There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone ……….Ripple, Jerome Garcia, Robert Hunter
The TAT is technically just a set of GPS points… just another data file. It’s a GPS route that is nearly 5000 mi that starts in Cape Hatteras NC and finishes on the beach in Port Orford OR. The TAT fords rivers, crosses desert and some of the highest mountain passes in CO to get to the Oregon coast. The route travels through NC, TN, MS, AR, OK, NM, CO, ID & OR. The main route also has spurs to LA, NY, WA, SD and more. It’s mostly traveled by adventure style dirt bikes but people do it with 4x4s and on bicycles also. We are riding down the NY spur to pick up the main TAT route in Tellico TN and then on to Port Orford from there.
My name is Tom and this is a blog of my travels riding the TAT from Luray VA to Port Orford OR (I hope). It’s an adventure in a number of ways…..it’s long long way over difficult terrain (40-50 days)…… I’m almost 65 ….. and finally riding with 5 other motorcyclist who I have only shared text with on ADV forum.com and who I have never met.
I love road trips especially doing them on the American landscape by motorcycle where it easy to travel and meet people in a way that is hard to understand for those who travel in the CinemaScope like experience of traveling by car or RV. For me the TAT is a really cool thread of dirt back roads that winds through backyards, farms fields and great infinite opportunity to spin my back tire in dirt.
My son Ben just got this site running today and gave me a quick tutorial. I’m new at blogs and websites, editing video’s. I will use first name to protect anyone I bring up on this site. I want to balance enjoying my experience and also sharing it with you, so please bear with the rough nature of this blog. There is not a lot of bandwidth on the trail so I will report when I can.
I packed yesterday. I ended up with 65 pounds of camping gear, cloths, tools and food for 5 days including a bottle of wine and a big flask of medicinal drink. Loaded up the bike in the Van today to travel to Joe’s house in Luray. Janelle traveled with me for support and to drive the van home. Joe and his wife Julie made BBQ beef brisket, slaw and beans … a tasty American dinner for a trip a cross the America. I’m sleeping tonight in an air conditioned finished loft over the garage. Great VA hospitality! I think this is going to be a really good trip.
We leave tomorrow from Joe’s house on the bikes traveling west into the mountains then south on the TAT spur that will take us down to hook up with 3 riders riding the TAT spur from Moore Head City, NC. We have one more rider, Bill who will leave DC and try to catch up to us on the trail. The weather looks good but with the possibility of thunder storms and flash floods. We have 3 rivers to ford through tomorrow.
