Honda Hoot

Ashville, NC

June 1997

Monday, June 16

I left home about noon. It was a cloudy day, but looked like I might luck out and not hit rain. Carla took a couple of pictures of me as I rode out the driveway. At Shoals I stopped at the roadside park to use the bathroom just as it started sprinkling, so I put on my rainsuit. It didn't rain much though, until I passed Bedford. From there on it rained steadily the rest of the day. I arrived in Lawrenceburg about 4, and it stopped raining and looked like it might clear. I took I275 around the south of Cincinnati, and it rained again, very hard at times, once so much I pulled off for a while. A few miles south of route 32 I passed an exit with 4 or 5 motels, but I went on to 32, which is where I figured Tom Heyl, my riding buddy, and I would meet. When I got there, there was only 1 motel, a Holiday Inn, right off a cloverleaf. I couldn't find the exit to it, and ended up back on 275, had to go several miles to a turnaround, and got very frustrated. When I finally got back to the Holiday Inn, they had only one vacancy, at $95. I asked if all the motels would be so crowded, and the guy at the desk called down the road for me, and said they had lots of openings. So I headed back south to the exit I had just passed. I stopped at the Cross Country Inn, which turned out to be a great place. They had a drive through registration, under roof. The room was quite small, but very clean, I parked my bike under the stairway out of the rain, and the price was under $30! After unpacking, I started hanging wet stuff all over the room. Then I had the salad bar at the restaurant next door, called Carla and Tom, watched a little TV, and went to bed.

Tuesday, June 17

I got up early, about 5:30 (my time-I'm on EDT the rest of the trip), as Tom had said he would come early to beat the rush hour traffic. It was a foggy morning. When Tom arrived, we said our hellos, and headed next door to the restaurant to have breakfast. Then we hit the road, going south on I275 to route 52, and heading east.This was a great road that follows the Ohio River. It was foggy, but not so bad as to seriously affect the riding. After a few hours the fog lifted, and we had a beautiful day. We crossed the river at Ashland, KY, and hopped onto I64 East, into West Virginia. We took this to I79 North, then onto Route 19 South, to Summerville Lake. This was near a really high bridge over the New River, that Tom had seen before, and wanted to show me. We found a good campsite, and set up camp. I tried to impress everybody (we had neighbors at the campsite across the road) by inflating my air mattress with my new mini air pump. However, after about 5 minutes you could barely tell there was air in it, so I gave up and blew it up the old way. Then we headed for the bridge, where we looked around, then had a good supper at the Pancake House, went back, talked for awhile around Tom's flashlight (we had no firewood), then turned in for the night.

Wednesday, June 18

We awoke to a beautiful morning. We headed back to the Pancake House for breakfast, then got back on Route 19 South to Fayettsville. We ended up back on I64 East, although my memory is missing exactly how we got there. We stopped in the afternoon at a great waterfall, and hiked up a path to see it from above. After a very enjoyable break, we got back on I64 to Buena Vista, Virgina, where we got onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. The day was sunny and cool, and the ride was great. We stopped at Rocky Knob campground, right on the Parkway. The campground consisted of three intersecting circles of camps, and we went to the farthest from the gate, and checked out several sites before deciding on one. There were only two other campers in this area. It was a great campground, with the exception of no showers or hot water. It now looked like a thunderstorm any minute, and we rushed to get the tents up before the deluge. We also grabbed some firewood from a nearby site for later. Then we headed back to the last exit we had seen, about 2 miles back, where there was a small restaurant and gas station. Before getting out of the campground though, we donned rainsuits, as it was starting to rain. At the restaurant Tom parked in front, although I would have bought gas first, as the pumps were not being used. Once inside, it seemed like a friendly little restaurant, and several other people arrived while we waited. Suddenly the lights went out, and did not come back on while we were there. We still had an excellent meal, and some conversation with a young guy and girl who were from Canada, and there doing field work for their PHD's in Biology. With the electricity off, we couldn't get gas, so we headed back. The rain had stopped, and we got a great fire going. We had brought back a beer apiece. This was by far the best night for the camping experience. We talked quite a while, and Tom went to bed. The fire was so great I stayed up for quite a while watching it.

Thursday, June 19

We awoke to another great looking day. First we went back to the gas station, where the electricity was on, and we filled up, then had a good breakfast of pancakes and coffee. The ride continued to be great, and the scenery, of course, fantastic. We stopped frequently at overlooks to ooh and ahh. Early afternoon we did have a thunderstorm, with quite heavy rain at times. I was leading, and taking it very carefully. Twice deer appeared from the side of the road, and I slowed while they decided what to do. As we descended, the rain stopped, and we picked up speed again. At one overlook stop, Tom asked me if I wanted to switch bikes for awhile. He must have really trusted me, as I told him last time I switched with someone, I dropped his bike. The Harley rode fine, but was set up for a much taller person. I had to reach way forward to reach the handlebars. Also, the shifter and the rear brake were much different than mine, as you had to lift your foot to operate them. I rode the Harley several miles, then when I missed a shift, and braked erratically, I stopped and we switched back. Tom, of course, was really cramped on my Virago. We arrived in Ashville about 5 pm. We headed into town to find the Hoot headquarters, at the Radisson Hotel, but everything seemed to be closed for the day. We bumped into a local couple on a Goldwing, and they knew of a nearby campground, so they led us to it. This was Bear Creek RV park. It was really full, and not my kind of place, but the lady there convinced us we would find nothing else. We ended up camped under a spotlight, in a small grassy area between the fence and the campground road, along with some other tenters. Most of the people in the place were in RVs. We talked a short while and turned in. The light didn't bother me as much as I feared, and I slept well.

