Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
chasin' the dragon
so we made it up to deals gap motorcycle resort at 9pm est, unknown to us much much too late to get a room. place shuts down at 6pm, assuming things are run like a regular motel is, while forgivable, just poor planning. so we had to push on down the mountain into robbinsville, north carolina and score a room in a small old motel named the phillips motor lodge. crazy old 1930's motel with bulletproof clerks window opening into the old-folks-who-run-the-place's living room with photos of the wife on assorted motorcycles framed up on the window shelf. crazy setup...cool old motel, done out in pink crab orchard sandstone; they run a tight ship, place was old and outdated for sure, but very clean. and the owner was sweet as all hell & a cutup too.
the next morning we lit out back up the mountain and scored a room at the motorcycle resort, chucked our bags and headed out for a real taste of the dragon. while fun, the ride is intense enough that i cant see doing it more than a couple of times a day. i kept having to make myself untense, to quit clinching my neck and shoulder muscle, from hunkering down in the curves and extreme concentration. on a sport bike i can see it being a blast, but on my bike i kept worrying about dragging, and from the photos i bought it was a good worry, my kickstand hovers dangerously close to the tarmac in both pics, only a couple of inches at most. and if i had a sport bike i'd have to hang out with a bunch of douchebags that are more of a menace up there than the cars and trucks.
one nearly took jack out in front of me on the cherohala skyway, following his pack of sportbikes out of a gas station on a curve, he was only looking to the left and pulled right out in front of jack, just barely jamming on the brakes in time for jack to swing around him. the guy braked so hard he left a black skidmark. i'll have to give it to jack, he did a damn good job missing the guy and holding it together for at least another few miles before having to pull over, but i could see the tenseness tightening up his shoulders until he did finally swing over.
we spent the rest of the day lazily making our way down the cherohala loop back up to the dragon. i'd take that ride over the dragon anyday. so much prettier(with a chance to actually safely unfocus long enough to see the views); something you cant enjoy on the dragon, no time at all to take your eyes off the road there.
once back at deals gap, we scored beers and grub. damn but they do have one killer smoked trout sandwich there. once done with that we settled down onto our room porch to party, right in front of the tree of shame, and soon had an odd assortment of riders circled around our room talking the night away. an air force osprey pilot who rode a goldwing from new mexico, a really cool 53 yr one legged old school crusty biker from florida, a mild mannered older man who rode in from raleigh on a newer yamaha touring bike, and couple on sport bikes who rode up from south georgia. she was a crazy german chick with white-blond and bright pink hair, on a jacked-up bmw sport bike, who kept passing me rum; which made a short night for me; next thing i knew i woke up in the bed with all my clothes on and it was riding time again.
we had a long breakfast and then took the backside of the moonshiner 28 for a ride over to fontana dam. crazy huge, it is the largest of the tva dams; the lake behind it is way deep, 480 ft deep in some spots. the 28 is a damn good ride too, someday i want to do the whole thing all the way down into georgia. it was as good as the cherohala skyway, plenty of twists and killer views. we coasted down the mountain and stopped at bald river falls, a beautiful chill spot perfect for taking a break.
after getting back up to deals gap we checked out(hated to do that, the place was reserved for a ladies sport bike convention) & hit the foothills parkway into townsend to score a room. another killer road, just a tiny ridge with the roadway in some spots, affording excellent views. someday i'm going to have to go back again and ride that one. we scored a room in the nearly deserted valley view lodge(was huge place and maybe 15% of the rooms were occupied). really nice place(at least the renovated parts); while deals gap resort is muy convenient, a good atmosphere, sufficiently clean and in the heart of it all, this was definitely the best place we stayed. the owner even stopped by and told us to use the carport on the property as much as we like; which would come in way handy the next day.
