North Carolina, Wreck, Ticket, Dragon, Barber

[STrider]

In that order.

The other two players had the cameras, so hopefully they'll post up some of those high-(and low-) lights soon.

We camped for 6 nights and rode for 5 days in North Carolina and Tennessee, on, along, and around the Blue Ridge Parkway. Truly awesome, curvy, hilly, technical roads.

I slow-speed low-sided in a patch of gravel on Tuesday, doing some quite greivous cosmetic damage to the bike, but it seems mechanically ok, and I didn't get even a scratch.

Hutch and I got drenched on our "moving" day, when we moved from Crabtree Meadows campground to Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge (or something like that) - and then just to make sure the day wasn't a total waste, one of NC's finest was kind enough to issue me a performance award.

We took a coupla passes on the Dragon on Thursday (and I'm pretty sure Killboy got a couple shots of us), then straight lined it home on Friday - Saturday, with a short visit to the museum at Barber.

(suckiest ride report ever) - the end

 

[Manfred]

I hope I don't have the wreck or the ticket when I make my visit to that area in 2 weeks. Not all good reports are long - thanks for sharing and I'm glad your skin wasn't damaged. My HD friend slid into gravel during our Arkansas trip last month and was saved from serious injury because he simply hadn't gotten around to taking off his leather jacket yet.

 

[wonder91178]

...and then just to make sure the day wasn't a total waste, one of NC's finest was kind enough to issue me a performance award.

Did you at least earn it?

 

[Tourmeister]

No pics!? bahhh.... never happened!

 

[Squeaky]

(suckiest ride report ever) - the end

 

[Faylaricia]

No pics!? bahhh.... never happened!

Teaser: I saw some awesome pics on Skid's computer. That area is truly gorgeous.

They didn't take a lot of pictures but I think the few they took say it all. I was really impressed with the pictures at the Barber Museum.

Matt, I was very glad when Gavin told me that you were okay and then, that the bike was okay as well and still rideable!


Glad you all had a good time. Gavin has been talking about nothing but switchbacks and tight curves... I would love to hear your'alls version at bike night. Too bad Hutch has to go back to Malta again already - let's hope the visa gets delayed even more... !

 

[STrider]

Pics, the cheap & easy way:

me (note the duct tape and clutch cover for "proof"):

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3020176&po=176&c=
thru
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3020183&po=183&c=

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3020386&po=386&c=
thru
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3020391&po=391&c=


mhutch (Note the impressive lean. He lost about 2 lbs off his centerstand):

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3010506&po=506&c=
thru
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3010514&po=514&c=

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3010882&po=882&c=
thru
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3010886&po=886&c=


Skid (like a pro):

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3010531&po=531&c=
thru
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3010536&po=536&c=


http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3020438&po=438&c=
thru
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0CVY00A3020444&po=444&c=

 

[Skid]

Grandfather Mountain Pics:

Miscellaneous pics:

This road turned from this

To this

Yea, that is a documented road.

A 63 (I think) Impala

Ironhorse campsite:

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and National Recreation Trail :

Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum:

More Pictures of the trip here and of the museum here.

Enjoy!

 

[Squeaky]

Either Matt didn't quite understand the "unzip to turn them into shorts" directions or he wore the knees out so bad the bottoms just fell to his ankles!

 

[STrider]

Either Matt didn't quite understand the "unzip to turn them into shorts" directions or he wore the knees out so bad the bottoms just fell to his ankles!

Niether. Hard to believe as it may be, they look even dorkier as shorts. And I was too lazy to take my boots off and carry around pant sleeves.

Did you at least earn it?

ehh, pretty dull, really. Artificially low (IMHO) speed limit (55 mph on a divided 4 lane? - and just pacing the cages?)

 

[Tourmeister]

Dude... even I know that leg warmers were never in fashion for guys... unless maybe you hung out with Richard Simmons...

 

[seattleducati]

Good thing your Sprint isn't black, otherwise your "speeding" ticket would have been much higher...after all the black ones are much faster
Looks like you had plenty of fun though!

 

[Kidder]

Dude... even I know that leg warmers were never in fashion for guys... unless maybe you hung out with Richard Simmons...

 

[SparkyBlue]

Cool trip Good to hear no injuries. The Smokey mtns. are a great vacation. I'd like to seem them again in the fall.

 

[train460]

must of watched flashdance? the night before.

 

[STrider]

Jeez, I wish Hutch would get around to postin his pics to take the focus off those stupid pants.

Here's the crash part of the story:

Toolin along pretty good behind Hutch on a sweet, curvy, 2-lane off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was chip-sealed, but I was getting really good traction. I did notice occasional spots of too much chip and not enough seal, but not too bad. (not like when I got pelted by Texian's RC-51 rock wake in Arkansas, anyways.) He'd just gone through a good left-hander, and he'd been doin a good job of pointing out the occasional loose spots. The set-up for the next corner though meant he couldn't point this one, and I wouldn't of seen him pointing anyways. I had it leaned over pretty good (felt like, anyways) and was almost through the corner when I found myself sliding on my stomach almost as soon as I realized the back end had slid out. I didn't have any of the "time-compression" or slow-motion feeling I've had when I've crashed before (dirt bikes), or the "out-of-body" feeling like I'm watching it happen. Just riding, smiling, looking up, then sliding on my stomach and hands.

