| Author | Message | ||
     Whatever |
That is also Danielle Hebert on the bottom left, the Canadian musician that took a 17K mile trip by herself a year ago... | ||
| Fb1 |
Char - JB2 and the Boyz have been on the road for a couple of days already, taking the "long" way to Franklin.  We'll print the pix above and take them with us to Franklin and make sure they're on the memorial table at Mikey's Saturday night. Great idea, and thanks for posting them up. Best, FB | ||
| Prior |
I'll be kickstands up at 6 am tomorrow to head to TN to meet up with JB2, Reep and Gentleman Jim. Really looking forward to getting in the wind for a weekend. Heather will be heading out Friday afternoon. Ride safe everyone!!! | ||
| Jb2 |
Hay Char we connected the dots. Melanie and others were remembered and some love, like we sent for Ma Bueller last year, was also sent out. Thanks, wish you were there. (Message edited by jb2 on May 27, 2012) | ||
| Jb2 |
Great trip. Great gathering. Great friendships. What a weekend. I'll start where it ended today. Made it home about 6:30 this evening. Reep, Gentleman Jim and myself were kickstands up by 8:00am. We took a spin through the Gap on our way out and stopped at the store for breakfast. Stupidery as usual. A regular conglomeration of people on bikes they can't ride and those who could but left their manners at home. By the time we left the cops were thicker than thick and all the hangovers were hitting the Dragon. I can still remember the days when we were the only bikes over there. Times have changed. As if the riding Gods had observed us lamenting how places like this should be avoided on holidays we miraculously cut a clear path over to Tabcat Bridge. We did not encounter one car going our direction and only one motorcycle who pulled over for us after a couple of turns. Nor were we passed by faster riders. We had done the impossible by getting an uninterrupted ride from the store to the bridge. There were plenty of bikes and packs and slow cars and idiots but none of them going our way. It was as if for a brief moment in time we had the place to ourselves, or at least we had our ride to ourselves. What fitting end to a great weekend of riding. Once on the Alcoa Highway we put on the feedbag for home. It was HOT, 98 degrees hot, so we put on our game face and rode. We made our last pitstop together just south of Lexington, KY for fuel and Steak & Shakes. At I-275, just south of Cincy, Bill and Jim headed north and I headed west for home. I made just one stop on old US52 at the park outside of Metamora and soaked up some shade and a 20oz water while contemplating the string of events that unfolded over the last 6 days. In the words of Travis Trit, "Its A Great Day To Be Alive." More to come... (Message edited by jb2 on May 27, 2012) | ||
| Firemanjim |
Missed you all,Jim. | ||
| Prior |
It was a great weekend, and glad I was finally able to get Heather out there. we rolled in about 4 pm, took Heather up 64 to see the falls and headed to Asheville for lunch and then I slabbed it home. Hot, hot, hot. Had to stop a few times on the way back, the heat and doldrums of the highway were putting me to sleep. I'll get my pictures up and hopefully not crash Smugmug this time... So great to see everyone! | ||
| Reepicheep |
I want more of that "magic gas" we got in Franklin... Trip meter showing 178 and my low fuel light *still* wasn't on. I touched a peg down on the Uly riding up the gap as well (accidentally, not by going out of my way to have poor form). The first time I had the Uly touch. It was a nice smooth and well controlled ride. | ||
| Twig |
Sure was nice seeing everyone again, and meeting some new folks. Sad to say, more than likely I'll be selling or trading my little XB after we pay off our new HVAC system. Anything over 100 miles puts my knees and hips in agony. I guess working 34 years on concrete has finally caught up to me, and I'm no spring chicken anymore. Plus Pat would like to have something more two-up friendly. So, in the meantime I'll just have to be satisfied with making short trips up to the BRP to spend the night. | ||
| Jb2 |
Fireman, yeah you were asked about several times. Dickey made his first return trip in 9 years, he was especially hoping you made it. We have figured out this gathering won't die out anytime soon. There'll be plenty of opportunities to make a return trip. Reep. Man, I love your techno gadgets! I really want a printed map of the ride you put together on Tuesday and Thursday. You lead a good and safe pace. It was a pleasure to follow your lead. I have to say though your GPS got us lost a time or two more than I did leading only with memory and brief scan of a map. But still. I gotta get me some new toys. Great times. BTW, I hit over 250 miles after our last stop before the low fuel light came on. I stopped just a few miles from home and filled up. I think it was so hot the gas was expanding in the tank from the heat. My gauge didn't even budge from full for nearly a 125 miles. Prior, At our last fuel stop it was as if I had slept most of the way on that leg. I was having a constant battle to stay focused and eyes opened. Lack of sleep and the heat were killing me. I was just about to speed up to Bill and suggest a stop when his turn signal came on. 45 minutes in the AC and belly full of grub later seemed to shake the Gremlins. I called Dickey this