frozen road trip!

[DrBob]

I just got back from North Carolina- I rode up to see a 'friend' Friday and did some running around in the mountains in the Asheville area. Man, that is some pretty country!!! Cold though...22 with a windchill of 8 when I got there. Brrrrrr...
But it was in the high 30s and maybe the low 40s during the day, so Saturday was a nice ride over some great mountain roads to the Chimney Rock area, followed by a run across 64 and some time on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was not exactly warm, but I sure was having fun. Came home down US-19, then hit US-23 for a stop at Tallulah Falls and gorge. Got home just before sundown...currently 27 here in Atlanta, with a windchill of 15.
Saw a couple bikes around Dillard, locals from the looks of them, but other than that few mile stretch I was the only idiot out on a bike.
But it is supposed to get up to 42 tomorrow, so I'll probably ride in the afternoon...

[Gixxerdale]

Nice ride! I kind of like it when I'm one of a few bikes out havin fun. Why I don't know? The weather here today was awesome. I think every bike in Southern California was out on the road!

[c50tiger]

See? I keep saying that 64/74 between Lake Lure and Asheville is a great ride... and you don't usually have the truck problem like on the Dragons Tail.

[DrBob]

Originally Posted by c50tiger

See? I keep saying that 64/74 between Lake Lure and Asheville is a great ride... and you don't usually have the truck problem like on the Dragons Tail.

You are correct! Great roads up that way, and I think I passed three oncoming cars! Chimney Rock was really pretty, with the waterfall coming off the top of the mountain. The Tiki Bar was closed, so I stopped at Margarittagrill in Lake Lure for lunch...I was not impressed by the burger, but the beer was cold and the sweet potato fries were very good.
I saw some trees down from last year's storms, but not as bad as i thought it would be, and there was no sign of the river overflowing.

[c50tiger]

I'm horrible at remembering the name's of these places, but there's a little Mexican place right before the bridge between Chimney Rock and the head of the lake that's real good - problem with Lake Lure/Chimney Rock is you never can tell what'll be open in the 'off season'.

When I was up there after Christmas I noticed a few trees still down, but the biggest problem was from flooding. Water came in faster than they could let it out via the dam. They actually started draining the lake before the storms came in, so they had a head start on the flooding; still , most lake residents I think got damage from the water level being several feet over their docks. When you get between Lake Lure and Rutherfordton, the Broad River can vary in depth by several feet, depending on whether they're generating power at the dam or not, but I don't recall it ever actually overflowing.