First day on the TAT. We arrived in Lenoir, NC at 11 am and unloaded the bikes. We hit the trail at about 12 and headed into the mountains. 100% thought this was going to be a quick, easy day that would only take us a couple of hours. 8 hours later we finally made it to Hot Springs and feels like we got our butts kicked. The first 6 hours were on nothing but rocky gravel, sand, and dirt. 
The bikes handled really well. The Green Tractor chugged along up the mountain with out a problem. Actually, it was pretty impressive watching my dad on that heavy a$$ bike. The KTM seems like it has endless power. As fun as it gets. We ended up catching lunch at Betsy’s Ole Country Store & Trout Pond in, what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, Collettsville, NC. 
When we headed out after lunch, we chased some deer up the mountains and dodged Subaru’s left and right. We got about an hour up the trail when my dad realized he didn’t latch one of his pannier lids and it flew off. Not a big set back, but cost us about an hour. After a couple of hours on pavement, we arrived in Hot Springs at about 7:30. Awesome day. 
Walker Benz ADV 