Above: First ride on the new Ninja, May 1st, 2008. Picked it up at the shop and headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mtns. You can see the scattered dogwood that are just starting to bloom at the higher elevations in the background of the photo.
During the next 7 months, I would put in over 13,000 miles, mostly in the mountains of North Carolina, but with an occasional foray into South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia. It was a good year of re-visiting backroads and old memories, often in places that I hadn't been to in several decades. Reluctantly, I traded the Ninja for Kawasaki Versys (more access to touring accessories) and now I'm looking forward to a new year of rambling through the southern mountains. These pages are a potpourri of photos from the past year of traveling. When possible, I'll try to keep them arranged by keeping photos from specific trips together, but I visited some of the places so many times (for a biker, living in western North Carolina is like being a kid in a candy store) that I won't be able to do so. Also, I don't as a rule give gps coordinates. I'd rather give an idea of what's out there and let the reader enjoy the fun of discovery. So... here we go!

May 1, 2008. A favorite photo spot for me below Looking Glass Rock, not far from the Sliding Rock Recreation area. I have quite a few shots from here as the year progressed.

May 1, 2008. Still sporting the dealer tag, the Ninja sits at the Devils Courthouse overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway near the intersectin of Hwy. 215. A few decades ago, the Courthouse was a favorite climbing destination of mine, but we quit climbing there because of the risk of being hit by objects being tossed from the overlook atop the Courthouse peak. This was a perfect day for my first trip on the Ninja - cool and clear with views for miles and miles.

May 1, 2008.I know of at least two of these unique signs, and both are on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The curve in the distance has a rapidly decreasing radius and bikes with poor cornering clearance or with riders that out-ride their sight distance often end up with a good case of pavement rash. I've seen two crashes there myself - both were Harleys and in both cases, the riders and passengers were wearing minimal protection. Ouch!

Regardless of the season, it's not uncommon to encounter frost at the higher elevations along the Parkway. If you are dressed properly, it can make for a beautiful ride.

May 1, 2008. Waterrock Knob overlook.

May 1, 2008. Stopping for lunch (Kentucky Fried Chicken and biscuits) at the Collins Creek picnic area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

May 1, 2008. Note the difference in the greenery between the Collins Creek photo and this one taken at the Anakeesta Ridge overlook on Hwy. 441 in the Great Smokies. I love biking, but going off-trail in the Smokies for a day's bushwhacking through wild country, is my first love. Though the terrain may look fairly gentle from a distance, it's unbelievably rugged. Some of the laurel and rhododendron thickets, or "hells", are virtually inpenetrable. In places, it can take a full day of crawling, climbing, and sometimes wading, to cover less than two miles. On this day though, I was intent only on putting some miles on the new bike.

May 1, 2008. An old barn on the East Fork of the French Broad River road - one of my favorite 'daily rides', not far from home.

May 10, 2008. Only one week after the top photos were taken, the valley of the French Broad River near Asheville, NC, is already covered in spring green. I've added some side bags to the Ninja and already have put nearly 1,000 miles on it. This was shot at the first overlook above Hwy. 191 in the Bent Creek area of Pisgah National Forest.

May 10, 2008, Hominy Valley overlook, west of Asheville, NC and east of Mt. Pisgah, along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some rides in the mountains in the background of this photo are covered in the Hot Springs pages - it's all good riding country.

May 10, 2008. Parked by the Blue Ridge Parkway, with Funneltop Mtn. and the valley of the Pink Beds in the valley below.

May 10, 2008. Blue Ridge Parkway, near Mt. Pisgah, with the Fryingpan Knob fire lookout in the distance. The Forest Service maintains a webcam at the base of the fire tower that offers up a great view of Cold Mountain in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area.

May 10, 2008, Cherry Cove overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, west of Hwy. 276. There is still very little green up this high.

May 10, 2008, Blue Ridge Parkway, above Graveyard Fields on the boundary of the Shining Rock Wilderness. 10s of thousands of people pour into the mountains each fall to view the autumn colors, which really are spectacular, but not many realize that the color is often just as wild early in the season when green is still creeping up the mountainsides.

May 10, 2008, same spot above Graveyard Fields, but looking eastward. Graveyard Fields got its name from the mounds that were once prevalent in the high valley. The mounds were formed by trees buried in moss and other greenery and looked a lot like rows of graves. Thousands of acres were burned over nearly 100 years ago after a logging locomotive showered sparks along a high and dry mountainside. A century later, the peaks are still covered in grassy meadows and brush, still unable to support trees in many places because of the thin soil and short growing season.

May 10, 2008. Laurel blooming by the Blue Ridge Parkway, between Hwy. 276 and Hwy. 215. Riding the Parkway at this time of year is a real treat, with the scenery changing constantly, depending on elevation and compass orientation. On the north side of the ridges up high, it's still wintertime, but on the sunnier south side, the forest is rapidly turning green and many places are brightly colored with stands of laurel and dogwood.

May 10, 2008, Blue Ridge Parkway. When I was a kid in grade school, we used to start each day by singing the old song, "Nothing Could Be Finer Than to Be in Carolina in the Morning." 45 years later, the song still rings true to me. This was a fine, fine day to be riding through the high country of The Old North State.

May 10, 2008. Pinhook Valley, off of Hwy. 215. This region has gained a lot of popularity among bikers in the last few years, as riders discover what cyclists and runners already knew - it's a beautiful place to pass through, regardless of your means of transportation.

May 10, 2008. One of several tree farms by the road through Pinhook Valley. The trees, usually Frazier fir, thrive in the cooler high elevations below the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A rider passes by while I'm taking photos of the tree farm. Hey, I just noticed... those soft bags don't look like that now. They've served me well, but after nearly 13,000 miles of rain, sun, salt, snow, and more rain, they're starting to sag, all of the zippers are broken, and instead of being black, they're now a sort of faded shade of purple. A new set of Happy Trails panniers are enroute and should be on the new Versys by this weekend (Feb. 28, 2009.)