Smoky Mountain BikeFest - Where'd Everyone Go?

Planned a girl's roadtrip to Dollywood and surrounding area for the first week in May...I know, you are probably asking why? Many did...still don't have a great answer, big fan of Best Little Whorehouse, perhaps? No, that movie sucked...do love Dolly though.

While doing some research we discovered that we would be arriving at the same time the Smokey Mountain Bike Fest was going on.Was very excited to be able to incorporate a rally in to the trip, so planned on a Sunday morning arrival in hopes we could spend the day there.  Since this is a fairly new event, info on the web was limited and the only thing I could find was the location...which turned out to be incorrect or maybe it moved and the info was old...don't know for sure.

What I now know is that Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are not the same place...probably common sense to most, but for some reason I thought they were one in the same. Traveled on from Pigeon Forge and finally saw the 'welcome bikers' sign on the marquee at Four Season's Motor Lodge in the center of town. Yay! We found it...

Grabbed a parking spot...cars $5.00. Walked down to hotel and saw Vendors packing up and an empty lot? This was at noon on a Sunday, boo! 

One at every rally

So we walked through the few vendors that were left outside and found a room that had additional vendors...who were also packing up.

Few bikes that had won some awards were still on display 

Think this one was 'Best in Show'...or perhaps 'The Only One to Show'? Either way, nice bike.

Lonely bull looking for a rider

Few of the vendors stuck around

So look us literally 5 minutes to walk through everything, was kind of sad because we were really looking forward to checking out the bikes and making a day of it. I found a schedule that indicated there were to be wing eating contests, karaoke, etc... but I guess since the bikes left town early, everyone else was leaving too.  We spoke to a vendor who said the previous days were much better...we just missed it all.  Think vendors should be required to stay for the duration...I just read some info that said the Bike Fest was so successful they have to move it to a new venue next year...story of my life...day late, dollar short.  I do wish them lots of luck as this is a great area for riding. We then found a place to spend our money...

For a bit of singing..btw, you do not need teeth to be a great singer

 

 Few cocktails and a skyride (located across the street from Four Seasons) can be quite dangerous but we survived

The day turned out to be a great one, and if you are planning on attending the Smoky Mountain BikeFest, please do not let this info steer you away. In fact, if you are planning to head to Gatlinburg area, stay tuned as I have some good tips/places for you to go.

Contact Info:
Four Seasons Motor Lodge
756 Parkway
Gatlinburg, TN
http://www.reaganresorts.us/motorlodge/Home.aspx

Smoky Mountain BikeFest
http://www.smokymountainbikefest.com/