Spring 2000
This trip to Deal's Gap was the best yet. Don's friend Iain made an insane 6 hour ride down from Toronto on his ZX-7 to Michigan, he then hopped in the truck and we drove another 8 hours to Deals Gap!
You could say he wanted to ride the GAP! Of course we had the usual suspects along, Don Proctor with his ZX-7, Jim Brehmer brought an RZ350, Clayton Walsh on his ATK single and my brother with his 1200 Bandit
I had swore off ever riding there last year because of the idiots in short pants cutting across lanes. However we were suprised, when we arrived there and there was about 10 riders total and almost no traffic. Needles to say, it turned into one of the best days I have ever ridden a sportbike on a twisty section of pavement.
This gave me a chance to really open up the R1 and stretch it's legs through many 130 plus MPH corners and the constant elevation changes. And I pretty left everyone.
I found that the R1 (despite it's serious headshake) could achieve almost elbow dragging lean angles. Saturday we road Wayah Road and the Cherohala Skyway (Once at the top we were greeted by the most insane black clouds and it began pouring rain in buckets.
On the Cherohola finding a place with any cover is almost impossible and it's miles back down the mountain. We did manage to find cover under a group of trees for the 2 hour downpour. We were however soaking wet and it was damm cold out.
Claytons ATK ate up a wheel spacer on the way down which meant a long drive back to Mountainbrook and a return trip with the trailer.
Sunday we again drove up to the Deals Gap store and ran another 8 runs with little or no traffic and proceeded down Hwy 28 for another blazing run together before heading back to Mountain Brook Cabins which is our home away from home, hot tub, kitchens. No TV, One Phone and no cell signal means and a laptop for games and movies, a deck of cards and a major party is planned nightly!
I kind of doubt we will ever have the Gap to ourself's as we did. It was a great spring opener at the Gap that we hope to duplicate this fall. Stay Tuned.
FALL 2000
This was with out doubt the strangest Deals Gap trip I've done. I'll start off by saying a cold front came down and it was COLD! By days end we were riding in sub 30 degree temp's. Amazingly the tires proved to be up to the task and I think we had pretty good grip all weekend, with a few slides here and there.
I'll set the stage, one each Yamaha YZFR1, Suzuki GSXR 750, Triumph 595, Yamaha YZF 1040, Ducati 916, Ducati 748, Yamaha RZ350, Honda CBR929 and two Honda RC51's, oh ya and Dr Don's ancient Kawasaki ZX-7.
What else, let's see..... Police, Lot's of them, everywhere we went. On Saturday and Sunday, they set up a check point at the NC/Tenn border which is the beginning of the 318 turn 11 mile Dragon. You had to present a valid drivers license, Title and proof of insurance. They were checking for lights, turn signals, tread depth, ect. And yes they were handing out tickets. Over the weekend we picked up four of them, one for crossing a double yellow, two for speeding and one for careless/wreckless driving. We also had one crash, when Dean headed thru gravity cavity (see photo's) a steep uphill or downhill, depending on your direction. He launched his 916 straight into the dirt hill. He had a nice stoppie going and just about saved it, but touched gravel and threw it in the ditch, suffering slight cosmetic damage and reinjuring his broken shoulder.
Early on Bob Ditners YZF exploded around 12 miles into Deals Gap. Lucky my brother brought along his Suzuki DR650. He gave Bob his brand spanking new GSXR 750 to ride.
Bojan was hauling ass everywhere and doing insane 100 MPH wheelies on his Big bore Ducati 748. One through Fontana Village cost him a return trip to the North Carolina courts after flying by the local police on the back wheel. Needless to say they weren't impressed and made a major scene about it.
Another suprise was encountering a black bear crossing the road in front of me. I'm just hard on the gas out of a turn, my brother and David Lee right behind me. Luck was on my side as he scampered across the road and we both lived to talk about it. I will say this. It got my full attention!
On friday before the police road block, we watched a new 2000 R1 low side, bouncing off a rock, breaking the back wheel in half (ouch, and no insurance to boot!)
Other than those low points, it was another killer 3 days of crazy lean angles and speed, and MASSIVELY HUGE campfires!!
Home this time was Fontana Village. Fontana is a huge kind of mis-mash of housing that is a stones throw from Deals Gap. Much closer than Mountain Brook, but it is a dump by comparision. It's a bit cheaper, but you are held captive since the closest food or store (besides the crap they sell in Fontana) is about an hour or more away.
I really did not like Fontana Village much.
The cold made us re think how late in the year we could ride down south and next year we plan an earlier arrival.
Until 2001 Best to all.
