One of my goals for the 2007 riding season was to do a trip to the southeast and hit some of the classic roads such as Deals Gap, the Cherohala Skyway, "The Snake" at Shady Valley and the southern half of the Blue Ridge Parkway. ESTN 2007 would provide the perfect opportunity (excuse?) to tour the area. Once the ESTN details were settled I hatched a plan. Everyone needs a plan, just so you know when things aren’t going according to plan. That's when the adventure starts!
My plan was to cut out of work early on Thursday and meet kam and rich at kam's condo in Snowshoe, WV. The three of us would ride to Sparta on Friday. Saturday was a day ride around Sparta. Sunday would be a lazy day on the BRP heading to Deals Gap to ride the Dragon. Head for home via the Cherohala and Kentucky on Monday. Tuesday would be the last push from northern Kentucky thru western WV into PA and home. I guessed about 2100 miles in 5 1/2 days.
The first order of business was which bike to take. I was planning on taking my Kawi 636 sportbike, but was afraid the rear tire would be toast before I got home. Given the lifespan of Pilot Powers, I didn't want to yank a tire that's half used up and then pay to remount it later, so I decided to take my DL650 (the Wee Strom). Figured the extra tank range and upright ergos might be good thing on that long a trip. The Strom would need a new front tire since I wasn't sure if the Anakee would last the trip and it was starting to cup. It had 8K miles on it already and I didn't want to chance it over $20 worth of tire life. Besides, the Strom would let me venture off the beaten path and maybe hit some dirt/gravel roads. Bought a Cortech Super 14 magnetic tank bag to hold my camcorder, camera, etc and was good to go.
The Wee Strom was ready to roll with my $20 topcase (a toolbox from Lowes), a Cortech tailbag with all my clothes, and the Cortech tank bag with my electronic goodies. I packed light, figuring the lows would be in the low 50s per the forecast and my new hi-vis Olympia jacket and JR Ballistic pants should be waterproof enough to deal with a few showers. The weather forecast looked great. Aside from an extra fleece shirt, I didn't even bother with the rather warm Olympia jacket liner since it was supposed to be nice.