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Portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway received major damage as a result of heavy flooding in the western North Carolina mountains recently. Remnants of hurricanes Francis and Ivan dumped as much as two feet or more of rain in the highest elevations. The run-off undercut the road bed in several places and completely washed the road out. Closed portions include the Grandfather mountain area from milepost 305 back to at least the intersection with 221 at milepost 298, the Linville Falls area from milepost 317 to 325, the Mount Mitchell area from milepost 344 to 355, and the Mount Pisgah area from milepost 412 to 433. The more heavily damaged areas could be closed for at least one year. You can check the National Park Services website for more detailed information at www.nps.gov.
We had our first look at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama the weekend of August 21st and 22nd while attending a NESBA track weekend. First impressions are lasting impressions and it was immediately apparent that no expense was spared in its design and construction. Beautifully manicured grounds, sculptures, and the Barber Museum were the highlights; the track isn't bad either. Click here for more on our time at Barber.
Rally in the Valley 3 is planned for Saturday, September 11 at the Shady Valley Country Store; all of the proceeds go to the Shady Valley Vol. Fire Dept. Last year we had about 600 in attendance and raised $2500. We hope to do at least as well this year. If you've ever enjoyed the roads around Shady Valley, please come and give a little something back to this wonderful community.
Over the Fourth of July holiday, we attended a track weekend sponsored by Sportbike Track Time at Virginia International Raceway's South Course. A huge, sprawling race facility, VIR has five configurations in which the course can be run. Three separate tracks, the 2.25 mile North Course, 1.65 mile South Course, and 1.1 mile Patriot Course, can be run independently or combined to be run as the 3.27 mile Full Course or the 4.1 mile Grand Course. We had an absolute blast riding with several friends who attended with us. Click here for the story and pictures as well as on track video. Be sure and check out the video of John's crash in the infamous "Fish Hook" turn. Ouch! Fortunately it was minor with the only damage being to John's pride and his RC 51.
 We
had a wonderful time hosting our friends from the CBR1100XX forum the weekend of June 19th and 20th. We got to see some old friends and make
some new ones, and I think everyone will agree that the riding
was awesome. Thanks as usual to Jeff (aka TL Streak) and Mike
for helping with the ride.
The
Shady Valley Country Store is now serving breakfast.
Carroll and Peggy have added a kitchen and dining room by
doing some remodeling and moving some of the store's merchandise
to a previously unused portion of the building. The result
is a great country atmosphere and wonderful breakfast. Now
you have even more of a reason for a Saturday morning ride
to Shady Valley.
June's
here, and we are eagerly awaiting our friends from
the SEXX tour! SEXX tour sounds a little hmmmm, but
it stands for Southeast XX tour, and our Blackbird friends
will be here the weekend of the 19th. John's looking
forward to playing tour guide once again, taking them over
many curvaceous roads in the area.
 We
finished our biking adventures last month with a track
weekend at Road
Atlanta. Too much fun! We were certainly glad
that we had experienced RA before at the Schwantz school,
because we knew exactly what to expect. Both of us enjoyed
ourselves immensely, although John did have a little mishap
on Sunday involving cold tires and turn 10 A, but that didn't
stop him from riding Lesley's bike during another session.
Last
Sunday, June 6, we decided to ride up to the BRP by
way of the Laurels, a pretty little shortcut by-passing Elizabethton.
As usual, Lesley was riding in front, coming around a curve
onto a long straightaway, when we encountered the sight of
an on-coming white van on the other end of the straightaway
in our lane. At first we thought the driver of the van
might be passing someone, but no one else was coming towards
us. At first, neither of us was worried, thinking "surely
he'll get over," but after the third "surely he'll
get over," Lesley realized that he was not only NOT getting
over, he was getting ready to hit her head on! Emergency
braking employed as she was thinking of veering right into
a field yet thinking that HE might veer into the field with
her and still hit her. At the last minute he swerved
into his lane hard. God was definitely looking after
her once again! We have no idea what this guy was doing,
but it was a bit unsettling. The moral of this story
is always to be on the lookout for potential problems and
keep a cool head, looking for an escape if you need one.
Oh, and practice emergency braking! After the white
van incident, we made it up to the BRP, but decided to cut
it short, so we exited at Linville Falls. Lesley made
John happy by going the long way home through Minneapolis
and Cranberry. Although the road is pretty rough in
some patches, it's still a pretty ride.
