Yes..this is long but it summarizes the trip as best as possible. Cliffs notes available through any one of the riders who went with us. Enjoy.... Its All About The Food.... So we arrived on Saturday afternoon, tired from the overnight drive but alive and well. Casey, Radnee, Mikey and Myself in Casey’s big truck pulling all the bikes and Cris, Leon and Mike in Mikes Acura TL. The house is nice and fairly close to Robbinsville about 18 miles outside the city but still in a good location to take all of the better roads. It’s a 3/3, 3 story log cabin home owned by a private owner in Tampa, FL. The place looks like its still under reconstruction as there are some upgrades as well as some pretty old looking fixtures and amenities. The location is good so it makes up for some of the shortcomings. Once settled in the house, we set to go get all the groceries. 30 miles back to Wally Word and $300 later we were set for the week. I pre-planned all the meals and each one of the guys was going to make a dinner each night and I would make all of the breakfasts. Cris started out cooking BBQ Chicken with mixed veggies. It was great and just what we needed after the 14 hour drive to get here!! Everyone was satisfied and it wasn’t long before everyone was asleep for the night. Sunday morning, we woke up and had some much needed coffee and breakfast. Christian and two of his friends were staying in Robbinsville and they met up with us for the first ride out. We headed North then Southwest into Franklin and a few other small towns. The roads were clear and dry at first and the twisties were screaming to be ridden. Because I had been up here before, it was decided that I would take the lead. Now this is not my favorite thing to do and anyone who knows me knows I like to be in the back of the pack. But, it’s almost like a right of passage leading the group from time to time. It worked out well and the pace was just about perfect for everyone. In our group of seven, five of us had been up to NC before and the other two were virgins to the trip. Of Christians three, two had been up here before and Christian is a Gap virgin. All 10 of us stopped for lunch at a little local deli and had an amazing lunch before heading back out on the road. The food was great, the service was awesome and it came at the perfect time. Once out on the road again, we decided to cut the remainder of the day short since it was getting late and the weather was changing for the worse. Just before we went back through Franklin, the rains came and with a vengeance!! We stopped for some much needed fuel and tried to wait it out….big mistake as the rains kept coming! We verified our directions and took off for home in hopes of getting in front of the fire place for some drying out. The rains let up a small amount but the evening chill was killing us all. When we arrived at the house, no one could feel their fingers!! The house not only has a fire place but the bathrooms are super-heated so we placed all the leather gear in the bathrooms to dry out overnight. Sunday was Leon’s turn to cook. He made Leon’s Killer Meatloaf, veggies and fresh baked rolls. It was terrific!! Not many times can you eat meatloaf and say that but this was really great!! After dinner, Casey, Mikey, Cris and I set out for the Jacuzzi and smoked cigars and drank some adult beverages. It was two hours later when we finally emerged from the tub, well rested and ready for bed. Monday morning, waking up early was a bit more difficult after the previous day of riding. Your body is tired and an extra hour or two is very easy to take, sleeping right through the alarm clock. Everyone finally got up and we grilled up some pancakes and sausage, coffee and juice to get the day started. No meeting up with anyone, just a nice long ride to Deals Gap. We took 74 North to 28 West and came in from the back side. It was a beautiful day and we were in for a treat. Along the way, we stopped at a place where Luis crashed a few years back in order to take some photoshoppable pictures of his accident location. (Very funny..I will explain more later) Deals Gap, better known as The Dragon, is 318 turns in about 11 miles. It is said the Dragon is the twistiest mountain road on the East coast. When arriving at the resort called the Cross Roads of Time, we heard from other riders the police were out in force and they were in marked as well as unmarked cars so BE CAREFUL! They may have been there but I never saw them all day. We ran the dragon multiple times throughout the day. Leon even hooked up his video camera to the tank of his bike to shoot the travels for all our friends to enjoy. The footage came out well for a first attempt. We even hooked it up to my bikes so I could film Leon, too. We did have a few mishaps along the way. Leon dropped his bike just getting out of the driveway. Mike lowsided his CBR 1000 in the upper portion of the Dragon damaging his fork tubes and seals. Mikey also lowsided on his GSXR while following me on the way back down the mountain. It has a small bit of cosmetic damage but nothing too severe. The next two were actually comical…Leon and I were turning into the Kill-Boy parking lot across from the Crossroad of Time and as he made a u-turn, his bike dropped on the right side. I completed my u-turn, stopped and shut off the bike, turned off the video camera, turned off my music, took my helmet and tried to race over to help Leon. The problem was I forgot to place the kickstand down so my shiny new little bike fell over on its right side damaging the left fairing as well as the clutch lever and clutch switch. This was problematic as it also disallowed me from starting the bike with the starter switch. I push started it and took it to Wheelers, a local bike shop outside of Robbinsville. Ken Wheeler was there and he seemed to know exactly what was needed to get me back on the road. Mike’s bike was left at Wheelers for the repairs to his forks. Ken said he has all the needed parts and the bike should be completed by 2pm. It was 7:30 by the time we got back to the house. Mike was the dinner guy and he was making Chicken Parmesan over Spaghetti. Nice! Once it was served and cleaned up, we headed out to the hot tub for another relaxing night. Tuesday morning was more relaxed than the previous. We sat around watching all of the video footage from the previous days riding most of which was entertaining. When we get back home to Fort Lauderdale, hopefully someone will set it to music. It was 11:30 before we started to get ready and go out riding. Casey and I stuck around while the others all left for the Gap as Casey had to run into town to send out a fax for his job. When we finally got under way, it was already after 1pm. Leon’s group said they would meet us at the Cross Roads of Time in 90 minutes. Perfect timing worked in our favor as we rolled in as they were getting there. A few runs up the Dragon and we were all feeling pretty lose. Christian wanted to use his video equipment so Radnee hooked it up to his bike this time and took the 2nd position. He taped Christian first then waved on the next rider so they could be taped. At about 6 miles into the run, the skies opened up and it started raining. Not just rain but a serious down pour! We lasted about another mile before Leon pulled over. I pulled over to see what we were going to do and it was decided to head back to the Cross Roads. Within a mile, the rains had turned so violent the visibility was reduced to about 50 feet! As if that was not bad enough, in addition to the rain and mad crazy wind, it started to hail! First it was pea sized hail then it went up to quarter sized balls!! Lightning was striking all around and the thunder was deafening!! We had about 8 miles of this to endure before getting back to the Cross Roads where Casey and Cris were waiting for us. All of our leather was soaked through completely, gloves and boot saturated and anything else that could be wet, was! We decided to stick around the resort for a while, at least until the weather passed, grabbing a bite to eat at the restaurant. Once the weather subsided, it was a free for all to get home. All of us were soaked, cold and needing to get out of the bonds of the cow hide cocoons we were encapsulated in. The group was separated and we all arrived safely but at different times. The group decided to watch Chuck & Larry and relaxed for a couple of hours before having a Left-Over Dinner which cleaned up the refrigerator quite a bit. Jays brother Keith arrived in from Kentucky and will be staying with use for the rest of the week. He rides a Yamaha FJ1300 Sport Cruiser and got here in about 5 ½ hours of seat time. Christian and Chris also came by to dry out their leathers, leaving everything in our heated bathrooms until morning when they will retrieve them (hopefully) in a dry status. The night was concluded with some hot tub time and a fun game of Texas Holdem. To be continued in Part 2
