Horizons Unlimited Eastern Traveler's Meeting 2014

The Horizons Unlimited Eastern Traveler's Meeting was held September 4 - 7 at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge in Stecoah, NC.  This is an annual meeting of international motorcycle travelers.  It consists of three days of presentation covering "how-to" and reports on trips taken.  Some folks are there that have never done long distance motorcycle travel and others have been on the road for years.  I gave my presentation on a 2008 trip I made to Alaska.

My bike and tent at the Horizons Unlimited Traveler's Meeting

There was a little rain, but since most the events were held indoors we were not bothered.  Iron Horse is a fantastic venue for such an event.  The food is also great!  The highlight of the culinary offerings is the prime rib on Saturday night.

The evening fire at Iron Horse.

Prime Rib dinner at Iron Horse.

It was a great week and it inspired me to reactivate this blog.  I had suspended this blog due to political considerations while I was overseas. 

Here are a few more photos from the week.

Tent city

Lots of bikes

A beautiful setting in the Smoky Mountains

I should have another posting in couple of weeks.  Fall is approaching and that is some of the best motorcycling weather in my part of the country.  Stay tune!

Cruso - July 2013

As some of you know I am preparing to spend six months in Europe and the planning and preparation for that trip has not left me much time to ride this year.  Also we have had rain, rain, RAIN!  This is the wettest summer on record and we are only about half way through!

I did get a chance to go camping at the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground in Cruso, NC this past weekend.  Due to the weather there were very few campers and I almost had the campground all to myself.

My campsite at Cruso

I managed to get a good ride in on Saturday, but it did rain for about an hour.  Afterwards the sun came out and it began to "rain up".

Mist rising from the Little Pigeon River

This may be my last post of the year in my motorcycle travel blog.  Be sure to check out my other travel blog.  I will be driving to Texas and then to Philadelphia to board a freighter to Hamburg, Germany.  In Europe we will travel to Berlin, Poland (?), Austria and Bavaria!

Kickstand Lodge

I know I am VERY late in posting this, but it really was not much of a ride.  I rode to Kickstand Lodge in Stecoah, NC on Friday April 31 and returned home the next morning.  As I was having breakfast Saturday morning a guy comes by with a Smarty Phone and shows me the weather radar.  BIG storms were headed our way and I decided to pack up and ride for home.  The weather would not get here until Sunday morning, but I did not feel like packing up and riding home in the rain.

Since I had all day I took the long way home over the Blue Ridge Parkway.  When I woke up Sunday morning I found out I made the right decision.  Heavy rain all day!

Because of the trip to Europe later this year I really don't have any further planned trips on the bike.  Until I do...

Rick's Rendezvous

Rick\'s Rendezvous

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in North Carolina

The weekend of May 17-19, 2013 was Rick's Rendezvous.  This event was formerly called the Eastern Rendezvous but since Rick's death last year Silke and Hunter have taken on the task of keeping the Rendezvous going.

This year the Rendezvous was held near Hampton, TN and the weather proved to be a problem.  There was rain and more rain, hence no photos from this trip.  The cameras remained loaded on the bike and I never removed them from their cases.  The food and the camaraderie were outstanding.  The sun came out after the tent was packed and the ride home was uneventful.

This will be a short riding season for me because of my trip to Europe beginning in August, but stay tuned to see what else happens on two wheels this year!

ADV Old School Spring Fling

April 26 - 28, 2013 was the ADV Old School Spring Fling held at the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground in Cruso, NC.  Our weather pattern for the last few weeks had been perfect camping weather Monday through Thursday and then a cold front would come through bringing rain for the weekend.  This week proved no different.  Many folks came despite the rain and some even came from as far away as Canada!  Those are some hardy boys up there!  As I mentioned there was a lot of rain so I left my camera equipment in the bags for the most part.  I did manage to get a few shots, however.

This was my first trip in my new tent and the tent held up well.  Despite three inches of rain over the weekend it kept me dry!  As you can see I also rode my airhead since this was an "Old School" rally.

One of our Canadian friends had starter troubles on the way down.  He had a new starter Fed-Exed to the campground and installed it Saturday morning.

