From: [email protected] 
Subject: Trip Report: Assault on Deal's Gap
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Date:  ???

Preface:
Booking a group at Crossroads of Time is a frustrating experience. Pete and his wife are both incredibly nice but their reservation system is pitifully lacking. On Wednesday, just two days before our expected arrival, my second confirmation call still ended in confusion. If you plan on booking a group, follow up the phone call with a letter so they have something in writing.

Preface II:
The weekend before the Deal's Gap ride I'd decided to do a full tune-up. On Sunday I was ready to put the valve cover back in place after the adjustment. Then I discovered that I didn't have any permatex to use on the gasket. I went ahead without it and hoped it would hold. On the test ride, I discovered it wouldn't when a few quarts of Golden Spectro spewed on to my oil cooler from the ruptured gasket. I bought a new gasket and some permatex and found myself repairing the bike on Thursday night, the day before I was to leave. The repair job worked but apparently I pinched the fuel line when putting the tank back on, as the bike had a noticeable stumble after warming up, particularly when running at constant rpm. Naturally, I wasn't aware of this until I was on the way north!

Friday:
Andy and I had planned on leaving work at 5pm, but I was unable to leave until 6pm. Andy had already picked up the tent we rented from REI and we'd both brought all our gear into work with us. At 6pm we both sprinted out the back door of work and piled everything onto the bikes. It looked like it was going to rain but we both decided to forgo rainsuits and luggage covers until we needed them. After a quick stop for cash and gas, we pulled onto I-75 for the dash out of Atlanta. Unfortunately, rush hour was in progress and traffic on the Interstate was idling along. We spent the next 20 minutes working through traffic (no lane splitting in Georgia) and heading for I-575. Once we got on 575, the speed picked up considerably as traffic dropped of into the 'burbs. After 40 miles, we turned onto GA-108 and took it to GA-53. We had been headed towards some dark clouds but now we began to parallel them. GA-53 was a nice twisty road that ran through some beautiful countryside. Because of the nearby rain, the air temperature was cool and the sunlight was a bit shaded. This was a great way to end the workday, I wish my ride home was this pleasant! Tate, GA is famous for it's marble and all the major buildings in the area had wonderful marble exteriors. We also went past the entrance to Amicalola Falls, which I haven't seen in awhile. I'll definitely head up that way again soon.

After 25 miles, we hit Dawsonville and headed north on GA-9. This is more of the same but put us heading back towards the rain clouds. We started hitting wet roads a few miles before Dahlonega and slowed the pace. Just afterwards, we encountered a police car. Whew! Fortunately, we reached Dahlonega before we caught up to any of the rain. Since it was nearing dark we stopped for a quick roadside chat and decided to stop for dinner in Dahlonega. We pulled into the local Pizza Hut and parked next to a KZ1300. Just as we were heading for the door, someone emerged with a helmet in hand. We chatted for a moment about the big Kaw and the local roads, then waved him off and headed inside. A pizza later, we emerged into the night and headed through GA-60 in the dark. Almost immediately we were stuck behind a slow moving car and spent the next 16 miles cussing cages and nervous drivers. They pulled into a parking lot near the end so we could finally pass, but a truck pulled out ahead of us. I vented my frustration by zooming the 200 yards between where the truck pulled off and the entrance to Two Wheels Only campground.

When we pulled into T.W.O., Michael and Liz Weaver were waiting out front. After an wrong turn lead to a loop around the swimming pool (which entertained the Gold Wing riders camped nearby) Andy and I pulled up next to the VX-800 and parked for the evening. The four of us sat up for a while talking. I mentioned we should get moving at 8am so we could reach Deal's Gap by 10:30. Michael, knowing my disdane for early morning, assured me he could awaken me. He threaten to set off my bike alarm, knowing it would have me bolting out of the tent. After reviewing plans for the next day we turned in for the night to the sounds of a creek burbling nearby and drops falling from the wet trees.

