Champaign Ski and Adventure Club Trip Reports End of May thru June PART 2

[Mike Metz]

To All,      During the week of May 24- 31   Anja and I traveled to the western  tip of N. Carolina, just outside of Tennessee. We stayed in our pop up camper in a Ntl.Forest campground near Robinsville,N.C.  Anja's initial desire to go there was to see the synchronized fireflies of the area. We also noticed we were very close to " the Tail of the Dragon ".  A  U.S. Highway called U.S. 29  the section of this road is famous for 318 curves in 11 miles and in the mountains. We have been here before. Anja once and me twice, on our motorcycles.  It's not officially a racetrack, but at times you would be surprised. Yes it attracts enthusiasts of both motorcycles and sports cars. Due to the lack of roads in the area. we had to drive our Chevy half ton pick up truck with pop up in tow. Two times, once in once out. The first time I thought I'd try to make it fun and drove as fast as possible but I soon heated up our brakes and we had to stop for a half hour to cool them. There were packs of Harleys, dual sports, and sport bikes [ crotch rockets ] . And Corvettes, Vipers, and every type of sports car possible. We even saw a Lamborgini.  Luckily, there are many paved pull offs so that if someone comes up on you fast, you can pull off and let them through. Although, there is a slight chance of danger, it is highly exciting, even for those of us just having a fun ride. nearly every week there are crashes and even deaths. but it's almost always the chance takers and usually them alone. If however, this type of excitement interests you, please find us and talk to us. We still ride motorcycles, we also ride atv's [ four wheelers ] and snowmobiles and have trouble finding likewise riders.  Beside the ski and adventure club. Anja and I belong to a local motorcycle club on the side. But we are aging out and only have about 5 of us who still ride cycles. We organize short local rides 30-45 miles on Friday nights and sometimes on weekends. We ride local curvy road rides, usually along the rivers as we are in a country square grid system otherwise. We would now like to invite people with cars and trucks to join us on our monthly Friday night rides. It's very safe, it's not a race. It's all within the speed limit. Most of the time we rarely break 50MPH. HA!   Most of these curvy roads are too sharp to exceed 45. But like I said. It's not a race, it for the fun of getting together. We usually ride to local towns and then sit outside and eat dinner together. You are invited. Watch for the e-mails.    Please come join us.             Mike & Anja Metz