Day Six: Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000
Today is the day that I try to get a new front tire for my VFR. With the GIVI luggage on board I get a terrible head shake at speeds around 30 mph. Looking in the yellow pages I find the number for the cycle shop we passed the night before on our way into Maggie Valley. We finally manage to get every one up and moving in time to get to the shop by about 9:30am. All they have in the size my bike requires is the new Bridgestone BT010 sport tire. At this point I am desperate for a new tire so I have them put in on even though it might not give me as much mileage as a sport/touring tire. The damage is nearly 171 dollars. And of course they scratched the rim! Why is it so hard for dealer mechanics to change a tire without scratching a rim!? Anyway after getting the tire we head back to the house to pick up Shane's VMax and start the day's riding.
We decide that we are going to see Clingman's Dome, the highest point in North Carolina at 6642 ft, or at least it used to be the tallest. The drive takes us west on US 19 until we pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway between US 19 and US 441. Hwy 19 is a nice ride except for the traffic, the lights and just general congestion. Now I am realizing that our detour last night was actually a good thing. If we were not on a schedule there are tons of little tourist traps along the road to stop in and waste our money. Did I mention that I hate tourist traps? We keep going...
After a short ride on Hwy 19, we pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). This is the first time any of us have ever been on the Parkway. It defies description. If your motorcycle died and went to heaven, this would likely be it. Excellent scenery, incredible pavement, gorgeous panoramic views of the mountains, no traffic and cool temperatures. I am leading and rarely get out of second gear, holding the bike in the 6000-9000 rpm range. Max speeds are around 75mph and the minimum around 40mph in the tight corners. I never hit the brake and just use throttle control to set my entry speeds and then roll on through the entire turn, smooooth is the name of the game. Sure there are folks that could rip through here at a much faster pace, but I am not here to prove anything, just to have a blast, and I do! However, the others in the group are riding at a tad more sedate pace and I occasionally pull off at one of the numerous scenic overlooks to wait for them to catch up. US 441 shows up way to soon.
US 441 is a great road. However, there is a TON of traffic and it stinks getting stuck behind pokey cars when you are on a road that begs for you to put your bike through it's paces. It winds through the valley following a sparkling river. The trees overhang the road forming a soft green canopy shading us from the direct sunlight. We see a ton of cruisers but only two sport bikes. The smell of over cooked brakes from the cars is giving me a headache. It seems like an eternity of crawling before we get anywhere. Eventually we reach the turn off that takes us out to Clingman's Dome.
Once again, this is another fantastic road, but there are cars plodding along at a snail's pace all the way out to the parking lot. Once we finally get there we find a place to park the bikes and head out to take a look around. Unfortunately, the parking lot is substantially lower than the top of the mountain, which means that we have to hike up to the top. On the top of the mountain is a lookout tower. At first, Beth and Stephanie were a bit confused about how to get to the top! There is nothing quite like hiking up a steep incline for a half mile in the thin atmosphere at 6000 ft to make you realize that all those cokes, beer and fast food have not kept you healthy!
There are numerous rest stops along the pathway to the top of the mountain. I make it a point to use every one of them. And it is amazing how many interesting things I find to take pictures of on the way up that require me to stop to get out the camera and take the shot. We do make it to the top, huffing wheezing and gasping for air. Seems like everyone up here is doing likewise, young and old. Having worked up a serious sweat on the way up, the cool breeze at the top is a welcome treat... for a while. Then I start to notice the wind chill when I am covered in sweat. But for the sake of the view and to get some nice pictures, I tough it out.
The walk down is subdued. My legs are too numb from the climb up to hold me up at any kind of hurried pace. I manage to stop and take some more pictures on the way down. Eventually, Shane and I make our way to the bottom and find the ladies kicked back waiting for us. We suit back up in the riding gear and start the ride back out to the main road (US 441). By now we are getting pretty hungry and decide to head to Cherokee for lunch. The ride back down 441 is worse than the ride up. We are stuck behind a very long line of cars, and RV's all riding their brakes constantly, which really starts to stink after a while. We pass by the Parkway entrance and go on in to Cherokee.
