Day 7 - Zirconia, NC to Cleveland, TN (247 miles)

     This was a pretty darn nice day for riding a motorcycle, I'll tell you. After I said goodbye to Terry, Laura, Carola and Stu I was off to find the BRP again, so that I could complete the journey. About 25 miles north of Zirconia, I picked up the BRP and headed south and west again.

    Two friends had given me tips about the roads in Western NC...Steven Munden (my instructor in Motorcycle Safety Foundation school), and Sandy Becker, a transplanted Yankee Beemer for two years. It seems that the engineers for the BRP back in the 1930s had done a great job of designing the road, because I don't think I encountered even one turn which I could discern as not being a constant radius. This has the effect of making the road a little bit boring, as there really is not a lot of drama to the ride. In any case, I made my way south, constantly encountering vistas like this:

This is actually an exhibit area, just off the BRP, and there are plenty of these, for sure. Here's another look at the same area:

There are many similar structures along the BRP, and I apologize for not finding out if any of them are original, or they're all reproductions.

    Well, having seen almost all of the BRP, I do have to agree with those who say that the best part of the road is from Asheville south. There are many tunnels, and one section with a viaduct (the Linn Cove Viaduct) which passes by Grandfather Mountain and was not completed until the mid-1980s. Here are a couple of photos from that area (note the roadway in each photo):

Someone asked me to include my own photo in one of these posts, so here is one, taken up high on the BRP:

I did find some very pretty flowers at one point also:

After I descended from the BRP, I went through Cherokee, NC, and saw the rather remarkable, huge casino under construction there. It seems to be a Harrah's operation, but must have something to do with the native American community there. I should have taken a photo, but it was a construction zone, so I was concerned about keeping the shiny side up amidst all the gravel and debris strewn around the road. I was struck by how much the major structure looks like the hotel at Foxwoods in CT. 

Soon I was out of that, and into the Nantahala Gorge. The swift-flowing river there is playground and training area for rafters, canoeists, and white-water kayakers. I stopped a couple of times to take some photos, but could not find a place which would support the RT very well. Nice riding through there.

After that, I was onto what I consider the most interesting motorcycling piece of the trip, the Cherahola Skyway. This is a road in TN which goes way up in the mountains, and has many motorcyclists. There is also a highway in TN (State Highway 129, aka "Deal's Gap" aka "The Tail of the Dragon") which is renowned for being a test of the mettle of every motorcyclist (said to be over 300 turns/curves in 11 miles). In any case, here's a view of just one spot along the Cherahola Skyway: 

It's probably impossible to see, but the elevation here is 5720 feet, I think. This road is filled with motorcyclists of all types from the staid ( i.e. me), to the aggressive. I did have one occasion while riding a straight stretch at 45mph that a sport-bike rider passed me as if I were standing still, and while passing, turned in the seat, and waved with his left hand. Wow. 

I made my way to Cleveland, TN, and ended another fine day on the road.