Cherokee, NC

Cherokee, North Carolina. 2 days was not enough time.

The first day was rainy so I went in to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. It's very well put together and has a lot of interesting content. My favorite part was set up so visitors could read quotes from 3 native American chiefs on a trip to London interspersed with quotes from the British soldier escorts describing the same events from completely different points of view. The museum is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.

I had woken up late and the museum ate up most of my day, so I went down to the touristy area where there are a whole slew of shops where you can buy Native American souvenirs made in Taiwan. As my hosts told me, there are authentic craft shops around, you just have to find them. I was just killing time however so I went into the kitschy places, and after wandering around a bit called it a day. I wanted to be up bright and early the next day.


The next day was almost perfect. Some of the best roads in the country are right nearby so I headed out for a day of riding. What a joy it is to travel burdened by neither cargo nor expectations. Here's what my route looked like (click it, then click the magnifying glass icon to get a not-so-squished version):



And here's some of the scenery:




You'll recognize this dam if you saw "The Fugitive":


As a fan of the audibly quiet, visibly loud ideology of motorcycle safety, this sticker made me laugh:



Seen on a trash can on the Tennessee side of US-129 in a scenic overlook. There are shots of the scenery too but you'll have to click the picture and browse the photos.

The riding is exciting and the scenery is beautiful. What more can a biker ask for? US-129 is like a pilgrimage for bikers. It's called "The Dragon" and it's got 318 curves in 11 miles. If you ride outside your ability on this road, you will lose control of your vehicle. Whether you die or not because of that is mostly luck in one form or another. Unlike a typical wreck you're either going to end up going into a ditch where nobody will find you if you can't move or in the other lane of traffic between blind curves where someone coming from the other side won't be able to see you in the road. Even being careful, chances are you'll sacrifice some of your footpegs as they scrape off in the tighter turns.

On the North Carolina side, stands the "Tree of Shame". A part from every bike that wrecks on the Dragon is nailed to, or hung from this tree:



I wish I knew the story behind the two plastic big-wheel trikes up there...

Coming back from the Dragon on my way back to the reservation I managed to grab this photo:



After taking that last picture, I decided to stop at a supermarket for a new toothbrush and toothpaste. As I start to turn left into a row of cars, some lady blows past me, on the left and comes within 2 inches of my front tire. So I grab the break to avoid dying on her car. Since the bike is leaning over, stopping causes it to fall down. But it was either drop my bike or get creamed by some grumble-grumble idiot cager. So I drop my bike. I hit the horn and waved at her but a whole parking lot full of people watched in disgust as that lady ran the hell away, then came over to see if I was ok and if I needed any help. But I already had my bike up before anyone got over. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the anger, but that marked the first time I ever picked up my fallen Valkyrie without any help. I wasn't hurt save a bruise on the knee, and my bike has roll bars so it wasn't damaged at all either. That lady and I are probably both lucky she ran away or I might be in prison right now. It usually takes a lot to make me angry but being so stupid it almost kills me is kind of a hot-button.

I tackled some of the most dangerous road in the country that day and naturally I almost get killed in a parking lot. Oh but did that put a bad taste in my mouth the rest of the night.

The next day, a new front tire came for my bike and I brought it in to the "local" Honda shop to have it put on. Then had dinner with my gracious hosts Sean and Gerri Grady, packed up, and headed to Atlanta, Georgia where I've been for 2 nights and 2 days with my friend Matt and his girlfriend Anna.

Matt's in a bit of a predicament. He's an I.T. consultant with Oracle so he has to travel wherever his assignment is. Currently he lives in Atlanta, and works in Chicago. He's only home 2 days a week and he flew out back to Chicago this afternoon so tomorrow I head out to Orlando! Assuming I can get in touch with my friend there. =)

Just remember kids: