Quote:
Originally Posted by cabriopilot
With only a 4 hour drive I know you'll find a way to make it out, even if its only for one event.
Once your here you'll then find yourself calling in sick at work telling stories like..."I came down with jungle fever, so I don't think I'll be able to come in today".
See ya there  |
Funny story, when I first moved to the Carolinas, I decided one Sunday morning I would take a ride on my sportbike to "The Dragon"....never had been there, knew nothing but there was a whole lot of twisties.
I left in the morning wearing a perforated leather jacket and jeans. I didn't even look up directions (we didn't have the internet then...lol j/k), just took a quick glance on the map to see where I was and where the Dragon was in relation to me.
I knew 40 ran east to west and it was north of 40 by the TN line. How hard could it be to find it? Surely they'll be signs as I get closer.
I rode my bike till I got to 19 and went north figuring I would cut across towards the mountains. Turns out 19 kinda deadended a few hours going north. I stopped at a small convenience store and the lady there told me that you the correct way to get there was to go all the way down 19 and loop around by Cherokee.....HOWEVER, there is a shortcut that isn't on the map.
I had already been on the bike for about 4 hours and figured I'll try the shortcut. At one point I pulled out of a sidestreet and when I pulled onto the main street, I was right in the middle of the town parade. The sides of the road were blocked and I was stuck riding in the parade what seemed like an eternity. All I could do is wave and follow the stupid clown car in front of me.
I FINALLY found a street to blow out of the parade and took it. I took lefts, rights, anything I could do to get my sense of direction back on track. I finally came to a main road and took a right. I could see a bunch of people (stupid, it was 5-6, hardly a bunch) standing on the road gathered around a pickup. There was a guy standing in the pickup but the funny thing was, from where I was, it looked like they were wearing sheets.
As I approached, I realized what I was looking at. It was a KLAN meeting. The guys were all wearing white robes with white pointy dunce caps on there head. It was scary looking at a man looking at me with nothing but two little circles cut out for eyes.
Right in the middle of a road, I couldn't believe it. I twisted the throttle and kept it pegged and never looked back. I rode for over an hour in hopes of coming to a crossroad running north/south so I could head towards the gap.
Eventually I come across interstate 40. Figuring I'm still on the east side of the gap, I head west towards my destination.
That would have been great had my destination been Knoxville. As I read the sign KNOXVILLE 23 miles, I realized this day was getting worse.
I turned around and road my bike back towards home. When I got near Cherokee, I knew I had to be close.... so I thought. At this point, I'm still lost and finally come across the BlueRidge parkway.
It's about 8pm, it's getting colder and the leaves are all over the ground. I'm cold, hungry and haven't been off the bike except to get gas. I figured since I'm obviously not going to ride any twisties, I may as well enjoy the parkway and head towards home.
The temperature dropped rapidly that night and by the time I found 321 south which I knew would lead me towards home, it was 39 degrees. I followed a semi for what seemed like an eternity. I was literally 5 feet off his bumper trying desperately to keep the wind off my body. I was frozen. I would stop at every rest area and hide underneath the hand driers in the bathroom to warm up.
It was midnight and I was just getting back to Lake Norman. My parents lived there so I stopped in to warm up. I stayed there for about an hour and continued the last hour and a half towards home desperately trying to get to some warmth and comfort.
I got in between 2-3am, I was tired, frozen, hungry and had been on my sportbike for literally 18-19 hours straight. I went to bed so I could be at work at 7:30am.
Though I thought my legs would permanently stay in the crouched position, I still rode my bike the next day when it warmed up.
I look back that 15 or so years ago and since then, I have made two trips a year to the Dragon.
So for any of you that are coming for the first time, if you see guys standing around wearing white sheet robes, I would turn around and run....
Mark
