...this time with friends!!!
For those that followed last year, you know I took my first big solo motorcycle trip up to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. I was able to score a pretty decent deal on a fairly nice hotel in Gatlinburg, so I had to take advantage. Due to scheduling the trip in the middle of March, the weather turned out to be quite gloomy. The weekend before it had actually snowed there! On the way up it was absolutely beautiful, but the day I actually romped around and my entire trip back were done entirely in the rain. This lead to some technical problems which lead a 9 hour trip turning into a 12 hour trip. Either way, it was a successful trip and I came back knowing more about my limits and the limits of my bike, Jarvis.
Trip number 2 came in October with my wife. This trip was also extremely cold due to being scheduled later in the year. The trek was originally planned for whitewater rafting but after looking at the map, I noticed our cabin site was not too far off from deals gap. It took little convincing of my wife to agree to take the bikes and make an aside when we got up there. Since it was still "in season", we were excited to get our pictures taken by Killboy and whatever other photographers might be camped out along the famous 129. Now don't get me wrong, I love the fact that my wife rides a motorcycle and I applaud her for attempting the Tail of the Dragon after a VERY long trip up, but let's just say that our passes weren't nearly as spirited as one would expect. The temperature probably played a fairly large role in her behavior. I now know she is not that type of rider and I am completely OK with that, but when a group of bikes is slowing down car traffic where motorcycles should eat up the road, you know something is amiss. It doesn't matter though!!! Her little '92 GS500E handled the trip like a champ and didn't skip a beat the entire time. There was one little scare where she thought she was running out of gas with not an exit in sight, but that was just a one-off. Another successful trip there and back, complete with white-water rafting and paintball!
Enter trip number three. This is being organized by a friend of mine that is local to Jacksonville. He has never been and neither have many guys from our local riding group, so a Facebook group was made and the ball was started rolling on a big trip up north. There are a few guys (maybe 1 other now that I think about it) that have been on these roads, but that was nearly 20 years ago. A lot of things have changed since then. A LOT. Because of the greenhorn status of the majority of the group, I found myself being an invaluable asset to the group, regardless of if I go or not. Because this new trip is scheduled in a nearly identical time frame as my trip last year (this one is the 26-29th), I immediately raised concerns about the weather. Even though was are only just getting through February, I can already say this winter has been extremely bipolar and temper-mental. Warm one day, freezing the next day, rain for a week after that, back to freezing, then maybe a few clear days after that. I would not be surprised if snow was still on the ground again in some areas once we get up there.
Riding skill was another thing that concerned me. Our group consists of competent riders. All have had their spills and hopefully have learned from them. The thing that I do not think will translate well with the others is no matter how skilled they are down here in the flatness of Florida, nothing down here can really prepare you for a REAL mountain road. There are a lot of things you can get away with here in Florida. There really are no hills to negotiate and engine braking is really only for those that have done their research about it. I can't speak for others in the group, but I have noticed a lot of riders in this state that seem to pull the clutch and coast to a stop before getting their gear position sorted out. Where we are going, engine braking and not riding the brakes is a necessity,as well as looking through your turns, adjusting body position, and staying focused. A plan has been worked out if someone does go down, but hopefully it will not have to be put into action.
We will be staying in Fontana Village. Looking at the map, it appears to be on Moonshiner 28. That means I actually passed this place during my first trip. It probably went unnoticed due to all the freaking rain I was having to deal with. Some will be riding up (such as myself) and others will be trailering. I am actually rather excited about this. It is a solid group of guys and I know we're going to have a lot of fun. The actual duration of the trip will also be extended. We will have 2 days to romp around instead of my usual one that I've had before. That means we can take our time and I can actually slow down and take a look at stuff. Since there will actually be 4 wheeled vehicles present, that also means I won't have to ride EVERYWHERE like I had to before. Let me tell ya, I love my bike and all, but after a long day of riding sometimes you do wish you had a car around when it's time to get some food.
I will update stuff as it comes along for this trip. It will be happening in roughly a month, so there should be plenty of content for me to put out for your reading pleasure. Feel free to take a look at my previous entries and take a gander at my videos from my first trip. My videography was not very good then and I am hoping to make a much better highlight video this time around now that I won't be rushing everywhere.
Thanks for tagging along and feel free to comment or give advice on things you might deem important!
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