Finally,
we've made it to May! We've been so busy with
work and yard work, we haven't had much time to think about
our web site, but for some strange reason we keep getting emails
and questions from riding acquaintances when we'll be doing
some updating, so here goes: Even though we've been busy earning
a living, that doesn't mean we haven't been riding. We've
been to the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of times in the last
month and were surprised to see so much law enforcement. Lesley
was especially surprised since she got a frantic hand gesture
(no not the bird, lol) from a park policeman to slow down
just below Blowing Rock, and then later in the day got pulled
over (yep, pulled her right over for speeding) right at the
junction with 181. Lesley was in her own little world, just
zipping right along having a big 'ole time until Johnny Law
busted her. I, on the other hand, was paying attention and
slowed down, but not Lesley. Nooo, she was just having a big
time. Of course, she was able to do what many women seem to
have a knack for and talked herself into a warning and out
of a ticket. In all of our years of riding on the Parkway,
this was our first (and hopefully last) run-in with the law.
Anyway, the moral of this story is that they seem to have
stepped up enforcement. Oh yeah, he also told us that a speeding
ticket on the BRP was going to cost quite a bit more.
Apparently they've upped the fine.
 The
same can be said for 421 too. THP and the Johnson County Sheriff's
Dept. have been making their presence known. It's mostly been
limited to Sunday afternoons, though. They haven't been doing
much in the way of ticketing people, although the ones who
have gotten tickets would argue that point I'm sure. The road
is in good shape except for the very top on the Sullivan County
side of Holston Mountain. The road has deteriorated there
quite a bit, but the Tennessee DOT has told us that that whole
side of the mountain will be re-paved this summer.
This
year's Rally in the Valley has been set for the weekend of
September 11 and 12. Preliminary plans are to hold the main
Rally on Saturday this year with the festivities continuing
on Sunday with a Poker Run for the cruisers, and some spirited
riding for those who like sportbikes. If you would like to
help sponsor or contribute your time and energy to this worthwhile
event, please let us know. All proceeds benefit the Shady
Valley Volunteer Fire Dept.
We've
already made many new friends this year, both on the road
and through our web site, and we plan to make a lot more before
the season is over. We have a few track days planned, including
the very first private track day at Talledega Gran Prix Raceway
with eighteen of our friends from 421 and Cycle Forums.com.
We can't wait, and we'll be sure and post all the pictures
along with the story.
 There
are many great new changes at the Shady Valley Country Store.
Breakfast is now being served and Carroll has done a lot of
remodeling inside the store which made room for several new
tables and chairs and... get this... a new TV hooked up to
satellite! We all gathered inside the store to watch the first
Moto GP race from South Africa. Let us tell you, there is
nothing better than watching motorcycle racing at Carroll
and Peggy's store with like minded friends.
March
29 Spring is finally here and to make things even better,
we learned some really good news this week concerning US 421.
The Tennessee DOT confirmed to us that the section of 421
in Sullivan County from Tom Camp Howard Road to the Johnson
County line will be re-paved this summer. This is the area
between mile markers 32.0 to 35.9, or to be more precise for
those who frequent the road, this extends from just below
Jack's Grocery to the top of the mountain just beyond the
Appalachian Trail. As you may know, this section of road has
deteriorated over the last couple of years and was sorely
in need of new pavement. This will complete the last section
of the approximately fourteen miles of re-paving work that
was started in 2000.
On
March 6th the 63rd running of the Daytona 200 took
place down in sunny Florida. Not only is this always a great
week of racing with lots of TV coverage, but it kind of signifies
the start of the riding season for us. It means the official
start of Spring is only a couple of weeks away and the weather
has already started taking a turn for the better here in Northeast
Tennessee. We have to say congratulations to our friends from
the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School, instructors
Lee Acree and Opie Caylor, who placed 5th and 8th respectively
in the 200. Great racing guys! We also want to say thanks
to all of the people from around the world who have taken
the time to contact us through our web site. One of the great
things about riding is the new friends that we make, and motorcycleplayground.com
has given us an opportunity to meet a lot of new people we
otherwise wouldn't have. We try to reply to every email we
receive, but as we receive more and more every week, it's
taking a little longer to reply. Keep 'em coming though, and
we will get back to you.
It's
February, and we are counting down the days to SPRING,
looking forward to another riding season and seeing all of
our friends in Shady Valley. We've made some updates
to the site over the winter and hope you will take the time
to look around at what's been added. We plan on updating
the site even more in the upcoming months to make it more
user friendly. Also, look for additions to our "Roads"
page soon.
The
2004 Fun Fest Motorcycle Poker Ride will be held on
July 24th, according to Rick Giddish, 2004 Chairman of the
FFMPR. Pre-register at the Fun Fest Store in the Fort
Henry Mall in Kingsport, TN, and get a t-shirt at the event.
Chics
N Chaps will be hosting their first breast cancer motorcycle
rally on July 31,2004, at the Shady Valley Country Store in
beautiful downtown Shady Valley, TN. This event is open
to all riders/all bikes. They are looking for vendors
and sponsors for this event. For more info, check out
their website at www.chicsnchaps.bravepages.com.
