DAY 5
05/02/96
Hiawassee back home to Washington DC

At exactly 5:00 am a fierce, cold wind violently shook the tent. After about 10 seconds it was gone.

Cold Wind...means...Rain...Rain is bad...Hard to pack with Rain...Wake Up. Wake Up Now!

As I stumbled out of my tent, pulling on my stich lower half I quickly saw that I was not the only one to be awoken by nature's fair warning. Dave and Carol Keuch were a model of efficiency as they quickly packed, rolled or folded everything into that black hole known as the rounder bag. I set some kind of record for dazed and confused packing and was ready to go just about the time everyone else was. I woke up Terry and Pat (hey, they DID ask me to!) and answered one of the great Georgia Mountain Mysteries in the process. As I approached Pat Roddy's tent, I heard that zipper again - What was Pat's fixation with zippers??? As I grabbed the tent to give it a little shake I realized that that zip was no ordinary zip, but an impression of a zipper that would make Rich Little proud.  Pat Roddy is a Zipper snorer, and now you all know - sorry Pat ... ;-)

I quickly mounted up and did a figure-8 around Roger Traversa's tent as requested but saw no movement. We waved goodbye to Terry, Pat and Jon Diaz and quietly slipped out of the campground and out of Hiawassee just as the very edge of the sun peeked over the horizon. We stopped at an "all you can eat" (and did we ever) where we practiced smiling at the table of State Troopers that made a point to hustle out when they saw us getting ready to leave. Gary Harris had to make it all the way to New York so he bolted, and the rest of us settled into a nice 10 to 15 over through the mountains to I-81.

Just when things really started to get boring and just after Richard Bernecker trucked ahead, a white Honda sedan passed us at quite a good clip. The Honda then proceeded, about 15 yards ahead of Dave Keuch who was leading at the time, to drive off of the road and start a series of 360's that would take it down into the middle of the divider (where the front of the car got a little smashed up) and flying back up into the incoming traffic on the other side of the highway, still doing 360's. Luckily this whole process took about 5 minutes (actually it only seemed like that, more like 5 seconds) and the traffic in the oncoming lanes had time to see the spinning car and stop. That guy had more luck than anyone deserves for not flipping over, and the girl in the passenger seat had some mighty fine lungs as she was screaming at the top of her lungs for the whole ride. We stopped in Roanoke for lunch, deciding against the Meadowbrook Farm restaurant after seeing the dress code and deciding on Wendy's after seeing the "Salad Bar" sign.

Other than that, it was a nice uneventful ride home with the only rain being within 60 miles of our destination. When I got home I got right into the tub as I was universally sore, soaked for a while, then promptly fell asleep.

What did I learn from this trip you ask?

I learned that Mike "Double Yellow" Schen is a very talented rider with a K75 that shoots fireballs,
that when Mezlers go bald, they go bald quickly and efficiently,
that a fully packed R100RT two-up and a little perseverence will beat a K75S,
that Edwina is even more charming than everyone says she is,
that if your sidestand falls off, make sure to collect all of the pieces,
that Adam Walkoff and I can't argue politics 'cause we agree too much,
that sometimes dogs do some pretty odd things.
that Deal's Gap is as much fun as everyone said it would be,
that I need to get a rally set-up like "Casa D'Keuch" or the "Taj Ma'Terry",
that next time I WILL stop and dive into that waterfall,
that I have been missing out by not going to rallies sooner,
that a european light switch is cool on moonlit nights on the BRP,
that those Harley chain wallets aren't just decoration,
that people that just wrecked their brand new superbike don't like to have their picture taken,
that you can use a whole roll of film trying to get an IBMWR group shot,
that I would not want to provide insurance on Rick Landi's fairing lowers,
that rally virgins DON"T have to ride around the camp naked, Larry!
that Daisy Duke lives in Helen, and Yodels and serves Pilsen beer in her spare time,
that I won't miss this rally again,
that even though he snores like a zipper, Pat Roddy is a hell of an individual, and finally,
that the IBMWR has a stranglehold on the "People with whom I'd like to ride all day then stay up all night smoking cigars and drinking whiskey then do it all again the next day" market.

Here are the vital stats:

Day  1   -  2  -  3  -  4  -  5 - Intro

All Photos and Text Copyright©1996-9, Ted Verrill
(Except noted photos, Copyright©1996 Dave & Carol Keuch)
Any use without explicit written permission is expressly forbidden