Saturday:
At 7:15am (ugh!) the Weavers were up and packing. They managed to wake me and Andy without resorting to the alarm, and by 8am the tents were down and the gear was loaded on the bikes. We paid up at the counter and got route recommendation (including hand-drawn map) from the owner. After stopping just across the street for gas, we were on our way down GA-180. It was almost 9am, so we were already running behind schedule. As we started through the farms there were small patches of morning fog in the valleys. The temperature was perfect for riding which makes it a real pity that I hate being up early. All down 180, I was constantly opening my visor to clear fog and wiping the moisture off the front of the visor. Fortunately, the foggy patches didn't interfere with the 180 degree turns as they are usually challenging enough with liberal amounts of gravel across them. Near the end of 180 we came upon a slow moving VW van which seemed to be moving in slow motion. I was trying to entertain myself, but failed in my attempt at dragging my knuckles. Since my turn signals are still intermittent I've stuck to using hand signals. I'm sure my antics confused Mike and Andy since there were no left hand turns nearby for me to be signaling. We made the turn onto US-129 and immediately hit a wall of thick fog. Immediately my visor fogged, so I opened it a crack. Within a few turns, the inside had fogged and I opened it all the way. Then my sunglasses fogged and I was busy wiping all the above with my now wet glove. Despite the VW and the fog, we managed to make our turn onto a unknown county road but the fog was just as persistent here. I managed to turn onto the wrong road and instead of a curvy shortcut to US-76, we had a curvy loop back to US-129. We headed north, still fogged in, to Blairsville and turned east onto US-76 from there. I noticed some smart bikers that had pulled off to wait out the fog but we'd already arranged for breakfast in Young Harris so I stubbornly pushed on, all the while trying combinations of visor, sunglasses, neither or attempting to de-fog any of the above. It was awfully frustrating and had me rethinking my reluctance to purchase a Fog City visor liner.

The eight miles to Young Harris seemed to take much longer than normal but finally the sign of the diner shown through the fog and we pulled in for breakfast. While Mike, Andy and Liz admired the spider webs in the bushes out front, our brave arachnaphobe headed for the table. Soon we had coffee, hot chocolate, eggs, omelets, biscuits and more ordered. The waitress said she'd just quit smoking so we were gracious, despite some mistakes on her part. I hope this un-Denizen like behavior will be overlooked. When the last crumbs had been picked from the plates, we loaded back up. The morning sun had successfully burned the fog away and begun to warm things up. I opened the vents on my leathers and returned to US-76. After a few miles we used NC-69 to jump over the state line to US-64. Going east on US-64 brought us into the Nantahala National Forest and the views are spectacular. Through gaps in the trees you could still see fog in some of the valleys to the west. Just outside Rainbow Springs, we crossed the Appalachian Trail and after just 30 miles on 64, we turned off onto NC-28 (aka Three State 28 since is runs through N. Carolina, Georgia and S. Carolina.)

After about 200 yards, we turned onto Wayah Bald Rd. This is marked on maps as Bicycle 2, but T.W.O.'s owner called it "Thunder Road". Last time through here, I'd had a wonderful ride on 28, so I was looking forward to a curvier ride through the same area. Its 28 miles long but the first 5 miles goes through residential areas so we were moving pretty slow. Once we got into the forest the road started getting twisty and the pace started picking up. After a couple of turns I started into a sharp righthander, only to discover gravel covering most of the lane. I stuck a leg out to warn the others and went wide. I was annoyed to find myself across the centerline and hauled it back into my lane. For the trip up to Wayah gap this turned out to the norm, rather than the exception. In addition to all the gravel, the turns weren't marked so an upcoming bend could be one of the six 180 degree turns or just a mild bend. This made for a cautious pace and was constantly disrupting my "flow". From Wayah gap down, the road was much cleaner and not quite as steep as the climb up. We encountered a few vehicles but one was a truck that was moving at the same pace we wanted to travel. The scenery in here made the frustrating first third of the road all worthwhile with lots of lakes, a tumbling stream, some waterfalls and lots of fly fisherman. I'd love to camp in that area on my next trip through there. This county road met US-19 at a rafting put-in parking lot just south of where NC-28 crosses. We turned out and headed for US-129 rather than going north to NC-28.

