Day 6—The Dragon and more
29 May
From various places around Robbinsville CB1100s and their riders found their way to the forecourt of the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge. The Ferret had said they had to be there by 0900, and by golly they were! The plan was a meet and greet, a photo or two and then the Ferret would lead us on an assault of the fabled Dragon. Afterwards he would take us to the Cherohala Skyway—a road he and many others preferred.
Many photos were taken and many have already been posted, but, what the heck, here’s a couple more of the 15 CB1100s that gathered that morning.
Other photos of the rally can be found in
this album.
Photos were taken and introductions made. Seeing 15 gleaming CB1100s all lined up made me a little wistful about my black and silver CB1100 sitting all forlorn under its cover 14,000 kilometres away. There were red 2013s, black and red 2014s, a blue one, the model year of which I can’t remember, and I couldn’t help feeling the presence of a red 2010 model and a black 2011 model would have added something. But, enough of this sentiment, I told myself; we’re here to ride. So we climbed aboard our bikes and followed the Ferret out the gate.
In search of the Dragon
The much photographed Tree of Shame
I enjoyed the ride to the Dragon lots. Ferret rook us out of IHML along 28 to Deal’s Gap. There we stopped to regroup, inspect the Tree of Shame and, with a little ceremony, hang dUh!’s generous tribute to OldF7Guy on the tree. This was very different to the other mementos of shame on the tree: this shame was that Eric could not be with us on his CB1100 as he had wanted.
A different kind of shame: OldF7Guy’s memorial is attached to the tree
The conditions in this part of North Carolina are truly wonderful for motorcycle riding. The roads are well made and the surfaces good; the scenery is magnificent, if you like mountains, streams and lush forest (I obviously do); and the riding is one great bit of road after the next. There’s something for everyone: sweepers here, a bit of a straight there, the tight twists of the Dragon over there. Having travelled a fair old distance to be here, what more could a bloke want?
We rode the Dragon out and back. It was a blast and not quite as intimidating as I’d expected. Indeed, it exceeded my expectations. I had been told there were other equally good or better roads in the area; I confess, at that stage, I didn’t appreciate it.
Perhaps the good news is that I was hanging on tight all the way along and back the Dragon and took no photos.
At the end of the Dragon
We passed through Deals Gap, pressing on south on 128 until we came to the Cherohala Skyway (143). We stopped to refuel and then turned east. Not long after we started we were confronted by a police roadblock. I’d just learned we’d ridden past the dam from which Dr Richard Kimble had leaped while being cruelly pursued by Sam Gerard and I wondered whether they thought he was still in the area hiding out on a CB1100. Possible I guess; but not, as it turned out, the case. I can’t say why we were pulled over en masse, but I can reveal that I was asked by the nice policeman if he could look at my license. I handed it to him expecting to be questioned about where it came from. He looked at it for a long time, turned it over, looked at the back and then turned it over again. After another long look, he handed it back without a word and moved on to the next person.
I’m telling this story because a certain amount of mischief was made in the aftermath and, in my view, my good name was impugned. In
this media release, dUh! made the story public. My so-called friend, popgun, immediately leaped to the conclusion that it was my fault—see
here and
here. The second of those posts shows the extent of his mischief making: I hate HUBRIS Omnigrade Motorcycle Oil. It remains to be seen whether it has cost me an engine, but that’s another story.
Anyway, to play along with the humour of it all, I got a grip, contained my hurt, and made a post (see
here) seeking popgun’s help with bail money. He flat out refused and left me—gleefully I may add, see the huge smiley in
this post—to the mercy of his mate Bubba. I assume the said Bubba was not only enormous and hideously muscled but also wanted to engage, with or without my consent, in acts of a kind which cannot be discussed here. Luckily I never had to find out because, Rboe—typifying the generosity I met elsewhere in the US—immediately forwarded a cheque. His post was a bit cryptic and I wondered whether he expected it to bounce. It didn't.
Thanks Rboe. I appreciate it and I hope I never have to do the same for you.
As it happened, later in my travels while in an ice-cream parlour, I met a very large man with many a colourful tattoo who told me his name was Bubba.
“Really?” I asked, “Do you by any chance know my internet pen pal, popgun?”
“Poppy?” he said slowly, “do you really know poppy?” I swear there was a tear in his eye.
“Yes, I do,” I said, “I think he was hoping I might meet you in prison.”
He fixed me with a steely eye, “Now, buddy, next time you’re on that there Internet, you tell Poppy to come on home. You tell him Bubba misses him. You got that?”
He took his ice-cream and left.
The record will show I did as I was told.
Cherohala Skyway
I liked the Cherohala Skyway too. Great surface, long, sweeping corners and fabulous scenery. A great road. Even so, I was pleased when we stopped for lunch at Tellico Kat’s Deli.
At Tellico Kat’s Deli
As we were gearing up after lunch an unidentified CB1100 and another bike roared past heading west. Was that a rare sighting of a CB in the wild? Time produced a couple of solutions to the mystery. At first it was thought to belong to a chap called Mike—not actually a member of the Forum but who happened to be in the area and joined us for dinner the following night. But that was wrong. Turned out it was Ole and his son.
The way home offered a detour to the beautiful Bald River Falls and yet another photo opportunity. I was beginning to feel like a politician. Of note, though, the Ferret had vanished. He claimed later to have mislaid one of his charges; the general consensus is that it was a ruse and he simply seized an opportunity to tear up the Skyway on his own. Ferret, in fact, travels very fast. He may get extraordinary fuel economy and not ride much above 60 or 70 mph, but he shows little need to slow down for anything much other than the sharpest corners, traffic lights and semi-trailers. Unlike most of the rest of us who must be a drag for him. Claiming to have mislaid one of his flock is Ferret for “I’m going for a proper ride!”
The road to Bald River Falls
There was one final stop at the Turkey Creek Lookout. The Ferret reappeared.
Turkey Creek Lookout
This is not actually a photo of redbirds. However, redbirds was pretty impressed that this scarlet tanager sat still long enough for an Aussie to take its photo.
Pre dinner drinks were taken again on the Aussie deck and we reflected on a great day riding with people we’d just met but who seemed like old friends. It was, in the vernacular, a blast, to see so many CB100s together. They seemed to enjoy it too.
In our later evening conversation over a cleansing ale on the deck, Pterodactyl and I agreed that both 2014 models were more impressive in life than photographs would have had us believe. For me, the deluxe model is just beautiful and I’d have a real struggle not buying one if they were available in Australia. The symmetry of the four into two pipes and the beauty of the chrome headers—not just the chrome, but the way they fall—is stunning.
There was more to come.