My Amerivespa
Molesworth
so, at the last minute, I decided to go. A good decision!
So, we packed the two-Vespa trailer with my '69 Sprint and Joes' '05 PX
and hitched up to Joes' Honda, and after meeting up with Chas and John
in their respective vehicles left New Orleans and set off in convoy for
Chattanooga at 7am Wednesday.
Road trips are supposed to be exciting, but after 8 hours it got, well,
boring.
But we arrived. Just in time for the skies to open while we put up our
tents at the Raccoon Mountain campsite, right behind the shower block.
But it was still daylight, the rain quit so we went exploring on our
scoots. Our campsite was about six miles from the meet point at the
'Choo-Choo' Hotel and Conference Center so we rode into town (sounds
like a cowboy film) to scope the place out. The route took us over
Look-out Mountain which is glorious. In fact the whole area is hilly,
bordering on mountainous, as we were to discover!
We started seeing ones, twos and threes of scooteristas all about the
town. I think it was then that I started to get excited - knowing there
were others! Of course, we had arrived early as the ride to the 'Tail of
the Dragon' was on the following day and wasn't really part of the Vespa
weekend. We ate at a pizza joint which made them fresh, together with
beers. At the time we were joined by a guy from Boston who had ridden
his 250cc all the way (Hi Mike).
Thursday - The ride started at a local Scooter shop who dispensed
coffee, OJ and buns. It was brilliant seeing these scoots turn up until
the car park was overflowing. I think the organisers were overwhelmed by
the numbers too! Finally we set off on what was supposed to be a three
hour run to Deals Gap (the start of the Dragon) which eventually turned
out to be over five hours! But truly beautiful country all round made it
a satisfying journey.
There is a road house at the start end where we all went for burgers etc
while getting our breath. Of course there were loads of Harley types,
but I must admit my heart sank when I also saw a small convoy of Miatas
roll up!
In the end though, I think we all did the ride without interruption. Not
easy when there must have been 70 scooters taking part.
I just found out the record (over a closed course) is 12 minutes for the
11 point something miles. That is an incredible (almost 60mph) average!
I don't think it is held by a scooter! LOL
You really have to concentrate cos the curves come at you from all
directions and you have to look up a bit to see how sharp they are and
which way they go. This will determine how fast you go into the bend and
what gear you're in. Third is the gear I chose for most of it with
little bits of fourth.
At the end of the Dragon, people sort of wandered off in little groups.
There was no organisation to get us back. All the way there we were
trailed by two recovery vans, but they disappeared after we'd done the
Dragon. The four of us started to make our way back when Joe had a 'soft
seize' which is a temporary seizure of the engine cos it isn't getting
enough oil in the mix, that, or the motor running too hot. Either way,
it wasn't good. We had spotted the recovery van parked up back aways so
rode back to see if we could get Joe a lift back, but by the time we got
to the rest area, it had gone. With no alternative, we rode back. John
and Chas had bigger scoots and could hack the Interstates, so they left
Joe and I to go the slower (but longer) route back. Maintaining a speed
around 50, we set off and found the other recovery van lost and
parked-up reading a map. They already had 2 scoots on the trailer so
couldn't take either of us (The other scoots riders' were in the bed of
the truck - one had had a piston failure, the other had been crashed
into another scoot and run over by a third! - 'Minor Abrasions') So we
followed it all the way back. I'm sure we rode more miles than we needed
to because I'm not sure the driver of the truck really knew the way!
My only grumble is that it took so long to get there and back. The
weather was glorious all the time, but at the end (the last 3 hours)
both Joe and I just wished it was over. It hurt.
However, I have a sticker on the Scoot to prove that we did it, and I'm
quietly proud of that.
On returning to Chattanooga we were delivered to the opening
registration place on the bridge. I must admit that I actually felt
dizzy getting off the scoot! However, I registered (as I didn't
pre-register like the others) just to get the T-Shirt (which is a bit
groovy) and then forgot to get my free one! (Told you I was dizzy). Lots
of music and free water! However, both Joe and I were completely
knackered so wandered off back to camp - only another 6 miles.. LOL
Chas and John were back and had started a camp fire. I had bought
burgers and buns and cheese at the local Walmart so we ate!
Slept like a baby.
