Patience is a Virtue

Day Three

Just a brief note today. Batteries are running low.

This morning Tim, who thought his rear tire was in need of replacement soon, found out just how bad the tire was. At camp, he took a closer look and saw a small patch where the ply was peeping through. We spent a bunch of time hanging out at Wheel Through Time making calls and trying to find a shop open on Sunday that could change a tire. We stopped at one shop, Gryphon Bikes and Choppers, in Maggie Valley and found the owner there but on his way out. He said he might have a tire that would fit but he would not be back until 1 pm at least.

So sitting at the museum, I called my friend, Murphyshuman, from Motorcycle Forum who lived in Asheville to see if he had any local knowledge that might help. Murph didn't have any luck finding an open shop for us, but did find a used tire that was the right size, but could not get hold of his firends with tire changers. Tim and I taked it over and he decided that we would forego our trip over the Smokies into Gatlinburg over the Appalachian Trail (Sorry, Ashleigh, I couldn't get that pic of the trail for you, but prudence dictated otherwise.) and head back towards Greenville babying the bike and watching for increasing wear. We foudn a route that would head us back and not add any miles to his aging tire, but could still offer some great riding and a good campsite.

We left Maggie Valley and hit the Blue Ridge Parkway again, this time going back the way we came. Just past the highest point in the Parkway at the southern dip we caught NC215 and took it south towards US64. 215 was a great road, and we knew it had recently been completely repaved thanks to Murph, so it was smooth sailing. 215 is more challenging than the BRP, especially going south as many of the curves are on downhill grades, but under other circumstances it would have been a superb ride.

At US 64 we headed east, with plans to find a campground on US 276 north just east of Brevard. In the morning we can jump back a short distance on 64 and then take US 176 south into Greenville. Murph had told us of a nice campground but we found it was group only and ended up in Davidson River Campground, still in the National Forest but closer to 64. It is a beautiful campground with river tubing, many campsites, and a nice swimming hole.

Our camp at Davidson River