Panhandle Old Guys

+1

He's kind of a big deal around there



Keep 'em comin mang!!

Thanks for the kind words, fellas--glad y'all are enjoying the pics! I sure enjoyed taking them. And Buzztail, the only place I've ever been a big deal was Beast Feast '06, when I trailered in like an obliviot...I brought the whole party to a stop for a few seconds there, it was funny later, but it wasn't funny right then. I halfway considered turning around and leaving, but am glad I didn't. Helluva party, that one

What's wrong with yer bike?

Um...well...it's a KLR!!

That story kills me every time!!

You're living the dream my friend!

And congrats on the milestone, my KLR's got a lot of catching up to do.

Yessir Barney, yer KLR ain't even broke in good yet...and from the way it's running now, I figure mine's still got a few good trips left in it. I've put over 50K of those miles on it myself, and still not ready to sell it off.

OK, so where was I? Oh yeah, riding thru the mountains. So anyway, there I was, in McCaysville GA, when I saw this billboard that made me do a double-take:


Yes it says McCaysville Drug & Gun, and I thought it was a joke. Nope, not a joke. You can really go into this pharmacy and get yer Percocet scrip filled, and also pick up a shootin arn and some ammoes to go with it. Class III (registered full-auto, silenced, etc.) stuff too! Hey, don't get me wrong. I like guns, grew up with 'em and put a few rounds downrange in my time. And I've got no problem with drugs, especially after I've broken my back/hand/wrist/whatever. Like guns (and pretty much everything else, come to think of it) drugs can be used for good or evil. I've just never seen them made available under one roof before. I've seen a lotta stuff in my travels, but never a licensed pharmacist/gun dealer. And check out the billboard underneath--because, let's face it, if ya mix drugs and guns, there's a slight possibility you'll be needing an emergency room. Accidents happen, ya know. Farrrr out, man!


OK while I'm on the subject of odd stuff, there I was on TN 68 just south of Tellico Plains, gettin my boogie on in the twisties. And lo and behold, a sight that I remembered from last year but failed to stop and get a picture of...there's this trailer right off the highway, it's loaded to the gills with junk, and there's at least another trailer-full worth of junk scattered in the front yard. Gotta stop this time. Checked out the joint, it's locked up tight, not a soul on the premises, looks like it's been abandoned for years. And junk everywhere. There's gotta be a story behind this; I'd sure like to hear it.


OK, so naturally I had to hit Deal's Gap because I've been riding it at least once a year for 13 yrs now and it's become a tradition. So there I was, gettin my boogie on in the twisties as usual, when I came upon an accident scene. D00d rode his bike right over the edge, and there's these 3 gazoonies struggling to pull it up the (very steep) embankment. Even tho I'm a nogoodnik, I stopped to render assistance, but first I had to get a pic:


So with 4 of us, we were (just barely) able to get the bike back on pavement. It woulda been tough without the GS rider who happened to have a sturdy tow strap--that's Mr. GS Rider, doin most of the work here. And who said BMW riders were elitist snobs? OK well maybe that was me


Both bike and d00d were (amazingly enough) relatively unhurt, although that footpeg/shifter's gone baby gone--oh well, first gear was still possible to acquire and sometimes that's all that matters. So the bike was ridden back to the Crossroads of Time--yeah, I know the name has been changed to the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort, but to me it's still the Crossroads.


I camped out at the Crossroads, and made my way down to Fugitive Dam to see the sunset. And I wasn't disappointed.


Just across from the dam is a primitive campground, nothing but portapotties available, but man what a view:


The water's so frikken cold that this mist is a pretty common sight--air temp was about 80 degrees here, but water temp was cold enough to turn yer hand instant blue!


Did a double-take when i saw this '84 Nighthawk S near the Tree of Shame, a dead ringer for my old '84 I had when I was a young lad. I even used to run this same front tire, a Metz ME33 Laser. What a great bike. This particular example was original and unmolested, 30K on the clock and in great shape:


Just a little ways down Hwy 28 (which is called Hellbender or Moonshiner, depending on the company ya keep) is the Friendly Fields General Store, with this curious sight:


OK, that's an early-80's GS650. It's safe to say that's the most air that front tire's ever had underneath it.


I just happened to pick a night to camp out at the Dragon when the Crossroads was sponsoring a "Fiddies" race. Fun to watch, and the price was right:


Saw a handful of lowsides, and one spectacular highside, but thankfully there were no injuries and everybody was Thoroughly Entertained.


They raced 'til 11PM, four different classes--these people take their minibikes seriously, ya think I'm lyin? Several d00ds had 140cc hi-compression motors stuffed into their CRF50s, there was lotsa knee-draggin and roll-on wheelies. Swampy prolly wouldn't approve, but he wasn't there, and nobody has to tell him about it.


There might be one or two more...

Good stuff,
Thanks!

Did ya by chance explain to the rider the importance of pinned throttles to prevent this rookie error?

Thanks for sharing your adventures always much appreciated.

I hope I don't interrupt Tony Zoids excellent adventure with this request... My family will be in the area July 21 - 28 and my 79 year old father in law is interrested in one of those Pensacola deep sea fishing excursions. I did one 25 year's ago and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Is there any trick to these or should I just call the chamber of commerce and schedule a trip? Or is this the equivelant of asking me about Graceland (never been)?

Brian,
My co-workers use this fella.
http://www.classactfishing.net/

Recommended by them.
I'd like to go but get sea sick too easily.

Thanks! I hadn't considered that, if anyone wants to join it could be awesome as well.

There is no shortage of charters around the area. You can also check bigbendfishing.net to get reviews.

Tony, that's a crappy feeling so I'm told. It's never bothered me, but I know a few guys that have given up fishing all together because of it, and they loved to fish as much as we like bikes

Looking forward to seeing y'all again

You just reminded me of the Pensacola Fishing Forum here:
http://www.pensacolafishingforum.com/

I got a story about my long line fishing experience.
Extremely short version is:

"Tony, wanna make a few thousand long line fishing on a new boat in just a couple weeks?"
"Bring your big pistol cause we might need to shoot caught sharks"

As soon as we hit open water I immediatly get rip roarin sea sick and after a few days threaten to shoot everybody unless they turn this goddamn boat around and put me out.

Anybody know Victor Long out of Crestview, ask him for the blow by blow of that episode.

Ya know, it may be hard to believe, but I'm pretty sure the guy that highsided had the throttle pinned! Shocking, ain't it?

I know. I know. Yer gonna say it's unpossible. But still. I sawr it.

31 bottles of Watermelon Merlot and 30 bottles of Peach Apricot Chardonnay bottled yesterday.
Trying to come up with a label for them now.

Watermellon Merlot ! How interesting. Perhaps you should have a wine tasting at Pre Fest - after we all use our Hair Chalk...