Aye Weeds you do bring back memories of my mis-spent youth. Thank goodness I'm beyond that part of my younger days..eh! And thank goodness for the descretion of said officers of the law..eh! Hopefully you have larn'd your lesson and may count yer blessings! Now...ahem..if not! Head down to The Dragon. (Google it..) Here's a nifty slice of road that just begs to be ridden hard and fast. (Notice all the little pieces of plastic and broken mirrows alongside the trail.) Now, to make the ride even more better...pick up I-81 south anywhere in Pa. and ride south to Front Royal, Va. Get on Skyline Drive and keep the speed down to 35m.p.h. as required. Stop at all the pull-offs and admire the views! In Staunton, Va. The Skyline Drive ends and The Blueridge Parkway begins. Spend the night at the hotel just west of the Skyline Drive..I think it's called The Colony Motel. Good rates and big-screen T.V.'s! Got a nice little pool to cool off in. (Push the "B" side of the "A-B" button on the T.V. remote..!) Drop down into Staunton, Va. and hit the steak house there for supper! In the morning be up at the entrance to The Blue Ridge Parkway at daybreak! No entrance fee and the view is all the way to Va. Beach! (P.S...don't go to Va. Beach...) Head south fer the next 400+ miles all the way down into the Carolinas. Now once ye git down near The Great Smokey Mts. yer gonna hear folks talk about Deals Gap and The Dragon. Go there. Mind ye..it ain't no place fer cruisers and their ilk! This is sportbike heaven. No fat wannabes with fake tatooes..no beer bars every 2 miles. No porky 900lb. bikes with 50h.p.! No topless 50yr. old biker-mammas! (urrrrgh!) Nope...this is full-face helmets and r.p.m.s. up in the 16,000 r.p.m. range. Down here "leathers" means full-coverage from head to toes of something other than black naugahyde and fringe. Now...gitter done! Audie...still leaning over and viewing the world from 90 degrees!

 

Audie, I've already been looking that up & trying to think of ways to get there. What you forgot to mention though was the 'Tree of Shame' they have. Bunch of pieces of broken plastics, mirrors, & anything else that's broken off of bikes that people have signed & hung on the tree. The only thing keeping me out of that place is the 10-1/2 hr drive to get there.

 

Well now Brother Weeds allow me to explain something. The ride does not begin at Deals Gap..aka..The Dragon. It begins in your own driveway. As soon as you finish cleaning up the dirty dishes and empty coffee cups from your riding partners and flick up the kick-stand...yer on yer way to a new journey. Make some contacts via this website, and others, and arrainge for a place to stay at the end of each day. Now, mind ye, it don't mean cruising into The Ritz Carlton. Sometimes life is as simple as finding a little chunk'a ground to pitch a tent on for the night. I got a little chunk of bottom-land here, 2 creeks come together, off the road, 8min. from I-81 right on the Pa./Md. border. I'll even fix ya'll breakfast. Leave here and head south on I-81 and in 1 1/2 hrs. (less if ye whack the throttles a bit!) yer on Skyline Drive. Front Royal, Va. Lots of camping available there and for the next 100 miles to Staunton, Va. (Skyline Drive ends and The Blueridge Parkway begins.) 495 miles of glorious mountaintop roads. Speed limits vary but are not enforced too much. About 4p.m. each day start looking fer a place to roost fer the night. Now mind ye young feller...back when I was your age, me and my 2 brothers did this ever summer. No innernet to help us out. No fancy camping equipment. And no touring bikes! A $12 ...2 man tent from K-Mart and a Coleman stove. Cheap sleeping bags from the Army/Navy Surplus Store and Army-issue mess kits! I wouldn't trade them memories for all the gold in Ft. Knox. Of course ya'll could do like the cruiser-crowd does and rent a flatbed trailer and split the cost of gasoline and just unload them long enough to ride The Dragon and trailer 'em back home. Hmmmm....WAGH!...I don't think so either! Now..remember..duct-tape...garbage bags (the big ones)..lots of bungie-cords...W.D. 40...(buy the gallon can and put some in a Visine bottle!) waterproof matches...candles..cameras!..cheap rainsuits!..(makes ye appreciate a really good rainsuit!)..Zip-Ties...toilet-paper in Zip-lock Bags...dental-floss and a toothbrush!,,( dental floss makes an excellent sewing thread fer clothing OR that big boo-boo when ya slide off the road into the gravel. Use the toothbrush to scrub out the injury, clean your chain..etc.!) The toilet paper will come in handy for a myriad of uses..especially if you launch off into the gravel at GrandFather Mt.! All this stuff will fit into a fanny-pack. Except the tent and sleeping bag. A backpack will hold them items. Now..gitter done! Audie..the oldfart!