Etiquette in the twisties?

[Artful]

You guys are doing the Gap all wrong.

[Outlaw1100]

To anyone who doesn't think the Dragon is all that it is cracked up to be, try this:

Ride it on a weekday morning.  Or a weekday (not Friday) evening.  Even in the summer, you can find it virtually deserted.  Stay away from it on the weekends, except for the spectacle...which is its own kind of cool - just don't have high hopes of riding fast.  Stop complaining about the traffic, and go during the week!!

Try to run the Dragon as quickly as you possibly can...without ever exceeding 35 MPH.  Aside from a trackday, NOTHING else will improve your cornering ability faster.  If you can learn how to take a 15 MPH switchback at 30, that skill will transfer to every corner you ever take on a motorcycle.  Actually, now that I think about it, (I'm sure some of you will blast me for saying this)...it will help your skills even better than a trackday.  If you run the Dragon 6 times, that's 1800 sharp corners - you won't get that much on a single trackday.  So...in summary...save your heavy throttle hand for the Cherohala and enjoy the Dragon for what it is!

Given that the Cherohala and Dragon are so close to each other - two very different but very fun styles of riding...yes, yes, yes, the Deals Gap area IS everything it is cracked up to be!

Mike B

[Artful]

^^ this guy gets it.

[thought]

I taught myself to be a scratch golfer ( scratch meaning no handicap, meaning I averaged par on my rounds ). Back in the late '70s.

Everybody said I needed to take a lot of lessons from the Professional teachers to be able to become a scratch player.

But because of my stubborness , I did it by practicing, reading and playing almost 7 days a week for several years.

Dedication and obsession can take you a long way.

You have to WANT it and have the OBSESSION to be a good rider.

You need to study what the great riders know and learn from them and put it in to practice.

Just going out and riding aimlessly won't make you a good rider or a faster rider.

i dunno if this analogy works for me...   getting to be a 0 handicap golfer is a pretty impressive feat but unless you happened to dig a hole in a forest/someone's backyard, i'm pretty sure you needed a well designed, strictly for the sport, and safe area in order to get to that point.  aka, a course or a range.   and naturally you had clubs too.

clubs = bike.  high end, low end it's all the same.  some clubs are cheap as hell, but work for you, some are ridiculous $$ but you cant just get the hang of them.  pretty solid analogy for how bikes work too i think.

riding on the street = learning to putt/chip in your backyard.  it's not perfect, you'll probably get the hang of it enough to play pretty well, but you're generally not going to using your driver all too often (depending on the size of your backyard of course), or placed into situations that were specifically designed to test your skills (bunkers).  no real restrictions or safety nets placed in order to assure safety for bystanders (or yourself, but that's only during lightning i guess...)

course = track.  specifically designed for the sport.  allows you to use the full range of your clubs/bike.  places you in situation specifically designed to test your abilities.  a good set of rules designed for safety of other guests (aka, yell fore) and no random people running out into the middle of the green and stomping around.  generally, the best place to learn how to play as you will learn how to handle a very different set of skills every time you swing.  also... pretty addicting and prob the best way to play the sport.

and also... competition.  being given a measure of what is good or not is something that drives everyone... and that's what makes saying you're a 0 handicap impressive.  but what if instead of saying 0 handicap when someone asked how well you golf... you just said... nah, i dont know, i dont play on courses.  i just hit the balls in my backyard and i know i'm really good.

i know this wont change your mind at all when it comes to the idea of going to a track, but it was the basic analogy itself that, to me, seemed to support the idea of going to a track rather than a reason that you didnt need to go at all.

