Crashrat

I went on my last long Western North Carolina ride yesterday and didn’t get back until it was dark. The plan was to hit the Blue Ride Parkway, Cherohala Skyway, Deal’s Gap and Devil’s Triangle in one day, but I planned it all wrong and ended up lost around Bryson City at 8 p.m.

The whole area was deserted. There were glacial walls on the Skyway where waterfalls had frozen over and clouds danced on the asphalt like ghosts. Valleys filled of nothing but mist and an occasional rugged outcrop of stone. Riding the Skyway in those conditions was the most terrifying thing I’ve done and I’ve ridden in snow, hail and hurricane winds.

I wound my way up Tennessee to get to Devil’s Triangle, then came back down to hit Deal’s Gap. It was around 4 p.m. and the road was almost deserted. It might not have been my best run at the Dragon, but I do think I sucked less than usual. The VTR was flawless there and I kept it in third most of the way, concentrating on my riding.

It’s always weird riding a road where people have died. You see the gouges in the tar where folks have dug into it too tight, marks that disappear off cliffs, oil stains. In the middle of everything a bald guy on a streetfighter was pulled over and he and a buddy were scouting the forest, probably looking for someone who had gone off.

Cut up toward Bryson City and got lost with 80 miles showing on the trip. I finally found a station with old pumps, but the super unleaded wouldn’t run. The dude said that I was the first motorcyclist he’d seen in three weeks. More twists and god knows where I was – no cell phone or anything up there, of course.

Got back on the highway and hauled *** home. The wife and I went out for drinks and things got blurry after all that.

I don’t know how the rest of you function on the nog, but I can’t type with juice in me. I see three of everything, and sometimes, well, you know just seeing something once is more than enough.

So about this avatar thing. First: Grape Ape is not taking a dump. He’s riding atop a van. Lots of Hanna Barbara characters ride on vans for some reason – I guess it’s a seventies thing. Please see the attached photo for confirmation.



Second: I think y’all are missing the essential goodness that is Grape Ape. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsj53...eature=related) There is a child-like happiness I see in the thing, probably drawing from the utopian haze of the 1970s. We are all in Yogi’s flying arc here, a perfect communal experience where you don’t actually have to co-exist with anyone.

Besides, I just don’t know if I see myself as a dead mouse sort of guy. Ratfink, maybe.

Mike996