On the Way Home...

Four days of riding The Dragon, back road twisties & the mountains of the Cherohala Skyway. I left out early to get a good start. The ride home was over I-40 west to I-81 to make stops to get my last 2 HD Virginia Tour stamps.

The first stop was Christiansburg, Va then a short ride to Roanoke for the final stamp & the 17 bonus tickets.

The ride home was fast and easy. Unlike the heat of the ride down the weather was cool & comfortable. Even with taking rest/gas stops about every 100 miles I still made it home well before dark.

Over all I rode about 1700 miles.

XL Forum Dragon Run

US 129 at Deal's Gap, N.C. is called "The Tail of the Dragon". There are 318 curves in 11 miles. This year XLF Group came in from all over. I came in from Virginia. Bruce came in from West Virginia. Joe & his group came in from Michigan. Dan from Indiana, Linda from Charlotte area. Georgia & Pennsylvania were also there.

Operation New Drive Belt...

The group headed out to ride the Cherohala Skyway and see if Smokey Mountain HD has a new drive belt for Bud.

Along the way we detoured a nice back road to see Bald River Falls.

We rode down to the SMHD shirt shop and they confirmed that the main dealership had the belt in Marysville.

By the end of the day it was a 300 mile round trip.

Rested up & Ready to Ride

Today was a relaxed day riding local twisties and goofing around.

One of the riders in our group, Bud, broke a

drive belt and the nearest replacement is Smokey Mountain HD in Marysville, TN. If the Dragon wasn't blocked it would be a 45 mile ride. So the plan is to ride the Cherohala Skyway over to the HD shirt shop in Tellico Plains and have them call to see if they have it in stock.

Takin' it Easy Today

Bruce made it in just after I did. The place we're staying is right on The Dragon. Unfortunately there is absolutely no cell service of any kind. The ride in yesterday took a little out of me. I ended up riding The Dragon and some local roads to find out where my cell could get some signal.

Long Hot Ride...

12 hours of searing heat but I was able to get to Deal's Gap Motor Lodge just before 8. I would have made it sooner but it took me a while on my 2 detours to get my tour stamps.

Ready for the Dragon Run

I'm all packed up and ready to head to Deal's Gap for the 3rd time in four years. The weather is predicted to be a hot one. I'll be stopping by Lynchburg & Danville HD to get my tour stamps. Hopefully I'll make it before it gets dark.

Waugh's Big Damn Bike Show

I decided to enter Waugh's bike show today. It's one of the only bike shows that instead of paying to enter you get a $10 Waugh's gift card. So a least you can get a free oil filter later on.

There were 16 Sportys in my group. From pristine stock to a cherry '59.

I didn't place this year, the first time my sporty did not win anything. It reminded me of why I hate entering bike shows. It's not that I didn't win but the sitting around for 5+ hours waiting for the judging.

XLF Dragon Run '10

Starting to get ready for the end of the month ride to Deal's Gap N.C. to ride U.S. 129 the Dragon. We are expecting about 25 - 30 people to show up for this one. Some from as far away as Michigan.

I even designed a patch for the ride organizer for everyone that shows up.

NOVA Stamp Ride

Headed up to Whitt's HD in Manassas & Patriot HD in Fairfax today. The morning started off nice but by the time I made it to Fairfax it was a scorcher.

There were a lot of riders out today. But even with the heat it was a fun day to ride.

So far I have 13 stamps in my Virginia HD Tour book only 4 to go. The last 4 will be later this month. Lynchburg & Danville will be on the way down to the XLF Dragon Run. Christiansburg & Roanoke will be on the way back.