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The Bugspat Saga - Sleet in August |
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Written by Porkchop
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Tuesday, 15 August 2006 |
We left early Sunday morning to run the Cherahola and Hellbender. The plot was simple: 411 to US 64, East to TN 30 and follow the loop Dish described into Tellico Plains, then The Cherahola Skyway to Robbinsville and NC 143 on to 28, West thru Hellbender to the Dragon then decide how we wanted to come home: the Dragon and 411, the Cherahola again, or blast south thru Murphy.
As usual our first gas stop was in Cartersville when Bugsplat met a guy with an old $50 bill signed by Jimmy Carter that he wanted to sell. These kinds of people collect at that station waiting for Bob but this time he resisted the impulse purchase and we were away. 411 is being repaved from Cartersville to Fairmount which is an improvement over the patched pavement we have experienced for the past couple of years but should be better when the second coat is applied. We stopped for breakfast in Chatsworth and waited on the eggs to be laid and the chickens hatched before going our way again.
As we turned onto US 64 in Ocoee we met two bikers stranded beside the interchange. We stopped and discovered the guy on the Shadow had punctured his oil filter spraying oil all over his front tire and losing all the oil from the engine. Fortunately it occurred in an area and at a speed where he could stop in a straight line. Their ride was obviously finished for the day and they were calling for help so we were on our way.
The temperature was still in the high 60’s and the morning was still early so we had little trouble with rafting congestion along the river and soon turned north on TN 30 which is an absolutely magnificent road. We turned this time onto TN 315 in Reliance and began following the banjo music toward Tellico Plains. As we neared Tellico Plains the temperature began rising until it was positively balmy by the time we stopped for gas at the entrance to the Skyway. Not to worry, a friendly rider from Ohio told us it was 59* on top the mountain.
The Tennessee side of the Skyway was uneventful but a little slow due to traffic. We stopped near the top to consider adding additional layers of clothing but decided that was unnecessary. As we climbed to 5300 feet near Hooper’s Bald in NC I began to be pelted with ice crystals. This phenomenon disappeared when we descended a few hundred feet. I accused Bob of getting us into a sleet storm but he swore that it wasn’t sleet – it was solidified parts of white clouds that stung when you ran into them.
As we descended we began to see crowds of people coming up from Robbinsville and pulling over in every available location. They were putting out lawn chairs and preparing to watch some type of event. Around the curve at the 10 mile mark we saw a downed bike and a stunned biker. He was sitting on the rock wall watching a wrecker load his crumpled machine onto its back. His friend was with him and there was nothing we could do. This is a rather sharp, decreasing radius turn which claims its share of novices. It looked like he had lost the front end and slid across the road into the embankment on the uphill side, destroying his bike in the process.
Wrong Turn Bob did well getting into Robbinsville but managed to get off 143 and take us by Phillips Motel where Putt-Putt will be holding his annual weekend orgy later this year. Marking this location for future reference, we continued on our way.
On a good day Hellbender is one of the more invigorating stretches of asphalt in the area. I remember grinning so big my face hurt the first time we did it. This day was not to be quiet as good because of occasional traffic and the Sherriff’s Deputy who followed us part of the way. Bugsplat still managed to spark his floorboards and take more than his share of the road in some of the curves. There is a new stop called the Hellbender Pit Stop about half way thru which will require an additional visit but we didn’t stop on this occasion.
We spent some time hanging around the Dragon’s Den watching the bikes and the bikers. It was more crowded than I have ever seen it with lots of crotch rockets trying to wheelie up the Dragon like they had seen on SpeedTV. It was around 3PM by now so we decided to head south to Murphy for lunch and gas then blast home. It was a 460 mile plus day with lots of twisties and no trouble. We actually saw two bikes which were not Harleys being hauled on a trailer!
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