Over
Thanksgiving, we made a pilgrimage to Vanson Leathers
in Fall River, Massachussetts, to have Lesley fitted for custom
one piece leathers. Kim Vanson was kind enough to give
us a full tour of Vanson Leathers, which was too cool.
Check
out the story and pictures.
The
weekend of October 18, we attended a track day, organized
by
Sportbike Track Time, at Talledaga Grand Prix Raceway, known
affectionately as Little T, in Talledaga, Alabama. We had
a wonderful time, and the weather was perfect for a day of
track shenanigans. Several of our 421 buds attended as well
which made it even better. Click
here for details and pictures.
 Rally
in the Valley 2003: Rally in the Valley 2 took place
on Sunday,
September 7 in Shady
Valley, TN. We expected a big turnout, but we
didn't expect this
big of a turnout! Wow! Motorcyclists from all over the
Southeast converged
on the valley for the second annual Rally and
fundraiser for the
Shady Valley Volunteer Fire Department. Click
here
for details and
pictures.
Rally
in the Valley Update: This year’s rally is almost
upon us. Sunday, September 7 is the big day, and if the success
of last year’s event was any indication of what we should
expect this year, certainly a great time will be had by all.
The main purpose of the rally is to raise money for the Shady
Valley Volunteer Fire Department and help give something back
to the community that has given us riders so much. As first
responders to motorcycle accidents, these guys are there to
help us when we need them, and we want to be there to help
them as well. Last year’s rally raised fifteen hundred
dollars for them, and I’m sure with a bigger turnout
this year we can do even better. There will be food and drinks,
music, vendors, camaraderie with other riders, and some really
great door prizes. We hope to see you there!
We would like to
especially like to thank our sponsors for all of the help
they have contributed in making this year’s rally possible.
Local
Sponsors
Shady Valley Country Store
Kingsport Toyota
Allen Properties, Inc.
Wampler’s Funnel Cakes
Motorcycle Playground.com
Appalachian Conditioned Air
Tri State Signs
Dr. Enuf
Pepsi
Sara Lee
Ken's Cycle Center
Charlotte
Sponsors
Tilley’s Harley Davidson/ Buell
Mathew’s Fun Machines
Charlotte Dragoneez
Charlotte Wrecking Crew
Wow!
What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. We spent
the weekend of May 17th and 18th in Braselton, GA, at the
AMA superbike races. Click
here for details and pictures of our weekend, including
Matt Mladin’s race bike after his tire blew out at over
170 mph.
The
long Memorial Day weekend was spent at our favorite
“home track,” U.S. 421. The weather was wonderful,
and we got to see some old friends as well as make some new
ones. Click here for recent 421 pictures.
 The
weekend of May 31st and June 1st we made a quick trip
out to Austin, TX, (if you can call a 2200 mile trip quick)
to pick up a new motorcycle for John, a 2002 Honda RC51. We
flew out at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning and arrived in Austin
at 10:40 where we met the former owner of the bike. After
checking the bike over and taking a quick test ride, we loaded
it up in a rental truck and began the long drive home at about
3:00 PM. We drove all the way to Hope, Arkansas, on Saturday
before stopping for the night. The next morning we left at
5:45 AM to complete the drive home and finally arrived at
5:30 on Sunday evening. All told we drove 1175 miles in eighteen
hours. It was a difficult trip, but it was worth it. The new
bike is great and it has now been properly introduced to our
Tennessee mountain roads. It’s so much fun to ride;
great handling, a wide power band, and a relatively light
weight make for a great motorcycle. The sound is just icing
on the motorcycle cake.
The
weekend of June 7th and 8th started out rainy on Saturday,
but by Sunday it had cleared up and gave us beautiful afternoon
on 421 to test out the RC 51 and shoot the breeze with our
friends. Great road conditions (thanks to the sweeping crew
of Jeff and Brent) allowed for some spirited riding and gave
me pretty good idea exactly how sweet the new bike is. I can’t
wait until I’ve really had a chance for some seat time
to get used to it.
 June
13th through the 18th found us taking a few days off
to spend some time riding with our new friends from the CBR
1100XX.org forum. We met up on Friday evening for some dinner
and to get acquainted, and then on Saturday we headed out
early to sample some of the area’s finest roads. The
next four days were filled with over seven hundred miles of
twisty riding, culminating with a couple of runs through Deal’s
Gap, followed by a trip over the Cherohala Skyway. We got
soaked a couple of times during those four days, but the consensus
was that a really good time was had by all. Click
here for pics from the 2003 Southeast XX Tour,
fondly known as seXXt.
 June
21st and 22nd we were in Braselton, Georgia, taking
the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School. There aren’t words
that could adequately describe how great this school is. If
learning how to be a better rider, doing it in a safe race-track
environment, and being taught by some of the very best riders
in the world sounds like fun, then you really should take
this school. We promise you won’t regret it. Click
here for a full accounting of our weekend at the Kevin
Schwantz Suzuki School as well as for pictures.