Cherokee is a hotbed for gambling. The tribe runs a Harrah's casino. There are tourist trap shops everywhere. We spot a parking lot full of Harleys and other assorted cruisers and pull in to park. Across the road is the Little Princess Restaurant. Excellent food. The music in the restaurant is not classic Indian tunes, instead they are playing Elvis non-stop. The urge to sing along while eating is overwhelming, but I manage to restrain myself. Stuffed and lazy, we gas up for a run on the Parkway from the beginning on US 441 all the way to Asheville, about 90 miles.
Again, there really is no way to describe the Parkway such that I can do it justice. It is simply mile after mile of the most incredible road I have ever ridden, not that I have ridden tons of roads. But it is hard to imagine roads any better. There are tunnels through the mountain sides, sheer drop offs with no guard rails, banked turns, and very very little traffic. The little traffic I do come up behind usually pulls into one of the many scenic overlook areas, watches me go by, and then pulls right back out onto the road behind me. Really cool! About every fifteen minutes I pull over to wait for the others to catch up to me. The weather is absolutely perfect! And the new BT 010 rocks! It gives the front end a much more planted and stable feeling.
About 60 miles into the ride I come upon the Pisgah Inn and figure this is a convenient place to stop for gas since Shane has such a limited range. After everyone catches up and they go to fill up, I spot a few Triumph Sprint ST's in the parking lot and go over to chat with them. I turns out that these folks are from Dallas. Also, the guy mentions that there is a group from Houston coming as well. Then he mentions Richard and Lisa White. We met Richard and Lisa in Houston at their local Triumph dealer, Motorcycle Mania, when we were shopping for a new bike for Beth. We have since met them several times at the CMRA races at the Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. They are a cool couple that ride matching red Sprint ST's. These folks have like 35 rooms booked at the Inn. Tomorrow, they are going riding and invited us to come along. We had originally planned to spend the day at the Biltmore Estate. However, after the experience of riding the Parkway today, I would much rather spend the day doing it again instead of walking around the Biltmore. I am sure it is spectacular, but hey, I love to ride!
After everyone is finished gassing their bikes, we head back onto the Parkway for the last few miles to Asheville. When we reach Asheville, we figure out where the Biltmore is located. Beth, Shane and Steph are going to go ahead and see the Biltmore while I go riding tomorrow. Once the Biltmore has been located, we get on I-40 and head west back towards Maggie Valley. All told, we do about 250 miles. Small potatoes for me, but Shane is getting crotchety and tired. If he would just sell the VMax and get himself a VFR hehe!
Once we get back to the cabin, we start thinking about dinner. The cabin has a nice propane grill on the deck so we decide to cook up some fajitas. The women head off to the store while I teach Shane some ping pong lessons. After they get back, Shane and I are assigned the task of getting the grill working. No problem, we are both basically pyro's at heart. I look under the grill and turn on the gas. Immediately I start hearing that all too familiar Bic clicking sound above my head! Shane is already trying to set my head on fire. I am not sure if we even have gas coming out of the ports, so I try to get Shane to quit flicking. I lean over the grill, stoopid I know, and listen for that tell tale hissing sound. It's there. By now the gas has been on for nearly a minute without any ignition. I'm starting to see huge fireballs in my mind and I suggest to Shane that he might want to let me turn off the gas and let it clear out before trying to light it again. Beth wisely grabs Steph by the shirt and pulls her away from the grill. As my head is coming up away from the grill, I hear the fateful FLICK one more time!
There is something about the sound of four people screaming at the top of their lungs, echoing through the mountains, that probably makes neighbors wonder just what in the world is going on over there at the crazy rental place. If they were curious, the glow from the column of fire rising up into the night sky has to give them some kind of clue! Fortunately, my hair is already short. And if it was not already, the hair on Shane's arms is very very short now, and kind of curly too, and smelly... There is also something about that WOOOSHING sound as the fireball ignites that set my heart to racing at speeds I did not realize it could sustain. Flesh intact, we realize how close we came to being roasted and then laugh that nervous laugh heard in near hysterical people. The fajitas were excellent!
We spend the rest of the evening hanging out in the game room shooting pool, playing ping pong, soaking in the hot tub and consuming beer and chips. There is a fine art to preparing oneself the night before a long day of riding. Beth has since decided that she too will forego the Biltmore in favor of going riding again tomorrow. Finally we drift off to sleep with the knowledge that we have to get up at 6:45am to get back to the Pisgah Inn in time to meet up with everyone.