OK...unpacked, fed and watered, so now I'll describe the events of Saturday up until we parted from the group and headed back West. I'll post the remainder of our trip on a separate thread....
Suzanne (aka, Harley Diva) and I left B'ham at 6:00 AM CST because we lose an hour when we cross the Georgia line to EDT. After one wrong turn, we rolled into the Lithia Springs Harley Davidson Dealership (Atlanta HD) about 9:30 EST and pulled in next to AK's Pumkin! After wandering around for a couple of minutes tryingto figure out who was who, Heidi (Jon's sister) intoduced herself and pointed the rest of the group out to me and Suzanne. While Suzanne did a little quick shopping trip (an absoulte necessity, you know), we all met up outside while the group finished packing up. JC and I looked at the maps and figured out the route he had chosen and loaded into his GPS. They then volunteerd me to lead the group through Hot'lanta!!! We rolled out of the dealership about 10:30, gassed up, and hit I-20 East into downtown Atlanta. After a small traffic delay...they've always got the roads f'd up in Atlanta...the bikes were good and warmed up, so we proceeded towards I-75 North, then to I-85 East. Having never "led" a group of bikes in my entire life, I was a bit nervous...in fact, I have never been on a "group ride" at all [smiley=nervous.gif] In Atlanta, you MUST go with the flow, or get run over, because everybody in cages thinks they are Dale Earnhart Jr...bumper drafting is legal in Georgia
We were running about 75 MPH in a 55 zone, but were still getting passed on every side by cages. After hitting I-85 for a few miles, we took I-985 North towards Gainesville GA...I think JC knew where he was at that point, as he pulled up beside me and gave me a nod, and I returned with a [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] We ran up that slab to the first Gainesville exit and pulled into the Waffle House to grab something to eat. Jon and Heidi even ordered GRITS, but I can't attest as to whether they actually ate them! After eating, we hung for a few minutes waiting to hear from Vgirl...turns out she was about 50 miles West of us at that point. JC had slept a total of about 30 minutes in the plane, and AK not much more. Not sure about Jon...and Heidi had flown in from Boston, but spent the night, so she got some sleep. We then rolled out of the Waffle House and continued to the end of I-985 which then turns into Hwy 23 towards Clayton, Ga, and Franklin. It was a nice ride...the weather was warm and humid, but blue skies, with a few puffy white clouds at that point. We stopped in Clayton to gas up at the first Chevron we came to, then pulled the bikes out to try and find out where the He!! Vgirl was!! We all needed some Gatorade by that point, so while waiting to hear from V, we sat around and talked about the bikes and the humidity.
After hearing from V, JC, AK, Jon, and Heidi decided to head on up the road towards Franklin and try and meet up with V on the way to Maggie Valley. Suzanne and I headed West on Hwy 76, after saying our goodbyes to the rest of the group.
What a great bunch of guys and girls!! We'll have to make it out to the West Coast and ride with them all again, doing the reverse of what they're doing on this trip. You've already read about what the rest of their day was like...on so little sleep, I'm happy to hear everybody arrived in Charlotte safe and sound, though a bit soggy. My ride will continue on another post.
Here's a few pics...sorry, but no posed photos, just candid shots...
Author
Topic: Ocean to ocean...including Cripple Creek.......... (Read 26707 times)