Steep twisties on the East Fork of the French Broad River Road. This is one of my favorite 'daily' rides - it's near my home, has very light traffic and spectacular scenery. Oh yeah, it's also an awful lot of fun. Like many of the rides I do in this region, I first started riding it on my bicycle, piling in the training miles for biathlons. It's still one of the best places for a good bike ride around, especially since being paved.

The East Fork of the French Broad River near Rosman, NC.

A couple of trout fishermen trying their luck in the East Fork. The East Fork has some terrific trout and smallmouth fishing, with clean, cold water and very little sediment - a must for trout reproduction.

This old barn will appear on several of these pages. I often stop to grab a photo while riding the East Fork - it changes with the seasons, and each has its merits.

A small pond by the Pickens Highway, just south of Rosman, NC.

An old barn by the roadside in the Flat Creek Valley near Lake Toxaway. I like hitting the little side roads when riding solo. Some wind for miles through the mountains, while others, like the Flat Creek road, make a short loop off of the main highway, in this case, Hwy. 64.

Beekeeping is an interest of mine, and I'm always on the lookout for hives when riding. This guy has a really nice setup in a remote valley near Rosman. I need to go back when the sourwood comes in to sample the wares...

Another location that you'll see time and time again in these pages - this one is near Wolf Lake on Hwy. 281, north of Lake Toxaway.

Just a few feet below the view above is this one, looking north on Hwy. 281 between Lake Toxaway and Cullowhee.

Above Wolf Lake by Hwy. 281.

More riders enjoying a crisp autumn day near Wolf Lake. At the bottom of this hill, you can choose between continuing on Hwy. 281 or cutting off across the mountains in the background to the Balsam Grove community on Hwy. 215. That's a great twisty ride that I'll cover on another page.

A small difference in elevation really makes a difference. This was shot near Hwy. 281 a day before the photo above it was taken, but at an elevation that was about 1,000 feet lower. By selecting the proper elevation for a ride or hike, you can follow the color over a period of about 8 weeks.

A tree farm in the Canada community below the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Nantahala Forest.

Does it get any better than this?

Well, maybe it does - this was shot near the Pinhook Valley as I make my way over to Hwy. 215 from the Wolf Lake region.

Hwy. 215 south of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I like this spot - so, one more shot.

The Devils Courthouse, as viewed from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Hwy. 215. We used to do a lot of climbing here, but I gave it up after the sign that we had placed at the top of the cliff warning of climbers below was tossed off by a touron, nearly hitting one of my climbing buddies.

 

Pilot Mountain as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Devils Courthouse. The Art Loeb trail follows the ridgeline across the peak on its way from Cold Mountain in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area to the Davidson River Campground near Brevard - about 36 miles of prime mountain scenery.

Though still early in October, the fall colors are approaching their peak above 5,000 feet.

Ninja-red mountain ash berries above the Graveyard Fields valley by the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway in full fall color.

And then, it's over - another fine day spent riding the backroads of western North Carolina. This is a cornfield in the valley below my home.
I miss the Ninja - don't get me wrong, the KawasiMoto is a fantastic ride, but the little Ninja was an awesome bike. I got over 13,000 miles of good fun out of it in 7 months before swapping it for the Vee. If I could have gotten the touring goodies that I needed for it, I probably wouldn't have let it go.