From Austin:
1. Head east northeast and ride through Davy Crocket, Sam Rayburn, and Toledo Bend reservoirs.
2. Call Pants.
3. Crossover into central Louisiana at meet Pants at the border.
4. Have Pants escort you though the best roads in central Louisiana (not great, but not bad). Wave bye bye to Pants
5. Run (stop?) through Vicksburg/Natchez and some pretty decent stuff in central Mississippi.
6. Work in a few sections of the Natchez trace. After 25 miles of HEAVILY ENFORCED 50 mph speed limit, it gets boring. Let Pants suggest a couple of sections that are worth riding, and include interesting stops to see.
7. Stop and call FJRBandit.
8. Crossover into north central Alabama and meet FJR Bandit at the border.
9. Have Bandit escort you through the best roads in central and northeastern Alabama (Talledega Scenic Byway, for sure). Wave bye bye to Bandit.
10. Call Uncle Hud.
11. Take the Little Grand Canyon into north Georgia and greet Hud at the border.
11. Have Hud escort you through North Georgia for at least 2 days (stay at TWO). Doesn't matter which road you take - they are all good. Wave bye bye to Hud. Hold it - maybe not.... Hud's retired, he may keep going. Let's call that "optional".
12. Head toward Deal's Gap.
13. If you insist, ride The Dragon. Get your sticker. Bla Bla Bla
14. Use the Blue Ridge Parkway as a general guide to head northeast. But like the Natcez Trace, pick your spots. Mt. Mitchell is a must (highest point on the parkway). Many other places northeast of there, but how far you go depends on how much time you have.
15. Other things worth seeing in the 2-5 days you could spend in that entire region are: Roan Mtn, Hot Springs and the entire French Broad River region, Grandfather Mtn (if you find yourself near there, do NOT pass this up. Give them the $20.00 a head to get in and say thank you), etc. I could go on for this agenda item for 1000 words. I know of hundreds of miles of incredible roads that you could ride and NEVER hit the same one twice. We can expand on this one later.
16. When you are done with the Appalacians, start heading generally West. Again, depending on where you are, I can steer you to some good stuff to hit on the way back. Cumberland Gap, great riding in southeast Kentucky, for example. Also not quite as good, but very decent riding and scenic farmland in eastern and middle Tennessee.
17. Stop in Arkansas for 1-5 days. Again, depending on timing and your thinking, as well as your interests (besides riding), I can help you with some ideas here. If not much time, stay south of I-40 and hit Nebo, Magazine, Petit Jean, and Talamena. If more time, run farther north to the roller coasters in the Ozarks.
18. Run through Broken Bow, OK on the way home.
19. Arrive safely at home.
Now then, what I have outlined can be 7 or 70 days. It can be 2,500 or 12,500 miles.
Happy Planning!!
