On Tuesday, April 23rd, we took another day ride. Our destination was lunch in Pineville, Kentucky – home of the “Chained Rock”.

We left our home in North Knoxville a few minutes before 10 am. The skies were blue, but it was a cool 50 degrees Fahrenheit. We both wore our leather jackets and chaps, pilot helmets and Olympia gloves.

We headed north on Clinton Highway, rode through Powell, then through Clinton and onto Lake City where we stopped to gas up and eat a light snack.

After our short break, we got back on 25 W, rode through Caryville and took the scenic Old Huntsville Highway toward 63.

We rode west on 63 a short while, quickly arriving at 297 North, another beautiful East Tennessee road.

297 North took us into Jellico.

From Jellico, we took 25 W heading north into Kentucky, up to Williamsburg where we took 92 East, which runs along the Cumberland River.

We continued on 92 East into Pineville, rode downtown and spotted The Flocoe restaurant.

We went in, grabbed a spot and both ordered the daily special of spaghetti with salad.

The meal was fresh and homemade. While the spaghetti and garlic bread was excellent, I especially loved the salad with it’s large vegetable chunks. Wonderful eats!

As often happens in small towns, the folks were very friendly and eager to tell us about their quaint area. We learned about the large rock (Chain Rock), attached with a chain to it’s adjacent cliff in the summer of 1933, to protect the town should the boulder loosen. (Some say the chain was merely a publicity stunt to attract visitors to the newly formed park in the 30’s… but where’s the fun in that?) You can see the boulder just above The Flocoe outdoor dining area.

Before riding up to the Chained Rock overlook in Pine Mountain State Resort Park, we walked around the Pineville town square.

We got back on our bikes, determined to ride up to Chained Rock. We hopped on 25E South and quickly entered the Pine Mountain State Resort Park. We traveled several miles up a winding, steep road.

When we reached the overlook, we discovered that the Chained Rock itself was only accessible by taking a mile round trip hike. Since we weren’t comfortable leaving our motorcycles unattended in such a remote location for the time it would take to make the trek, we decided to just enjoy the views from the overlook.

(However, we did eventually make the trek in May of 2015. You can see that post HERE.)

After gawking awhile, we got back on our bikes, rode down the mountain to 25E and headed south. We rode through the tunnel at Middlesboro.

We continued south through Harrogate and on into Tazewell, where we stopped for gas. At the gas station, I told Jeff I wanted something sweet to eat, so we went to the Frostee just down the road for ice cream. Yum!

If you’re ever down this way, they look to have wonderful burgers too! Today, we just stuck with the dessert but decided to go back someday for lunch.

After our sweet treat, we continued south on 25E.

We then took 131 through Washburn. We stopped along 131, yet another beautiful East Tennessee road, for a couple of photos.

We then traveled on 131 through Lutrell and back toward North Knoxville. Once on 441, we headed back home.

We arrived home around 5:15 pm and our total ride was 205 miles. Seeing Pineville, Kentucky with it’s Chained Rock was a blast, but it was the wonderful scenic route Jeff planned that made the trip memorable.

You can view our entire list of DAY RIDES by CLICKING HERE.