Wednesday June 15, 2005 South Loop - Deals Gap and Cherahola Skyway - 275 Miles
It was especially nice to sleep in this morning. OK, well… it was the 1st night in the tent for a while and I didn’t sleep to well. Ran into a few people in the campground last night and this morning, but by the tenters were few. There are also cabins and a bunk house the property, which were host to a few couples. Bill, who used to be form NY and now lives in TN, came early for a meeting of some group called Horizons Unlimited. I say “some group” because at the time that is how I saw them, not knowing any better. Charlie also showed up, and he brought food with him, so we ate up a storm last night. Steaks and shrimpies.. MmmmM..
Today I decided to run Deals Gap and the Cherahola Skyway. The gap is what it is, much tightness of corner and elevation change. An Amazing stretch of road. I found it very challenging and a real lesson in cornering. Anyone can get a lot out of the Dragon if you look at it as a stone upon which to sharpen your riding skills. I had no close calls because I wasn’t pushing it, but there were a few who were, but being a weekday the traffic was very light. Once over the pass on 129 I went south on Rt 72, then used 421? to jump over to Rt 360 which dumps into Tellico Plains. This is where the Cherahola skyway terminates. If you took the Blue Ridge Parkway and mixed it with the dragon you’d have the Cherahola. It meanders a mountain range the way the BRP does, but it has more challenging corners.
Dragon Curves
Near the the Robbinsville end there is a decreasing radius corner that bit the sport biker in front of me. I was following two sport bikes and the first disappeared around the corner ahead to the right. As number two entered the corner I looked down to check my speed, and started to apply brakes. When I looked up his bike was down on the inside headed for the guardrail and he was finishing a tumble and popped up in the air. His FZ1 was missing everything on the right side. He seemed ok, but I bet after the adrenaline wears off he’ll be a bit sore. I noted a SLO painted on the lane before the corner, obviously put there by a local benefactor.
The loop was a most of the day affair with my arrival in Robbinsville around 2:30 pm. It had taken 5 hours to do the loop. I had a great/cheap lunch at the Mexican joint next to the bike shop. I’m bad at names, but chirizo and eggs, with a couple of wraps, beans and rice. All for $4.97. I stopped by the bike shop next door and yakked it up with the bearded guy, I mentioned he’d be getting a visitor soon, bought a MadMap and a couple of dragon stickers. One for the helmet and one for the bike.
I made my way back to the IronHorse by about 4pm. I noted a distinct soreness from all the spirited riding in the corners. Working the bike by shifting the body is a workout!
The techniques in the Lee Parks book are right on. Shifting weight to the inside creates so much more stability in the corner. Because the bike isn’t over as far, especially on Pilot Roads, it is smoother and less twichy. Tire profiles are something I learned more about this evening. I was reading a bit on
www.sport-touring.net and found a great explanation on tire profiles and the effect they have on various riding conditions. The profile of a Pilot road is such that it takes much more effort at the edges to get more turn than the effort it takes to initiate and continue through a less extreme corner.
I moved the tent to a new location close to the stream. Having talked to a few of the early arrivers for the Horizons event, I decided to stick around, so I claimed a better tent sight for the next few days.
[ This message was edited by: JasonS on 2005-06-28 20:02 ]
