Burnspot
Who Me?
Below are a few pics from my collection of photos from NAFO. The full gallery can be found on my site: https://top.burningfiles.com/gallery/v/Burnspot/NAFO
Many thanks to Bob, Jay, and all who organized the event…it was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of great folks. Thanks to Mike "Patriot" for his sense of humor…it seemed to mesh pretty well with mine, lol, and Mike "Mvette" for sharing a cheap room with me (great place).
There were a lot of Mike's and Scott's in our Friday riding group and at times felt like a scene from "Spies Like Us". We covered the Foothills Parkway (I missed it thanks to, cough cough, somebody bolting from the gas station while yours truly fought with water bottles and a Camelbak, lol), the Dragon, Cherohala, Tellico Plains, Bald River Falls. We nearly wiped out some road hogging bicyclists, learned about Patriot's love of a couple Cherohala sweepers, and how well the FJR's ABS works during last minute turnout decisions, lol.
On Saturday, we covered the river roads running out of Knoxville towards Gatlinburg (great rolling hills and twists), found a neat covered bridge, discovered the hidden curves of highway 32, and found that trucking company Swift's Dragon clogging ways extend to some small towns around the area. All in all, a great day of riding.
Sitting at some rest area on I-40 for a bio break while on the way to NAFO. My newly Spencerfied seat and Alaskan Buttpad helped extend my backside's tolerance for the stock seat well above normal; however, a Corbin rider seat is on the way now after listening to Bob again and testing out Mvette's seat (I liked my FZ6's Corbin):
Fuzzy photo, but here we have a wandering pack of hungry FJR riders trying to decide, by committee, where to eat. Many of us walked to downtown, but SOME of us, Bob, opted for a cab ride with a driver that knew little about downtown Knoxville, lol. We beat the cab to the restaurant...
Chowing down at the downtown brewery (the name escapes me) at our extended table. Folks in the middle basically ate in the dark…not sure if they knew what they actually got:
No, it wasn't the Marriott, but it had pigeons! Mvette and I stayed here to keep expenses down. Only 2 miles from the Marriott and manned by a very accommodating and security-conscious owner, we enjoyed our stay:
Fugitive Dam. I skipped listing my Deals Gap pics…no FJR's in it and everyone knows what it looks like there, lol. It should be noted that this picture was taken under duress…Patriot stopped our group at the turnout ABOVE the curve that crosses the bridge and led us down the gravel path to the bridge on foot…in 90 degree heat….in full gear. Upon arrival on the bridge and sweating profusely, we noted the shaded turnout on the other side of the bridge and mere feet from the perfect photo op spot, lol. Oh well.
Stopped at the Thunder Mountain General Store for a break before hitting the Cherohala:
Patriot, Mvette, Blind Squirrel, and Old Pilot taking a break on the Cherohala:
Old Pilot readying his rig while riders tear up the Skyway:
The view from the Cherohala was breathtaking:
Blind Squirrel waiting to enter the "Pit of Doom", Cherohala. If you saw it, you'd understand:
Our gang at Bald River Falls….looked especially inviting on a 90 degree day:
Shameless promotional shot at the falls...bald guy at Bald River Falls...go figure:
Beautiful skies Friday evening in Knoxville:
Everyone chowing down during the Friday dinner:
On Saturday, it was just myself, Mvette, and FJRMGM since we missed the Patriot train. We found the Harrisburg Covered Bridge in the Sevierville:
Naturally, you find a hole, you fill it:
We ran up Highway 32 past the entrance to the Smoky Mountain National Park and followed it to the state line (it snakes along the border of the park). It was a great stretch of road with little to no traffic and tons of technical curves. We briefly thought about going up the dirt road a bit, but when we saw a car go up and, a few minutes later, return, we figured it was probably better if we stuck to pavement:
The Saturday night banquet…the food was quite good!
Patriot was staring longingly at his raffle ticket in the hopes that it would bring him riches beyond belief, but alas, it was not to be…
No pictures from Sunday, but in a nutshell it was dark, somewhat chilly, and wet. I did not want to slab I-40 again, so I opted to head NE, cross over in Boone (met the Deliverance crew at some country store west of Boone, in the mountains), and took backroads back home. My Roadcrafter keep my dry as did my Oxtar boots; however, I waited far too long to throw my waterproof overgloves on and ended up with wet hands for the better part of the journey (two pairs of gloves). I will say that I love my Stich Vegan gloves...when the rain stopped for a bit, they dried out very fast and, when wet, maintained a good feel.