bellys filled and room sorted, we headed back up into the mountains to hit cades cove. its always been a place i wanted to see; little did i know what a clutch hand nightmare it was going to be. the place was overrun with gawkers, bumper to bumper traffic in alot of places because some dbag(or several carloads of dbags) wouldnt pull his car over while he took pictures of freakin deer. deer? damn!!! finally resorting to shouldering the bikes around a long line of stuck traffic, we hightailed it out of the cove and raced the sun back down the mountain, arriving back in just enough time to take a sundown swim in the pool back at the lodge. we spent the night witnessing and quickly being appalled by the american family vacation nightmare that is pigeon forge. there was a classic car show going on and there were several hundred thousand gawkers and rubberneckers cloggin up the strip, so we ate as quickly as possible and headed back to townsend for a late night drunken swim session. townsend is so chill comparatively, may i never see the streets & crowds of pigeon forge/gatlinburg again.
the next morning after filling our bellys with swine and coffee, we headed back up into the mountains, intent on making our way to the carolina border. i kept forgetting to look up a place i wanted to see the whole trip, but luckily i spotted a sign on our way and we took a detour to the ghostown of elkton tn. in all my research for my colorado ghosttown tour last summer i had run across this place on the internets but had never been there. it was an old logging town/camp that had been turned into a summer resort town for rich knoxvillians once the area was all logged out and there was no more use for the narrow gauge railroad. once the park service started buying up land to convert into the smoky mountains national park, the old time logging town folks quickly sold their land, but the summer folk negotiated a lower price for the property in exchange for lifetime leases of the cabins and homes until the end of the original owners life. the last of the leases ran out in late 1990's, so some of the structures are still in decent shape, and soon to be somewhat renovated, budget allowing. really cool stop to walk around. or camp someday. there is a campground within walking distance to the old town.
we pushed on up to clingmans dome, and at 6600 ft i froze my ass off and my carbs were none too happy. spitting and sputtering bastards. needless to say our visit to the top of the smokies was needfully short. i couldnt feel my hands by the time we coasted back down the pass. luckily it was all downhill, allowing me to let off the throttle enough to crotch some warmth in both hands alternatively as we went. unfortunately, the rain found us back down at the lower sea level so the rest of the day was a wash, literally & figuratively. thank the gods for that carport back at the lodge. my boots are still wet, but my cheeks hurt from all the grinnin'........best vacation ever
the next morning we lit out back up the mountain and scored a room at the motorcycle resort, chucked our bags and headed out for a real taste of the dragon. while fun, the ride is intense enough that i cant see doing it more than a couple of times a day. i kept having to make myself untense, to quit clinching my neck and shoulder muscle, from hunkering down in the curves and extreme concentration. on a sport bike i can see it being a blast, but on my bike i kept worrying about dragging, and from the photos i bought it was a good worry, my kickstand hovers dangerously close to the tarmac in both pics, only a couple of inches at most. and if i had a sport bike i'd have to hang out with a bunch of douchebags that are more of a menace up there than the cars and trucks.
one nearly took jack out in front of me on the cherohala skyway, following his pack of sportbikes out of a gas station on a curve, he was only looking to the left and pulled right out in front of jack, just barely jamming on the brakes in time for jack to swing around him. the guy braked so hard he left a black skidmark. i'll have to give it to jack, he did a damn good job missing the guy and holding it together for at least another few miles before having to pull over, but i could see the tenseness tightening up his shoulders until he did finally swing over.
we spent the rest of the day lazily making our way down the cherohala loop back up to the dragon. i'd take that ride over the dragon anyday. so much prettier(with a chance to actually safely unfocus long enough to see the views); something you cant enjoy on the dragon, no time at all to take your eyes off the road there.