US-129 is still in the Nantahala National Forest and offers more beautiful scenery. We stopped in Robbinsville for gas and continued north past Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest to Lake Santeetlah. From here, the final ten miles are some wonderful wide sweepers next to a rock strewn creek. The police are pretty hard on bikes just outside Deal's Gap but these curves make it difficult to fight the temptation to really hammer through here. We struck a compromise that would still have given a sheriff a stroke but wouldn't have gotten us shot on sight. Things tighten up considerably in the short climb from Calderwood Dam to Deal's Gap but things seem to be moving really well. A few turns up we had our pictures taken by a couple standing roadside. I don't know if my grin will show up but it wasn't there just for the sake of their picture.

The Gap:
At 12:20 we pulled into Crossroads of Time and quickly saw Chris BeHanna standing outside. He wasted no time in pointing out our late arrival and to mention that Pete (the owner of COT) was beginning to get nervous about our bills being paid. I ran in and found that our reservations were still screwed up, despite my three phone calls. Fortunately, they hadn't rented any of the rooms we needed (though Chris and Pops did end up in a more expensive room than earlier planned) so we were able to get everything straightened out. While I was inside, most everyone else gathered around. We got the room keys handed out and the campers tossed gear into the rooms. Michael Weaver even pulled the centerstand off the VX for added ground clearance! Then it was time to go run the Gap. Just as we were leaving, Mike Mitten pulled up and took off after us.

While I was moving the bike around the parking lot, I'd just pulled my helmet on without buckling the chin strap. As we started out of the parking lot, I discovered it. While the long line of bikes disappeared into the Gap, I pulled over to remedy the problem. (Safety first!) Chris BeHanna pulled over to make sure things were alright and then we took off in pursuit of the group. Immediately things felling into place and the pace picked up rather briskly. In a few turns we'd caught up and Chris passed me to begin to work his way through the crowd. I did the same, but at a slower rate, passing one bike per open area. Eventually I passed the last bike but Chris was no where to be seen. Once I started picking things back up again, it was very smooth and fluid. Since there wasn't a bike in front I wasn't tempted to ride over my head to keep up and with no bike behind, I wasn't busy worrying about being passed or rear-ended. I was managing to drag my boots in every hard corner and touching my left peg down surprised me a couple of times. After covering most of the Gap I caught up to Joe Courtney who was stuck behind a 'Bago. While we were looking for a way around, Matt Hur caught up to us. Eventually, we all worked our way around and only encountered a couple more cages before dropping down to the lake. Just as we were pulling into the gravel parking lot, Chris zoomed past heading back. A few minutes later the rest of the crew pulled in. Quick stories were exchanged and some pictures taken.

It was hot in the sun, so we started back fairly quickly with Matt and I in the lead. A few turns up, we started catching up to a Cadillac. Just before we caught it, we rounded a turn to find Chris clicking photos of the bikes leaned over. As the Cadillac rounded the curve it spotted the ZX-11 and came to a *crawl*. I wasn't expecting such a rapid deceleration mid- corner, even from a cage, so I grabbed the brakes and pulled up short of rear-ending it. When things got moving again, my concentration was shot and I was blowing corners left and right. After a little while Matt and I got behind a big semi that was carrying John Deere tractors!!! It was going very slow and using both lanes without regard to what might be coming around the corner. I had horrific visions of some bikes becoming hood ornaments but fortunately that didn't happen. Since I wasn't feeling very confident in my riding, I waved Matt to the front and let him pass the truck. A few turns later, I got past. I followed Matt on down but I could tell I wasn't riding nearly as well as I had on the first pass through. COT was a welcome sight as it would give me a chance to clear my mind from the Cadillac incident. (I have a tendency to over examine everything, even when its much wiser to push it out of my mind and concentrate on the riding in progress!)

