A couple of notes from a Knoxville Inmate.
First, and foremost, welcome to Knoxville and the Honda Hoot. Secondly, please be aware that Knoxville has just recently installed stop-light cameras at major intersections throughout the city. These revenue generators have already increased the number of rear-end accidents at said traffic lights, so be careful.
As most of you will already know, Knoxville is very close to both the Great Smoky Mountains and the Dragon. Please take the opportunity to enjoy both if you can. There are many good roads throughout the area, especially west of the Downtown area. The further you get away from Knoxville proper, the better the roads get for riding.
Once you are past the downtown area, you can get of fthe interstate and use either Middlebrook Pike or Kingston Pike to get to 90% of the places you want to go. They both offer a good alternate to I-40 when the traffic &/or contruction has it slowed down to a crawl. For the more adventurous, try Northshore down by the lake. It is usually less congested, and is about 5 degrees cooler thanks to the water nearby.
The local police and sheriff’s department will be out in force, as you can imagine, but they are mostly looking for the “stunters” and flagrant speeders. (Per a couple of officers I know, they are going out of their way to be friendly and approachable this weekend. Have to keep the tourism up you know!)
If you are going up to the Smoky Mountains, do yourself a favor and head up the “back way” through Townsend instead of suffering the agonizing slow death of the Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg route. (If you head up that way in the morning, I highly recommend “The Back Porch” restaruant for breakfast.)
If you are planning on doing the Cades Cove loop this weekend (Sat/Sun), be prepared for heavy traffic. The road is fairly narrow and there will be a lot of stop and go traffic there, especially in some of the more awkward places. (I’ve seen more than a few guys drop their bikes at a couple of the stream crossings thanks to there being a decent “dip” where they try to put their feet down and discover that they can’t easily reach.)
There are more than a few really good restaraunts in Knoxville proper. In the Downtown area I highly recommend the Downtown Bar & Grill on Gay street. I work in the building across the street (Miller’s Building) and it is a great place to eat. They have a really good brewmaster in house. If you are a beer drinker, you owe it to yourself to sample their brews. (Some are a little more stout than standard, so be careful!)
Oh, and do yourself a favor and give South Knoxville a pass. It doesn’t have much to offer except a bad reputation.
Have fun and be safe.