I do remember dejectedly thinking, and maybe saying, "aww crap" while I was sliding, and having a thought that if I jumped up fast enough I might be able to catch the bike and either minimize the damage or keep it from going over the edge. Neither of those happened though, but I did get to watch the bike slide and spin a 180 away from me on its side (I think it actually sped up on its side!) maybe 20ish feet down the road and come to rest in the grass and dirt off the side before the edge, pointed back down the hill.

I'm not sure I even came to a full stop before I jumped up to try to get the bike, and avoid the obligatory pics, and Gavin came up and pulled over just as soon as I got to the bike, yelling "hold-on" so he could help me pick it up. Alas, I wasn't fast enough, I looked up the hill to see Hutch walking down, camera in hand. I gave him the ADVrider salute, he took a couple pics of the bike on its side, and a couple of the scene, Crash Scene Investigators style.

We righted the bike, and I released a long stream of NSFTWT language. I spent a couple minutes to collect myself, we started it up and let the oil pressure build up, then went on down the road to get to a safer pull-out where I could collect myself a little more and further investigate the damage.

I rode like a big chicken the rest of the day, and well into the trip in fact, never really feeling good (or even ok, for that matter) about corners till late the next day. The deluge on the way to Iron horse put a pretty good damper on spirited riding anyways, though. I found myself doing things wrong more, like looking right into apexes rather than through the corner, focusing on gravel, rocks, etc..., braking & throttling poorly into & through corners. It did all finally start to come back together though, and I was feeling pretty good right up until Ticket Day.

Now, here's CRASH TESTED:

Icon TIMax shorty gloves: Awesome. Both palms slid for whatever distance, the little metal nubs on the palms got ground down to between all the way flat to 1/2 way, and the parts of the non-nubbed portions of the palms got scuffed pretty good, but no tears to the leather or stitching.

BMW Summer Jean Cargo Pants (or something like that): Good performance, but total loss. Abraded through two layers of cordura and into the knee pad. If it had hit off the pad somewhere, I woulda been at least rasberried, probably cut up pretty good. Definitely a one-crash pant. Actually, these are the same as Redd's - (but a lot bigger) - hers may have a had a life post-wreck, but she was smart enough to crash in mud.

GPStar Leather Jacket (The Offender like this - not my sale): Didn't really take a hard hit, but scuffed the front in the slide. No tears or other damage.

Icon Alliance Helmet: Didn't get hit, but somewhere along the line cracked the back of one of the top vents.

Oxtar Matrix boots: Probably got scuffed, but not where you could tell with all the rest of the scuffs, scratches, and wear.

So most of the gear was still serviceable, but it all went on the insurance claim anyways.

Lessons Learned:

Gear is Good!!

Wrecks attract cameras.

 

[mhutch]

THE ACCIDENTal tourist

We were on NC-1157 and we had just passed FALLCLIFF no less. They had graveled the edges of the road to help stop erosion and there was a lot of pea sized gravel in the road that really blended well. The corner in question.... I was leading and saw the gravel as I was going into a left hand curve. I had time to duck in but not enough to give warning and I was blocking the line of sight to the gravel. As soon as I was through I heard the crash and saw Matt sliding and then getting up in the mirrors. I stopped as fast as I could and got the camera out while I was running back to the scene. The pictures below are the result...

From where I stopped

Happy Matt

Inspecting the legwarmers for damage.

These two should give you an idea of how steep a climb we were in and also shows how well those Richard Simmons leg warmers hold up to abuse. I'm sure that there is a carpet burn joke there somewhere but I ain't gonna say it...

Where the bike came to rest

The edge... long way until you stop....

The battle wounds

 

[mhutch]

There are gobs of people taking pictures at Deals Gap these days. Although it can whack your concentration a bit it is fun to have someone to show off for
http://www.moonshinephoto.com
http://www.zeefoto.com/
http://www.killboy.com/

The photos below are from zeefoto.com

Thats Matt coming up in the background

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/OrderPage.aspx?pi=0HH600EI060103&po=103&c=

 

[pdef]

Other than the wreck, it looks like a lot of fun. Glad to see the naughty girl jacket still alive.

 

[Faylaricia]

Wow, that Triumph crashed well. Only scratches!

I guess it was pure luck that the bike stopped sliding where it did. That drop looks pretty steep. I can only imagine what it had taken to get the bike out of that mess.

Glad you faired so well. That gravel looks nasty. I've heard of worse crashes and bad injuries coming from them, so you truly had someone watching over you, Matt!

In regards to the pants, ditch the leg warmers and you still have some decent shorts.

 

[mhutch]

Verry cool shorts...

 

[STrider]

Verry cool shorts...

You're thinking the people that make the GS should have better fashion sense?

Must be a slow day in Malta...

 

[mhutch]

I'm in Greece. Its like 100+ degrees.

Right next to the hotel is a Ducati dealer with a hyper-retard in the window... Seems that the bike of choice in Athens is anything motarded and you cant swing a dead greek without it getting stuck on a V-Strom (who said Europeans had style) . There are also about 10 other shops within 2 blocks with gear and bikes. Each shop carries more gear than ALL of the shops in Houston (maybe even Texas). There is also a shop with a bunch of old Matchless motorcycles and one with a bunch of old Royal Enfield bikes. Almost like being at Barber again...

But I really don't think that riding a bike in Athens would be much fun. Traffic here is probably the worst in the EU. Oh well, off to Plaka to eat dinner in the shadow of the Acropolis.... (if I can make it in this heat)