I am safely home after a great four days in the mountains of western North Carolina. It is always fun to renew old friendships and make new friends. Around 40 of us gathered for the 7th annual New Triumph Bonneville Forum rally. It is not limited to Bonnies; we had a couple of Speed Triples, a Daytona, a Street Triple, a Rocket, two HD’s, a Ducati, and a Guzzi. It is always neat to look at the various Bonnies and see how each person has modified individualized his/her ride.
Mike Selman, the owner of BellaCorse, attended and he brought his Ducati. Mike is a good guy and fun to be with.
Another surprise attendee was Dave Al Dana. For those of you who followed flat track racing in the 70’s, his name will be familiar. He was a legend in his time. I really enjoyed meeting Dave and socializing with him. He is a really good guy. Dave had not ridden on the road since he began his racing career as a kid. Someone brought him a Bonnie and he joined right in.
The weather was perfect Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then the rains hit on Saturday. Saturday was a lost day except for a short ride in the evening. But it was a good day for sharing a brew (or two) and socializing. I loaded the bike Saturday evening and hit the road for home at 03:45 Sunday morning – in the rain. It is 598 miles (962 km) from Maggie Valley, North Carolina to my home. Temperatures were in the low 50’s F (10-12 C) in the mornings and low 70’s F (22-23 C) in the afternoon – depending on altitude. Crossing a mountain, it got a bit chilly.
I rode about 600 miles (965 km) altogether and nearly all of that was on back country mountain roads with plenty of twisties. It wasn’t fast riding by any means; but it was great riding and gorgeous vistas. The dogwoods and azaleas were in full bloom and at higher elevations the mountain laurels were still in bloom. Above 3,000 ft (915 meters), the trees were just beginning to leaf out with their spring growth.
A good bike, great roads, and great fellowship – it just doesn’t get any better! We had folks attending from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Alabama, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California. The two guys from Minnesota and Wisconsin rode their Bonnies down to NC – about 700 miles (1126 km) and all but about 200 miles (322 km) were in the rain. There was a stalled frontal system that stretched from Dallas, Texas all across the eastern US dumping tons of rain and they had to ride though that. The system finally hit North Carolina Friday night.
We did have an incident that marred the occasion. A long time friend, Norman Stringfield, got hit by a tractor trailer rig on I-40. I and another rider had broken off from that group and were riding solo exploring some back roads. Six riders went on to Ashville, got on I40 and were in the right hand lane to exit onto back roads. The tractor trailer was over taking Norman and he was right beside the cab when the driver decided he want to exit there, too. He came over and his front tire hit Norm’s Bonnie at the rear of the seat. Fortunately Norm was ejected from the bike. He flew about 40 feet through the air and landed in a ditch. The group was separated in the traffic and no of them actually saw the accident happen. There were two nurses following Norm who saw the whole thing and went to his aid. They had dropped back to let the tractor trailer in. Norm suffered a broken left should shoulder and a badly shattered left elbow – his elbow is in 15 pieces and probably cannot be repaired to give movement. The LEO’s at the scene were great and documented the evidence – including the truck’s tread pattern on the left silencer – to clearly demonstrate the driver’s fault. Norman lives about 45 minutes from Asheville. His injuries are not life threatening; but I am afraid his riding days are over. He was wearing a full face helmet and leathers – but no armor. Would armor have saved his elbow? Of course, we’ll never know. But I can attest that armor saved my right elbow in my get off.
I will be posting pics from the trip later.
Mike Selman, the owner of BellaCorse, attended and he brought his Ducati. Mike is a good guy and fun to be with.
Another surprise attendee was Dave Al Dana. For those of you who followed flat track racing in the 70’s, his name will be familiar. He was a legend in his time. I really enjoyed meeting Dave and socializing with him. He is a really good guy. Dave had not ridden on the road since he began his racing career as a kid. Someone brought him a Bonnie and he joined right in.
The weather was perfect Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then the rains hit on Saturday. Saturday was a lost day except for a short ride in the evening. But it was a good day for sharing a brew (or two) and socializing. I loaded the bike Saturday evening and hit the road for home at 03:45 Sunday morning – in the rain. It is 598 miles (962 km) from Maggie Valley, North Carolina to my home. Temperatures were in the low 50’s F (10-12 C) in the mornings and low 70’s F (22-23 C) in the afternoon – depending on altitude. Crossing a mountain, it got a bit chilly.
I rode about 600 miles (965 km) altogether and nearly all of that was on back country mountain roads with plenty of twisties. It wasn’t fast riding by any means; but it was great riding and gorgeous vistas. The dogwoods and azaleas were in full bloom and at higher elevations the mountain laurels were still in bloom. Above 3,000 ft (915 meters), the trees were just beginning to leaf out with their spring growth.
A good bike, great roads, and great fellowship – it just doesn’t get any better! We had folks attending from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Alabama, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California. The two guys from Minnesota and Wisconsin rode their Bonnies down to NC – about 700 miles (1126 km) and all but about 200 miles (322 km) were in the rain. There was a stalled frontal system that stretched from Dallas, Texas all across the eastern US dumping tons of rain and they had to ride though that. The system finally hit North Carolina Friday night.
We did have an incident that marred the occasion. A long time friend, Norman Stringfield, got hit by a tractor trailer rig on I-40. I and another rider had broken off from that group and were riding solo exploring some back roads. Six riders went on to Ashville, got on I40 and were in the right hand lane to exit onto back roads. The tractor trailer was over taking Norman and he was right beside the cab when the driver decided he want to exit there, too. He came over and his front tire hit Norm’s Bonnie at the rear of the seat. Fortunately Norm was ejected from the bike. He flew about 40 feet through the air and landed in a ditch. The group was separated in the traffic and no of them actually saw the accident happen. There were two nurses following Norm who saw the whole thing and went to his aid. They had dropped back to let the tractor trailer in. Norm suffered a broken left should shoulder and a badly shattered left elbow – his elbow is in 15 pieces and probably cannot be repaired to give movement. The LEO’s at the scene were great and documented the evidence – including the truck’s tread pattern on the left silencer – to clearly demonstrate the driver’s fault. Norman lives about 45 minutes from Asheville. His injuries are not life threatening; but I am afraid his riding days are over. He was wearing a full face helmet and leathers – but no armor. Would armor have saved his elbow? Of course, we’ll never know. But I can attest that armor saved my right elbow in my get off.
I will be posting pics from the trip later.
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