Once back at COT we started to wait for the rest of the group. We weren't surprised to see Chris pull in next, somehow managing to get back on the bike *and* pass everyone! More stories were swapped, gestures made at the semi when it finally lumbered past and Gatorade drank. The campers got our gear and set up the tents next to the trout pond Pete has set up. There were some *big* fish in that little pond! The next hour was spent buying T-shirts, talking to other bikers, and planning possible routes for a ride. It turns out that a large (15,000 bike) Harley rally was being held in nearby Cherokee, NC and a couple of groups of Harley riders were staying at COT. One group had already talked to Chris and Pops. These guys had trailered their bikes the 190 miles from Atlanta to COT, so they could ride the 40 miles to the Rally. They were quite surprised to find that we had all ridden our bikes there from Atlanta, Alabama and South Carolina and floored when they found people from Ohio and New Jersey. One of the highlight quotes of the weekend was one guy asking Chris "What's it like to ride 900 miles?".

Eventually, the topic of dinner rolled around and Joe (the local) gave some recommendations. Naturally, no one would make a choice and while it was being tossed around, a small group decided to run the Gap again. Matt, Kathleen, Andy, Michael Palmer and Michael Weaver headed back out. After about 30 minutes, we'd already decided to head to Bryson City for dinner and were getting pretty hungry waiting. Most of us had gassed up the bikes so we'd be able to leave quickly. 15 minutes later Andy and Michael returned saying that Matt had gone down in a turn but was thankfully uninjured. When Matt did return, we got the full scoop. I'll let one of the witnesses tell the tale but the FJ had gone wide and gotten one side banged up in the mud and dirt. Some photos were taken as evidence and Matt seemed pretty light-hearted all things considered. This turn of events further delayed our dinner run, as Matt needed to call his insurance company. Joe decided he'd head back to Knoxville with some friends he'd run into, so we waved him off and started chewing on our gloves to keep the hunger pains away. The dark clouds and sounds of thunder didn't add much to the situation. Finally we were ready to leave and the rain started falling. We were too hungry to be detered so we put on rain suits and headed down US-28 with me leading the way.

After a mile, the rain stopped and we found dry roads. US-28 is a nice curvy road dropping out of Deal's Gap. More of the Nantahala Nat'l Forest and more lakes created by the TVA dams in the area. The 45 miles ride to Bryson City was great and my hunger didn't keep me from enjoying it. Chris eventually took the lead just in time for us to pass an unmarked police car. Fortunately, he didn't pay us much attention. We saw a few more police but we pulled into the Pizza Hut parking lot without any incidents. The Pizza Hut was already full (half of which were Harley riders) but it emptied out fast when the Denizens arrived. We quickly got a large table in the middle of the place and covered it with food and drink. Dinner conversation was far to eclectic to capture in a travel report but one of the highlights was watching Rob transform into the Amazing Human Pizza vacuum. We finally hid the sugar packets and cheese shakers. Right next door was a gas station that sold beer so we grabbed some refreshments and turned Pop's Beemer into a beer truck. Lots of Harley's boomed past and we got lots of friendly waves. We set out in the dark for the return trip. We'd already decided to head back in smaller groups, so Me, Andy, Michael and Rob went out first as the Venison Detection Team, with me as lead Venison Finder. Our pace was cautious (though DoD nominal was reached on one long straight) and eventually Pops and Chris caught up. Fortunately, the trip back was made without encountering any deer.