[DoubleEagle]

i dunno if this analogy works for me...   getting to be a 0 handicap golfer is a pretty impressive feat but unless you happened to dig a hole in a forest/someone's backyard, i'm pretty sure you needed a well designed, strictly for the sport, and safe area in order to get to that point.  aka, a course or a range.   and naturally you had clubs too.

clubs = bike.  high end, low end it's all the same.  some clubs are cheap as hell, but work for you, some are ridiculous $$ but you cant just get the hang of them.  pretty solid analogy for how bikes work too i think.

riding on the street = learning to putt/chip in your backyard.  it's not perfect, you'll probably get the hang of it enough to play pretty well, but you're generally not going to using your driver all too often (depending on the size of your backyard of course), or placed into situations that were specifically designed to test your skills (bunkers).  no real restrictions or safety nets placed in order to assure safety for bystanders (or yourself, but that's only during lightning i guess...)


and also... competition.  being given a measure of what is good or not is something that drives everyone... and that's what makes saying you're a 0 handicap impressive.  but what if instead of saying 0 handicap when someone asked how well you golf... you just said... nah, i dont know, i dont play on courses.  i just hit the balls in my backyard and i know i'm really good.

i know this wont change your mind at all when it comes to the idea of going to a track, but it was the basic analogy itself that, to me, seemed to support the idea of going to a track rather than a reason that you didnt need to go at all.

I practically lived on the Golf Course.

I left work every day by 3 o'clock and during daylight savings got in 18 holes , or played 9 holes and from 1979 until the late '90s I belonged to a Private Club which was practically deserted since most of the members were older , retired and played early.

I often played 3-4 balls on each hole so that I would have a mulitude of different shots to practice and putts of different lengths.

I also often hit a bag of balls at the range before I went out on the course, if I was working on something specific in my swing. Trying to hit ther ball higher or lower , left to right or right to left, slight fade or a full on draw.

I recorded and watched every PGA Tournament I could and went to Miurfield Village Golf Club each year and watched the Pros in person at the Memorial Tournament held at Jack Nicklaus' Golf Course at Miurfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

Often at the end of my rounds , I would spend at least 45 minutes in the bunkers around the last hole .
On the weekends and Thursday and Fridays I would play in what were called " skins games " where a bunch of us would draw for a partner and then play our best score on each  hole against every other partner team.

Also I occassionally got to play w. one of the local Club Professionals on Mondays in their Pro -Am events at various Courses in the greater Columbus , Ohio area.

Your analogy of me becoming a " scratch golfer " by playing around in my back yard was not accurate.

The fact that I could go out and shoot  4 under par 68 on a par 72 Golf Course meant to me that I had the skill to play golf at a high level. The Course is the test just as the Road is the test of how good a rider a person is.

If I can go out and run a 30 mile stretch of road at a very spirited pace is proof to me that I have the skills to ride good.

I don't need to be riding against another rider to prove my skills.

However, I am always ready for a race when I'm out on the road !  Just as other Golfers relish a good one on one competition w. another Golfer of similar skills.

Dolph      [moto]

[The Bearded Duc]

I practically lived on the Golf Course.

I left work every day by 3 o'clock and during daylight savings got in 18 holes , or played 9 holes and from 1979 until the late '90s I belonged to a Private Club which was practically deserted since most of the members were older , retired and played early.

I often played 3-4 balls on each hole so that I would have a mulitude of different shots to practice and putts of different lengths.

I also often hit a bag of balls at the range before I went out on the course, if I was working on something specific in my swing. Trying to hit ther ball higher or lower , left to right or right to left, slight fade or a full on draw.

I recorded and watched every PGA Tournament I could and went to Miurfield Village Golf Club each year and watched the Pros in person at the Memorial Tournament held at Jack Nicklaus' Golf Course at Miurfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

Often at the end of my rounds , I would spend at least 45 minutes in the bunkers around the last hole .
On the weekends and Thursday and Fridays I would play in what were called " skins games " where a bunch of us would draw for a partner and then play our best score on each  hole against every other partner team.

Also I occassionally got to play w. one of the local Club Professionals on Mondays in their Pro -Am events at various Courses in the greater Columbus , Ohio area.

Your analogy of me becoming a " scratch golfer " by playing around in my back yard was not accurate.

The fact that I could go out and shoot  4 under par 68 on a par 72 Golf Course meant to me that I had the skill to play golf at a high level. The Course is the test just as the Road is the test of how good a rider a person is.

If I can go out and run a 30 mile stretch of road at a very spirited pace is proof to me that I have the skills to ride good.

