Tour de Smo' 2023

And since the Tour will be in the same area as the TV show, I submit:

"Tour de Walton's Mountain"

Ok folks, I'm going to have to miss my own event this year due to work uncertainty.  Did you notice "work" is a four letter word?  Doing my damnedest to put a stop to that nonsense as soon as possible.

I'm sure Phil's planned some great routes and it sounds like the number of cars will still be as many as last year, so it'll be a good time - even without me (sniff).

Rain looks like it’s pushing off til Sunday. A little rain always possible in the mountains. Highs should be around 70 degrees. Shaping up pretty nicely. Can’t wait to try out the new Vreds.

"Highs should be around 70 degrees."

Oh now you're just rubbing it in, Phil.

Forecast

Perfect weather!  Folks, if you're thinking about taking some time off next week and are in the area, I don't think I can come up with a better way to bond with your car.  There are still rooms available at the hotel.

Oh, and somebody please take pictures.

So ... The party is still on. Will do what we can to make twice the noise as our numbers would suggest. Dammit Lane, nobody going to miss you for a couple of days. Get your ass to the mountains!!

Wish I could, Kelly, but it's best in the long run if I skip this one.

Weather window looks good for departure with potential storms forecast to ride the gulf stream. Tow vehicle hooked up to speedy so AM departure SMO . If anyone sees Mr. Cantor during the week please detain him for another 5days.

Map thingy says I'm 3+ hrs out. Just lovin' I81

Beautiful day, traffic actually not too bad ...

And so Day one of the 2023 Tour d'Small, as in reference to the slight turn out. 10-4 +/- great mountain roads, some serious hooning.

And...

The crowd

... and now there are two. Marty and Mike plus SOs took off this am. Seeking clear weather on their long journeys out of the hills. Do Phil and your faithful correspondent took off for said hills and the Back of the Dragon. Beautiful morning, luw 70s, little ir no traffic, and as mentioned some serious hooning.

And now there is but one ...

All.others have bailed in reference to predicted bad weather either here or a long return routes tomorrow. So Saturday Tour d'Small has been cancelled. Which I guess opens the opportunity to plan for next year . @Lane Anderson??

Yup.  Like I said in the PM, I'm sorry to hear that things had to shut down early.  I think most of the rain from Ophelia will be east of the TdS location, but it will be along the routes home.

As for planning for next year, let's wait a bit and then get our heads together.  I'd certainly be game to try out the VA rides - or to return to Brevard.  Both seem to fit our needs nicely.

Methinks Brevard will be it. It suits well in many ways, except of course for how gawdawful far it is from DC.

It's closer to DC than Carlisle is to Charleston.  Just sayin'...

Dang.

For 2 days it was fun. Perfect weather, 2 great rides and growing friendships. Tropical depressions can end lots of great things. Just some pics including a Kelly pit stop and the greatest Pecan pie on the face of the earth. And I just barely made it back before all hell broke lose.

Glad you're home safe.

Heading north up I81, into the  storm, I guess. Light to moderate rain in waves. Td'S '23 is in the books .

@550 Phil posted:

Honey, when I park here does it make my Boxster look fat?

Sorry y'all got rained out.

I have done the Smokies 10 times on bikes and in cars. I’ve done western Virginia 5 times on bikes and in cars. Brevard is the best place I’ve stayed in the Smokies. Pounding Mill Va was horrible. No restaurants. Not even a sports bar. Marion is a beautiful little town with nice restaurants and it’s right on 81. If we ever do Tour d’ Blue again we will find an appropriate hotel in Marion. With lots of  experience at both sites I would say that the roads in Virginia are better maintained. The natural beauty and quality of the drive itself is marginally better in the Smokies. The restaurants are a fraction better in the Smokies. The reason the roads are less well maintained and the restaurants are slightly better in the Smokies is that there are more tourists in the Smokies. We pretty much had the Virginia roads to ourselves. If you are coming from the NE or Midwest your drive will be 3 hours quicker going to western Virginia. Obviously if you are coming from the south your drive will be 3 hour longer going to Virginia.
I’m just trying to objectively compare the 2 sites. I bet I have more experience with both than anyone else in this club. Obviously the interest in going to western Virginia was very poor. I don’t care where we go. If the Smokies is going to get more commitment from members then that’s where we should go. The key is getting folks there. Our group of 6 people was great. Very intimate. I had a great time. But I have a great time when there are 30 people. We need to go where people want to go.

