 60 @ around 10:30 am. To help you further here's a link from google maps showing one set of directions from Atlanta to the gas station:

LINK: Fast but boring route

Those directions are a little boring though and if you want to have some fun on the way I have an alternate set of directions coming from Atlanta to that same gas station:

LINK: Fun but long route

Then we would keep on going to Tellico Plains, TN and meet up with SCraig, another member here at Cherohala Skyway Cafe around noon. Then we'll ride on to the Cherohala Skyway. After that if we have time we can go up to the Tail of the Dragon, which is about a 20 minute drive.

If any of you have any questions/concerns feel free to ask!

I'm looking forward to meeting you all and going on an awesome ride!!

[SCraig]

I might make it. A little early to say yet. Probably meet you guys in Robinsville, NC or somewhere along the line though. Kinda out of my way to go south then back up north ;)

[Joey_Dude]

Originally Posted by SCraig

I might make it. A little early to say yet. Probably meet you guys in Robinsville, NC or somewhere along the line though. Kinda out of my way to go south then back up north ;)

Would you know of a potential meeting spot up in Robinsville, NC? I dunno, I might set up something so the GA folks can meet up in Blue Ridge then go up to Robinsville.

[SCraig]

I can find a place in Robbinsville, I just don't know what it is right now ;) It's only a few miles (as in less than 5) from Robbinsville to the NC end of the Cherohala Skyway on Highway 129 (which turns into The Dragon at Deals Gap about 18 miles further north). Your best bet out of Blue Ridge, GA would be Hwy 76 to Topton, NC and then 129 to Robbinsville. It's 71 miles from Blue Ridge, GA to the NC end of the Cherohala going that way.

[Coward]

Hey guys

I'm up for it, just let me know where to meet. I only live about an hour away.

[Joey_Dude]

Well I might have another member here, GeorgiaRider that will go too. Any other takers?

[GreyVF750F]

That might be the time I might be in that area. Gives me reason to leave in the next few weeks. It's possible.

[junktionfet]

Be careful. A friend of mine crashed there this week thanks to some gravel. He slid into a guardrail and his bike slid into him. A* gear saved him but he still had to have rods in his leg and a pin in his ankle.

[Joey_Dude]

Originally Posted by junktionfet

Be careful. A friend of mine crashed there this week thanks to some gravel. He slid into a guardrail and his bike slid into him. A* gear saved him but he still had to have rods in his leg and a pin in his ankle.

Um... now no one's gonna show up thanks!

[SCraig]

So, is this thing going to happen or not? Heck, I'll be there even if I'm by myself ;)

[Joey_Dude]

Originally Posted by SCraig

So, is this thing going to happen or not? Heck, I'll be there even if I'm by myself ;)

Yeah it's gonna happen. So far I know there's at least 2 other guys in georgia wanting to go. One thing I'm wondering though is the time and place to meet. You're the only one in the TN area and it might just be too hard to try to get the georgia people here and get to robbinsville by a certain time so you're not waiting around. What we could even do is just meet up for a place to eat and go from there. That way it won't matter if one of us is a little late; we're just enjoying some grub before a ride.

[Joey_Dude]

For those in GA I'm thinking of meeting up off Exit 13 on GA 400 at the BP gas station. Then for SCraig we can all meet up with him at SweetWater BBQ up in Robbinsville, NC. Here's the site on the restaurant: Sweetwater BBQ, Robbinsville - Restaurant Reviews - TripAdvisor

I figure after enjoying some grub we can go to Cherohala Skyway, and if there's enough time we can also go to the Tail of the Dragon.

Does that sound good to you all?

[SCraig]

Works fine for me. I've got a V-Strom friend coming with me, I think.

Don't know what time zone you guys are in, but Robbinsville is in the Eastern time zone and I'm in Central. I'm probably going to spend Friday night in Tellico Plains, TN on the west side of the Cherohala and head over to Robbinsville Saturday morning. My only real concern is fog on the mountains this time of year, but other than that I can be there pretty much any time. Say 10:00-ish? Earlier? Later? I'm pretty easy.

