August 10, 2007: Out of Miami.

I took off for Deals Gap after work at around 7 PM, made it to Micanopy by 1 AM. Traffic jams, one bad accident - a complete standstill for about thirty minutes - and way too many cars on the road delayed my arrival. Construction on 75 directing all traffic to a single lane caused another 30-40 minute delay, and because of the stuffed saddlebags I couldn't lanesplit - exactly why I don't like saddlebags. I was already tired from working all day at the warehouse, and was exhausted by the time I got to the motel. I guess the first day (or night) of the trip will always be the hardest, even if I try to split up the miles like I did this time.

 

 

Aug 11, 11 AM: Into Georgia.

I was happy to leave the motel - the rates went up since the last time I was here, but the service went down even more: a big roach was waiting for me in the shower last night when I arrived, and the tap water coming from the bathroom sink was milky and looked grainy. Next time I am in this part of Florida, I will stay at a motel that I saw advertised a few exits north of this one ("$29.95 for single"). I woke up too late this morning, but it's good to be back on the bike and on my way out of this dreadful state once again.

 

 

Evening: Tapoco, NC.

The ride was mostly uneventful, save for a couple of light traffic jams on the interstate, and the heat - the air was barely breathable, like riding in an oven at eighty-five miles an hour, as I made my way into Atlanta. I could feel dehydration trying to set in, my flesh baking under the jacket and my lungs rejecting the 100-degree oxygen trying to get into them. But the Bandit makes sense on the highway, even with dragbars and raised footpegs. It offers more positions, both for my hands and feet. The seat is still too soft, but overall this bike made this part of the trip bearable.

Here in the mountains, it seems to love sweepers and hate the tight stuff. Heavy saddlebags seem to balance it better - they plant the rear tire harder to the ground, maybe. Tire's all balled up, the hot pavement really eating the center. Yet the bags - or the junk suspension - make it real twitchy in the quick, short turns along US 129 through Robbinsville. I don't know that I am still looking forward to the Gap, but here I am. I find myself fantasizing about going to a dealership tomorrow and trading it in. But who would want my little streetfighter, other than me?

I booked a room at the Deals Gap Resort, here at the base of the Dragon. No TV here. I realized this only after being in my room for a little while. Thank goodness for Paul Theroux, and Tylenol PM.

 

 

Aug 12: Through the mountains.

Warmed up on Hellbender (28), got a couple of stickers and headed back to the room; then back out to the Gap, came back for lunch - that Dragon burger still had some fight left in it, so back to the room for a spell - and back to the Gap; and then to the Foothills Parkway.

Along Hwy 28.

Lots of cops on the Gap, as reported on the Tail of the Dragon Web sites. They never did bother me, but I won't forget the look of pure hatred I received from one of them the next day - and I was only going behind a trike, at around the speed limit (just before I passed it). Man, get a life…

The Parkway was real pretty, but it was mostly long sweepers out there. I love sweepers but have found the tighter stuff to be more exciting, as the cool thing about sweepers is doing them at triple digits - and there are just too many tourists out on the Parkway for that. I stopped for Look Rock, but saw a short foot trail on the mountainside right by the parking lot. I tried it and was quickly reminded how I am not fit for rock climbing (or descending, in this case). I left on the bike but came back around for the actual Look Rock trail across the highway from the lot. Beautiful vistas at the top of the tower, even though it was pretty hazy out, but the trail really knocked the wind out of me. I admit, I need to exercise more, but I think this had more to do with the thin air found thousands of feet above sea level. I can hike out in the Everglades for miles down in Florida and enjoy the walk.

Also did the top of Fontana Dam today, and hit Maryville for a motorcycle dealership - but after riding a good thirty or forty miles out of my way, the place was closed. I had forgotten that today was Sunday. When you're on vacation, every day feels like Sunday, right?

Taking it easy on 129 behind a cruiser, on the way to Maryville.

 

Fontana Dam, and a view from the top of the dam.

 

 

Evening:

Hanging out on the porch with the cool couple next door (fellow Floridians, surprisingly enough). A guy on a cruiser went out for a ride around 9 PM, shouting to everyone hanging outside, "Wanna go for a ride? Wanna go for a ride?" as he left his campsite across from my room. I figured he wasn't sober so I skipped it, but after over forty minutes, he hadn't come back.

I set out to look for him, real slow like, into the Gap. It was so dark that the next curve in the road did not seem to exist until the beam from the headlight brought it to life. I still had some local nutjobs on my ass (one car, one bike) even though I was mostly doing the speed limit, or a little over. I thought the cruiser rider I was looking for passed me on his way back down, so I turned around at the overlook and went to bed when I got back to my room. I saw him at his tent the next morning.