SamDaMan

A friend and I spent Friday on Rt 421 through the Cherokee National Forest. 33 miles, almost 500 turns, elevation changes, burst of sunshine through the canopy, then light rain. We did a couple of recce runs Thursday evening after driving down from DC, and then woke early yesterday for the real thing.

The switchbacks come every couple hundred feet so I was in 2-3-4-2 for most of it. The shifts with PSE and Sports Plus were awesome to hear ( esp with the top down). I let the PDK do most of the shifting; it was phenomenal.

Very little weekday traffic, no cops, and the road is in good condition for most part.

A total treat - worth the 800 mile round-trip. Highly recommended if you're in the area.

too tall

That has got to be fun.
Well done boys.

rockhouse66

I have a nifty detour for you on the way home if you take I-40 to Asheville and then I-26 up to I-81 to get home. Exit 24 in NC off I-40, Hwy 209. Follow 209N towards Hot Springs. When you get to Trust (comes right after Luck - you can't make this stuff up), take a right on 63 towards Leicester. After the twisties, this will take you through Leicester and you will end up on Patton Rd. in Asheville and can easily get on I-26 there to head North. If you look at this route on Google maps you will see it is worth the detour.

BrakingBad

One of my favorite roads.

Glad you guys had fun. Get any video?

too tall

Good call. I drove nearly same route earlier this year into and out of Hot Springs. Fantastic.

rockhouse66

One of the beauties of this 209 route is it can be essentially a detour off I-40 that puts you right back on a little further up the road. A no brainer if you are driving through this area and have a little extra time.

SamDaMan

Indeed we did, here's one - and it goes on like this for 30 miles.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l8dsnvvw9f...nake1.wmv?dl=0

SamDaMan

Nifty indeed, but way south of where we were. The Snake is right at the VA-TN border, so we jumped back on to 81N to get home. Managed to get two hours on the Blue Ridge north of Roanoke so that was fun. But your route looks great - need to plan a week doing the Snake, Dragon, and eating lots of NC BBQ in between

SuncoastParts

Looks like a ton of fun! I wish we had those roads down here in the south

too tall

I can't let this opportunity go. There are several people here who have done this.
Somebody put together a google map or ridewithgps.com route from DC/VA so we can hit these fantastic places and BBQ let's see if a new thread or event evolves from that?

FWIIW I'm a retired bicycle racer. If anyone else is into mixing driving and riding I can organize that part of an event.

milby

Thanks for the info re: the detour at Asheville. I just picked up an '06 C4S last week and live in Hendersonville. I know what I'm doing this weekend now!