Back at COT, we started repairing Matt's FJ (duct tape can fix anything) and swapping lies. Tom Gent had arrived from Florida but I didn't find out it was him until the next day! I was wondering why someone kept hanging around us. The Harley crowd was back from the Rally and were making lots of noise shooting flames out the tail pipes of one of the bikes. We responded by unleashing Chris's bad jokes. They were driven into their rooms but we were unable to shut Chris up until 2am. Everyone had plans to be up and moving, including Mike Mitten who wanted to head for Delaware, Chris and Pops who needed to start back for New Jersey, and the rest of us that wanted to ride.

Sunday:
At some insanely early time of the morning, the Harleys started moving so I was awakened to the sound of "righteous Harleys". Then, much later, the Georgia contingent got their Harley's moving. During this, my bike alarm went off. Later investigation found it was Matt and Michael Weaver that were responsible for this and not the straight piped V-twin. It was after 9am before I ventured outside the tent and found most of our crew still asleep rather than on the road. Matt and Michael Weaver took off to look for Matt's missing toe slider while the rest of us tried to wake up. After about twenty minutes, a large group including Liz riding pillion on Michael Palmer's Goof2, Rob, Dave, Tom took off for a morning ride. The rest of us started planning for lunch. Soon Matt and Michael Weaver returned (sans slider) and joined in on the lunch plans. Now we just wanted to wait for the rest of the group to return. Around 10am Mike Mitten was moving and soon had his gear loaded up. I loaned him my tools and tire repair kit and off he went for the 700 mile trip to Delaware. Chris and Pops got up but were slower to get moving.

After 45 minutes of waiting for the early ride to return we decided to go look for them. Unbeknownst to us, they had taking a long ride, including part of the Foothills Parkway. Andy led the trip through and our pace was pretty quick. I still wasn't feeling as smooth as I'd been the previous day. Its probably a good thing I wasn't going Warp-10 because some of the turns still had water in them and I felt the rear tire slide a few times. I also began to notice that my front tire wear had reduced my feel for what the front end was doing, so I was more reluctant of turning hard. When we cleared the Gap and still hadn't found them, we began to get worried. Fortunately they turned up shortly with Liz raving about the Goof2's performance and the comfort of it's pillion seat. Apparently they'd hit DoD nominal going up Foothills. As we were preparing to return, some Tennessee police pulled up in a van and asked "You folks aren't planning to break the speed limit today, are you?" Naturally, we responded about being fine upstanding citizens (I cleverly hid my DoD key fob so as not to give us away.) The officers mentioned that he'd heard it was curvy in these parts and to take it easy. Then they headed out. Less than a mile back into the Gap, we encountered the van, all of us merrily riding the speed limit and giving a big wave. I followed Dave back, with Michael Palmer and Liz (still glued to the Goof2 seat) behind. The pace was comfortable but Michael was easily keeping up. Quite surprising considering he hadn't made any suspension adjustments to account for a passenger. His riding was quite smooth! Just before reaching COT Chris and Pops zoomed past on their way northward. Back at camp everyone started examining what had scrapped on that trip through. Michael Weaver reached the VX's clearance by scraping the exhaust pipe. Michael Palmer went one better by grinding away part of his rear brake lever. This apparently had upset the rear and caused a disconcerting rear tire slide.

Once back we turned in the room keys and decided to head to Robbinsville for lunch. Palmer (yup, still had Liz aboard) led the group with everyone else strung out behind. Once on the wide sweepers of US-129, we looked quite impressive with headlights for two curves. Some local churches were letting out and got treated to the site of our convoy. Michael P. found that the motel in Robbinsville had a buffet lunch so we headed there and surprised the church goers. The buffet was quite good and came with free dessert. I think almost everyone headed for the banana pudding! Yuummmm. As we were leaving, our Atlanta Harley friends pulled in, with the bikes already trailered. We had to get a farewell shot with the trailers in the background. Dave Knight headed back to Atlanta from there and the rest of us headed back to COT the long way. via NC-143 to US-28. Once again I noticed my front end being vague but the pace was stronger now and I started getting a little shimy when leaned hard to the left. A new front tire moved to the top of my maintenance list. We had another beautiful ride up US-28 and returned to COT to load up and take off. Kathleen was excited that she'd gotten the CX's peg down for the first time on US-28. All weekend long she'd been very accepting of our bragging so it was great to see her joining in!

