Deals Gap Trip 2007 (2/6)

[thirdgenlxi]

Well here they are.... these are not all of them only a select few. For the album click the link at the bottom of the thread. There's 319 pictures total. This is gonna be really long!

Enjoy!

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Friday 8/31

(A little background info)

I finish up getting the bike ready and all my last minute packing way later than expected, but got out the door by 2:30. A nice warm 90+ degree sunny day.... perfect weather for a black non -perforated leather suit!

Beginning odo shot

Meet time was between 5:00 and 6:00 in Orlando. Plan is to meet up with a new group I hadn't met before from cflriders.com. I arrive there at about 5:45 and I'm the 3rd one there. I introduce myself and meet Brad and Kevin. Shortly after that Jason arrives (we were at his house). But we're still missing our last guy, Chris. Apparently he's quite notorious for being late. We all do last minute tire pressure checks and lube our chains, and fill out our emergency contact info sheet while we wait. I took a few pics

7:30 comes and still no Chris.... everybody is getting on edge as we watch the sky and see dark rain clouds getting closer and closer in the direction we're headed. 7:45 Chris finally arrives. It's now starting to rain, so those that had rain gear put it on as well as put our luggage in garbage bags to protect it from the rain. 8:00 we're off.... we make our way to the turnpike and head north. Our first stop will be Gainesville, FL to pick up another member of the group, Rich and his GF.

We get up to Gainesville and meet up with Rich. His GF is driving her Ford Escape, so Chris' GF and Jasons' GF hop off their pillion seats and the 3 girls ride together in the car the rest of the way up. We grab a bite to eat and get back on the road, about 10:00 pm now.

This pic was taken several days later, but just to show the group. Oh yea and the best part... ALLL HONDAS!!! The guys from left to right:

-Chris and GF - silver '03 VFR

-Rich and GF - silver '05 F4i

-Brad - red '99 F4

-Kevin - red '98 VFR

-Me - red/black '04 F4i

-Jason and GF - black '04 VFR

Not pictured above are several riders we'd pick up later... Jeremy (red '02 VFR) and Kevins dad Bob (blue '04 ST1300)

We made our way north... boring super slab getting out of FL and southern part of GA. We make a stop for gas in middle of nowhere GA somewhere and take a lil break... it's getting late and we're all getting tired

Yup, it's that time

Jasons bike took ALOT of gas!!

Ooooooookkk mobile church, lol

We keep heading north, getting very tired we start the countdown... "ok 2 hours left"... "ok 1 hour left"... "ok 30 minutes left". We finally arrive at Kevins parents house in Canton, GA (north of Atlanta) at 5:30 am and dead on our feet. His parents were just getting up when we pulled in the driveway, and came out to greet us. His mom told us to get some sleep and when we got up they'd have breakfast waiting for us. And that we did! Hauled all the gear inside and went right to bed.

Saturday 9/1

Woke up about 11:00 to the smell of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and even some pastries and OJ. Geared up and got ready to head out for the day. Destination: Deals Gap, the scenic route

We check and adjust tire pressures and lube chains again before we head out

Kevins parents.... his dad joined us with his ST1300

And OMG Dixie is the FATTEST BEAGLE EVAR!!!

Jeremy joins along with us as well (white/grey leathers)

We head out and hit up some twisties. We stop at this little store once we get to the top of Blood Mtn going up US129

It has a nice overlook too

We continue on our scenic route to the Gap, hitting up some more twisties. Then.... UHH OH!

She clocked Jason at 64 in a 45. She was cool though, and we all were trying sooo hard not to laugh as we sat and listened to him feed her this whoooole line of pure BS. But one way or another she let him off with just a warning

I didn't even realize the name of the road where we got pulled over at.... weird coincidence

Started raining in the afternoon, so we stopped for lunch in Helen, GA

Taking a little break after Warwoman Rd, leading to Rt. 28. Damn that's a nice road!

We finally make it to our cabin at Fontana Village Resort a little after dark (this pic taken the next morning)

Sunday 9/2

Todays destination... The Dragon! We arrive at the CROT about 9:00

Yours truly

Had a quick breakfast at the CROT

As we're eating breakfast Jeremy tells us there was just an accident on the dragon. "Oh great, now there's gonna be popo for sure", we all thought. A few minutes later we see this guy come down from the dragon with his truck and trailer, and what used to be an R1. He jumped gravity cavity and ate it, but somehow managed to walk away from it

But we head up anyways, keeping an open eye for the popo. Ended up being only 1, and he didn't bother us. At the overlook

What a beautiful view!

