5-3-02

Got the stitches out. There is a large area around the lacerations where skin belongs, so I'm told. The doctor felt this may require a skin graft, so he referred me to a surgeon who determined that I didn't really need a graft, but he did manage to slice and dice my flesh to the point I was in more pain than when I wrecked. Is it any wonder they call it "practice"?

Just got back from watching Spiderman in Nashville. I was pretty stoked about the movie from the start, not because I'm a comic or Spiderman freak, but because it looked to have some beautiful action and camera work. Being that pumped usually results in a big fat let-down due to raised expectations, but Spiderman rocked my ass from all directions. I laughted, I cried, I want to see it again...

Afterwards, we somehow stumbled into the showing of Jason X, which was just starting. Now I'm really REALLY not a big Friday the 13th/Halloween/Nightmare on Elm Street type person. The only horror movies that kinda scare me are the type that mess with me psychologically, like Exorcist, House on Haunted Hill, 13th Ghost type stuff. I became interested in Jason X because the trailer seemed to hint that some serious time and money had been spent on sets and special effects.

This turned out to be THE funniest movie I have seen all year. Seriously, tears of laughter were welling up in my eyes, and I was trying to catch a breath at several points. We had such a good time picking this one apart...if you, or a friend, have any wit, you should go see this travesty and just rip into it.

For instance: The spaceship had a 4-speed gear shifter, with 2 other shifters beside it for good measure. One room on the ship, keep in mind this is the year 2455, one room consisted of modern-day scaffolding with flourescent light tubes ZIP-TIED to the poles. The little white nylon ties were clearly visible.

I became thoroughly disappointed in the advancements by humanity portrayed by this feature film. Appearantly several areas of technology are actually going to regress in the future. Guns will remain as powerful as they are now, but they will grow to 3-times the current size, and be adorned with coffee cans with slits cut in them.

Keith noticed that gun scope technology has already reached it's peak as well, and will not be updated. Ever.

Lighting doesn't make much progress either. We will still be walking around in total darkness aboard the most advanced space craft. Unfortunately night-vision has been dismissed entirely, and we will still be using flashlights. (although they will consist of 3 bulbs) I thought we would have night-vision contact lenses 500 years from now. Bummer.

Finally advanced navigation control SYSTEMS for multi-godzillion dollar space craft will become non-existant. Replaced entirely by some guy on a radio yelling: "You're coming in too fast!" [Stryker?] "Pull up!" followed by a catastrophic collision...in slow motion.

4-28-02

According to Tail of the Dragon, their first weekend at the overlook turned out to be busy with sportbike accidents. After all the crashing last weekend, myself included, then the crashes this weekend, I'm beginning to wonder about the future of Hwy 129. Let's take it easy and try not to draw too much negative attention to our road.

I have a few new pics up in Keith's section and the Others section from last weekend. I have a few more to add to "Others" that will probably get done tomorrow.

Here is a pic of my leg injury. (not for the squeamish)

4-25-02

I crashed. (details)

Many thanks for all the supportive words from my fellow riders.

Big thanks to whoever "CARR" in Decatur Georgia is for sending me a tweaked Ohlins steering dampener. I suppose it was meant to be a gag, but I opened the unannounced package at work, (thought it might be a bomb so I was going to take out a few co-workers ;-) and imagine my reaction to receiving a steering dampener. No notes or explanation was included, but Dewayne did a little work on the slightly bent center rod and we buffed out the small scratch so it's as good as new. Just need a couple of mounting pieces and I'm in business. =)

If you subscribed for updates before, please subscribe again. My hard-drive crased last week (omen?) and I lost all email addys.

I've got several new pics I'll add soon...it's been pretty crazy...

4-13-02

We took Keith's Xterra up to Parson's Branch and drove into the Gap. Got some nice action shots of Keith putting the X through the drink. Took a few interesting photos of some random riders, and added one more of Zee.

4-7-02

Well what a weekend! I rode to the Gap while my "riding" partners trailered up. Yeah I'm jealous. =) Actually it's a good thing they did, read on...

Things kick off for Noah with a blown trailer tire as he heads out, but that was fixed quick. Then, as David was making his first run on his recently acquired RC51, something went amiss and the bike slid off the bridge at the Parson's Branch in-road and INTO the river. It landed upside-down with just the tops of the tires above water. Luckily David came to a stop on the edge just before going over for the 20 foot drop. It took several guys about an hour to get it upright and back on a trailer. (not me of course, I was taking pitchurz! ;) I hope not much is wrong with it bruthah. There are plenty of pics, obviously, in David's section.

Later, Noah's slip-on tried to slip-off, but he used some of that engineering knowledge to fabricate a hanger SYSTEM. Looks like Tech is paying off after all.

