TnNinjaGirl
March 9th, 2009, 01:44 PM
Once again I had a weekend of cars, bikes and friends.
Friday contained a Dr. appointment and some great weather so I cruised around and enjoyed some much needed riding. I picked up some local Suzuki 600 riders at the Cycle Gear and showed them how to really ride. Somewhat embarrasing them with my 250. Shame on me, I know. Good day all in all, filled with around town cruising.
Saturday is when the fun started. I awakened early and rode down to the local Ferrari tuning shop for "Cars and Coffee." There were some nice cars there. I didn't take any pictures, because, well, I have seen them all before and nothing was really all that impressive. 3 Ferrari 360 Modena's. A few Porsche GT3's. Oh, there was a 550 Spyder which was nice. Someone had a white Audi R8. Anyways, there were some nice cars in a parking lot with alot of rich people telling each other stories. It was fun.
Moving on from the Cars and Coffee was another small car show at the local High School. The entries were definately not on the same level as the European exotics, but there were a few clean muscle cars that were impressive.
By noon I had had enough of the 4 wheeled variety so I sported my way over to the Nixon's Deli I frequent and chatted with the ladies there. Good food to boot. An elder man with his son and grandson commented on what an incredible bike I had. Flattered, we continued to have conversation about his bikes, and the bike which he plans to purchase. A Harley of course. Really, though, it's the rider, not the bike. He was a charming man with a nice family.
After my pitstop I figured I should stop kidding myself and go ahead for a slide down the Dragons Tail. On my way up there I passed what had to be around 50 bikes of various types. Not unusal for a trot down Alcoa Highway on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Going through Pumpkin Center I saw Chris (you'll remember his silver RX-8 from previous posts) and his brand new rims he got for his car. 11.5" of rubber for a 2900lb car. To each his own. Mile by mile I got closer to the Overlook, becoming more excited on the way. Passing several more bikes, and even several cars I had seen earlier at Cars and Coffee.
The Overlook had a decent amount of patrons sitting and chatting. Discussing road conditions and the location of cops. All usual chat along this stretch of road. People commenting on passers-by, the bikes one owns, has owned and will own. Friends among friends, not an enemy for miles away. Cruisers and crotch rockets, all stopped at a single gathering. By looking at the smiles you could not tell which bike belonged to whom. Everyone had an equal grin from ear to ear. It was only as you looked down to see AlpineStars and Dianese vs the Harley insignia and bandana's that you could discern one type of rider from the next. All friends, all family, all riders.
A short rest cooled my nerves for this adventure that lie ahead. Checing for traffic, left, right, left again, I pulled away as fast as my little 250 would let me. A missed shift reminded me that this wasn't time for games and I needed to get my head on straight, and quick, for here was the first turn. A little rear brake, a little front brake, pull in the clutch, palm the throttle and shift down. Ready... Set up for the turn. Lean a little, turn a little, there she is. I had found my groove several turns later and everything was going well.
Weaving back and forth for several miles, I came to a crawl after getting stuck behind several vehicles. Not to worry, there was a return trip.
So I thought. The return trip ended the same way. Luckily I had met several interesting people down at the Store and was thinking of their company to keep me from going insane behind these slow cars.
Arriving at the Overlook, I debated, to go again, or not to. You know I did. This time I was feeling more spirited and a little more confident in the road conditions and myself. Perhaps I should get a little lower? Wow, I can turn faster and more comfortably when I shift my weight around. What about if I get off the seat? Even faster... Even more comfy... Really? Could it be? Could I, in 2 months and less than 1800 miles on a bike drag knee on one of the curviest roads in the world? It sure felt like it. My speeds had increased and I was feeling more comfortable than ever. Riding on an incredible road, on a incredible machine. Is this what Super(wo)man feels like?
People tell me all the time that you will never be able to truely ride a motorcyle on a public road. I beg to differ. I want to see them watch as Honda's keep up with Carrera's and liter bikes are owned by bike half of their displacement. The equilizer in many respects, there is no pitstop, there are few straightaways. In some curves dragging a knee means that you are at at least a 90 degree angle. Don't believe me? Come see for yourself. Each corner is like making a new friend. Decide how to approach it, get to know it, learn to love and respect it. Take it too hard and it'll bite you back. There's a fine line between cocky and confident. You know which is which by looking at the Tree of Shame. One miscalculation and there is either a rock wall or an 80ft drop waiting for you. Keep your cool, and you are rewarded with one of the best rides you will ever have. This road will teach you to ride. Each pass makes your exponentially better, if you let it.
