Hugh and everyone else there, I am just totally bummed about not making it there. Friday night I had a contac lens crash up into the corner of my eye and ended up with a very irritated scratched up eyeball getting the damn thing out. But that is not why I did not make it there.
My son was available to go with me, I figured it best because of my eye. As such, he does not have his motorcycle endorsement, between that and his distaste for the leather tassels my wife has on her Blast's grips that bother him so, we drove the Vette. But that is not why I did not make it there.
We met up with a buddy who rides a Scorpion trike in Sevierville, we had planned on this ride together for a week or so. We went over Newfound Gap to the Southern end of the BRP and headed on up. What a beautiful ride that always is. As we got to the mile high stages of the road the fog got real thick. It blocked the views and slowed the driving considerably. But that is not why I did not make it there.
Things were going great, made a few stops for this and that. Having a fun ride. We got to the exit near Asheville for I 26 to stop for gas. We reviewed the GPS for the balance of the ride up. My buddy says hey are we gonna have lunch? Well I had planned that for when we got there. I could not believe it was already nearing 2:00! We left Sevierville at 7:45. It should have been plenty of time to get there.
We all had reasons to be home by 6:00, so time was running out. Then came the clouds and impending rain storms at the home front for my buddy. That group of storms was headed our way and we still had a couple more hours of riding to get there. So all of that is why I did not get there.
I tried. The time we had in the attempt was fun. I know if we had made it, it would have been even more so. The storms that were headed our way at the time did not look good. Lots of lightning strikes made me glad to not be on the Uly at the time. I felt bad for my Buddy out there. We will meet up again in the near future.
Hey Vern- sorry you didn't make it but thanks for trying. One of these years we're gonna have a massive turnout and fill this whole hotel. Maybe next year.
I'm sitting here on the balcony trying to plot a route home that keeps me in the twisties as long as possible, avoids interstates, and takes me through some places I've never been. I always hate leaving the mountains.
Our small Buell adventure party to Little Switzerland while at the top of Newfound Gap.
Wish we could have made it. Like Ron White said "he has a lot of quit in him!"(talking about me). My dad would have loved that quote.(If he were still around he would have been 99 this August).
Rolled into the home 20 at 12:30. Saw lots of old classic bikes in Chesnee on the ride home too. Hated to leave the mountains too. Had another great time in the "Alps". Thanks Hugh for getting the word out and heading up the great rides. I always look forward to this weekend.
Well, I rolled into Summerville about 30 minutes ago. I've been in hard rain for about the last 80 miles.
I left the hotel this morning, hopped on the Parkway and went north as far as Linville Falls and took 181 south to Morganton. 181 is a fairly unique road- it's mostly a 55 MPH highway with 20 and 30 MPH twisties. Going uphill (north), there are passing sections every few miles. From Morganton I took 18 south to Shelby, Gaffney, and Union. In Union, I hopped on 176 and took south to 121 into Newberry, then I picked up 391 in Prosperity to Batesburg-Leeville where I picked up 178. 178 through Orangeburg, Harleyville (ick!) to 78, then 78 to Summerville. Something like ~320 miles total today. Uly didn't miss a beat all weekend. A good ~100 miles of that was new roads for me and I enjoyed most of them.
Thanks to everyone who came (or tried to get there!). Very glad to see some new faces this year (Buelltours and Bosgarage57). Thanks to Buelltours for the guided tour of some great twisties on Saturday.
I'm already ready to head back (just as soon as my hands and rear recover!). I took a very few photos; I'll post some later.
Great shot, Prior, but that wasn't anyone from our group.
Speaking of which, I saw an XB12R followed by what looked like an MV Agusta getting off the Parkway at the exit near the hotel on Sunday. That was the only Buell I saw all weekend that wasn't part of our group.
(talking about me). My dad would have loved that quote.(If he were still around he would have been 99 this August).