Many thanks to Bob, Jay, and all who organized the event…it was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of great folks. Thanks to Mike "Patriot" for his sense of humor…it seemed to mesh pretty well with mine, lol, and Mike "Mvette" for sharing a cheap room with me (great place).
There were a lot of Mike's and Scott's in our Friday riding group and at times felt like a scene from "Spies Like Us". We covered the Foothills Parkway (I missed it thanks to, cough cough, somebody bolting from the gas station while yours truly fought with water bottles and a Camelbak, lol), the Dragon, Cherohala, Tellico Plains, Bald River Falls. We nearly wiped out some road hogging bicyclists, learned about Patriot's love of a couple Cherohala sweepers, and how well the FJR's ABS works during last minute turnout decisions, lol.
On Saturday, we covered the river roads running out of Knoxville towards Gatlinburg (great rolling hills and twists), found a neat covered bridge, discovered the hidden curves of highway 32, and found that trucking company Swift's Dragon clogging ways extend to some small towns around the area. All in all, a great day of riding.
Sitting at some rest area on I-40 for a bio break while on the way to NAFO. My newly Spencerfied seat and Alaskan Buttpad helped extend my backside's tolerance for the stock seat well above normal; however, a Corbin rider seat is on the way now after listening to Bob again and testing out Mvette's seat (I liked my FZ6's Corbin):
Fuzzy photo, but here we have a wandering pack of hungry FJR riders trying to decide, by committee, where to eat. Many of us walked to downtown, but SOME of us, Bob, opted for a cab ride with a driver that knew little about downtown Knoxville, lol. We beat the cab to the restaurant...
Chowing down at the downtown brewery (the name escapes me) at our extended table. Folks in the middle basically ate in the dark…not sure if they knew what they actually got:
No, it wasn't the Marriott, but it had pigeons! Mvette and I stayed here to keep expenses down. Only 2 miles from the Marriott and manned by a very accommodating and security-conscious owner, we enjoyed our stay:
Fugitive Dam. I skipped listing my Deals Gap pics…no FJR's in it and everyone knows what it looks like there, lol. It should be noted that this picture was taken under duress…Patriot stopped our group at the turnout ABOVE the curve that crosses the bridge and led us down the gravel path to the bridge on foot…in 90 degree heat….in full gear. Upon arrival on the bridge and sweating profusely, we noted the shaded turnout on the other side of the bridge and mere feet from the perfect photo op spot, lol. Oh well.
Stopped at the Thunder Mountain General Store for a break before hitting the Cherohala:
Patriot, Mvette, Blind Squirrel, and Old Pilot taking a break on the Cherohala:
Old Pilot readying his rig while riders tear up the Skyway:
The view from the Cherohala was breathtaking:
Blind Squirrel waiting to enter the "Pit of Doom", Cherohala. If you saw it, you'd understand:
Our gang at Bald River Falls….looked especially inviting on a 90 degree day:
Shameless promotional shot at the falls...bald guy at Bald River Falls...go figure:
Beautiful skies Friday evening in Knoxville:
Everyone chowing down during the Friday dinner:
On Saturday, it was just myself, Mvette, and FJRMGM since we missed the Patriot train. We found the Harrisburg Covered Bridge in the Sevierville:
Naturally, you find a hole, you fill it:
We ran up Highway 32 past the entrance to the Smoky Mountain National Park and followed it to the state line (it snakes along the border of the park). It was a great stretch of road with little to no traffic and tons of technical curves. We briefly thought about going up the dirt road a bit, but when we saw a car go up and, a few minutes later, return, we figured it was probably better if we stuck to pavement:
The Saturday night banquet…the food was quite good!
Patriot was staring longingly at his raffle ticket in the hopes that it would bring him riches beyond belief, but alas, it was not to be…
No pictures from Sunday, but in a nutshell it was dark, somewhat chilly, and wet. I did not want to slab I-40 again, so I opted to head NE, cross over in Boone (met the Deliverance crew at some country store west of Boone, in the mountains), and took backroads back home. My Roadcrafter keep my dry as did my Oxtar boots; however, I waited far too long to throw my waterproof overgloves on and ended up with wet hands for the better part of the journey (two pairs of gloves). I will say that I love my Stich Vegan gloves...when the rain stopped for a bit, they dried out very fast and, when wet, maintained a good feel.
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