morning as he was loading his bike on a trailer. The top end went out on his bike last night about 35 miles from home. Kim drove the car to the rest area and they slept overnight there. A buddy of his had just showed up with a trailer and they were loading the bike. The ambient temp reading on the Vic yesterday averaged 98 degrees. I suspect it took a toll on the Harley or accelerated a wear issue. At least he's home safe. The Harley can be fixed. Man, so many varied and memorable stories came from the weekend. Still getting them all in order. The lady at the bridge... meeting Corso, FB2, Fran, Bobw(on ADV Rider)... both gatherings... the night at Hillbilly Ed's... Buella's passing... I believe that from now on we'll tag it the Family Reunion in Franklin. You don't walk away from one of these not family. There won't be a Big Jim's Ride to the bridge but rather we'll have a map there available and encourage people to ride past. Not hard to do since most end up going that way on a least one ride. It'll simply be two days of riding with a gathering at Seller's on Friday and Mike and Sue's on Saturday. We'll honor the fallen friends and family and celebrate their lives... and ours and the friendships formed on two wheels. Life IS better in the wind... the friends are better too. I have a lot of work to get caught up before returning to the real world but I had cool experience going home yesterday. As we rode out 28 I touched air over the hallowed ground at Lost Bridge. As my hand came out I noticed Reep was touching air too. For a moment I had a lump in the throat but fought it back... Ride on Dad. Thanks Reep. (Message edited by jb2 on May 28, 2012) | ||
| Jb2 |
Twig, So good to have you back. Besides being amongst BadWeB brothers Mikey thinks the world of you. I have to tell you that it hit me last night when I was going through my stuff that the widow at Lost Bridge was married to Fred Strong. Makes you wonder if there's any blood connection? Note to Fran... Mikey wouldn't have really drank before riding the the 1125. You should have seen him the night Twig took him for a ride in the Porsche. Good stuff.  | ||
| Twig |
Jim, very cool to know that the man who chased down the offender was a "Strong". I would have done the same thing. I told Fran the story about meeting Mikey for the first time at FB&D's house. My god, that was so funny. Wish I could see him more often. More than likely, I'll be there next year. Hopefully on a different bike more suited to my needs. Jim, take care... | ||
| Fran_dog |
I was just have fun with Mikey; what a great guy. It didn't take long after meeting Brian & Sharon and Mikey & Sue, that I knew there is something pretty darn special about them, and the whole crowd. Thanks everyone... | ||
| Fb1 |
Great weekend all the way around; glad we could make this one. Y'all rock. FBAD | ||
| Fb1 |
Where are all the pix?!? | ||
| Reepicheep |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZx_qRPIvxE (Jims video, not mine, and Youtube butchered the quality when I uploaded it from a Franklin hotel room) | ||
| Jb2 |
Still catching up Ferris. Working 9 hours with an hour+ travel time each day, then add all that I got going on at home... well you get the idea. Not much time to play. I did get the photos downloaded though and there are some good ones. Soon. | ||
| Jb2 |
Great video Reep. Did you download any of the snapshots from his GoPro? | ||
| Reepicheep |
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| Reepicheep |
(and about 5000 more, he had it set to shoot a picture every 10 seconds or so, cool feature). | ||
| Prior |
     Scars from LAST year's Franklin adventure are evident on the above picture... (Message edited by awprior on May 31, 2012) | ||
| Fb1 |
Great photographs, Alex - thanks for taking the time to share them. | ||
| Reepicheep |
 Near West liberty, tornado ripped right up the falls valley. Everything torn up everywhere.   View from Black Mountain, thanks for the route recommendation Hilllbilly Ed! (Message edited by reepicheep on May 31, 2012) | ||
| Reepicheep |
 Bridal Veil Falls  Old and New (but mostly old)  Sunset NC (Message edited by reepicheep on May 31, 2012) | ||
| Reepicheep |
 Went to tap the lizard, and found another lizard.    Public performance | ||
| Reepicheep |
  Chase a local (good luck with that!)    The perfect hosts. | ||
| Prior |
Reep, My Uly bags with the West Liberty decal will be with me forever- wish I was there with you guys, but also glad I was not there to witness the devastation. I saw Birmingham in the aftermath, and I know Ferris saw Joplin; it's unreal. And that chasing a local (or two) and finding a good host in Franklin- tough to keep up on both regards! | ||
| Jb2 |
Alex & Reep, GREAT pics! Can't wait to see what Corso, FB2 and Ferris post up. I did a lousy job of taking photos this trip. Most of what I took has already been posted here but I will look for those rare odd moments that I caught something different. I really like the one of us at the bar talking to Romaine, owner of Bob's Place. She's a character. After talking to her for a while she remembered me and said "Damn, you been comin' here for a long time." Yeah, about 20 years or so. Great times, Great hosts, Great roads, GREAT friends! | ||
| Prior |
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| Prior |
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