By the time I got to the Store my legs were a little sore because my butt had not touched the seat the entire time. 318 turns in 11 miles will do that to you. Well, time to do it again. The way back was just as good. Each turn, each pass, better and better. The end came too soon as the Overlook peered back at me through a long straightaway. That was one Hell of a ride. I learned more on a run at the Dragon about my bike, how to ride a bike, and myself than would normally take several weeks of street riding.
At the overlook I met a fellow 250 rider and he led for what would be our last full run of the Dragon as the sun went down. I found it alot easier to keep up with him than I thought. He had been riding the same amount of time with about the same mileage. His bike was a pregen and mine is an 09'. Old and new in perfect harmony through the mountain tops. After a sketchy trip to the Store and back to the Overlook, we went down Foothills Parkway. Such a beautiful sight at night. Please visit when you have the chance.
1908 turns in 66 miles. That's what 2 hours of my life consisted of. Really, I couldn't ask for a better life.
Hard to believe that was only Saturday. Sunday came early just like the day before. What's on the agenda? Autocross!! Jimi brought his first gen RX-7 to the local autocross and competed with some pretty incredible, and not so incredible drivers. Noted fast laps: Lotus Elise, Subaru WRX STi, Eagle Talon TSi, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (fully race prepped). Really the only car I saw that needed to ... get a better driver... was an Audi TT 225 Coupe which on a total of 3 drivers, with 4 runs each only made about 5 clean runs. The rest were DNF. They spun out serveral times. Poor little boys. Hopefully next year they will get some practice in and show some of these other fellas how it's done. The RX-7 won best in class. Ok, ok, so it was the only car in it's class. lol. Fast times were 32 seconds. Most were running 35's. Jimi got a blistering 41 with stock tires and non-functioning secondaries on the carbs. It was a blast though. Fun times and fun people. I must comment though, that bikers seem to be a more open and cheerful crowd than car guys.
Thank you for sharing my weekend with me. I'll post a couple of pics up when I get the chance. Safe riding!!
Friday contained a Dr. appointment and some great weather so I cruised around and enjoyed some much needed riding. I picked up some local Suzuki 600 riders at the Cycle Gear and showed them how to really ride. Somewhat embarrasing them with my 250. Shame on me, I know. Good day all in all, filled with around town cruising.
Saturday is when the fun started. I awakened early and rode down to the local Ferrari tuning shop for "Cars and Coffee." There were some nice cars there. I didn't take any pictures, because, well, I have seen them all before and nothing was really all that impressive. 3 Ferrari 360 Modena's. A few Porsche GT3's. Oh, there was a 550 Spyder which was nice. Someone had a white Audi R8. Anyways, there were some nice cars in a parking lot with alot of rich people telling each other stories. It was fun.
Moving on from the Cars and Coffee was another small car show at the local High School. The entries were definately not on the same level as the European exotics, but there were a few clean muscle cars that were impressive.
By noon I had had enough of the 4 wheeled variety so I sported my way over to the Nixon's Deli I frequent and chatted with the ladies there. Good food to boot. An elder man with his son and grandson commented on what an incredible bike I had. Flattered, we continued to have conversation about his bikes, and the bike which he plans to purchase. A Harley of course. Really, though, it's the rider, not the bike. He was a charming man with a nice family.
After my pitstop I figured I should stop kidding myself and go ahead for a slide down the Dragons Tail. On my way up there I passed what had to be around 50 bikes of various types. Not unusal for a trot down Alcoa Highway on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Going through Pumpkin Center I saw Chris (you'll remember his silver RX-8 from previous posts) and his brand new rims he got for his car. 11.5" of rubber for a 2900lb car. To each his own. Mile by mile I got closer to the Overlook, becoming more excited on the way. Passing several more bikes, and even several cars I had seen earlier at Cars and Coffee.
The Overlook had a decent amount of patrons sitting and chatting. Discussing road conditions and the location of cops. All usual chat along this stretch of road. People commenting on passers-by, the bikes one owns, has owned and will own. Friends among friends, not an enemy for miles away. Cruisers and crotch rockets, all stopped at a single gathering. By looking at the smiles you could not tell which bike belonged to whom. Everyone had an equal grin from ear to ear. It was only as you looked down to see AlpineStars and Dianese vs the Harley insignia and bandana's that you could discern one type of rider from the next. All friends, all family, all riders.
