I hope some of you in the Southeast can get to ride the Southern Appalachian. I like maps and especially like to refer to one after I return from a ride to check out possible new rides that I can take next time I'm out. I'll pass an intersection and try to take note of the direction and possible loop, then check the map later. I hate to stop a good ride to look at a map though.

Anyway, this link is for Mad Maps of the Southern Applachains.
http://madmaps.com/store/trav_smok.aspx

It is a good map with motorcycle routes with descriptions and stops. I still make use of the Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer.

MSN maps are good but the scale is difficult to get that show small side roads. I cut and paste some routes to paint and print out day rides.

Good to be retired and have time to do such.

Enjoy. Kickstand to kickstand is a good ride.

Tom, do you use a GPS at all?
I do some mountain biking and one of the guys took GPS on the trail one evening. Over the river and through the woods, so to speak (no Grandma's house and no cookies, though... darnit) and it was a great ride. Afterwards, he exported the data taken by the GPS along the way to some really nifty maps and charts. As mountain biking goes, it was really neat to see the plot of the elevation changes made during the ride.

I don't know which model GPS this guy has, but I can find out. I carried a Garmin Legend on one later ride and had a lot of fun running through the data the next day.

Something else to spend your retired-time on.... :)

A Hoky with a GPS :?:

One of my riding buds has one but I have yet to use one. I'm not exactly old school, but I am happy with maps for now.

I have enough things I would like to do to keep the bike 'up' . Still want to get a tail tidy. I can't keep a front tire on my Hornet. I got 3500 miles on the Road Pilot and have just over 5000 on a Dunlop D220. I have a Pirelli that I am going to put on soon. I got over 7000 miles on the Michelin rear tire. Go figure.

Thanks for the incentive.

A Hoky with a GPS :?:

Sure! If a Hokie gets lost in the woods... oh, nevermind. That was going to be pretty corny. :oops:

I did take the GPS on my Parkway trip, but didn't use it. The day was beautiful (aside from being a bit chilly), and I spent a lot more time taking pictures (when stopped, of course) than marking waypoints.

Maybe next time....

Good luck with the tire issue. What's wearing 'em out so quickly?

...It is a good map with motorcycle routes with descriptions and stops....
The sample is almost all one needs! Good stuff Tomacana... Will file this away for the spring. Thanks!

http://madmaps.com/images/img_trav_smok_ins_lg.jpg

VThokey I don't know why my front tire wears out so much more than the rear. I do ride on twisting country roads and avoid routes with straight aways. I had a CX500 years ago that had tire wear on the front at about the same rate as the rear. Like most people, I wear the left side of the front more than the right. I theorized the tire wear as due to left/right accleration the front tire takes on constant cornerning. The rear tire takes most of the stop and go, so it seems that you would always wear the rear out first.

Rndthought I thought you would like the map of the area. I'm glad you saw the post. I took some snapshots, that are similar to the sample map so that I edit the routes to ones that I like. We may have a winter this year, so I may have more time to anticipate spring riding. I'm hoping that I can get both my bikes out on occasion next week and early in Dec. I have taken rides the last three years on Jan 1, but a bit bundled. Jan and Feb the bikes get parked mostly.

Plan a ride to Gatlinburg. A pub stop (post ride)could be scheduled in. A two beer buzz on a hornet is something to be avoided.

Plan a ride to Gatlinburg. A pub stop (post ride)could be scheduled in. A two beer buzz on a hornet is something to be avoided.

How far from Gatlinburg to Chattanooga? A friend's girlfriend lives in Chatt, and the friend (Jon, a VTX owner) is in Rome GA. Jon says Rome is about an hour from Chatt... I could make a good long summer road trip of this. Maybe....

It's about 120 miles to Cahttanooga, maybe a few more depending on route taken.

The shorter route thru the Smokies to Townsend and on to the Foothills parkway then right on Hwy 129 ( Just 3 miles from the Dragon) toward I75 south is probably about 40 miles shorter and no freeway thru Knoxville.

This route would put you near the Cherolia Skyway which is part of a Deals Gap loop. I colored in the route out of Gatlinburg to Hwy 411. Hwy 411 is the old route to Chattanooga. You can continue down 411 until you wish to cut over to I75

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/5607/chattjl6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Tomacana - Yes, if you can start cataloging some routes I'm sure we can get Alex to open up a new forum for "Ride Maps" or something... would be really cool to have local riders input. I'm gonna make it up that way eventually so I'll be calling on you, be ready (and thirsty!)

...Like most people, I wear the left side of the front more than the right. I theorized the tire wear as due to left/right acceleration the front tire takes on constant cornering. The rear tire takes most of the stop and go, so it seems that you would always wear the rear out first.
Think most people are right handed and feel more comfortable leaning to the left so push that side a bit harder (know I do). The rear does take a beating with engine breaking but for me I also power out of corners a bit more than I should so the rear is usually getting extra wear from slippage. I envy you and all those twisties...here I really half to hunt to fine a couple of fun corners on my daily commute...

...A two beer buzz on a hornet is something to be avoided.
I've done much worse... :( :rant :(

I went for a ride in Western North Caroliona (around Hot Springs) last week and as usual had to check the map for to see where the hell I'd been. I didn't explore this time, I followed a friend that lives in the area. I haven't nailed the exact route yet.

http://mythbox.homeip.net/599/
The users Map, as it turns out is one of the best maps I reviewed lately. The MSN maps has been my old standbu for back roads. I capture, cut and paste to the windows paint program. The users map is the TelAtlas 2006 and once you blow up that map to a decent local size, it shows most roads.
The best thing about the map over MSN and Mapquest is tha you can move around on the map using the mouse grab feature. The topo/hybrid feature is handy.

If you like map programs give this a try...

http://local.live.com/

It is MSN enhanced... can make groups of locations and easy click from/to driving directions AND (this is the best part) you can type things like "Gas" or "Target" and it will pop up all the gas stations or Target stores in the map view! (can type anything like Pizza or what ever... really cool). Can have multiple searches open on the same map too.

Plus satellite overlays...