Deals Gap 2012 (The Ride Back) - 636 miles

We woke up early, we saw that the weather will be brutally hot, so we got on the road as soon as possible. This was one of my favorite shots as we rode out.

Coming back was pretty brutally hot and humid. At our first Starbucks stop, I almost felt like my vision was blurring out on me. It was a good 45 minute break, but after that I was okay all the way home. Yermo on the other hand... well lets just say he doesn't like the heat as much as I do. Lol

It took us 14 hours to get back, many of the those hours were breaks we had to take inbetween to hydrate and cool off from the heat. When we got close to Front Royal, we also saw the derecho was coming our way. We rode ahead of the storm just by a hair, going quite fast. Half way through the ride, just when we hit 495 Yermo's headlight blew out. We couldn't stop, knowing the storm was right behind us. There was a major traffic jam up north of 495. It should have just taken us 25 minutes back without traffic. If we sat in the traffic it would have taken us over an hour. So we took the long way around the beltway, which took 45 minutes. It was a good decision since there was no traffic, but more importantly we beat the storm by 15 seconds give or take a few seconds. The second we got into the garage and the bikes on the stand, the storm hit, and the power line in front of Yermo's house came down.

I left Shaba with his brother to tell him about the trip and went across the street in my car to tell her I was alright.

Here are some pictures from the professional photographers on the mountain pass.

A month later, the book was done.

Deals Gap 2012 (Day 4) - 199 miles

Next morning, we rode the Dragon and then we went back to Fontana and packed up to go exploring around the area.

I took Shaba with me. This was the Cherohala Skyway.

We visited the Tennessee side of the Dragon, and we went inside one of the stores to get some coffee and take a break. I went to use the rest room just before we were ready to leave. Immediately, when I went in the bathroom and shut the door, the clerks started talking trash about Asian people. "taking all our jobs"... etc. I walked out and Yermo says to me "lets go" sternly. Hahaha.

Later in the day, we return to the dragon, running it through one more time.

All good things comes to an end, this was the last night at Fontana resort.

The days seem to meshed together, I don't remember how long it has been since I came into the mountains. It did not seem to matter either. I do however, know that soon enough, I will have to go home. While I did miss home, I did not really want to leave, at least not yet.

Deal Gap 2012 (Day 3) - 102 miles

You know you are getting close to motorcycling mecca when you wake up and go to your bike, and there are towels on your bike to wipe off the morning dew.

Soon we are an earshot away from Fontana Resort. The resort we will stay in, that is a couple minutes to the tails of the dragon AKA deals gap. Then we arrived!

We unpacked, check fluid level, and tire pressure. I left Shaba in the cabin, and we took off to the Dragon.

I took an obligatory photo op. It was kinda... okay very cheesy the way they have it set up. It was a lot less grander than I thought. It seem almost amateurish in its presentation for such a popular place. I think Killboy is fixing this with his bbq/ lounge/ gift shop.

A few shots of the first pass through the dragon. 

Yermo showing me where not to crash and kill myself. #gravitycavity. Then we avoid the 18 wheeler on our way back... experiencing the fear of colliding into a 18 wheeler on a motorcycle.

I watched the sun set at the resort, winding down my first day on the dragon. I wish she was here with me at the time. I knew she would enjoy the resort, but I also know she wouldn't have enjoy the 550 miles leading up to this. This was a trip that requires the temperament and calmness even facing hours of uncomfortable heat, saddle soreness, and the ability to leave the luxury behind to discover natures perfection.  

Deals Gap 2012 (Day 2) - 308 miles

I woke up the second day with little expectation other than getting on the road as soon as possible. I have always been an early bird. Getting up 6 in the morning would be consider normal for me. I never like sleeping in.

But since Yermo is a bit of a night owl, I got up and did my stretches and showered. It worked out rather well, we never had to bump shoulders for sink space. We went to get breakfast soon after and got on our way.

We also stopped for gas, and we asked this other guy who was on a motorcycle as well, to take this picture for us.

Yermo told me about how Blue Ridge Parkway is always filled with traffic and that it is very very slow. Obviously, because he said that we got almost no traffic at all.

Soon in the day, I have made a crowning achievement. :) After signaling and honking at Yermo for nearly 2 miles that he didn't notice, I went back to take a picture of this sign. When Yermo realize I was gone, it must have been a couple minutes later, Yermo thought I crashed and died. He came riding back, what must have been 100 miles an hour. Then he saw me just come back from my photo op. I think this was the turning point for him to buy the SENA SMH10 unit. Hahaha. The turning point where the entire MbyMC got the Sena unit...

then there was this awesome turn, with an equally awesome sign in the middle. A few more stops as we go higher and higher up into the mountain.

