104830
New member
Saddle Sore 1000 attempt
My friend Tim and I had been planning a Saddle Sore 1000 for a month ,the plan was to go Sat. June 7th. He had just changed jobs a vacation time was not available so a weekend would have to do, plus his family was going to be out of town this weekend so it seemed like the perfect time. As the weekend approached and we suffered through a week of rain in Durham NC, things did not look good, outlook was for steady rain in the southeast all day Saturday.
Our route was to take I-85 from Durham to Winston Salem and pick up I-40 to Nashville Tenn., then up I-65 to Bowling Green Ky. To the Cumberland Parkway east to Daniel Boone Parkway to Hazard , Ky. To Pikeville, Ky. then south to Kingsport ,Tenn, pick up I-81 north to Marion, Va. Mapped out at 1015 miles.
We left sat at 5:13 am from Durham in a steady but not heavy rain and made it to our first
gas stop in Old Fort by 8:30, still raining. We headed on to Asheville and the rain stopped as we headed up to go through the Smokies and on to Knoxville, Tenn., things were looking up!! About 35 miles from Knoxville the rain gods threw all their fury at us in a torrential downpour that lasted for 35- 40 minutes we moved along at 20 -25 miles per hour with flashers going , this always seems to happen to me when I ride through Knoxville, heavy rain. We pushed west out of Knoxville and finally ran out the rain in Crossville Tenn. 11:43 est got off the bikes and gassed up ,ate some food and got on dry gloves. Next on to Nashville , weather held and was just overcast which I was happy to see. In Nashville we picked up Brilley Parkway north to I-65 an don to Bowling Green ,Ky, where we picked up the Cumberland Parkway east. This was perhaps the nicest part of the route. The Cumberland Parkway is a wonderful road that travels trough southern Ky. through some beautiful country side. The road was amazingly deserted and we were able to make up some time while enjoying long sweepers at a nice pace. The Cumberland Parkway becomes the Daniel Boone Parkway and became more hilly and curvy as we approached our next stop Hazard , Ky. I would suggest both of these roads to anyone. From Hazard we pushed east on to Pikeville, Ky. Before heading south to Kingsport ,Tenn. Heading down through Norton ,Va. To Big Stone Gap the sky got DARK and then the rain gods let us have it again, the road became a river in a matter of minutes ,it was dusk and I put on the flashers and followed the tail lights of TimÔÇÖs bike off the mountain at a whooping 25 mph, it was pouring. We stopped for gas and gatorade in Duffield, Va. then pulled out for the last leg, down through Kingsport, Tenn. and on north to Marion ,Va. our final destination. We arrived in Marion at 11:03 pm ride complete. Gps said 1,008.2 and bikes odometer said 1,040 . Not the fastest time but considering the rain we ran through for at least 500 miles of this adventure, not bad. CanÔÇÖt wait till the next one. By the way the RT really enjoyed this 1000 mile trek too, what a great bike
My friend Tim and I had been planning a Saddle Sore 1000 for a month ,the plan was to go Sat. June 7th. He had just changed jobs a vacation time was not available so a weekend would have to do, plus his family was going to be out of town this weekend so it seemed like the perfect time. As the weekend approached and we suffered through a week of rain in Durham NC, things did not look good, outlook was for steady rain in the southeast all day Saturday.
Our route was to take I-85 from Durham to Winston Salem and pick up I-40 to Nashville Tenn., then up I-65 to Bowling Green Ky. To the Cumberland Parkway east to Daniel Boone Parkway to Hazard , Ky. To Pikeville, Ky. then south to Kingsport ,Tenn, pick up I-81 north to Marion, Va. Mapped out at 1015 miles.
We left sat at 5:13 am from Durham in a steady but not heavy rain and made it to our first
gas stop in Old Fort by 8:30, still raining. We headed on to Asheville and the rain stopped as we headed up to go through the Smokies and on to Knoxville, Tenn., things were looking up!! About 35 miles from Knoxville the rain gods threw all their fury at us in a torrential downpour that lasted for 35- 40 minutes we moved along at 20 -25 miles per hour with flashers going , this always seems to happen to me when I ride through Knoxville, heavy rain. We pushed west out of Knoxville and finally ran out the rain in Crossville Tenn. 11:43 est got off the bikes and gassed up ,ate some food and got on dry gloves. Next on to Nashville , weather held and was just overcast which I was happy to see. In Nashville we picked up Brilley Parkway north to I-65 an don to Bowling Green ,Ky, where we picked up the Cumberland Parkway east. This was perhaps the nicest part of the route. The Cumberland Parkway is a wonderful road that travels trough southern Ky. through some beautiful country side. The road was amazingly deserted and we were able to make up some time while enjoying long sweepers at a nice pace. The Cumberland Parkway becomes the Daniel Boone Parkway and became more hilly and curvy as we approached our next stop Hazard , Ky. I would suggest both of these roads to anyone. From Hazard we pushed east on to Pikeville, Ky. Before heading south to Kingsport ,Tenn. Heading down through Norton ,Va. To Big Stone Gap the sky got DARK and then the rain gods let us have it again, the road became a river in a matter of minutes ,it was dusk and I put on the flashers and followed the tail lights of TimÔÇÖs bike off the mountain at a whooping 25 mph, it was pouring. We stopped for gas and gatorade in Duffield, Va. then pulled out for the last leg, down through Kingsport, Tenn. and on north to Marion ,Va. our final destination. We arrived in Marion at 11:03 pm ride complete. Gps said 1,008.2 and bikes odometer said 1,040 . Not the fastest time but considering the rain we ran through for at least 500 miles of this adventure, not bad. CanÔÇÖt wait till the next one. By the way the RT really enjoyed this 1000 mile trek too, what a great bike