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6-26-03
Folks please be patient on the Honda Hoot
pics. I'm getting them online as fast as I can, but PhotoReflect seems
to be having problems accepting all these images at one time. I put my
pictures up and everyone started ordering before I could get Keith's pictures
up. (it takes hours to upload all these) I didn't want people dissapointed
to find out there were more images after they had already finalized their
order, so I took mine down until I can get them all online simultaneously.
Check back in a few hours...I'm trying to get them all online. There will
be a "Photos by Darryl" and a "Photos by Keith" just
like the others when I get them all on.
6-24-03
Back. What a show...we saw so many crazy sights last week. Traffic was pretty heavy...especially Friday, but the accident rate was minor.
It looks like our efforts to raise awareness of this over-policing may be paying off. A few of you have wrote in to let me know that KnoxNews, the Knoxville newspaper I asked everyone to write to, was considering publishing your letters. Keep it flowing! Don't forget to mention the (few) places in TN you spend your money. You may also mention the absurd speed limit relative to North Carolina's. (nearly half) There is also the fact that this is about a 15 mile no-passing zone, and some travelers putt along at 15 miles per hour, without ever thinking of pulling over. Passing on the double yellow would not be such a problem, if there were signs reminding slower vehicles to use the pull-offs to allow traffic to pass.
You guys need be aware that Blount Co. and TNHP are reprimanding motorcyclists for improper license plate placement. So if you guys have your plates stuffed up under the tail section, or mounted sideways, or stuck to your helmet...you know...get it fixed, or don't hang around the overlook. It probably would be a good idea to make sure you have a mirror on there somewhere too.
Moving on, I'm not sure of the reasoning, I guess the organizers think their participants are too stupid to handle it, but the entire week's agenda for the Honda Hoot did not mention anything about Deals Gap. Their sportbike rides consisted of riding through towns. Whoopeee. We met several riders who were disgusted with the neglection of Deals Gap on their tours. Many said next year they were just coming to the Gap.
Speaking of, many riders stayed in Knoxville and spent much of their time at the Gap, or traveling from Knoxville to the Gap. I think many of you don't realize all the accommodations that are fairly close by. Even during this busiest time of year, the CRoT may be booked, but there are places to stay at Punkin' Center, Fontana, and Robbinsville. Hell, Robbinsville is practically dependant on tourism...it's just a town of gas stations, restaurants, (that close too damn early!) and hotels.
Keith and I shot over 12,000 pics during the event, I'm still sorting them. It's a tedious process without the right tools. I have not looked around thoroughly, but I can't find an image sorting tool. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. It would make this go much faster. Or, if someone out there would like to put something together - I'm looking for something that will display an image from a directory full of images, then at the press of a designated key, it would cut and paste the image into the directory assigned to that key, then the next image is displayed. It should allow multiple keys to be assigned individually to their own directories. So for instance it will show an image of a car, and I hit the left arrow key, the images is moved into my "Cars" folder, then the next image pops up and so on. Something polished and using a point-and-click setup would be nice. (I'm not too handy with cryptic DOS commands...or basic programming obviously) I'd gladly pay for such a tool, as would the growing hoard of digital photographers, I'm sure.
Without further adieu, (whatever that is) here are some highlights to hold you over for a few days:
This weeks' full-res sample: (click to enlarge)
Here's the "After" to the above "Before" =(
Glad you're okay bruddah!
Here's another. =/
The expressions here are priceless
Y'all are killin' us at Gravity Cavity. Every single one of these we see begins with the rider "Setting Up" the turn in the wrong lane.
I've actually begun to slow down coming down into the G.C. from the other direction, because I see so many people over shooting that section I know that one day I'm going to come around that blind turn and some poor soul will be in my lane.
Lotsa Wings
And wanna-be sport bikers ;-)
Ah but ya gotta love 'em
<= ME!
Yeah Ron made me ride his Mille...had to really twist my arm there. It's a interesting mount...very aggressive for what I'm used to. (a CAR lately) I was getting the feel for it though after a few passes. Has excellent footpegs. (it's this thing I have about footpegs...don't ask)
I'm going back to sorting pics. (ugh) Check me out in a day or two if you're looking for a shot of yourself. And remember...