I don't need to be riding against another rider to prove my skills.

However, I am always ready for a race when I'm out on the road !  Just as other Golfers relish a good one on one competition w. another Golfer of similar skills.

Dolph      [moto]

I think what thought was trying to say was that you perfected your golfing skills on a "golf course" and that you couldn't have gained the same results from just practicing in your back yard. Therefor, one would need to practice riding a bike on a dedicate "course" like a track in order to truly perfect their skills as a rider.

[DoubleEagle]

I think what thought was trying to say was that you perfected your golfing skills on a "golf course" and that you couldn't have gained the same results from just practicing in your back yard. Therefor, one would need to practice riding a bike on a dedicate "course" like a track in order to truly perfect their skills as a rider.

I misunderstood his premise.

Although , if I can go out and ride an 8 foot wide lane of Asphalt and stay in that 8 foot lane for 150 + miles and ride that same group of roads 50 times a year at generally 65 -85 to sometimes 125 mph , that to me is a " track "...just no body else on it usually but a couple of coal or logging trucks and during the weekdays a few cars and and a few other motorcycles.

I know every corner, where to slow down, where I can let it out depending on what I see ahead of me.

I pretty much have 150-175 miles broken down into 30 mile increments , and can ride them in all sorts of combonations.

Been riding the same group of roads for years

Being retired I have the luxury of riding on weekdays when there is very little traffic.

On the weekends I ride slower since it does fill up w. riders and car traffic.

Dolph       [moto]

[bdub]

Dolf, where do you carry? side, underarm, lower back. Have always wondered how to carry on a bike.

[Statler]

Dolf, where do you carry? side, underarm, lower back. Have always wondered how to carry on a bike.

no.  this threads been jacked enough.

There's a gun stuff thread in NMC or do it by PM.

[bdub]

Sorry

[DoubleEagle]

Dolf, where do you carry? side, underarm, lower back. Have always wondered how to carry on a bike.

PM sent

Dolph

[ab]

we hit a lot of twisty routes.  when i started, I was really slow and anytime any faster bikes approached me, I just wave them on and make way for them. 

I  make sure to pass on a straight and never on the corner.  I dont even pass people I ride with on a corner.  You never know if they gonna go wide or not.  Just not worth it.  Pass on the straight is my rule.
Besides, like Dolph said, most of the twisty roads around here, one hardly sees any other riders. 

I find the gold wing riders (past experience) hard to pass because they just don't let you through when they are in a huge pack.  I hate to get people to panic but at some point, we just start zig zag through them when etiquette does not work.

I dont know about Draggon tail but I sure know that I will ride like a pussy there.  I hear lots of horror stories.  I plan on going there this summer if the funds are there.

have fun !

[swampduc]

To anyone who doesn't think the Dragon is all that it is cracked up to be, try this:

Ride it on a weekday morning.  Or a weekday (not Friday) evening.  Even in the summer, you can find it virtually deserted.  Stay away from it on the weekends, except for the spectacle...which is its own kind of cool - just don't have high hopes of riding fast.  Stop complaining about the traffic, and go during the week!!


Given that the Cherohala and Dragon are so close to each other - two very different but very fun styles of riding...yes, yes, yes, the Deals Gap area IS everything it is cracked up to be!

Mike B

Very well said, sir 
With NC 28, the Cherohala, and the Dragon all next to each other, what more could you ask for? I personally don't blitz 129; the other 2 are better for that.

[Buckethead]

To anyone who doesn't think the Dragon is all that it is cracked up to be, try this:
<snip>
Mike B

Wait, I have how many vacation days to use before I leave?

Oh.

Oh dear.

This can not end well.

[DoubleEagle]

Besides, like Dolph said, most of the twisty roads around here, one hardly sees any other riders. 

Hi ab,

I don't think other riders believe us when we say that we can ride and ride a lot of twisty roads and hardly see any other riders .

Thus our propensity to ride... fast and hard , often as possible.
( ab works , so he can only ride the twisties on the weekends when he is more apt to encounter groups of Golgthangs' and H-Ds on the way to the good stuff )

Dolph     [moto]