We kept an eye on the Pigeon River as it kept creeping up!

On Sunday I rode home in pouring rain.  The bike was ridden hard and put up wet.  No problem with the equipment and the bike ran like a dream.  Hopefully the weather will get better next month!

International Motorcycle Show

On Saturday, February 23, 2013 I traveled to Charlotte, NC to attend the 2013 International Motorcycle Show at the Charlotte Convention Center.  I have been to this event before and there was really nothing new to see.  The usual booths selling leather and jewelry to the Harley crowd and a smattering of new bikes from some of the manufacturers.  I took the frau with me and she opted to read the German newspapers on her iPad in a local coffee shop while I browsed the show.  All in all I spent roughly 45 minutes at the show.

Moto GP Umbrella Girl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My kind of bike!!

 

 

Not my kind of bike!!

After the show we went to the Light Factory and saw an exhibit of photographs dealing with social media.  It was very interesting.

Afterwards we went to the Levine Museum of the New South and viewed different historical exhibits about Charlotte and the surrounding area.

The season should be picking up in the next month or so and there will be more posts.  Come on spring!!!!

Airhead Ride in January!

Airhead ride in January at EveryTrail


We had some freakishly good warm weather this weekend and I took my R80RT out for a little 100 mile ride.  The R80 was grateful as she has been a hangar queen for the last year.  She was getting a bit jealous of the R12GS getting to spend time in Mexico and out west.  She did protest just a little by having a coil wire come loose in the middle of Nowhere, NC.  But, as always, she got me home!

ADV Old School Fall Rally

I spent the weekend of October 19-21 in Tellico Plains, TN attending the ADV Old School Fall Rally.  This is usually the last overnight camping trip of my season.  For some reason most of my photos did not come out very well.  This may be because I did not shoot that many at the campground.  I was too busy catching up with old friends that I see only twice a year.  Some of these folks I had not seen in a year because I was in Mexico during the Spring Rally.

On Saturday I did ride to my old home of Maryville and rode the Foothills Parkway.  The fall colors were spectacular.

As I am writing this the weather is turning colder and I think, as I mentioned above, this will probably be my last camping trip of the year.

It has been a great riding season from Mexico, Texas, California, the Overland Expo and the entire southwest!  Ther may be a few posts during the winter if I get in a few "maintenance rides".  I don't really "winterize" my bikes and if I get a warm weekend in the winter I normally take the bikes out for a twenty mile jaunt just to keep the engine internals coated with oil.

So, check back ever so often to see what is up!

Weekend at Cruso

I spent this weekend at Cruso at the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground.  On Saturday I rode to Sevierville, TN to go to the Smoky Mountain Knife Works to pick up a few things.  It was a great weekend and the weather was perfect.  Saturday night got down to 44F but I have very good camping equipment and I was quite toasty in my sleeping bag.

My campsite for the weekend

The Pigeon River right behind my tent

This season is slowly coming to a close.  The only other planned motorcycle trip I have for this year is the ADV Old School Rally in Tellico Plains, TN schedule for October 19.  I have a little maintenance to do on my old airhead to get it ready.  I noticed last Friday that the fork seals were leaking.

Remind me again why I like living and riding here!

Horizons Unlimited Traveller's Meeting 2012

I spent the weekend of September 7 - 9 at Iron Horse Motorcylce Lodge in Stecoah, NC attending the 9th annual USA East Horizons Unlimited Traveller's Meeting.  I did two presentations.  One on my 2008 trip to the Arctic Circle in Alaska and the second on my recently concluded trip to Mexico and the American southwest.  There many other presentation and a couple done by RTW (Round the World) riders.  There was also some very interesting bikes and packing systems on display.

Of course it's a KLR!

While some chose to stay in nearby hotels and other rented cabins the majority of us chose to camp in a tent city.  The weather was warm on Friday, but a front with rain moved through leaving Saturday night cool at that just right sleeping temperature.

It was an excellent meeting with over 100 travelers.  I saw some old friends, renewed some friendships and met a lot of new friends.  Due to illness Grant and Susan Johnson were not able to attend.  We are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers and look forward to seeing them at next year's meeting!