Phil, the location wasn't the issue and we all appreciate the work you put in.  While Brevard is more convenient for me, I am perfectly wiling to make the trip a bit longer to VA.  I think we had a perfect storm of issues that hit a number of us and prevented us from coming.  That these issues all hit the same year is unfortunate but shouldn't be taken as a judgement on VA.  From what Marty and Kelly said, the routes and scenery were great.  I would be happy to meet there next year.

It really wasn’t work. I’ve actually gone on trips to the Tail of the Dragon and The Back of the Dragon by myself just because I love the roads. The whole point is for us to create recreational experiences that are appealing to our group. So this has to be considered a failure in the scope of the SOC. I think that western Virginia can be appealing to smaller groups who live in the region but I just don’t think it will attract folks from a larger geographic area like the Tour de Smo can. I think we need to stick with the Smokies.

FWIW, I'll go wherever someone whose energetic organizes the  thing.  Clearly, the more the merrier. And sho comes is really just up to the individuals. You be you, as the saying goes, and the rest of us will enjoy what we can make of it. If it means enough for you to come, then come; if not, we will miss you. And I'm the tail on this dog , that is, I'm getting wagged, not the one doing the wagging. So I will say what I  think, but I will not carry a meaningful vote.

Note: Marion is a really cool little town, very convenient to the highway. So a plus. We took a brief tour of their quaint hotel in town. Costs are comparable to any other decent place. We surely could have a party there, one the staff would never forget . BUT ... it is not even close to trailer friendly. Regular car parking is covered, which is nice. But we have a lot of trailering/towing, so On this score, I do not see it as an HQ. And no fire pit . I like the fire pit.

More discussion needed.

Remember, the hotel in Brevard didn't originally have a firepit until Layton (the owner) got one for us - which was really nice of him.  We might be able to talk another hotel into similar action.

Layton didn’t buy the firepit. Carlos and I got it from Home Depot.

@550 Phil posted:

It really wasn’t work. I’ve actually gone on trips to the Tail of the Dragon and The Back of the Dragon by myself just because I love the roads. The whole point is for us to create recreational experiences that are appealing to our group. So this has to be considered a failure in the scope of the SOC. I think that western Virginia can be appealing to smaller groups who live in the region but I just don’t think it will attract folks from a larger geographic area like the Tour de Smo can. I think we need to stick with the Smokies.

Slow down, Phil. It's a good location re: roads and scenery, right? Isn't that all we really need? I'd stay in any place that's less rundown than the shack/motel at Maggie Valley.

Layton bought a propane firepit, which was deemed unacceptable by ALL of us, then Stan and Carlos got the real one.

At the track, some people bring wood and one guy brings the firepit(which is an old washing machine tub)...

I know a voice from Hawaii has little weight in this conversation, but my mom grew up 10 miles from Marion and one of the stops Marianne and I took on our honeymoon, 50 years ago, was in Brevard. You can't go wrong with either one, but it sounds to me like Brevard is a known quantity. If you're looking to try something a little bit different, Marion is fine.

@Stan Galat posted:

Layton didn’t buy the firepit. Carlos and I got it from Home Depot.

Faulty memory on my part.  He did let us set it up, though, which many paces would not have done.

The hotel in Marion that we toured would not serve our purposes. My suggestion is to find a suitable hotel in Marion. Marion is on 81 and is a central point for our routes. It has nice restaurants, coffee shops etc. I don’t care where we go but if we do western Virginia again we need to stay in Marion.

Marion doesn't really seem to offer much.

Abingdon seems to have a little more hotel variety, but it's 30 minutes south on I-81.

Similarly, Wytheville is 27 minutes north, the other way. However, the intersection of I-77 and I-81 does offer some variety for our purposes. Fairfield Suite, Tru by Hilton, Hampton Inn, etc. I'd love to go to the Seven Sisters Brewery or Seven Dogs Brewpub, just because of the names. They're both on the same street, near each other.

Both bigger towns with multiple restaurant choices. I'll keep looking.

What was wrong with the Holiday Inn Express in Claypool Hill?

Claypool Hill aka Pounding Mill?   Very little by way of dining options. If lots of trailers, parking could get crowded . And then the fire pit  thing. Otherwise, meh.