I thought this was kinda cool.... parked in the same spot facing one way I get the TN sign, and facing the other way I get the NC sign

Official dragon water... I wonder if it makes me faster (LOL)

Going up the Cherohala Skyway

Stopped here and by pure coincidence, met up with a small group of sportbikes who also happened to be from Orlando

Made it back to Kevins parents house just before dark

Monday 9/3

Everybody else in the group is getting ready to head back to Orlando. I'm not going with though, I'm staying in the area for another week

So what do I do?? My ass is headed back to the mountains!

[thirdgenlxi]

Absolutely beautiful scenery... no pictures, videos, or words can due it justice

This WAS a really nice little twisty and hilly road until.... Uh oh BRAAAAKKKEEESS!!

So I decided to do a little offroading... saw this little road and was curious where it went. It didn't look bad at the bottom... didn't know that in the middle it had some spots that were damn near 40 degree incline

Interesting trees they have here

Top of Brasstown Bald Mtn, the highest point in GA (4,780 ft)

This little section of Rt. 52 was absolutely breathtaking

I want to live.... HERE

The sun was going down as I made my way back across Rt. 52. Made for a beautiful mountain-scape

I then made my way to Dalton, GA where I'd meet up with Aaron from cbrforum later that night after he got off work. I met up with him and followed him back to his house in Chattanooga, TN

Tuesday 9/4

He has a '93 F2 that's he's doing a full body swap with an '01 F4i, gauges and all. We went and picked up all the bodywork from the painters, and worked on all the wiring and custom work that was needed to make everything work

Wednesday 9/5

I left Chattanooga, TN and headed to Athens, GA where I was supposed to meet up with Mike from georgiasportbike.com. Hit up lots of nice twisties on the way there, and went through the thriving metropolis of 'Talking Rock'

Don't blink or you might miss downtown!

More overlooks

Got to Athens, but then wasn't able to get ahole of Mike. After waiting for about an hour, I left and just found a hotel for the night. Ended up in Lavonia, GA (almost to SC). This was the only night in a hotel the whole trip

Thursday 9/6

I had my job interview in Winder, GA. I slept in that morning cuz I really needed it. Left the hotel at 11:00 and made my way to Winder. Got some lunch and then went to my interview, which went very well (I got the job). After that I call up another one of the guys from georgiasportbike.com, who happens to have the same name as me (same spelling too), as well as the same bike though different year. So I make my way over to Suwanne, GA over closer to Atlanta and meet up with him

We planned on hitting up a huge well known bike night in downtown Atlanta at a place called "The Vortex". But first we meet up with a few other people. Most of these people were with another group and they all left before we did... it was a pretty big group! Guess this is the gas station everybody meets at

After hanging out for a bit we head downtown ATL

First stop is a place called "The Varsity". I guess everybody goes here first and hangs out before heading to The Vortex

Unfortunately we never made it to The Vortex. The other guy I was with was having some intermittent charging issues with his bike. He thought it'd be alright, but soon as we got to The Varsity, his bike was dead as a doornail. Wouldn't even bumpstart. Luckily somebody had cables and I had tools, so we jumped his bike off of mine. Luckily it started charging, but we both thought it best to just head home rather than risk getting stranded somewhere. We made it back to his house without incident

Friday 9/7

He had to leave for work at a ridiculously early time in the morning (6:30), so Just got up early and head out somewhere. It was my last day up there before making my way back south, so I had to make the best of it. I left his house in Suwannee about 7:15 am

And where do you think I headed?? Come on, take a guess!

[thirdgenlxi]

Bingo! And back to Deals Gap I go! But first stop along the way... one of my favorites. What an awsome road!

The Joyce Kilmer scenic forest was very cool

Overlook on top of the Skyway... it was about 65-70 degrees up here... felt sooo good

Same bridge I stopped at last year... still a favorite

And here I am yet again... gotta get one last run in

WTF?? Kawi ZRX-1200

Found a little suspension bridge on my way back down 129

As weird as this sounds, I found all these rocks quite interesting. Looking at the way they were eroded, most all of them were very smooth and rounded, and had huge holes in them. A few others were perfectly flat and HUGE

Made my way back to Athens, GA to meet up with Mike from georgiasportbike. I got ahold of him to make sure he was gonna be around and he said come on over

I loved the driveway

This dog was freaking HUGE!! Great Dane I guess... it was about as tell as my bike (literally)

Saturday 9/8

Sad to say it's time to start heading home. I leave Mikes house about 10:30 or so and make my way towards Macon. I had called a guy from cbrforum in Augusta, GA but he was busy and couldn't meet up, so I called another guy from cbrforum in Macon but he was at work. So I continued on my way.

