Ducks Along the Blue Ridge 2005
Ducks Fly South 2005Well, if it's springtime in North Carolina, it must be time for Ducks Along the Blue Ridge! As has been the custom, the rally was held in beautiful Mount Airy, North Carolina (aka Mayberry).
This rally was special for me personally since it marked my "return" to the DABR rally after quite a number of years of not attending. I was also able to talk my wife into accompanying me on this trip. Since I would end up probably the lone Moto Guzzi Centauro, I figured I would need the extra protection from all the rabid Ducatisti that populate this event. Turns out, I was not only the lone Centauro that weekend, but the only Moto Guzzi, period! Now, this is where I would normally insert a few notes about the beautiful flowing lines of the Centauro followed by a lesson in proper V-twin engine orientation, but, given the intended audience and the fact I might cry if I receive any negative criticism, let's just say that ALL Italian bikes are beautiful both visually and aurally. I think we can all agree that there's nothing like the sound of a proper 90-degree Vee in the key of two cylinders, right? Right!
Speaking of Italian motorcycles, there was also good representation from Aprilia and even Bimota. (When have you ever seen TWO Bimotas at a small gathering like this?) Myself, I just enjoyed walking down the line of the Quality Inn parking-lot showroom and drooling over a few of the newer bikes like the 1098, 848, and Hypermotard. And what is it about the older 916/996 and 851/888 Superbikes that makes me all weak in the knees? With so many nice Ducs, I guess I'm "lucky" to have a Moto Guzzi, since I don't think I could settle on a single Ducati as THE one to own. I think I'd have to have at least an 851 Superbike, Hypermotard, 916, Multistrada, and 848 (perfect track bike?) in the garage. Damn, and then there's that Bimota DB3 Mantra of Billy Birchfield that keeps jerking my head around... but I digress.
Soon after my wife and I arrived at the hotel and got settled in after enduring the 2+ hour drone up I-77, we registered and enjoyed the "traditional" start of the rally, which is decent local-delivery pizza and catching up with old friends and some new ones. In Jim's absence, Craig Hunley, Bob Lattanzi, Clyde Romero, and friends dealt with registration duties and did a bang-up job. Soon after the pizza was devoured, conversation drifted outdoors to the parking lot and the telling of Tall Tales. Right Reverend Romero had a small congregation of "Choir Boys" and delivered an exceptional sermon (or sermons!) to those in attendance. Rumors of a small offering being taken up to adorn the Cathedral of Ducati in Carbon Fiber were unfounded as it turns out. My wife appears to be a Ducati Agnostic as she turned in early just as the sermons started to ramp up, with the Spirit (spirits?) flowing freely.
Enough Talk, Let's Ride!
Saturday morning broke clear, crisp, and a tad cool with no hint of rain as of yet, so it was time to grab a quick breakfast and hit some of the better twisties of North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. I lost count of how many times we went in/out of North Carolina and Virginia as we skirted along the borders of these two states. Our group took the prescribed escape route out of Mount Airy called Piper's Gap Road, which takes you north to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). Piper's Gap is one of those nice "appetizer" roads that get you pumped up for what's about to come for the next few hours. Taking the BRP south for a few miles, we mostly ignored the ridiculously slow posted 45 mph speed limit (watch out for the Federales!) and jumped off the Parkway at Route 18 west and followed that into Sparta, North Carolina.
At this point, the original route takes you southwest on 18 to Laurel Springs, where you pick up Route 88 which takes you all the way to US 421, which you take north and on into Mountain City, Tennessee, for lunch. Well, our group didn't exactly take the prescribed route, but instead effectively swapped the morning/afternoon routes. This was sort of per my request to our group leader and Route Meister Craig Hunley. Seems in the past the afternoon ride, consisting of a long stretch of very twisty US 58, has, how shall we say, caused more than its fair of "missteps", resulting in a trail of carbon fiber and billet aluminum bits. My own theory is that, after a nice big lunch, rider's physical and mental responses might be a tad sluggish and not up to focusing undivided attention on this rather long stretch of curves on US 58. Whatever the case, I preferred to run this extended section first and take the less demanding route in the afternoon so as not to disturb my after-lunch nap time. So we ran the route sheet mostly backwards. (You have NO IDEA how difficult it is to ride a motorcycle backwards for 3 hours, especially with a passenger blocking the view!)
After a wonderful morning ride of remarkably clean roads for this time of year, we rolled into Mountain City ready for lunch. We pulled up to Cook's Buffet only to find out that the restaurant appears to be out of business. We continued on through town and stumbled upon a decent little Japanese fast-food restaurant. After fueling up both our bodies and our bikes, we proceeded to run the rest of our "backwards" route. Route Meister Craig and Bill Birchfield knew of a nice little Spanish restaurant near Sparta that doubled as a coffee shop, so that's where we made our last stop before heading back to Mayberry. It was at this point that finally the skies opened up a bit and the predicted rain began to fall. This was around 3 p.m., which was probably a couple of hours earlier than the rain was predicted to hit. Nonetheless, we simply took our time finishing our coffee klatch and waited for the rain to subside. We'd already used up the best of the twisties for the day so we simply had a leisurely, if a bit "moist," ride back to the hotel. The only downside was that it scuttled plans for an extension to our ride on some choice roads north of Mount Airy in Virginia, roads with names like "Route 40" and "Squirrel Run."
As great as the riding was (and it WAS great), it was not without incident. We had two fellow riders go down very early in the day and needed to be hospitalized. As of this writing, these gentlemen are recovering nicely. And what multi-motorcycle weekend in Mayberry country wouldn't be complete without a few invitations to court (RSVP please!) by the local Barney Fifes and Andys? I believe the ticket count was seven, but everybody who received one seemed genuinely cheerful about the ordeal as they were grinning ear-to-ear when this was mentioned at the awards ceremony that evening. There was even one Canadian that was facing possible extradition! Now, if that were true, it would make a heckuva story. Perhaps Reverend Romero could weave that into next year's sermon!
As great a day as Saturday was, it wouldn't be complete without club president and "Il Capo" Jim Calandro being part of the weekend. So it was with great anticipation that Jim showed up at the rally that afternoon with wife Ann, son Tony, and daughter Jody in tow. I for one just stood back and watched Jim work his "magic" with the Ducati Faithful. It wasn't long after he arrived that he had a small crowd gathered 'round, and it remained this way until Jim had to leave later that evening. For me, DABR was made complete with Jim's presence that evening. 'Nuf said.
I'll sign off with what I thought was the "line of the weekend." During the customary Saturday evening prize raffle, one of the attendees who happened to collect one of the court invitations that day blurted out, "I didn't get my (raffle) ticket!" To which emcee Clyde Romero responded, "You already GOT your ticket for the weekend!" Laughter ensued.
Jim Calandro/US DESMO would like to thank the following sponsors for donating prizes for the Saturday evening raffle:
About the author:
Terry Wyse lives near Waxhaw, North Carolina, and, even though he owns a lovely Moto Guzzi Centauro, he has NO PROBLEM AT ALL riding with those of the Ducati persuasion. In fact, some of the nicest people he knows on two wheels happen to ride "that other Italian motorcycle." Terry would also like to thank his wife Jill for being such a good sport and going along with him for DABR and enduring 650 total road miles and UNTOLD miles of non-stop motorcycle talk that weekend. Me thinks she looked forward to getting back on the "Guzzinator" just to get away from all the motorcycle chat!
Read the recap and look at a few pics from Ducks Along the Blue Ridge 2004!
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Updated 11-Aug-08 | Copyright © 2003-2008 US DESMO
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