Day 1 - She'll Be Comin 'Round the Mountain...

Well, this would be the test...the real test. Ya see, as I mighta mentioned in some other articles, my li'l missus, CK, had never really done any serious ridin til now. Sure, I've taken her on local runs and such...but she had never even been on a short overnighter. She had always just lemme run the roads solo. Now, either she has come to not trust me...or more likely, just got tired of me havin all the fun to myself...'cause she 'bout knocked me outta me boots when she suddenly announced that she wanted to do this five-day run with me to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We would be joinin my buds, Muthuh, Cuz ‘n Loosie, Dog ‘n Rae, and a few other folks I had not yet met for this run up North Carolina’s barrier islands. I tell ya…CK really picked a good 'un for her first "big" ride, as we would be coverin 'tween 1300-1500 miles in five and a half days. Not a big deal for most of us...but for the first ride?..."ambitious" is the word that comes to mind.

This first day would be a light intro to distance tourin for her...only 140 miles...as we were headin across the mountains where we would sack down for the night at the Madison Inn in Black Mountain, NC. Let's see...sneak outta the office a couple hours early...check...shoot across the interstate spur we affectionately call the Pellissippi Speedway...check...duck into the house to grab our bags that are already packed...che...huh, whaddaya mean ya can't get all yer shit in that one li'l bag sweetie? Well, after a crash course in packin for a scooter ride (more like a follow-up to last night's lesson that obviously didn't take.), and throwin out 'bout half the stuff she had laid out...we strap the bags on the bike and pull outta the drive.

Now, even tho my li'l CK had not previously been on any big rides, she seemed to intuitively wanna avoid the superslabs...a natural biker…at least my kinda biker...so we meander our way along back roads to the Newport, TN area. We had a beautiful ride along Douglas Lake, and then out thru the country where we picked up US-70 east in Newport. US-70 is a really nice alternative to I-40 for crossin over the mountains into NC. For the most part, it is a nice li'l two-lane country highway that gradually climbs over the mountains, and flirts with the ??? River on the Tennessee side. Because of the interstates suckin most of the traffic, CK 'n I practically have US-70 to ourselves as we make our way up to Hot Springs, NC where we take our first real butt break, and have a couple beers at Paddlers Pub.

After our brew break, we saddle up and continue east on 70. Right outside Hot Springs US-70 does snake thru a few sharp, climbin twisties for just a ways...and that made the missus a bit nervous...but she handled it quite well. In fact, once we started headin down the other side, she up 'n says, "Hey, this is fun!" Hooked! hehheh We make our way on down the mountain and end up havin to hit the superslab for a little while to get thru Asheville...I'd rather ride the interstate as to navigate thru the heart of a city. Did I mention I'm just a good ole country boy? Anyways, 'bout fifteen miles east of Asheville, we jump off the highway and find our way to the Madison Inn. We had never stayed at this place before, and I gotta say, we were pleasantly surprised at what awaited us. The Madison is a B & B, but not at all foo-foo. Each room is theme based, and we had the Charlseton Room, complete with a nice four-poster bed and free phone service...local or long distance. All this for only sixty bucks...and it included a gourmet breakfast that was hard to beat.

I gotta tell ya...CK was more than just a little apprehensive 'bout doin such a "big" ride...but after such a pleasant putt over the mountains, and bein more than tickled pink with our first night's lodging, she was hooked. Well, we've had a very good start, and we're turnin in for the night. We'll see ya in the mornin.