Rally in the Valley II
The second annual Rally in the Valley is scheduled for September
7, 2003. Last year’s rally attracted over 200 riders
and raised over $1,500.00 for the Shady Valley Volunteer Fire
Department. This year, we’re confident that it will
be bigger and better, with free food and drinks…uh,
yes, we are asking for a donation to the fire department,
so if you are one of those “see-the-glass-as-half-empty”
sort of people, you can say the food costs $5.00. If you’re
one of those “see-the-glass-as-half-full” sorts,
you’ll see the food as free and you’ll feel all
warm and fuzzy about doing a good deed for the community of
Shady Valley.
Along with the free
food and drink, there will be door prizes, music, and lots
of camaraderie with your fellow riders. If you are new to
the area or just passing through, this is the perfect time
to meet some of the great local riders of US 421.
In case you didn’t
know, the Shady Valley Volunteer Fire Department, in addition
to providing fire protection for the community of Shady Valley,
is also the first responder to accidents that happen on US
421. These guys are there for us when we need them; let’s
be there for them, too!
First
Tri Cities Dinner Ride
 The
rain went away just in time for the first gathering of the
Tri Cities area Cycle Forums dinner ride. After a thirty minute
meet- and- greet session, we headed over to Fuddruckers in
Johnson City for dinner, where multiple aliases were used
by the riders when ordering dinner. We didn’t realize
there were so many well known Suberbike riders in our area.
Thanks to Brian (alias Nicky H.) for organizing this great
event. We plan to do this on a regular basis and all riders
are welcome. Hopefully or initial group of fifteen will grow
steadily over the next few months.
Shady Valley Country Store
In the five-plus
years that Carroll and Peggy Long have owned the SVCS, they’ve
made great improvements to our favorite hang-out. Not only
do they welcome all of us riders each weekend, they also make
a mean sandwich! When you stop at the SVCS to kick tires and
talk trash with the other riders, please take time to say
hello to the Longs and buy a soda or hotdog or both. They
have new t-shirt designs, too! Help support the Shady
Valley Country Store!
As a side note,
please clean up after yourself. Carroll and Peggy have never
asked anyone to pick up after himself/herself, and most people
are quite good about keeping our “paddock area”
clean, but….
The
Suzuki Superbike Showdown Presented by Darkdog
 Until
this year, this event was known as the Big Kahuna, but it
has changed names because Dark Dog energy drink is now sponsoring
Road Atlanta. A rose by any other name? Any who, the races
are scheduled for the weekend of May 16-18. The crowd has
been growing every year, and with the new terraced hillside
facing turn ten and the addition of a big screen T.V., Road
Atlanta is more fan-friendly than ever. There’s a vendor
section with all kinds of bike related stuff for sale. The
paddock area is a can’t miss attraction as it offers
a great opportunity to get up close and personal with the
racers as well as being able to see all of the really trick
race bikes.
Camping is available,
but when it rains, the camping area turns into red clay soup.
We recommend staying in Buford, GA, which is 15 miles from
the track, at exit 115 off I-85. This is what Lesley calls
the “Oasis in the Middle of the Desert” exit,
because there lies the Mall of Georgia, where adult beverages
are available seven days a week at the many fine restaurants
that are located there. (Georgia is a dry state on Sundays
except for some designated areas that can sell alcohol at
restaurants only.) At the Mall of Georgia, there are several
nice hotels: Hampton Inn, SpringHill Suites, and a Wingate
Inn. The best thing about staying there is we can walk across
the street to tons of restaurants: Olive Garden, Macaroni
Grill, Chilis, Red Lobster, O’Charley’s, etc.
On the other side of the mall, near Barnes and Nobles and
Gaylon’s sport store, there is a P.F. Changs, which
is really quite good. There are some places to stay closer
to the track in Oakwood, GA or at the super nice (and pricey)
Chateau Elan. Visit Road
Atlanta for more info on tickets and accommodations.
Come out and support
AMA racing!
Southeast XX Tour
June 13th is the
day several of the members of cbr1100xx.org will invade Johnson
City, TN, for what may turn out to be the first annual “Pre-Hoot
Bash”. Riders from all over the East will gather for
a weekend of riding fun prior to the annual Honda-sponsored
motorcycle rally in Knoxville the following week. They plan
to explore many of the wonderful “playgrounds”
our area has to offer, as well as get together for a cookout/
meet-n-greet on Saturday night. This is a close knit group
of riders who have come together because of their love of
riding, as well as their love for Honda’s super fast,
yet highly refined, open class sportbike. We can’t wait
to see you guys in June and get a chance to play tour guide.
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