I made this trip down by myself. Since there was nobody else to talk sense into me, I decided to leave home at 4:00AM. Normally I have no problem waking up for a motorcycle trip, but I sure was tired this time. I did not actually get out of the driveway until 4:15, so I started the trip out 15 minutes behind schedule.
I made great time on the way down. No traffic, great weather. There sure were a lot of police out in Ohio for the Labor Day weekend, but somehow I managed to avoid their radar. Many others were not so lucky. All was well until I got half way through Kentucky. This is where I ran into a massive traffic jam. There was a terrible wreck that just destroyed a big truck, and it really tied up traffic bad. Even with the wreck I managed to arrive at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort around 3:30PM so I still managed to make the trip pretty fast.
Saturday they had the dam open for the kayakers. I had never gone down to see them before and decided this time I would take some time out to watch these guys. I ran into Robbinsville to pick up some supplies for the room and got a chance to see a lot of the kayaks on the way to the store. Unfortunately, there was only kayaking on Saturday, so when I went down to the river on Sunday to watch them I was all alone.
I took the short trip down 28 to Fontana Dam and checked it out. It is pretty cool because it is one of the few dams that you can actually drive across
Each morning I tried to get in a sunrise ride, but I never quite made it. I was having a really hard time waking up in the morning and I missed some pretty good mornings. There is nothing like sitting at the overlook drinking your morning coffee and watching the sun come up. It was usually the same group of folks up there each morning. One of the guys is from Knoxville and he is retired. Every morning he wakes up, jumps on the SV650, and goes and rides the gap. He gets breakfast at the store, rides a little more, and then goes home. I told him he is living the life.
Here is a view of Fontana Lake. This drought thing is no joke, the lake is really low. I’d rather the lake run completely dry than have a trip ruined by rain. I suffered in the rain so much last year I really do deserve the nice dry year I have had this year.
I really had a great time on this trip. What made it so good is that there were a great bunch of folks staying at the motel. Hanging out with these folks was just as much fun as riding the motorcycle.
I have run into this guy a couple of times this year. This trip was kind of unlucky for him because he dumped his bike pretty early on in the trip. He still kept his spirits up and seemed to have a lot of fun even if he did not have a bike to ride.
Check out this exotic Italian beauty. I’m talking about the Aprilia. I am kind of impressed by this picture because they both look pretty European. You really can’t tell from the picture, but she is pretty down to earth and a regular person. This picture makes her look pretty exotic/supermodelish I think.
Nothing exotic here but the motorcycle. He specifically requested for me not to put a smart ass caption at the bottom of his picture, so I will say no more.
Here is the troublemaker of the week. This woman is out of control. I have to tell you, when she gets wound up just get out of the way. Kind of like the Tasmanian Devil.
Here is her main accomplice. Don’t even try to talk on the telephone when she gets all wound up. This is her old mans bike,
and this is her bike.
We never got a chance to do any riding together, but we did have a lot of great motorcycle talk. Just hanging out and meeting folks is worth the trip.
She really surprised a lot of people. When I got back to the store I told them that I have been passed by a girl before. I have been passed by a Harley before. I have even been passed by someone from Florida before. It still hurt my manhood to get smoked by a girl from Florida riding a Harley.
What can I say? The women just adore me. I can’t blame them. Everywhere I go I leave a trail of broken hearts.
It really was hard to leave this time. I really had such a great time. If all I was looking at was a freeway ride home it would have been really hard to leave, but I was heading for my all time favorite road in the world, the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I don’t think I have ever seen a day so clear on the parkway. Above is the view from Mt. Mitchell. I think this is why they call it the Blue Ridge! There was not a cloud in the sky and you could see forever! No matter how many times I go through here it is just as stunning as it was the first time. A lot of guys say they don’t like the parkway because of the 45mph speed limit, but I just cannot imagine blasting through here trying to make time. This road is not for making time. This road is for riding. It is pretty rare for me to go further than 20 miles without stopping.
This is really what riding is all about. The North Carolina side of the Blue Ridge Parkway has nearly 200 miles worth of what you see above.
On the way home I stopped at the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground. The guy on the right is Phil and the guy on the left is Chuck. Chuck seems to be the guy who does all the work. I did not spend the night there, but the place looks really nice and the folks are friendly.
In addition to camping they also have these little cabins. They do have lights and heat, but there is no electric outlet that you can charge your Chatterbox and such with. Phil told me that you can recharge any devices you might have in their little clubhouse. The day I was there a Kawasaki Concours rally was just beginning as well as some type of dual sport get together. This is the best type of place to stay when you are out riding. Checking into a motel and going inside to watch television is not the thing to do. A huge part is telling stories and listening to other peoples stories. I wish there were more places like this.
This is the clubhouse. This is one of the most important things for a motorcycle campground to have. The worst thing that can happen on a motorcycle camping trip is for the weather to turn rainy and cold. This can create pure misery as you just sit in your tent and wait for the weather to clear. It is nice when you have a place like this to hand out warm and dry.
I decided to check out Shady Valley on my way home and found the THP doing the same stupid stuff there they are doing at the Gap. Some of the locals told me they have been blocking off the road quite a bit and stopping all traffic going through and looking for some reason to issue a ticket. Pretty much all I did was eat a cheeseburger and head out. It is a shame the THP is causing such a problem this year.
Here is a shot of the valley on Rt. 16 near the Virginia/West Virginia border. This is just a spectacular view. It kind of reminds me of being out west. We will be going back down here at the end of the month.
I stopped at Hawks Nest State Park in West Virginia. These folks asked if they were going to be on the internet tomorrow. I told them they would not be. It was over a week ago that I took the picture, so I did not lie.
Here is the view to the right,
and here is the view to the left.
Some times signs just beg you to do things. It really never occurred to me to throw anything over the overlook, but once I read this I realized how cool it would be to throw something over. Like a refrigerator. Or maybe a Porta-John. I decided to leave before I put much more thought into this and got arrested.
It wasn’t too long after I left Hawks Nest that I got on the interstate and finished the trip home. I was getting really tired. Nine days of staying up late and waking up early to ride all day were really beginning to wear me down. I was even starting to ride more sloppy than usual, so I figured the interstate would be a safer place for me. It did take a while to recover, but as I write this I have been home for six days and I would do it all over again tomorrow if I had the chance. I don’t know if I will ever have a trip quite the same as this one ever again, but even if the destination is the same they are all different and memorable for different things. I should be heading out for the gap again on October 6.
I can’t wait.