Sunday Tommy's aftermarket headlight escaped the clutches of it's bracket and made a dash for freedom, but it managed to punch a hole in the radiator on the way out. He tried vainly to fix it but the day was over for him. =( Too bad, he was getting deathly fast for his first time out on the new (to him) R6.

There are a few new shots in the "Others" section from this weekend.

Quote of the weekend: (Noah) "If you guys help us fish this bike out, I'll let you watch me ride." (he was joking of course)

4-3-02

Finally archived the older news, so this should load faster for modemers.

Added my FREAKIN' AWESOME pics from the Cherokee Trails Rally event HERE, not to brag or anything. =)

Went to the Gap last weekend for the rain event. Friday was great. Dewayne, Zee and I got in some good runs. Finally got to meet my 'net friend who only lives 10 minutes away from me, Tracey Phillips and his friend. (Richard? Sorry, alzheimers) Rain came Saturday...and Saturday night...and Sunday. I did manage to get one good pass in Sunday morning with the roads still damp and the rain looming. I put a one-wheeled-passed on a certain helicopter pilot for a certain government agency that patrols a certain skyway that I probably shouldn't have done. Hey, he was looking bored! He was very cool about it though, as is the case lately. Mike, the store employee came out to play with me on Monday, which was another awesome day. He had me working to stay with him on his SV650, but we got some great video and only (only!) met one semi and about 5 other cages in our lane.

I'm starting a new feature occasionally as I update. I am going to add a link to a product or site that is overstepping the proper usage of the word:

SYSTEM ("Mobility Denial System"?)

3-26-02

I'm going to archive some of this junk one day...

Jacob, Noah, David, Barry, new rider Elon and I had a great ride the past Sunday. Felt good to get together with everyone, even if only for a few miles. Barry kinda bugged out on us, and Elon had to get up with his family and eat, so it was the 4 of us soon after heading out. We met yet another cool cop (Jackson Co. Sheriff) and laughed at a REAL Jackass. (the animal, not the cop ;) Jacob and David then one-upped the real thing though by trying to open a Coke bottle with the can opener end. David even succeeded. Just shows what a little perseverance can accomplish even in the face of evidence to the contrary. I love my friends. Now, it's not like I don't do dumb stuff on an hourly basis, I just ain't tellin' YEW.

We will be hitting the Gap for Easter weekend, so come ride with us!

Dragon Repave Update thanks to Mike (kx929rr)

"OK boys and girls---here's the latest.

I just got off the phone with TDOT. Pre-construction is to begin on April 9, with actual paving(weather permitting) to begin two weeks after. The supervisor in charge of the project is David Sisson #865-981-2368. They confirmed that the surface will be of same content as what is on the road at this time. They are using a new contractor, so time frame was an issue. They could not say when it would be finished. I just hope the new(read cheaper)contractor does a decent job, and doesn't cut corners on our road. They also implied that they were trying to force permits on truck lines for each trip on 129. This will limit trucking traffic, that they believe is the leading cause for the repave project. For additional info, I was told to call back closer to April 9th for updates.

Mike"

3-18-02

Spectated the Cherokee Trails rally race last weekend. Keith got some good video and I shot some nice stills until my new Minolta Dimage 5 camera froze up on me. =(   I'll have some video up soon, and the still shots will probably not be up for a couple of weeks since it looks like I'm going to have to send my camera back.

3-10-02

I hit the Gap a couple days ago. (Friday) The road is clear, with the exception of the black gravely stuff in the decreasing radius near the state line. That stuff has been there for weeks but it's finally starting to go away. Zee came out to play after work but we barely got one run in together before it got dark.

I'm going to be adding a section of member's car pics soon. Some nice rides to be seen by David, Jacob, Noah, and Keith. (non-rider) Should also have some new pics of Zee up soon. (she's becoming the killboy.com model =)

Keith, Zee, and I are planning to attend the Rally Races this Friday. (mentioned below) We will probably be in Keith's new yellow supercharged Xterra. Look us up if you come out!

2-26-02

TailoftheDragon.com has posted this bit of news:
"BULLETIN FEB 26: TN DOT ADVISES THE REPAVING OF THE DRAGON FROM TABCAT BRIDGE TO THE NC STATE LINE WILL BEGIN SOMETIME AFTER APRIL 15. THE PROJECT SHOULD TAKE 2 OR 3 WEEKS. A GRANITE OR NATURAL SAND TOPPING (A "NON-SKID" SURFACE) WILL BE APPLIED. THIS IS THE SAME AS THE EXISTING SURFACE. WE WILL HAVE MORE SPECIFIC INFO BY APRIL 1."

