I'll take TWO please...

Ok, enough about the stars and preping, it's finally Saturday and time to do some serious riding. With all my gear loaded, case of Corona strapped to the back, and visor cleaned, it's time to head east!

Well, maybe not soo fast. The trip odometer shows 207mi and the gas light is on. I always reset my trip odometer every time I get gas and know the gas light will normally illuminate around 200-210mi. I normally get gas the night before a big trip; however, I guess I forgot this time. Well, Shit. On the way out of town, I took a detour to the "cheap gas station" and filled up. Even though I am alittle bummed about the delay, I finally get underway and things progress nicely. Nothing very exciting happens as I get out of town and cross the Tennessee River. The weather is PERFECT -- about 65F and not a cloud to be found. This was definately going to be a good ride. Maybe that will be the last of my delays for the day.

I make it to my first planned stop in Mentone, AL and take a break. I only planned to be there for a few minutes to grab a snack and go. I decide it would be wise to check on the wife before getting out of cell range. Unfortunately, she has come down with a bad cold. So, here she is in a remote place on business, by herself, and sick while I'm feeling great and on my way to meet friends and have fun. I felt horrible for her; however, let's just say I wasn't winning any points telling her about the great weather and where I was headed. After praying she would feel better soon, I mount back up and continue towards TWO.

In the rush to get back on schedule, I miss a fork in the road I needed to take before Jasper, GA. No problem, pull a U-turn, head back, take the fork, and ... to be stopped by a group of 20-30 Harley Davidsons pulling out in front of me. In my helmet, I exclaim, "oh, this isn't going to be good".

Looking at the map, the road out of Jasper to Dahlonega was one heck of a twisty road. Unforutnately, I had to experience it at a snail's pace of 30-40mph. Nothing was more frustrating than seeing some beautiful twisty roads in front of me only to be stuck behind a bunch of loud Harleys poking along. I think, "can't they just get out of the way?"

Eventually, the Harley crowd decided that twenty miles was long enough and needed another break. As they pull off, we slow to 5-10mph as each pulls into this little resturant's parking lot. No wonder they needed a break. I needed a break too after that test of patience! With them finally off the road, it was time to put the hammer down for my "cushion" was now gone.

Just as the average speed on my GPS was coming back up, I got slapped with yet another delay. In the midst of trying to get around the Harley crowd, I forgot to get gas back at that fork in the road. I'm now in the middle of nowhere and the gas light is bright orange. The GPS says I still have 20 miles to go before making it into Dahlonega. But, that is line of sight and this road is anything but straight. I back off to 60mph to conserve gas. I've given up on my "cushion" at this point and plan to be late. And yes, I do realize this is now twice today that I have forgotten about the "motion lotion".

Luckily, I made it into Dahlonega without incident and was able to get gas. I put in a nice 4.85gal into my 5gal tank. Plenty in reserve. While at the gas station, I hear a loud crash and the sound of glass shattering. Look over my shoulder to see a Ford Escort getting smashed by a dump truck. The dump truck has plowed into the front-left quarter panel of the Escort when the Escort driver attempted to "beat" the dump truck through the intersection. The shattering sound was from the windshield popping out of the Escort and crashing onto the ground. Dump Truck 1 / Escort 0. Thankfully, no one was hurt. But, now the intersection has come to a complete stop in all diections and the traffic is backing up. Kindly, the morons in their cages block the entrance to the gas station and I can't get out -- even though I need to go away from the intersection. I guess they figured if they all bunched up bumper-to-bumper, they would see more of the accident or get through faster. Morons.

Giving into the situation, I proceed to ride up the shoulder a bit (in the wrong direction) and finally found some cars leaving space to the neighboring stores' driveway. I wiggle through and get back underway. All I need to do now is go north on Hwy 129 and then north on Hwy 60 to TWO -- a measely ten miles at most. I thought to myself, "If I keep her in high gear, I will be in there in no time." In theory, I might only be like five minutes late. Right!

It took thirty minutes to go those last ten miles. So, I gave myself four hours to drive 220miles and it ended up taking 4.5 hours in the end. None the less, I was glad to finally see the TWO resort to my left. I pulled into the parking lot and quickly spotted Jim's BMW 1150 GS amoung the sea of sport bikes. I pulled into the grass and parked in front of my friend's iron horse. After getting my helmet off, I was greated by Jim.