Showing posts with label smokies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smokies. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Smokies 2011

Another lap around the sun, and we managed to fit in a trip to the Smokies. 28, The Cherohala Skyway, Deal's Gap - we bathed in the land of curvaceous asphalt and warm tires.

  Big_Junction

We introduced a newbie to the area this time around, and he was nothing less than impressed :)

  AdamSlayin'

Every year I question whether it's worth the 8 hour drive to get there. And every year (once I'm there) I conclude that it is absolutely worth it. This year was the first time I traveled down on two wheels (instead of towing). Aside from driving home straight through, while sick with a fever, I think I prefer doing the whole event with just the bike.

  aPeacefulDragon

Who wants in next year?

o-`o

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Cold. Track. Gloves.

Gluttons for punishment! Or maybe it's just that everyone's always available the weekend before the official Giving of Thanks? Or maybe it's the dash - the *last* track day of the year. It's now or never (never == Spring). But we're rocking CMP once again this November for the 2-day weekend of high speed activity.

Why gluttons for punishment? Because for the past 2 (three?) years, it's been *freezing*. Racing around the track with all the layers you can fit under your leathers and then camping out in the paddock in less-than-freezing temperatures isn't exactly the most convenient way to do a track weekend. There's been talk of over-nighting in a hotel, but I dunno...I want the full experience. So we'll see :)

Back to the point - Mike made clear his disappointment that I considered it acceptable to ride the Smokies with this, and so I've been forced to deal with an expensive problem I've been pretending I didn't know about:

glove_no_good

So confronted with another track day and the knowledge that it's time to replace my most track-appropriate gloves, I've been searching. Because of the yearly visit to CMP in the cold (and sometimes wet), I believe these are the best solution:



The Alpinestars Storm Rider. Not only does newenough.com have good things to say about them, but there are comments sprinkled about the intertubes that claim this glove provides warmth without sacrificing protection (which seems to be rare). Gore-Tex FTW! Now to stare at the price for a few more days (weeks?)...

So speaking of the Smokies, I'll cover that in a different post. It's hard to sum up a week out there - and where the Dragon trips started out as get-as-many-miles-in-as-possible-on-the-awesome-roads trips, they've turned into a mix of seeing the sites/hikes as well as conquering some amazing roads. I like the change, but I always leave wishing I spent more time on the roads...

Friday, September 10, 2010

Good coffee near the Dragon!

Stucco_house

Stucco House Coffee Roasters near downtown Murphy, NC.  They roast their own beans and bake their own pastries.

This is reason enough to stay in Andrews from now on!

-- Pixi says

Friday, September 3, 2010

Locked n' loaded...

suzaki_duo

The Suzaki duo is strapped-down.

hardw0rk3r!

Megan squeezed in a few hours of work before her telecon, which went quite well!

1/2-way_thruPacking

Just got the locomotive packed-up.

closingTheEve

Closing this all with a short glass and some internet time. Tomorrow morn we just back the E to the coupler, hook up, and wave g'bye to the cats! Time to rock the Smokies! Well, after a preliminary waypoint...