2-25-02

WHOA! According to Gap-regular "Weeble", TNDOT workers told him the Gap will be repaved in the next few months. This explains why the trees are being cleared. Well this should be interesting. Fresh pavement isn't very fun in my experience until it's about a year old. We'll see...

So I caged it over to the Gap last weekend and hung out with Zee while she chanted Earl to the porcelain gods. The road was in pretty good shape. There were a couple of curves with sawdust and/or gravel in them. There were more Canadians riding than anyone else. Mike managed to low-side his SV-650 right in front of the store, but he only broke the shifter and the front turn signal, and one of the Midnight Riders had a nifty home-made universal shifter replacement on hand. He was back up and running in no time! Mike also picked up a pocketbike so be on the lookout.

2-22-02

Looks like more bad news for Gappers - Appearantly the TNDOT is cleaning ditches and cutting back dead pines along the road as of 2-21. This info thanks to ZrexMark. Give it a couple weeks to clear off there I guess. Watch this in the meantime.

2-18-02

Added a section of Misc. Videos and Pictures. (no pictures at the moment)

2-14-02

Our very own Girl Scout, Zee, has informed me that there is a nice layer of salt and sand at the Gap as of 2-9-02. Maybe those semis are good for something after all. (sweep sucka, sweep!)

2-13-02

Wow these are getting kinda frequent.

There is a Rally (car) Race in Chattanooga Saturday, March 16th. Many of us will be attending. Here are some links to videos from the previous year. Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 Video 4 Video 5

2-10-02

For anyone who hasn't noticed, this is becoming my links section. Various words highlighted will be linked to what I consider interesting and/or fun areas of the "interweb". (everyone else is doing it, so I gotta crowd follow) So check some out...you've got nothing better to do.

I recently finished recapturing and editing an earlier video that I really like...it involves passing too many cars at the Gap and now it even has some slammin' music.

2-7-02

Woohoo! 10,000 hits. <collective yawn>

New video of a nasty Rx-7 running the Gap and playing around with the powerslides for the camera. We still have one other Rx-7 <cough> *Greg*<cough> that is even more impressive to watch, but we have to talk him into it.

Watch for another video I'm working on...it'll be a sped-up full run through the Gap, at about 4 or 5 times the normal pace.

Also threw together a new logo you may have noticed, and cleaned up the videos page a bit and added some features there, and added a disclaimer that everyone should be aware of.

1-29-02

Jacob, Noah and I hit the Gap last weekend. Sunny and 60 both days and there were all of 10 bikes there. (?) The roads are nearly perfect, no salt or sand at all. There has been some patchwork done at the decreasing radius corner near the state line on the TN side. The work was not done in the road itself, it's off on the inside shoulder, but the loose asphault gravel is scattered across both lanes and is very slippy so be CAREFUL! (for a few weeks ;) It's in a shady spot and it's black.

Shot some video, Jacob felt-up a ditch, 240sx Club rolled through about 15 deep, Rob smoked us in his 350hp Rx-7, it was interesting...as always.

11-11-01

Added a new section for information and discussions about Drift Racing in Gran Turismo 3 for the Playstation 2.

10-31-01

Added a new section: "Signs you are spending too much time at Deal's Gap"

Digital Camcorders R@WK! Cleaner videos are on the way....

10-27-01

I will be throwing updates on here from time to time now on...mostly motorcycle/Deal's Gap related.

Added a new video of some crazy passing at Deal's Gap.

On Sunday, 10-21-01, we encountered a suspicious couple filming and interviewing riders at the Gap. They said they were doing a "Documentary" on Deal's Gap. Said they were putting together a video they would sell online and "definitely" at the store. I asked if he had a website and he said "No, I'll probably set up something on ebay." When asked if he wanted any of us to shoot some on-board footage for them, the man said "No thanks, I drag my own knee." He claimed he had been riding his bike there the past couple of weeks, and had only been riding 4 weeks. (and dragging knees already?) We asked him what kind of bike he had and he said "ahh...umm...Honda CBR600...F2 or F3 or something." (?) Then we asked him what year and he said it was a '98 "I think" (??) They packed up shortly after than and took off down to the store.

They interviewed one of the riders when they first pulled up, and the first thing they asked about was what he thought of the police enforcement around here and went on with questioning along those lines for a minute. I'm in the process of getting more info on just what all was asked.

They were driving a gold, early 90's model Acura Legend. The guy was in his early 30's, had dark hair and of medium build and height. The girl was probably late 20's, thin build with tribal tattoos on her chest and lower back, and brunette hair dyed red. They were recording with a high dollar, studio style camera (Canon GL-1) and seperate microphone with a large foam windsock on it.

Don't know what they were up to, but they didn't seem to be honest.