Friday, June 19

I woke up about 7, and Tom was already up, showered, and ready to go. I got ready as fast as possible, and we headed for the Moose Head Restaurant, which was nearby and had been recommended by the camping office lady. I had the "egg beater special", scrambled egg beaters, grits, and 2 raisin bran muffins. This was so good I had it the next 2 mornings also. Then we headed for the Radisson to see what was going on. We parked on the street, which was lined with bikes of all types, but predominantly Hondas. Inside the hotel there were some seminars, which we weren't particularly interested in. The back parking lot was the demo rides, which we were. We immediately got in the Honda line, and signed up to ride Shadows. The Valkyries and ST1100s were all booked up. We were scheduled to ride at 4:15. We also signed up to ride Buell sport bikes, which weren't so busy. Then we rode over to the civic center, three blocks away, where all the vendors were. There were 2 floors, with every motorcycle accessory imaginable. Tom spent a lot of time looking at trailers. I bought replacement sunglasses, as I had lost my case and clear lenses on the trip. I looked long at a Joe Rocket jacket. I was also seriously considering buying Progressive suspension shocks, about the same price as the jacket. I decided to wait until tomorrow, as there was no rush. I believe we had lunch at Taco Bell. Back at the demo ride, I rode a Shadow ACE Tourer on about a 30 minute ride through town, onto the Interstate, and then several miles on the Parkway. I thought the bike rode and felt great. Tom though, hated it because he felt cramped. By the time we got back, it was too late to get a ride on a Buell. It was still great out, so we decided to go ride the Parkway for awhile. After returning, we stopped at Ryans Restaurant for a feast. By the time we got back, it was dark, Tom said he was tired, and we turned in.

Saturday, June 21

Tom wanted to get an early start today, so we could get to the demo rides early, and hope to get on a Valkyrie. With this in mind, we rose early, and we were at the Moose Head a few minutes before they opened. When we got to the Radisson, we couldn't believe it - the line for Honda was clear out the gate, but there was no one in the Buell or Yamaha line. We signed up for Buell, and were soon out on the road. This was the first bike with a fairing I had ever ridden (even though this one was small), and the fact it didn't move when you turned the wheel drove me crazy in the parking lot, but I soon got used to it on the road. It was really fun to ride a bike that accelerated so quickly, and handled the curves so well, although we didn't go really fast. Upon return, we signed up at Yamaha to ride a Royal Star. When the names were called, due to some kind of mix up, I wasn't included. I told Tom to go on, as I had ridden a Royal Star at the Rider Rally last year. After Tom's ride, we left to find lunch, and it started looking dark. We stopped at a Wendys just as it started raining. We lingered until it stopped, then headed back to the civic center for probably the last time. I went to look at the Joe Rocket jacket for the 3rd time, and finally gave in and bought it. Tom spent a lot of time looking at a tank bag, but didn't buy. We both bought a waterproof seat cover for $23. I also got some new rain boots, that seemed less bulky than my old ones. By now it was almost 3:00. We went over to College St, outside the Radisson, for the "party", a live band (Jagged Edge). The sky looked like rain, so we just hung around and listened to the band until 5, then headed back to the civic center for the closing ceremonies. Several items were given away, including a Goldwing. By then it was after 7, we took another short ride on the Parkway, went to Ryans for supper, then went back to turn in for the last night.

Sunday, June 22

As usual on a bike trip, even though we had both had a great time, we were up early and ready to go on the last day. We had a last breakfast at the Moose Head, and then headed out onto I40 West to do some serious riding. At Newport, TN we switched to Route 25W, which would take us to Corbin, KY, where Tom would go north to Cincinnati, and I would head west through Kentucky. When we looked at the map earlier, I figured we would be lucky to be in Corbin by 5. We actually arrived about noon. We had lunch at a Mr. Gaddi's, and Tom gave me his Kentucky map, as I hadn't brought one. He suggested I take route 90 over to near Mammoth Cave, where I was thinking of spending the night. However, the first leg of route 90, over to route 27, was very curvy and pretty, but I got stuck behind one slow car after another. It was starting to look like rain, and I realized I could get home today if I wanted to. When I finally got to 27 I headed straight north, then caught 150 to Louisville. It seemed like it took forever to get from Corbin to Louisville, where I arrived about 5. After crossing the river, I went on to Corydon, where I stopped for gas, surprised Carla by calling and saying I would be home in a couple of hours, and took a short break for water and chips. The rest of the trip home was on the roads I have travelled many times in the car. I was about as saddle sore as I've ever been when I finally pulled back into my driveway about 7:30.