My attempt at dodging the rain Sunday utterly failed. We managed to stop getting rained on around Hungry Mother state park. Took a ride up half the Back of the Dragon, took VA 42 and other roads over to TN / VA 70, then bedded in Knoxville. Monday we headed for the Devil's Triangle -- the only named motorcycle route in the GA / SC / NC / TN / VA region I'd never been on. We were warned away from that route during the 2009 EOM but pretty much all of TN 119 has been recently repaved, crews are out there now fixing the few places that still need it, and there is no active mining or logging. It was a great piece of road in fantastic condition.
Then we headed for the Dragon to pick up Devil's Triangle stickers for the bikes. Moonshiner to Franklin, NC, where I noticed my rear tire showing quite a bit of belt. Too late for any shops to be open. I hunted down the cell phone number for the owner of a nearby shop and he told me that he had no tires close to FJR size. Sigh. I've had a bad time trying to get a tire in western NC before and with the forecast for Tuesday absolutely sucking I figure my best shot is to keep going and try my best not to die.
White knuckled it the last 120 miles home on mostly wet roads. Did not die. 1,745 miles total.
My thanks to Wayne, Gerald, Brenda, my wife, and everyone else who helped put this weekend together. Can't wait for my fourth EOM!