GOt here about 11 am. THere must be 300 or more Z's including old stuff. The car show was awesome.

Traffic on the Dragon was thick, there is a BIG Harley club here - kinda dampens the DRagon at times. BUt there is also a Kawasaki 1000 group and a Harley group (the sportbike versoin of the 1200 sportster - fast bike!)

I have NEVER seen such LEO presence here. Finally saw the famous unmarked SUV the county runs. Two other marked county units as well.

I have found the secret to getting people to pull over, but none of you are gonna like or believe it.

 

Not sure what is wrong, but my Verizon phone has no signal here this time. Not at the grill, in the room or in the Lodge.

 

lay on the horn till they get out of the way... or will that create a rock slide?

 

Nope. Have your Hooters girlfriend satnd up inthe car and flash "em.

 

Franc, he stated we weren't going to like it....lol

 

Well, Mark... spill it. Do we have to wear a Harley hat? Bimmer shirt? Give the Spanky-Wave?

 

Only a picture will explain it.... I"ll get ya one by monday!

BLOWN ENGINE?

I'm still here - one of the 350 / 370 Z's went by me as I was prepping my camera on a turn past the overlook, (two young guys on bikes from New York and I were heading down to the end to turn around and run together.)

He was producing a lot of blue smoke, I THINK all from his right pipe. Anyway, when we got to the lot (where we gathered to start the memorial run) he and his buddies had stopped, had his engine idling - they were staring into the engine, with smoke now pouring out of the right pipe.

Anyway, the guys on the bikes wanted to GO, so we turned around and took off... had a good run until 3 miles from the state line - a slew of Harley's in the way.

 

Oh, and the guys I ran with? They were tearing up the Skyway friday, got separated, and the one trying to catch up was doing around 100 trying to catch his buddy. Well, when they got behind a line of traffic, after about 5 miles, the State was behind them with lights on.

He wrote the kid for 19 over and let him go. The cop said he was surprised he caught up with them (traffic was down to like 40), said cop said to "try to keep it under 70" !!!!


I can't remember if he said it was a $260 or $360 ticket.

 

Hey, us old Harley riders like to have fun too.... I'd love to do some "board" draggin' down there, but would prefer a Kaw 750... Have fun....on your run...

 

Ok, got to weed thru a LOT of videos!

Other stuff that happened:

1) Saturday morning, some Z's left the Lodge and headed to the Dam (or at least in that direction) they made it about four curves and one of them panicked in a right hand curve and hit the brakes, he spun and went backend first off the right side and into the ditch. Girl at the General store said he was "towed away" but uncertain on what actual damage was done. She said that the state trooper said (to SOMEONE): "He'd have been fine had he just not panicked".

2) Just today, I was talking with a guy at the overlook, had a good talk and some laughs. I then headed down to the end and stopped in the lot and re-loaded the camera with a fresh SD card and battery. I head back and get almost to the big curve where there is a road off to the right that goes down to the river, and a van signaled me to slow it down. I come around the curve and there, in that tight hairpin turn, are a deputy and a THP car. It took me a second, but I saw a toyota or something off the left side of the road, then I saw him, the guy I was talkiing to earlier. He'd made the corner and somehow lost control and spun around tail first, like the Z yesterday. He waved and smiled, and yelled, "I'm out!"


Hey Doc, I hear you like Hellbender. Two things:

1) I TORE IT UP today, on my last run as I headed home. (Oh, wait, I tore it up YESTERDAY, TOO!) Both runs on video.

2) Damn, now I can't remember the other point. Oh, yea - I remember: LEOs were THICK on the dragon, but hellbender .... NOTHIN!.

 

Oh, and that bad curve past the overlook? They lost a Harley on it yesterday. I have video of me driving by with all these bikers standing around..... then, I turn around at the bottom and come flying back up, and have video of me squealing my tires around the bend, with the unmarked Sheriff SUV sitting there with it's strobe lights going! (And I KNEW that guy was a cop, I saw his shirt earlier in the day, as I drove by - he was sitting in the first strait run about a mile from the state line, and Killboy told me he was a deputy).

I was probably only doing 40 in that curve.... that's only 10 over, right? Besides, I kept my vehicle under control, isn't that what it's about?

 

I sure picked a good weekend to get away, cause this week has been hectic.... anyway, back to my thread.

I have some pics ordered from Killboy, I'll post some when they become available for download.
I also have some video clips to post to youtube, I'll get to it, eventually.

Most ironic thing heard all weekend:
I was up at the overlook talking with some sportbikers (my favorite people after Crossfire people) on Saturday when a slow car came thru with three cars behind it and four Harleys. The Harleys stopped, and one guy got off his bike, yanked his helmet off, and said, "That was retarded, I can go thru faster than that..."

So, if a Harley slows YOU up, that is just fine. But if you slow up a Harley, you are "retarded".


Most surprising thing seen all weekend:
There is a Killboy shot of me aside the road at a Killboy location, I am adjusting the camera affixed to the windshield. (Not surprising, but this was...) Just after I got it set up, I walked around the car to the passenger side to watch the traffic pass, a line of traffic came along, led by a lone Harley. He pulled up behind me, let traffic pass, and took off.

No, really - a Harley pulled over to let cars by!
Sorry, I don't have photographic evidence of this event but I don't make stuff up (other than stories about imaginary girlfriends half my age).


Why I like Sport bikers:
Well, first of all, when I can keep up with them, they make me feel like a man!

Second, they are usually very friendly - and this trip was no exception. Three times I ran with them, two times I let 'em by and kept up with them - once I saw them behind me and took off to see if I could keep 'em at least 200 feet behind me. Once our runs were over, they'd always wave back.

Third, this time, I was at the aforementioned overlook (when the Harley guy ran his mouth) - and when I FIRST got there, two bikers came up to compliment me on the car. THey actually knew the car very well, these guys were 19 and 20 and from upstate New York and were at the Dragon for the first time.

We talked for a while and ran together to the far end of the Dragon. We then turned around and tried running the entire Dragon, them in the lead this time. We got behind slow traffic about three miles past the overlook and pulled over. We talked a bit, then they headed on towards the Gap, I turned around and headed back to the far end.

Best part was as we were parting, the one kid yellled, "Hey, Mark, be safe - and you sure are a helluva lot more fun than my Dad!"

Hey, first, he did NOT say "Granddad", second - it was a compliment, made me feel good! It made me remember how much fun I had working with the teens of Camelot Theater in Griffin.

 

So, is this the complete Hellbender?

Hellbender From the Dam to Deal's Gap - YouTube

 

Killboy takes good pictures!