Friday morning - Chas got his propane burner going and we had eggs,
bacon and sausage. I had teabags, so lashings of tea - and gave some to
John, who decided he liked British-style tea too! Another convert! As
there was more registration going on in town, we didn't need to be there
so soon. Other riders in the camp came over as word had got round that
there were New Orleanians with booze and food aplenty. The guy from
Boston, could he drink! Jason was a private-school history teacher and
rode a really weird Honda Reflex. He was about 6'3" and rode with his
knees round his ears, and the Reflex posture, when riding looks to be
kinda 'prone'. Most odd. Nice guy tho and us history buffs talked nights
away later on.. Anyway, we got to the Choo-Choo to see the lectures on
tuning and meet a guy called Nollie Muir, a jock (Scotsman) who had been
UK Champion for 10 years running. Quite an achievement from a nice,
amusing guy. Watched some of his DVD about Scoot racing. Amazing to see
the 'lean, knee-out' technique used by scooter riders!
Had some lunch, then lined up to do the Lookout Mountain ride.. with
everybody - all 450plus.. and it started to rain.. I mean RAIN. The
roads around the mountain are twisty at the best of times, add in the
RAIN, some negative camber and lots of scoots all jammed together, and
people started falling over. It was scary, knowing that if you turned
and braked at the same time, the scoot would go away from you, even at
the slowest speeds.. However, we four survived and went back to camp.
The RAIN hurt my face the speed, intensity it was coming down at. Dived
into the tent, stripped, jammie pants, and read my book while the rain
pelted down on the roof of the tent. Kinda nice really.
It finally stopped raining and Chas had a deep-fat fryer and had bought
some Zatarains Fish-Fry to douse the chicken in! And complete strangers
wandered in.. I wonder why?
That night was the pub crawl. I don't drink so stayed behind. Joe or
Chas can tell you about the Lamar and the 'Pffft' noise as the tiny
amount of cola went into about 16oz of Vodka!
Saturday, Toast turned up with his mansion-tent (sleeps eight). We asked
if it had an attic or a basement.. and he apologised for the internal
mess by exclaiming that the maid hadn't shown up..
Events this day were at the Pavilion, so we wandered down there.. Had my
Scoot washed for and animal charity (got the flies off the legshield!),
looked at the scooterjumble and bought a drink-holder..Riding the scoot
out of the hall after it had been washed and someone said 'Hey, that's a
pretty bike, are you entering the Concours?' I hadn't considered it, but
finally put it in to make up the numbers.
On the entry sheet it said 'Anything notable about your scooter?' and so
I wrote that., to my knowledge, this is the only scooter in the world to
ride the complete length of Bourbon Street the wrong way. Didn't win me
any prizes but lots of comments regarding Katrina.
Chas rode in the Gymkhana and did really well. I was most impressed. And
everybody cheered and clapped all the attempts which was most
heartening.
There was a good practical lecture and demo on classic scoot wiring
probs. I had had some myself, until Joe pointed out that my battery had
come loose, had shed the ground wire and basically was cocking up all my
electrics. This actually caused my headlight to go out when I stepped on
the brake - most disconcerting at night! Having fixed my prob and
charged the battery, he still doesn't know why my horn works with no
wires going to it at all. Nor do I, but it does, so why worry?
They all went off to the banquet (Pre-registered ppl only) although they
all said to me to come, I declined. If I had accepted, I would have been
sitting next to Joe.
Joe won the orange scooter raffle.. The prize ticket was under the seat
next to him. I'll say no more. Then, I hear, there was more drinking. In
fact at 2.30 in the morning, Joe woke me up with 'some important
information'.. I said 'This had better be good' - and it was! Joe was as
pissed as a pudding (as my father used to say) and fell asleep finally
in a chair, nursing an empty bottle of Wild Turkey with a grin on his
face.
Whilst they were at the 'Banquet' I toddled off to look for a steak. The
very first roadhouse into town advertised 'Steak' so, despite it looking
like the lowest kind of dive, I decided to give it a go. The place was
called ' Modern Daves' Cafe' and they have a website. My first hint that
this wasn't your ordinary dive was the beer closet containing Duval, and
Chimay, both exquisite Belgian Beers. Going into the dining room (20
covers max) the table cloth and napkins were linen.. which is always a
good sign. Then looking at the menu - it was all haute cuisine! However
I had my heart set on a steak and, although it wasn't on the menu, had a
prime rib with garlic mash and tossed vegetables (along with a Duval
(@$7.50 a bottle)). Totally delicious! Took coffee (and another Duval)
on the outside terrace with fantastic views of Racoon Mountain. Each of
the other diners, as the left the diner, spoke to me and I had a lovely
time talking about Tennessee, Katrina, England etc etc.. I thoroughly
recommend Modern Daves' Cafe. Look at their Wines and Beer list!
Sunday. Needless to say, the others didn't wake up too early, and after
Chas had cooked all the bacon and sausage left, we rode into town to
have a look-see. We'd missed the Signal Mountain ride by about
half-an-hour, so set off to catch them up.. The first bend on the
mountain caught Joe (and me) completely by surprise as it was a
disguised-by-trees hairpin. I mean totally going back on itself. If any
traffic had been coming down, we'd both have been injured! The rest of
the ride was gorgeous, light winds, bright sun and beautiful scenery.
