ABioBikers

Not shown are the ones who were too lazy to get out of bed in the morning. YOU know who you are! : )

The 2010 Smoky Mountains ride has come and gone. It was a great turn-out this weekend requiring four cabins to house everyone. The initial forecast predicted rain, and that we got, along with some nasty fog on Friday. But for a good bit of the time we had beautiful skies, sunny and hot. I'll just put these few photos here for now and post more with more comments later when I've got a bit more energy. But I do want to thank Rob for organizing this again. we really appreciate you, Rob! And Jean kept us all well fed to the point of busting! Thanks, Jean! You're awesome! I really enjoyed hanging out with the ladies and children on this trip. It was great to see so many this time.

Hey guys, Brian and I made a one day scouting trip to the Smokeys. Did 335 miles. The roads were in great condition. Some sand and salt, but ice free and gravel free. The temps hit 64 degrees. Dry falls, near "Bridal Veil Falls" where we stop for pictures, is now open with a fine parking lot. It would be a good place to stop with a sack lunch to eat by the falls. Here's a few pictures.

Doug, I, and Matthew Powell made it out this weekend. We met on the BRP and then wended our way to Kentucky. We departed at 7am Sunday and the temp was 31-37 (depending on where you were). We climbed a hill into the Sun and the temp rose to 55 in the course of about 5 minutes. I was "macho" and went without the heated jacket and the Sun was great. Then, we decended into the valley again and it dropped below 40! This put a chill in me that I could not shake without stopping for coffee. Note to self: "You haveheat: use it!". On a back road, this 18 wheeler flat bed shot out in front of us and was just tearing up the road. He was doing 25-30 in the corners and hitting mid 60s in the straights. If a guy can drive a truck like this dude,there's no excuse for a car not being able to go the speed limit! When the truck got to a stop sign, he waved us by. He was a great guy, and I was kind of sad because it was an experience following a truck that could move l

Isn't it amazing how I just get more handsome every year? Done vomiting yet?...OK. Doug and I made a ride this October. It was cold and rainy, but with heated bikes and heated gear, it was no big deal. I made it back down to Suches area which I have good memories of as it was my first big trip on the new BMW with Lisa, John, and Bob Newman and the roads were fantastic. On the way back, we crossed the summit of the Cherohala (Cherohaulass). At the top, it was 25 degrees (from the BMW computer) and mostly clear with a snow flake here and there. We stopped at the summit to have a drink and enjoy the icy beauty and snapped this picture. We proceeded and found an ice covered tree that fell across the road. Then, we approached a spot with about 100 feet of ice where a couple of Harley riders flagged us down. They hit the ice and their bikes went down. It was nice of them to warn us. We probably would have seen it, but still, if we hit it at 20 mph we would likely have gone down too. Inst

Hi All- Thanks for another great time! Jean and Mona, the food was fabulous again and I almost had to pay baggage fees for the weight I gained. The rental Goldwing worked okay but I'm glad to be back on my ST1100. It feels small now but nimble. The atlas cover in this series is a book highly recommended by my taxi driver- he's a long-time local with a son who rides a Ducati. I ran into truly ugly stop'n go on the way to returning the rental but still made the flights okay. It absolutely killed me that I couldn't legally split lanes in TN to make time. I love California! Still, the riding was beautiful and I had a great time visiting with everyone. I will send the videos to Rob (hard to post 8 GB). I appreciated that several other riders interested in a more 'sightseeing' pace like myself next time. Hope I can make it...I'm considering cross-country again on the ST to save some $$ and have a bike that corners better.