Handlebars

If you’ve ever traveled through Seymour on Chapman Highway you’ve seen the main destination for this ride, the top of Chilhowee Mountain. Commonly referred to as Bluff Mountain, this is the big mountain you are looking at when you sit at the red light at the intersection of Chapman Highway and 411 in Seymour, traveling toward Sevierville. It is also the mountain you see on your left as you ride 321 toward Townsend. For years “Bluff Mountain,” which runs from Pigeon Forge to Walland, was the central gathering place for off-road riders in the area. Talk to any old school dirt-bike rider and you will hear them talking about riding “on Bluff.” Full story »

The bike I just picked up, a used Ducati Multistrada, is designed for rides like this—a little bit of everything, but with lots of curves. I figured by the end of this day I would definitely be in tune with my new ride. It was sort of like a first date. My goal was to hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and travel it as long as I could before I had to turn back towards K-town for a 6:30 birthday dinner. Full story »

Want to ride miles of tasty curves on a weekend without being hounded by impatient sport bikes, and still be close enough to civilization to have amenities nearby, including a motorcycle-welcoming country store? Despite the venomous name, The Snake might be calling you. Full story »

East Tennessee is an absolutely great place for a motorcycle rider to live. Pick any direction you want, and within about 30 minutes you’re getting into some prime motorcycle-friendly asphalt. This month I picked a different direction and headed north up through the Big South Fork, and the historic town of Rugby. This ride has a few moments of extreme twistiness, but generally it is a very relaxing, very scenic ride. It’s an excellent route if you’ve got a passenger, with lots of flowing curves, smooth roads, and light traffic. Full story »

One of my favorite head-clearing early morning rides is to head into Grainger County and get lost on some of the narrow roads on either side of Highway 11W. Traffic is nonexistent, the countryside is gorgeous, the roads are not straight, and there are all kinds of interesting things to see in backyards and up in the woods. In early June the farmers are haying the fields, the wildflowers are blooming, and this year we’ve had enough rain that everything is green. This route connects some of the better-marked roads in the area, and there are many poorly marked options, but it’s hard to get lost for long without bursting out onto a decent road with signage. Full story »

Depending on where you live, this is another ride that can easily be done in an afternoon or morning. Despite being relatively close to Knoxville, this is one of the most remote rides you can tackle. It’s also one of the more serious rides you can make. Not trying to scare anyone off, but this is not a good road for beginners. Full story »

After a hot ride in black leather on a moist, muggy day there’s nothing I like more than a soak in natural-spring-fed hot tub. Well, maybe on a cool day in the spring or fall. But even in warm weather there are still plenty of reasons to head across the North Carolina border to the little town of Hot Springs. Full story »

Some weekend after you’ve gotten your Honey-do list taken care of, and you’re looking for an interesting after-lunch ride, keep this one in mind. It has some spectacular views of the mountains, quite a few miles along lakes and rivers, and can be done easily in an afternoon. Several times I’ve made this loop when I was looking for a good ride that got me back home in around three hours. Of course your time will vary, depending on how long it takes you to get to the starting point and how much time you spend at the overlooks. Full story »

I hope Knoxville riders know how good we have it. My friends in D.C., Chicago, and Philadelphia lament that they have to slog through hours of urban and suburban sprawl just to get to half-decent riding. Even from the heart of downtown Knoxville, great riding is just a few minutes away. Full story »

After two weeks of snow, ice, and temperatures in the teens, I was beginning to worry about getting in the next ride. If it came down to me riding on a 20-degree day, the next Backroads article was going to be shorter than teenager’s attention span. Full story »

On the Saturday after Christmas, we were looking for a three- to four-hour ride that would take us through some rural countryside and let us enjoy the unusually warm late December day. This route starts on Washington Pike and follows the base of Clinch Mountain up to Sneedville, where it runs adjacent to the Clinch River in three different spots. Full story »