once back at deals gap, we scored beers and grub. damn but they do have one killer smoked trout sandwich there. once done with that we settled down onto our room porch to party, right in front of the tree of shame, and soon had an odd assortment of riders circled around our room talking the night away. an air force osprey pilot who rode a goldwing from new mexico, a really cool 53 yr one legged old school crusty biker from florida, a mild mannered older man who rode in from raleigh on a newer yamaha touring bike, and couple on sport bikes who rode up from south georgia. she was a crazy german chick with white-blond and bright pink hair, on a jacked-up bmw sport bike, who kept passing me rum; which made a short night for me; next thing i knew i woke up in the bed with all my clothes on and it was riding time again.
we had a long breakfast and then took the backside of the moonshiner 28 for a ride over to fontana dam. crazy huge, it is the largest of the tva dams; the lake behind it is way deep, 480 ft deep in some spots. the 28 is a damn good ride too, someday i want to do the whole thing all the way down into georgia. it was as good as the cherohala skyway, plenty of twists and killer views. we coasted down the mountain and stopped at bald river falls, a beautiful chill spot perfect for taking a break.
after getting back up to deals gap we checked out(hated to do that, the place was reserved for a ladies sport bike convention) & hit the foothills parkway into townsend to score a room. another killer road, just a tiny ridge with the roadway in some spots, affording excellent views. someday i'm going to have to go back again and ride that one. we scored a room in the nearly deserted valley view lodge(was huge place and maybe 15% of the rooms were occupied). really nice place(at least the renovated parts); while deals gap resort is muy convenient, a good atmosphere, sufficiently clean and in the heart of it all, this was definitely the best place we stayed. the owner even stopped by and told us to use the carport on the property as much as we like; which would come in way handy the next day.
bellys filled and room sorted, we headed back up into the mountains to hit cades cove. its always been a place i wanted to see; little did i know what a clutch hand nightmare it was going to be. the place was overrun with gawkers, bumper to bumper traffic in alot of places because some dbag(or several carloads of dbags) wouldnt pull his car over while he took pictures of freakin deer. deer? damn!!! finally resorting to shouldering the bikes around a long line of stuck traffic, we hightailed it out of the cove and raced the sun back down the mountain, arriving back in just enough time to take a sundown swim in the pool back at the lodge. we spent the night witnessing and quickly being appalled by the american family vacation nightmare that is pigeon forge. there was a classic car show going on and there were several hundred thousand gawkers and rubberneckers cloggin up the strip, so we ate as quickly as possible and headed back to townsend for a late night drunken swim session. townsend is so chill comparatively, may i never see the streets & crowds of pigeon forge/gatlinburg again.
the next morning after filling our bellys with swine and coffee, we headed back up into the mountains, intent on making our way to the carolina border. i kept forgetting to look up a place i wanted to see the whole trip, but luckily i spotted a sign on our way and we took a detour to the ghostown of elkton tn. in all my research for my colorado ghosttown tour last summer i had run across this place on the internets but had never been there. it was an old logging town/camp that had been turned into a summer resort town for rich knoxvillians once the area was all logged out and there was no more use for the narrow gauge railroad. once the park service started buying up land to convert into the smoky mountains national park, the old time logging town folks quickly sold their land, but the summer folk negotiated a lower price for the property in exchange for lifetime leases of the cabins and homes until the end of the original owners life. the last of the leases ran out in late 1990's, so some of the structures are still in decent shape, and soon to be somewhat renovated, budget allowing. really cool stop to walk around. or camp someday. there is a campground within walking distance to the old town.
we pushed on up to clingmans dome, and at 6600 ft i froze my ass off and my carbs were none too happy. spitting and sputtering bastards. needless to say our visit to the top of the smokies was needfully short. i couldnt feel my hands by the time we coasted back down the pass. luckily it was all downhill, allowing me to let off the throttle enough to crotch some warmth in both hands alternatively as we went. unfortunately, the rain found us back down at the lower sea level so the rest of the day was a wash, literally & figuratively. thank the gods for that carport back at the lodge. my boots are still wet, but my cheeks hurt from all the grinnin'........best vacation ever
Monday, September 3, 2012
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