We then get to a scenic highway that we decided to hike in. We found a rock that over see the highway. I later choose to use the photo I got here for the cover of my book with the tag line "roads to redemption" just inside the cover.

The day disappear quickly with one beautiful scenery after another. I didn't think about going home anymore, I did however wish I could have shared this with her and Shaba's little brother. Before long, we are at the top of the mountain.

After the peak, we putt down the mountain, many times just coasting in neutral. There was a few parts at the end, where we gone through tunnels in the mountains that had no lights at all. Imagine leaning into a dark tunnel with no light and no illumination of any kind, not knowing where you are going and even though the headlight is on, you can't really see where you are going, cause the light is pointing forward, but you are going left or right through the turn. Pretty harrowing experience. Maybe I'll be able to catch some footage next time, now that I know what to expect.

We arrive at the end of the parkway entrance on the other side. It was a interesting feeling, I almost wanted to just turn around, not go home, but run the mountain over again. But anyone who knows how to enjoy something overtime knows that we always save some for later.

We didn't want to push the last leg to get to our destination, it was getting late, so we took off looking for some where to stay.

Deals Gap 2012 (Day 1) - 369 miles

It has been two years since I started motorcycling under the tutelage of my good friend Yermo Lamers. What seem like a long two years at the time, was filled with memories that I seem to only remember through the pictures.

It has been 7 years since the last time I traveled. It has been 11 years since I took a vacation. Between finishing undergrad, ending a five and half year relationship, going to grad school and dating someone else; I have not only lost track of time; I seem to have lost myself. I find myself stuck, wanting to go back to a time that I felt safe. A time that I am not even sure what it was or when it was. I just know I was stuck, and this feeling of being stuck that I could not let go. I didn't want to travel for the longest time, that is until I felt the freedom of the two wheels beneath me. Something I said I would never do, just a few years before.

I was almost done with my first novel "Three Broken Promises" at the time. It was in its final stages of cover design and final submission. For the last three years, that was my obsession. It is something I wanted to achieve long before anything got complicated, and here I am only moments away from being done. It was time to take the trip.

Over the years, I have develop a sense of fear of leaving home. While I was always aware of this fear, I never truly dealt with it. Instead, I masked it, and pretended it wasn't there. I develop coping mechanism and halfway solutions. One could argue that I had a full onset of adjustment disorder from my last break up. All I know was that I was inseparable from my "bears".

I couldn't really tell how uncomfortable I was at the time, nor could I identify this feeling that I am able to so eloquently assign a name to now. What I felt as I got on that road was shortness of breath, ulcer like feeling, and my mind was racing wanting to see something familiar.

As we set off under way, I couldn't shake this feeling of wanting to turn around. I wonder if I could make all the miles. The longest I have ridden before this trip was a two day ride that cover less than 400 miles. Today alone we will do nearly 400 miles, and there is a week worth of riding to come. The time inside the helmet, even with my SMH10 headset and music, seem to turn slower. I kept looking down at the odometer and seeing how much longer I had to go. It seem like forever when we finally reached the beginning of Blue Ridge Parkway.

When we got there, I sat on my bike, not wanting to step off the bike for the picture, fearing that I may not have the courage to keep riding if I did. Just before we took off into the mountain, I open my tank bag and took a drink and spoke to Shaba (he was sitting in my tank bag with my drink), assuring him that we will have the best of times together.

Ever since I was young, the mountains always spoke to me; more than any other natures gift. The mountains humbled me, effacing all the materialism and the superficiality of city life. I felt like myself again, remembering the things that really matters. I showed Shaba where we were, and put him back in the bag promptly, since there were many stops to come we didn't stay long. I wish she was here with me, but somehow I knew she would not have enjoy it as much without the limelight.

As we rode through the twisty back mountain road, we came up to a few others who was riding similar motorcycles, so we made some friends :)

A few hundred miles in, we stopped at a tourist site. I'm not much for tourist sites.

Then it was miles and miles of riding. I got on the bike, I got off the bike. Everything starts to feel right, I still talked to Shaba every time we stopped. I took some pictures for him.

It was nearly 90 degrees outside, and a bearable 80 in the mountain. On this one stretch of road, there was a sudden change of weather, and a thunderstorm came over us. The rain came instantaneous, but no more than 3 minutes the rain stopped. All the rain evaporated and fogged up the entire mountain. I could barely see anything in front of me. The fog was so dense, I almost came to a stop on the side of the road cause I couldn't see. Yermo had to turn around when he didn't see me in his rear view.

After a few more lookouts and more miles, our day was done.

After a long day, we are finally ready for bed

Sometime between the rain, fog, and getting on and off the bike I had left a lot of my anxiety in the miles behind me. I was content on just getting on my bike the next morning.