Fight Cabin Fever!

During the cold, winter months when you're pining for the warm sunshine in the Great Smokies, curl up with a good viewing of Why They Ride. It'll take you there.

And check out the latest review of WTR in the current issue of RoadRUNNER magazine. From their pen: "It offers lots of laughs, a few tears, and incredible riding footage in the beautiful Smoky Mountains."

Back to the Gap 2008

Our annual trip to the Smoky Mountains fell on July 10th through the 13th this year. In the pic below, you'll see our bro-in-law, Chris, our dad, Darryl, myself and Casey. It seems like a short span of time but we crammed in hundreds of miles of beautiful mountain roads and definitely got our fix. It was great to see many of the people we met during the making of Why They Ride as well as some of the local characters we've known for years.

We were glad to see Ben and Jessica at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort and it was a treat to see the brand new baby girl of Brad and Beth, owners of the Resort. Congrats!!! This will bump the population to 8 now? :) These folks are always very hospitable, helpful and offer a mean Dragon Burger (order the onion rings with it...mmmmm).

Of course, a ride through the Dragon wouldn't be complete without seeing Darryl Cannon and his team of Killboy photographers. When we stopped to talk with him, he had just taken a break from action photos to shoot pics of a fella proposing to his gal on the Dragon. (She said yes!)

We also stopped in on Francois at his new shop, Dual Sport Touring, in Friendsville, TN. It was great to catch up with him and check out his inventory. We tried on riding pants, rain gear, looked through catalogs, etc. He gives great advice and steers us motorcyclists in the right direction.

We're reminded of why we make the annual pilgrimage by how welcome we feel every time we go. Even a quick run-in with a Forest Ranger at high speeds ended with a handshake and a smile. While there will always be controversy and debate about the Dragon and Deals Gap, we'll always claim it as our motorcycling home away from home. There's just too many miles of roads, good people, and wonderful little towns sprinkled throughout those mountains to drown out skeptics who only focus on the minute negative aspects. I think I'll go watch the movie again to relive the scenes and trigger more moto-memories.

Women's Sportbike Rally

Ladies, if you're into riding sportbikes (and/or other types of bikes) check out the 2008 Women's Sportbike Rally on August 22 thru the 24th in the Smoky Mountains. It's a chance to enjoy motorcycling with like-minded women on some of the country's most beautiful riding roads. We were able to become good friends with co-founder and coordinator, Stephani McIntyre, when we were asked to design the WSR logo. We admire Stephani's efforts in raising funds and awareness for Tiffany's Melanoma Foundation. It was at this event that we met Judd Weirbach, father of Tiffany, the sportbiking girl who used motorcycling as a way to fight her overwhelming symptoms of cancer. Our interview with Judd in Why They Ride was a powerful testimony to the passion Tiffany had for motorcycles and a great example of how motorcycling can mean much more than mere transportation for some folks.