I followed Britman back and forth to Slade. He sent me his
route as a google link, and he wrote out "turn here" "turn there"
directions to mount on his tank bag.
I transcribed the google link to a blue line on the BFGPS. The only
times Britman deviated from The Blue Line was a couple of times when
he missed the turn...
I intended to use The Log Truck on this trip, both bikes have new
tires, but I want the black bike's tires to stay new for InZane.
As I checked my air pressure before leaving I discovered I have
a slow air leak on the rear valve stem's grommet. Maybe the
grommet is bad and maybe the nut is loose. And maybe I have
six new ones sitting three feet away :-) ... in the rush to
swap all my stuff over to the black bike, I only forgot the
bike camera.
We used a lot of different good roads getting there and back, some
I knew pretty well like 209 The Rattler, others I'd never ridden before.
We were about an hour from Ground Zero when we came to this
place where the water drizzling from the side of the mountain
had turned into a torrent.
When we got to the above place, my gloves were almost dry
for the second time. Ten seconds after we left the above
place the sky turned loose. We found a quickie-mart not
far from there and took refuge. Later when I looked at
my phone, it had a tornado warning message on it.
There was minimal riding happening on Saturday, most
everyone was plenty hydrated when they got there. The
rain turned on and off all day Saturday. I rode only
for breakfast :-) ...
We all stood around in the way as Mitch and Gordon
and some other fellows performed a "slipping clutch"
test I'd never seen. There was a trike with a slipping
clutch. They could put the right load on the engine,
hold the brake, let out the clutch and the bike would
sit there running with the clutch slipping...
We used a lot of the same route back and forth to Slade,
including the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. On the way up the
weather was bad on the south side and worse on the north.
The weather was nice all day Sunday. For the most part,
we rolled pretty good on Sunday...
We stopped at the Cumberland Gap Overlook on the way back.
Nearer to Maggie Valley, we stopped at a motorcycle bar and
grill that Britman frequents for burgers... he calls it his
new T.W.O.
-Mike