Oh, and there's nothing wrong with my riding the Cherohala more than once, I love that place!

[GeorgiaRider]

Hey Ambassador!
I'll probably meet up with you guys. How about the gas station that we stopped at on the last trip at the junction of 515 and where the 'spur 60' route intersects. I don't remember what gas station it was, but it was on the south east corner! Just a suggestion.
Let me know if you want any help on the route, but it sounds like you know the area. I've got several good maps of the area as well.

I may have some others joining us again as well, depending on working schedules.

Gary (GeorgiaRider)

[DVMSVFR]

Do you know when the ride will be scheduled for? Oh never mind. I just read August 16th. I could possibly meet you at the Dragon. I'm here in Waynesville, NC.
Thanks,
Brian

[someguy]

Hey dudes....
Noted you were planning a ride on 16 Aug.
Probably can't join you on that one but I live in the area and ride up there quiet a bit....
I ride with another group sometimes that gets a great deal at the TreeTops

Treetops and The Ridge Vacation Rental, Graham County NC 828-479-8400

http://www.treetops.com

This place is awesome and the people that run it are fantastic. Real motor heads.
We rent at least two of the three houses for about 7-10 days every July and members get beds for the nights they will stay... others (me) camp in the yard but have full access to the kitchens/bath/laundry/computers, etc.
They have a full moto shop at the Ridge that can hold about 12-15 bikes plus garages in the other two places......

awesome place only 20 minutes from the dragon and actually on the east end of the skyway, close to robbinsville...
at least 35-40 came last month, some from as far as Toronto and even California... they come every year, and it just keeps growing...

I'm not the one to do it, (highly overworked) but maybe we could work on a VFRworld event at the dragon/skyway... come one, come all for 2009!

it might start small, just one house, but it would still be pretty sweet.......

just a thought...
lest of course, you guys are already doing this, and i've just missed it...
i'm kinda new here...

[Joey_Dude]

Originally Posted by SCraig

Oh, and there's nothing wrong with my riding the Cherohala more than once, I love that place!

I got an idea to kill two birds with one stone... what do you think of meeting up with the GA folks in at a restaurant somewhere in tellico plains? And that would mean you'd have to ride the Cherohala Skyway to get there, you poor guy ;) Then once we meet up and have a little grub we can ride the Skyway heading to NC and even ride the dragon if there's time.

[Joey_Dude]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaRider

I'll probably meet up with you guys. How about the gas station that we stopped at on the last trip at the junction of 515 and where the 'spur 60' route intersects.

Awesome Gary, it was cool riding with you and your buds last time. Good thing Todd made it home all right with a broken throttle!

That sounds like a good idea meeting up a that 515 and 60 intersection. Let me look it up on google maps so others here can know what we're talking about. ;)

[SCraig]

Originally Posted by Joey_Dude

I got an idea to kill two birds with one stone... what do you think of meeting up with the GA folks in at a restaurant somewhere in tellico plains? And that would mean you'd have to ride the Cherohala Skyway to get there, you poor guy ;) Then once we meet up and have a little grub we can ride the Skyway heading to NC and even ride the dragon if there's time.

Fine by me but then you guys would have to ride the Cherohala twice. At least I think you would ;)

Tellico Plains is on the west side of the Cherohala Skyway. Robbinsville and the Dragon are on the east side. The easiest way between the two is the Cherohala Skyway.

Either way is fine by me, whatever you guys want to do. I'm just a Tennessee guy jumping into a Georgia group ride so you guys decide what you want to do and I'll accomodate that. I'm easy, I just like to ride!

There isn't a lot in Tellico Plains as far as places to eat. The times I've been there I usually ate at Hardees simply because it's the most convenient.

Well, maybe I'm wrong. I did a Google search and came up with This Listing of restaurants in Tellico Plains.