Roads to re-route around

http://www.landlinemag.com/Archives/2003/Jul03/features/beware_the_dragon.htm

 

Any of them that have a NO TRUCKS sign.

 

There are times tho that a DM will route a driver onto a road only because his computer says its ok. The driver wont know until he gets there and goes on that road anyway. I had a DM that gave me directions down in california, told me to take a certain exit and go north to get where i needed to be, when i got to the exit there is a sign that says no trucks over 5 ton, well thats out i had to route my self around that road to get where i was going, no way was i going to go on a restricted road even tho a DM said it was ok. Dispatch did get a message on quallcomm letting them know that road was restricted, so do not try to send drivers on it.

 

If any truck is found on the TN side of 129 he's in for a large sized fine! BUT 129 in NC and Ga is not restricted to trucks! Well YET! Look in your NEWER road atlases and see where from the TN/NC line north it's restricted! I used to live in Young Harris, GA and it wasn't restricted and I drove it all the time and when I first got into trucking in '75 all of the north GA, TN, NC, SC mountains is where I learned to drive a truck! Watching those videos of those drivers I ROFLMAO as I can now go through the Tail barely crossing the center line NOT to say when I was learning I didn't as I probably looked just like them!

Just remember they probably used a GPS and believed the "shortest" route it spit out! Or had a qualcomm route that they didn't check on the map!

With the Tail being the "worst" of the roads in the Smokey Mountains there are a few roads up there with grades of 7, 8, 9, 10% on a 2 lane and a stupid narrow curve at the bottom! There are curves that still have truck parts strewn down the sides of "hills" and even VA has a few roads that can be a challenge!

Still I found the tail a fun road to ride on the bike years ago before I moved to Missouri and my last trip in a truck took me from Choo Choo across TN on 64/74 into Ga on 129 and down to Cleveland GA for a drop and on into Atlanta! I still had fun running across 64/74 with it's curves along the river and past the Olympic site and 129 in GA has it's own share of mountains and curves!

For more riding fun try hwy 76 east to SC and beyond, at the Hwy 75 interchange NOT I75 but hwy 75 about 20 miles east of Blairsville or 20 north of Cleveland. Or even hwy 349 is a challenge! There are a lot of roads in those mountains that look straight on a map until you look at them in a better program or a Topo! And I haven't even mentioned side roads! WOW!

Have fun and if it's NOT a restricted truck route don't complain! But 129 will be soon on the restricted list! I'm just glad I had the chance to run it many times and sharpened my driving skills to where they are today! I think every driver should have to drive a 129 type of road once or twice to get the feel of what REAL driving is like!

Ride fun and drive safe!

 

You do not want to take U.S. 250 in OH between the WV line and U.S. 22. Says it's a Trucking rout in the map book. But they lied.

 

US 33 in WV between I-79 and I-81.

 

I thought they finally banned truck's from the draggon and made them take the long way around? Never been on it myself.

Another bad road to be on is Hwy-62 to 60 between exit 12 off I-57 in Missouri to I-24 in Paducah Kentucky. Coming into Paducah isn't bad as it's 4 lane with light's but back around from 57 across the state line is pretty rough. The road is narrow, rough, some really tight curves and a couple of bridges right at the state line that leaves no room for error. If your aren't extremely careful your either going to take off mirrors and rub truck sides together or your right steer tire is going to try and climb that so called "curb" on that #### thing and on the other side of the "curb" is a drop off to the water below. Nasty place to be during the day with nice weather conditions. Even worse at night and pouring rain!

 

About the worst road I ever got on was in California. It was hwy74 from Lake Elsinore to San Juan Capistrano. Was headed to San Diego on I15 and decided to make a stop in costa mesa to see family. Well road looked straight on the atlas and no restrictions. Well got up there and a whole bunch of switch back curves and a grade to boot, and then a one lane construction zone on top of the hill. Not fun and not a good road to be on for someone who only had a month experience at the time.

 

That isn't a bad road! I run it all the time. There are a few members on these forums who live on that road as well.

 

I go up camping in California on CA 108, Sonora Pass, Its a 26% grade (no lie) and still trucks try to go over it in the summer. I have been stuck up there on my way home many times because of trucks jackknifed on the switch backs. You cannot make it with a 53 ft trailer, I did watch a guy take a 40 or 48 ft over, i think it was 40, he had a very hard time. I helped him out with the C.B. in my pickup, i had to get out and stop traffic on 3 of the switch backs. The pass goes from 6000ft to 10000ft back to 6000 ft in only 17 miles.