A short rest cooled my nerves for this adventure that lie ahead. Checing for traffic, left, right, left again, I pulled away as fast as my little 250 would let me. A missed shift reminded me that this wasn't time for games and I needed to get my head on straight, and quick, for here was the first turn. A little rear brake, a little front brake, pull in the clutch, palm the throttle and shift down. Ready... Set up for the turn. Lean a little, turn a little, there she is. I had found my groove several turns later and everything was going well.
Weaving back and forth for several miles, I came to a crawl after getting stuck behind several vehicles. Not to worry, there was a return trip.
So I thought. The return trip ended the same way. Luckily I had met several interesting people down at the Store and was thinking of their company to keep me from going insane behind these slow cars.
Arriving at the Overlook, I debated, to go again, or not to. You know I did. This time I was feeling more spirited and a little more confident in the road conditions and myself. Perhaps I should get a little lower? Wow, I can turn faster and more comfortably when I shift my weight around. What about if I get off the seat? Even faster... Even more comfy... Really? Could it be? Could I, in 2 months and less than 1800 miles on a bike drag knee on one of the curviest roads in the world? It sure felt like it. My speeds had increased and I was feeling more comfortable than ever. Riding on an incredible road, on a incredible machine. Is this what Super(wo)man feels like?
People tell me all the time that you will never be able to truely ride a motorcyle on a public road. I beg to differ. I want to see them watch as Honda's keep up with Carrera's and liter bikes are owned by bike half of their displacement. The equilizer in many respects, there is no pitstop, there are few straightaways. In some curves dragging a knee means that you are at at least a 90 degree angle. Don't believe me? Come see for yourself. Each corner is like making a new friend. Decide how to approach it, get to know it, learn to love and respect it. Take it too hard and it'll bite you back. There's a fine line between cocky and confident. You know which is which by looking at the Tree of Shame. One miscalculation and there is either a rock wall or an 80ft drop waiting for you. Keep your cool, and you are rewarded with one of the best rides you will ever have. This road will teach you to ride. Each pass makes your exponentially better, if you let it.
By the time I got to the Store my legs were a little sore because my butt had not touched the seat the entire time. 318 turns in 11 miles will do that to you. Well, time to do it again. The way back was just as good. Each turn, each pass, better and better. The end came too soon as the Overlook peered back at me through a long straightaway. That was one Hell of a ride. I learned more on a run at the Dragon about my bike, how to ride a bike, and myself than would normally take several weeks of street riding.
At the overlook I met a fellow 250 rider and he led for what would be our last full run of the Dragon as the sun went down. I found it alot easier to keep up with him than I thought. He had been riding the same amount of time with about the same mileage. His bike was a pregen and mine is an 09'. Old and new in perfect harmony through the mountain tops. After a sketchy trip to the Store and back to the Overlook, we went down Foothills Parkway. Such a beautiful sight at night. Please visit when you have the chance.
1908 turns in 66 miles. That's what 2 hours of my life consisted of. Really, I couldn't ask for a better life.
Hard to believe that was only Saturday. Sunday came early just like the day before. What's on the agenda? Autocross!! Jimi brought his first gen RX-7 to the local autocross and competed with some pretty incredible, and not so incredible drivers. Noted fast laps: Lotus Elise, Subaru WRX STi, Eagle Talon TSi, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (fully race prepped). Really the only car I saw that needed to ... get a better driver... was an Audi TT 225 Coupe which on a total of 3 drivers, with 4 runs each only made about 5 clean runs. The rest were DNF. They spun out serveral times. Poor little boys. Hopefully next year they will get some practice in and show some of these other fellas how it's done. The RX-7 won best in class. Ok, ok, so it was the only car in it's class. lol. Fast times were 32 seconds. Most were running 35's. Jimi got a blistering 41 with stock tires and non-functioning secondaries on the carbs. It was a blast though. Fun times and fun people. I must comment though, that bikers seem to be a more open and cheerful crowd than car guys.
Thank you for sharing my weekend with me. I'll post a couple of pics up when I get the chance. Safe riding!!