Starting a new life

[Trip]

So I go for a dirt ride yesterday up at Royal Blue and come home having only had one real off and a great day of riding. Well what I didn't notice is I had left my waterproof bag with my wallet in it sitting on the trailer after loading up the bike. Skip to this morning. No wallet, pissed off Trip. I give up and start canceling my old life. So I had to reorder all my credit cards and debit cards and go down to the hell hole that is the DMV and get a license. Since it was time for me to renew it anyway, it wasn't a big issue, the rest of the stuff was bad to lose though. So after that, I head out to Royal Blue and find my waterproof bag sitting in the parking lot. I get all excited and open the bag to find no wallet. Fuckers!

Well after I get back home, it's too late to go on to work, so I check the Smoky Mtn park website and see that Parson's Branch road is open and having never been on it, I set out to explore. For those that don't know, Parson's Branch road is a one way road that runs from the cage tourist hell hole that is Cades Cove to the motorcycle tourist pleasure hole that is the gap. It's a primitive road that is all dirt/gravel and concrete water crossings.

Well getting to the cove was easy, but since it's summer the tourons were in full flow. If you have never had the joy of experiencing cades cove in tourist season. It is basically a one way 10 mile paved loop that is a fat persons way to hike in the smokies without having to walk. People are always stopped and no one uses the pull offs to let people pass. So here I am stuck on mile 0.5 going 2 mph with the fat/old no walking/no pulling over assholes when a DRZ blows by me on the grass/gravel shoulder inches from the wire fence separating the tourons from the "woods." All I really see is her ponytail as she goes by all these cars. I decide that looks like a shit load of fun and give chase. You can't believe the amount of now extremely angry and aggressive tourons this girl creates as she blows by them. Unfortunately for me I am behind her and they get to take out there anger on me. I start dodging them as they try to block the shoulder and I just weave to the other side or jump a berm and go past them. God I love having an off road capable motorcycle. It was so much fun after a terrible morning.

Well we finally get to the gravel section and leave the tourons behind, but before we get to the road we were both going to, she spots a bear and stops. We both enjoyed watching this little black bear cub play in a field. Once we realize the mama bear is probably around here, we take off. Didn't get any pics, wish I had.

We finally make it to parsons and blasted through it. It was an awesome road, absolutely gorgeous. I think it is my new favorite road. Here are a few pics. The last pic shows what makes this road really awesome, it opens right up to a nice beautiful turn right smack dab in the middle of US129 at mile marker 4. You can see my florida friend in that pic.

On an interesting note. Tina Wesson winner of survivor, season 2 I think, lives behind DGMR in that neighborhood up there. She rides dual sports.

[CrazyKell]

Sounds like an awesome time!

[Mr Lefty]

so that was Tina that flew by ya?

[Trip]

Originally Posted by eBBs15

so that was Tina that flew by ya?

No, just some lady from Florida. Never got her name. Tina is from Tennessee, she moved up there when she got the money.

[Mr Lefty]

ahh ok... and for a second I was sure you were gonna say you lost your wallet again on the second trail...

[t-homo]

oh ok. i was thinking like ebbs. pretty sweet though.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by eBBs15

ahh ok... and for a second I was sure you were gonna say you lost your wallet again on the second trail...

I don't have a new wallet yet. I just had my new license, backup insurance card, and emergency credit card in my jacket pocket.

[Mr Lefty]

you really should have just held on to my Go Pro Camera

[Curb]

racerboy, jgalt and myself got suckered into cades cove a couple years back. we saw parsons branch road on the map and saw that it let out on 129 so we took cades cove to the road...it was closed when we got there... we were on our street bikes and were looking at each other like should we? after some time deliberating we chose not to risk it with the bikes we were on so we made our way to the foothills pkwy and shot back that way.

totally agree with the way those people drive there...our bikes were overheating so when we started to cut through the cars got pissed i wound up doing more off roading than anyone should do on purpose on a street bike

[Trip]

you could do it on street bikes, it wouldn't be very much fun. Lots of thick gravel in some spots would be tricky especially on the uphill that could be a replica of an olympic snow skiing moguls course.