Stopped in Cordele, GA for gas and some lunch. After filling up, having not looked at the total amount while filling, I look after I'm done filling. Yup, it's a sign, I'm headed in the right direction to go back to hell...errr south florida

Hot sunny 90 degree day + black non-perf full leather suit... what could be better to eat than some greasy Popeyes chicken!

Now this was just downright depressing (the sign that is). Talk about a buzz killer

It's starting to get dark as I roll into the Orlando service plaza. I call my buddy Calvin who lives in Orlando so I can go meet with him

Having previously crossed the FL state line, I found it only appropriate to make this my next stop

LOL actually this was just next to the 7-11 where I was waiting for my buddy at. My buddy showed up a lil while later and I went back to his place, then we met up with a few other people and his brother and all went out to eat

Sunday 9/9

Calvin and his new wheels

Calvin builds the real deal flight sims, so he took me over to his work and let me play with these bad boys

Future stunna

6:00 pm... time for me to head out. Only 3 more hours until I'm home

Thanks KP!

Finally made it back home safe n' sound about 9:00 pm

Ending odo shot

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For the rest of the pictures, click the link below to see the album

thirdgenlxi/2007 GAP Trip - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

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Well there you have it, my week in pictures! Hope I didn't put anyone to sleep, lol. Freakin awsome trip though... can't wait until the next!

[ohdaho]

Holy shit thats awesome. Amazing how you just bummed with different forum members all over the place. Almost like couch surfing.

[ohdaho]

Oh yea...Fuck you for posting this and making me hate Ohio winters even more.

[timotheus]

im depressed.....great pics and report ......id like to stay but i have snow to shovel

[dbonehead6]

damn i miss living down south!!!!

[Likwid]

jesus christ, I liked you at first now fuck off!

kidding (only halfway) loving the ride reports man, thanks a ton for sharing them with us!

[timotheus]

i got the driveway shoveled but it snowed some more so i guess ill be shoveling again in the morning .........i hate everyone who lives in a warm climate

[thirdgenlxi]

Holy shit thats awesome. Amazing how you just bummed with different forum members all over the place. Almost like couch surfing.

Yea I always try and just meet up with people along the way..... not only do I get a place to stay for the night, but also get to meet alot of great people out on the road. Soooo much better than staying in a hotel, and alot cheaper too! My first big roadtrip I did (the 2006 deals gap trip) I was gone for 18 days and spent every night in a hotel, other than the nights I stayed with my family. I'll tell ya that freakin adds up!! Between gas, food, and hotel expenses, I spent nearly $1800 on that trip! Now that I've made it a point to stay in as few hotels as possibly, most of my trips now run me $200-300, most of which is gas and a little bit is food (I take snacks and stuff in my tankbag)

Check out my "july meeting new people" roadtrip to see a perfect example of the above at work!

Thanks for all the compliments everyone... glad you enjoyed the pics!!

[Earache]

Yea I always try and just meet up with people along the way..... not only do I get a place to stay for the night, but also get to meet alot of great people out on the road. Soooo much better than staying in a hotel, and alot cheaper too! My first big roadtrip I did (the 2006 deals gap trip) I was gone for 18 days and spent every night in a hotel, other than the nights I stayed with my family. I'll tell ya that freakin adds up!! Between gas, food, and hotel expenses, I spent nearly $1800 on that trip! Now that I've made it a point to stay in as few hotels as possibly, most of my trips now run me $200-300, most of which is gas and a little bit is food (I take snacks and stuff in my tankbag)

Check out my "july meeting new people" roadtrip to see a perfect example of the above at work!

Thanks for all the compliments everyone... glad you enjoyed the pics!!

So you transfer your costs for fun onto unsuspecting people that open their homes to you?

Wow. I need some friends like you.

[MidgetTodd]

That sounds like an Obama policy when you put it like that.

[thirdgenlxi]

So you transfer your costs for fun onto unsuspecting people that open their homes to you?

Wow. I need some friends like you.

Wow.... awfully quick to pass judgements from such little information, huh?? You're quite wrong actually.

Hotels would generally run me $50-100 per night. So instead I stay with somebody for a night, does it really cost them $50-100 for me to sleep on their couch for a night?? I fail to see how I'm "transferring my costs" onto them. Please explain...

When I stay with someone I offer to buy dinner if we go out to eat to at least try and show my appreciation, or I go to the store and cook dinner myself. Although many times they refuse and won't let me buy them dinner. More times than not, I don't even ask about crashing for the night, we just meet up and they offer. I don't do this just to save myself a few bucks, I do it because I enjoy meeting and hanging out with new people, and they seem to enjoy doing the same with me, so it's a win/win for both of us. If they didn't, I doubt it would work out as well as it does. I also make sure they're well aware that my door is always open to them as well should they ever be passing through my area

Sooo yea... your logic = FAIL!