By now, I knew my scoot was able to go flat out, and ceased worrying
about seizures, so, after we finally got lost, the directions we
received was 'Go straight on till you run out of road, turn right and
you're back in Chattanooga', so without further ado, off we went down
this wide, curvy well-made road.. with my chin on the headlamp cowl, I
wound it up to W.O.T. all the way (about seven miles) Never looked back
and did those turns and curves flat out. Exhilarating! When I got to the
end, there was no-one behind me in sight... so I headed for town, where,
at the first set of traffic lights, there were the guys!
Went for lunch at the 'Pickle Barrel' and the guys said 'Hurry up' the
boats leaving for the river trip'. I hate to leave food, so said for
them to get off and I'll meet the boat when it docks, then finished my
lunch. Then wandered about the river-front, exploring some derelict
buildings and went a bit off-road, crossed streams and did (tried to do)
wheelies in the sand! Went back to the Choo-Choo to buy some souvenirs,
and, as I left the store, saw an older lady pushing her mother in a
walker with wheels. You know that feeling that disater is imminent?
Well, I saw the ridge of concrete and knew it wasn't going to smoothly
go up it, but I was too far away to stop her pushing the walker.. it hit
the ridge and toppled over, with the old lady, unable to save herself,
falling backwards onto the concrete. I dropped everything and ran over
to her. The pushing lady had her leg trapped in the walker and also fell
over as the walker collapsed. With strength I didn't know I had, I
lifted the old woman, the walker back up in the air, and tried to get
the walker open again so I could relax. The old woman was screaming in
shock, but there was no damage to her as she had tight braids wound in a
coil on the back of her head - which saved her skull. I pushed he on the
walker back into the hotel and told the waitress to get a damp cloth.
The old lady is still screaming. The waitress said 'I'll fetch the
manager' I then screamed at ther to fetch a wet cloth and f*ck the
manager. She disappeared, returning with the manager. (sigh). Anyway,
there was a nurse there who took over so I was able to leave her in good
hands.
Met the boat at the dock and went on board for the drawing of the raffle
which took a few hours. I had bought two tickets for the scooter raffle.
All the tickets were six-digit. I missed out on the new 'People' 150cc
by one last digit, as did John on the 'Black Cat' scooter. I think if
we'd both won, along with Joe, we'd have been lynched!
Back at camp, Chas had packed his tent and stuff away as he had work on
Monday as did Toasty who was packing his gear up to leave the campsite.
It was a bit sad, seeing that empty place, knowing that we'd be leaving
the following day too.
Joe and I decided to have a look at Lookout mountain when it isn't
raining. John was off with his Royal Bastards final dinner meet. Well,
we got thoroughly lost on the way down and headed (unknowingly) to
Georgia. We rode and rode waiting for a turn but there wasn't one.
Finally stopped at a church service and asked someone arriving late for
directions. So kept on down the same road, rather than turn around.
Still beautiful scenery. Finally got to the turn, which led to I-59N.
Which is where it turned ugly. Riding on Interstates isn't bad in
itself, it's the blimmin semi-trucks with their vortexes as they sweep
by at 80 mph. One of them blew me sideways across the rumble strip and I
had huge difficulty controlling the scoot -I thought I was going to come
off.. but saved the day at the last minute and got back on. Joe says we
were doing over 60 mph most of the 20 miles we rode on it. But I don't
recommend the experience unless you have a 400cc Burgmann.
Got back to the camp before dark, saw Toasty leave, and packed the
scoots on the trailer.
My final point - when we hit the Louisiana border, the road immediately
got bumpier. Mississippi. Alabama and Tennessee all have really nice
main and interstate roads - why don't we?
My really final point- I had an absolute blast all the time, I learned
more about scooter control in those four days than in the previous four
years, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
JaxKayaker
Great report, Siounds like you guys had a blast.
Thanks for taking the time to let us know about your trip.
Phil
'04 Honda Reflex
Molesworth
Molesworth <ukm...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> I wasn't going to go, but Joe had said there was space on his trailer
> so, at the last minute, I decided to go. A good decision!
And I'm about to sign up for san Antonio Amerivespa 2010!
This of course is after our very own (wait for it) Big Easy Weekender
111 (Three Times the Harm)
Big Easy Weekender: 3 Times The Harm
New Orleans' Every Make and Model Scooter Rally
March 25-28th 2010
http://www.myspace.com/bigeasyweekender
http://www.bigeasyweekender.com/
Come on down y'all!
Molesworth
Yvan Hall
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