Rides & Roads
Scenic Roads & Routes, Great Destinations & Events
Small Bore Mania 2025
I had the opportunity to attend this year’s Smoky Mountain Small Bore Rally again, and the weekend was truly bigger and better than ever. I am amazed every year at how much time, imagination, and of course money these folks devote to their passion for these small size and displacement motorcycles.
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The Worst Road In The World
Two weeks deep into my journey through the west I am passing through Tonopah to overnight at Ely and eventually ride the Bonneville Salt Flats. Highway 6 connects Tonopah to Ely, a 168 mile stretch of highway dissecting the hot gut of Nevada. There are no services on the road, no towns, no stops, no gas stations, no civilization, not a damn thing. One hundred and sixty eight miles of empty. This crappy Subway restaurant is the last oasis on the way to nowhere, and my last taste of electricity, indoor plumbing and air conditioning. At least the employees here are friendly, or trying to be.
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GREAT ROADS: North Cascades Pass
North Cascades Pass Highway 20 opens in early May if we are lucky, when the snowplow coming from the east meets the snowplow coming from the west. For a few brief months during the summer the gates to heaven open. It is seventy miles between dots of civilization so if something goes wrong, you are on your own. This is the Pacific Northwest, remember.
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GREAT ROADS: Cherohala Skyway
I first came to ride the Cherohala Skyway a few years after it opened, in 1998 or ’99. I rode up with a group of CMA friends from the Atlanta area, and we spent a day riding the parkway from Robbinsville NC to Tellico Plains TN. After a hearty late lunch at the popular Tellicafé on the western end of the skyway, the group turned around and rode back across that afternoon. It was early October as I remember, and the mountains were awash in the colors of autumn- gold, orange, red, purple, with pine evergreen interspersed.
It was magical. I was hooked.
Return to Iron Horse
4 1/2 years. That’s how long it’s been since the last time I rolled in and set foot on the grounds of Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge in Stecoah, North Carolina. Had it really been nearly that long? My memories of our last trip here in many respects feel like yesterday. Phil, Ted, my friend Lyle, and myself, all enjoying one of the most beautiful, colorful autumns in recent memory, up in the mountains of western North Carolina. We stayed in one of Iron Horse’s creekside cabins, waking to the gentle burbling stream every morning. Delightful meals, even more delightful people, nightly campfires, and exceptional hospitality by owner Jerry Goss and his staff. We even rode a trio of Yamaha Nikens, those mechanical silverback gorillas, across the famed Tail of the Dragon, along the Cherohala Skyway, and a stint on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Iron Horse owns and operates Wolf Creek Rentals, just down the street from the lodge. More on that shortly.
I remember it all as if it were yesterday. And yet it’s been almost five years. Too many years.
Why We Ride- How A Movie Became A Mission
Bryan Carroll is a man on a mission. He wants to see childhood brain cancer eliminated in our lifetime. And he’s determined to help make that dream happen. Bryan, the producer and director of the acclaimed 2013 motorcycling film, “Why We Ride”, along with his friend and colleague James Walker, love motorcycling, and love the motorcycle community. And like so many in our community, Bryan and James have big hearts for philanthropy, specifically for children’s causes.
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Daytona Bike Weekend
In the early hours of Thursday, March 6, 2025, I left home pulling my toy hauler/trailer, headed for Daytona Beach. I had loaded in the trailer my Honda Monkey and CB500X , and my friend David’s Triumph Bonneville 1200. David was pulling his teardrop camper with his Mercedes as we headed on our way to Florida. The weather was good and we made it to the Florida line somewhere around noon.
Daytona, here we come!
Triumph and BDR Debut a New South East Route
Now in its 15th year, most of the great and more well-known BDR routes are out west, from Texas and South Dakota westward, with the exception of Montana. But here in the Southeast, the home of Road Dirt, we’ve not had the opportunity to experience the BDR rides like our western brothers and sisters. That is about to change, with the development of the soon-to-be publicly announced South East Backcountry Discovery Route (SEBDR). Finally, some BDR close to home.
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When the Ride Goes Wrong
There are times when nature, dumb luck and poor planning conspire against us. You can take all the usual and sensible precautions before rolling into the wild: check the weather report, carry your own personal chrome-plated barometer, even stick your head out the window. Feeling unencumbered and packing light, the skies are clear, a soft cool breeze caresses your cheek, the bike rumbles instantly to life and you think to yourself with a smile, what could possibly go wrong?
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