After we got everything loaded up, Tom Gent pulled out for his return trip to Florida and Rob took off for South Carolina. Michael Palmer convinced the remaining Georgia folks to head back via TN-68, the same road I'd raved about in my Ocoee River Run trip report. Matt and Kathleen were headed out that way to Ohio, so it looked like another group ride. For the second time, everything fell into place and I had a great ride through. We stopped at the Calderwood Dam overlook for a final chat with the Hurs. Michael decided we should get some "on the road" photos, so he and I made a side-by-side pace, splitting around Matt who was squating in the middle of the road. The camera was out of film so we decided to try a second time. While doing the U-turn I managed to drop my bike (0 mph half on/half off the shoulder)! Grrrr...Michael helped me upright the bike, which fortunately suffered no new damage (just reopened an old race crack in the lower fairing...where's that JB Weld again?). On this pass the photo worked just in time for the Tennessee police van to pull up. We talked to the officer (who was quite nice) about the area and motorcycling. He even agreed to join us in some photos. Finally we loaded up and headed out, leaving Deal's Gap until the next trip.

I led to TN-17 (?) which I'd remembered as being curvy. Apparently my memory had failed because it was mostly straights. That led to US-411 (aka the road from Hell) which we took to TN-68. Traffic kept splitting us up, but the ride down TN-68 was a lot of fun. Its a near-perfect road with a nice mixture of sweepers and tight curves. Additionally, the really tight curves are marked, so they don't surprise you. During this, my engine started surging, a result of the pinched fuel line. This surprised me since it hadn't caused me any trouble all weekend. Nonetheless, I stuck to the the Goof2 and we emerged in Ducktown all grins.

We stopped at a gas station on US-64 for gas and to wave Michael Palmer off. Even my being raised in the south didn't prepare me for the amazing display of "Big Hair" behind the counter. It is truely undescribable. A sociologist must go study this immediately. An equally surprising aspect of southern culture was the super tight jeans an older lady (pillioning on a Harley) was wearing but the Big Hair had already numbed me to this peculiarity.

Me, Andy, Liz and Michael Weaver were all headed east at this point while Michael Palmer headed west. We had an uneventful ride down US-64 to US-129 and an equally uneventful ride to GA-180. We were all getting tired at this point and had a relaxed ride to Suches. The Weavers had left some belongings at T.W.O. so we stopped in there to retrieve them. Since they were heading to Athens while Andy and I were going to Atlanta, we opted to part company there. We had a good ride down GA-60 but traffic seemed heavier than usual. We stopped for gas at GA-400 and then started the 60 mile boring ride to Atlanta. For some reason police were everywhere so half of this trip was taken at 55 mph.

About 5 miles outside Atlanta my bike's sputtering returned and got gradually worse until, while passing a car, the engine lost power completely. I moved to the emergency lane and checked for pressure buildup in the tank and checked the overflow line. Both seemed fine, so I cranked it back up. Everything was running okay, so we headed back out. The sputtering would return intermittently, but a combination of coasting, reving and cussing seemed to ward off another power loss.

We hit I-285 around Atlanta and then hit I-85 into town. At Clairmont Road Andy peeled off for home and I nervously rode the remaining few miles to my house. It was 9pm and I was exhausted. However, when my neighbor asked about the trip a wave of enthusiasm hit me, causing me to repeat most of what I've typed now. I think he's moving out tomorrow.

Review:
I had a great time on some great roads with some great people. Thanks to everyone that showed up! I'll let everyone know when I start planning next years trip!

Epilogue:
I've yet to examine the possible damage from the pinched fuel line. I'm sure hoping I didn't burn up a valve or a piston. Hopefully a new tire will be on the way in a couple of weeks and I'll have the fuel problem sorted out.

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