The Snake?

[RIDEMYST]

We don't have these kind of problems with our roads in Florida!   

[Brick]

We don't have these kind of problems with our roads in Florida! 

Jim year’s ago you showed me both the curves you have down there.


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[HawkGTRider]

Our NE Ohio group was riding at one of the rallies in the south east, we had just finished a run on some really fun road. At the next stop one of our group says to me, "that road needs a nickname". I thought NOO that will ruin it.

I haven't been riding in that area as long as some of you, but I do recall enjoying the Snake (US421) before it had that name. It was part of one of my favorite short loops from the TriSTAR event site, US58 from Volney into Damascus, then the road to Shady Valley thru Backbone Rock, then 421. Then 91 back to Damascus and back 58.

Dang I'd love to be at the Allegheny Inn now for a few days and riding that area  

TriSTAR isn't officially canceled yet (not saying one way or the other yet)..I still have my reservation. So...you may be able to come down to Sparta at the end of May to get your spring started with plenty of curvy roads. If the governors of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia decide it's ok for restaurants to open, it could still happen. Alas, I don't see how we could expect folks to arrive for a weekend if restaurants are still closed except for carry out (Sparta doesn't have that many options under the best of circumstances). So I'm waiting for all those big dogs to decide what they think is ok. If restaurants are accessible, I'm ok with people deciding for themselves what level of exposure they're willing to accept.

[RichGrab]

Sounds like a good plan Geoffrey, and with the lack of other riding opportunities might be the year to go. Stay safe out there always.

[stevegrab]

16 has the nickname “back of the dragon” and 58 is known as “the crooked road”.  But I’ve never found either of them to be overrun with other riders, and they haven’t yet become destination rides.  And that’s a GOOD thing.

Neither one seems to have the full blown treatment with a store of some kind serving as the home base. I recall 10-15 years ago riding 58 from Damascus end towards Volney heading to Tri-Star and my friend and I were passed by a rather aggressive group of sport bike riders. They appeared to be locals not people out touring. Don't usually see a ton of bikes on either road though.


One of my favorites here in NE Ohio doesn't have a name but I refer to it as The Rollercoaster, because of its many curves and hills. I doubt it will ever catch on

[stevegrab]

Our NE Ohio group was riding at one of the rallies in the south east, we had just finished a run on some really fun road. At the next stop one of our group says to me, "that road needs a nickname". I thought NOO that will ruin it.

I haven't been riding in that area as long as some of you, but I do recall enjoying the Snake (US421) before it had that name. It was part of one of my favorite short loops from the TriSTAR event site, US58 from Volney into Damascus, then the road to Shady Valley thru Backbone Rock, then 421. Then 91 back to Damascus and back 58.

Dang I'd love to be at the Allegheny Inn now for a few days and riding that area  

TriSTAR isn't officially canceled yet (not saying one way or the other yet)..I still have my reservation. So...you may be able to come down to Sparta at the end of May to get your spring started with plenty of curvy roads. If the governors of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia decide it's ok for restaurants to open, it could still happen. Alas, I don't see how we could expect folks to arrive for a weekend if restaurants are still closed except for carry out (Sparta doesn't have that many options under the best of circumstances). So I'm waiting for all those big dogs to decide what they think is ok. If restaurants are accessible, I'm ok with people deciding for themselves what level of exposure they're willing to accept.

We shall see, it is one of my favorite regional events. But things are too uncertain now for me (and many others) to commit to any sort of event or travel. If things get back to normal by then we'll see. Big question might be getting time off work, things are slow now (requiring as furlough days) but that could change once business re-open. If things are still not normal then there will be no travel to distant lands for riding fun. Also while some of those states may return to normal others won't, making travel from/thru those "stay at home" states difficult.


I'm not at any particular high risk but I am leaning towards caution with this.

[HawkGTRider]

If you're "leaning" (I'm gong to resist making that into some sort of pun about riding) towards caution, I'm with you. The Alleghany Inn's manager sent me this message this past weekend "We are open to essential travel right now, the county has a ban on non essential travel until the end of April, it could be extended.  We are hoping this will be way in the rear view mirror by Memorial Day weekend."

The folks in North Carolina and Virginia are taking a somewhat harder line on this than we are here in Tennessee. You've probably seen pictures of barriers on US129 stopping people from entering Graham County (Robbinsville) and at the state line on the Cherohala Skyway. We'll see. The manager knows I need to make a call before we get too far into May...look for a decision/announcement the first week of May.

[stevegrab]

Nope, haven't seen or heard anything about officials putting up barriers to keep people out of the North Carolina side of those roads. I had some trouble finding news of it, too many matches with some terms.
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/graham-county-shuts-down-closing-off-access-to-cherohala-skyway/51-8a66e0e4-59a6-4c51-81fc-904f49f973fa

I also saw it mentioned on the Tail of the Dragon website, copied below

From tailofthedragon.com home page
Sunday March 29, 2020
SUNDAY Graham County North Carolina has set-up roadblocks/checkpoints on US129, NC28, and the Cherohala Skyway near the county lines. Only Graham County residents are allowed to enter at these checkpoints.
THE DRAGON IS OPEN
There is no access to the Dragon from North Carolina. There is no problem coming from the Tennessee side.

[Ride4MS]

Here is a sign that you can get for your garage.  Or this sign from the area.  Order at signsbypops.com

[HawkGTRider]

The store in Shady Valley is absolutely the "home base" for US421. Heck, it almost works for US58 as well. I'll bet more than a few folks have ridden back and forth across 421, run up SR133 to Damascus, and then rode back and forth across 58.

[Stretch]

They won't  come up with a nickname for one of my favorite roads 8n the area because they can't compete with the real name. WAR WOMAN ROAD!

War Woman Road is a fine road and in that area is Double Island Rd.

People ask me if I've ridden the Snake, Back of the Dragon, Moonshiner..... Huh? Gimmie a highway number.

Usually at the end of one of those silly named roads is a gift shop/restaurant. Same thing is happening here in KY.
Your best bet is to ride them before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. If you can't do that then sometime Monday through Thursday. Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday mornings are just motorcycle shows.