Author Topic: TRIStar 2015 is coming up, stay tuned here for more info!  (Read 17515 times)

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Offline dpippin

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Re: TRIStar 2015 is coming up, stay tuned here for more info!
« Reply #15 on: February 16, 2015, 02:06:36 PM »
Recently I happened to visit the website of BMW Motorcycle Club of Georgia and found several "dual-sport" routes for BMW GS riders during their Georgia Mountain Rally on the first weekend in May. Perhaps someone with better local knowledge than I could look them over. After slight modification, these routes may be suitable for our NGC in April.

      Don

Don

I took a cursory look at the Georgia Mountain Rally routes. I was able to open 5 of them and the .gpx links to the other two doesn't work. You can view the route for these two but no gpx file.
The GMR_DS_Cherohala_Tellico_HiawasseeDam_BlueRidge_Nottely_Loop goes up Tatham Gap out of Andrews. That road has been closed for more than a year due to heavy rains washing parts of the road away. It's part of the Trail of Tears Route.
Before taking this route you should contact Bill Champion at the Tusquitee Ranger Station at 828-837-5152 to verify if Tatham Gap has been opened.

The other four routes are all doable on a GS depending on rider skills. There's nothing particularly hard on these routes.
Many parts of these routes are in the ADV routes we'll have for Spring Fling.

One thing I'll mention is that these five routes have many waypoints, often very close together. These will announce in your GPS very often and is distracting.
Most of these waypoints should be changed to shaping points so they won't announce. This can be done with Basecamp.
Also the routes have the same starting and ending points with the route coming and going on the same road. This often confuses the GPS. There needs to be separate start and end points for the route. Or have a separate return route so you're not covering a road in both directions.

Since the North Georgia Classic event is a just for fun event, MSTA rules say we can't have official routes. I have offered up a collection of my personal routes in the Helen Georgia area for anyone attending NGC. There are no dual sport or ADV routes in that collection.
You can find my Georgia routes in a link on the NGC web site.  http://msta-se.com/helen/

If you'd like to work some ADV routes for the area that could be used for those attending NGC that would be great.
I could add a link to them on the web site.

If you'd like more information on what I've mentioned above please contact me at d_pippin_89@bellsouth.net

Doug
MSTA Se Region Web Site
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Offline donmoe

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Re: TRIStar 2015 is coming up, stay tuned here for more info!
« Reply #16 on: February 16, 2015, 06:03:42 PM »
Hi Doug,

Thanks for your comments on those routes and the warning about Tatham Gap.

I too noticed the problem with some of the links not working correctly. It seems that the author swapped some of the links to the maps and GPX files. In the case where the GPX link just shows the map, click on the map to access the GPX file.

       Don
2015 BMW R1200GSA                  2004 BWM R1150RT (sold)
2013 Triumph Trophy SE               1981 KZ1000 (sold)
2010 Concours 14 ABS (wrecked)  1974 Z1 (sold)
2008 Concours 14 ABS (traded)     1973 H1 (traded)

Offline HawkGTRider

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Re: TRIStar 2015 is coming up, stay tuned here for more info!
« Reply #17 on: February 16, 2015, 06:54:42 PM »
For what it's worth, I've been advised by a local rider that the washed out section of Tatham Gap can be traversed on two wheels but nothing bigger. I don't know this personally as I haven't been there. The U.S.D.A. Forest Service says this section of road is closed to ALL types of traffic...motorized, horse, and even foot traffic. From this F.S. site, http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/nfsnc/news-events/?cid=STELPRDB5413480 , it sounds like it's blocked off with the intent to keep everyone out until it's been determined that the roadbed is stable enough to handle it.
Geoffrey Greene
MSTA Ride For Kids Coordinator, MSTA Secretary (retired), TN-STAR and Tri-STAR Coordinator (retired)
Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations.

Offline dpippin

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Re: TRIStar 2015 is coming up, stay tuned here for more info!
« Reply #18 on: February 17, 2015, 08:25:14 AM »
For what it's worth, I've been advised by a local rider that the washed out section of Tatham Gap can be traversed on two wheels but nothing bigger. I don't know this personally as I haven't been there. The U.S.D.A. Forest Service says this section of road is closed to ALL types of traffic...motorized, horse, and even foot traffic. From this F.S. site, http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/nfsnc/news-events/?cid=STELPRDB5413480 , it sounds like it's blocked off with the intent to keep everyone out until it's been determined that the roadbed is stable enough to handle it.

Geoffrey

You may be able to get a motorcycle through but there is a big fine if you are caught in an area that has been officially closed.
So doing so is at your own risk.

This road (Tatham Gap) is on one of the dual sport routes for Fools Run and I have found an alternative route to up the mountain from Andrews to Robbinsville without going on the highway.
So until Tatham Gap is officially open we won't be using that route.
And the new way up the mountain should be even more fun than Tatham Gap that's basically just a rough gravel road that cars and trucks can traverse.

Doug

MSTA Se Region Web Site
http://msta-se.com/