Yay I’m so excited about our trip next weekend now. I’ve got a friend who lives in Tennessee. We grew up together and were practically inseparable in high school, but when we went off to college we lost touch. He moved to TN, and well I went to a school here. I caught up with him a couple months ago on Myspace, and we’ve been talking whenever we catch each other online.

He happened to pop online last night, and I was telling him about our trip to Deal’s Gap. He doesn’t ride anymore after he had a pretty bad accident on his bike a few years ago. He got himself in with a bad crowd, got messed up pretty bad on drugs, and ended up crashing his bike because he’d been up for 8 days straight.

*shakes head*

He totaled his bike, but thankfully he made it out alive. The crash did him some good though. It opened his eyes, and he ended up spending some time in drug rehabilitation. Now he’s clean and enjoying life. Although he’s still afraid to get back on a bike, he wants to meet us at Deal’s Gap. He’s heard all about it, but he’s never been there, so he promised he’ll make the 2 hour drive down to meet up with me that Friday. I so can’t wait to see him!

I’m watching the weather almost religiously right now.  We’re planning another Gap trip for April 4th, and hubby’s already asked for the day off.  The bad news?  Right now weather.com is forecasting 60% chance of rain.  I’m hoping the trip is far enough away that the weather will change by then.

I’ve learned from experience not to even consider driving to The Gap if they’re calling for any rain.  The last time we went up for a full weekend they were calling for 30% rain on Saturday and 20% Sunday.  We figured it was a low enough % that we’d have a nice weekend.

What we had was anything but.  We spent all day Saturday kicked back at The Kickstand Lodge because it absolutely poured all day.  We did take the Blazer up and down the dragon a couple times, but riding was out of the question.  Sunday we waited until around lunch time for the roads to dry up, but at least we got to ride for a few hours before having to head home.

I won’t do that again.  Saturday was a full day wasted.  It was nice and pretty back home, and we could have been riding on 28 instead.

I woke up this morning complaining that my sinuses were going haywire.  I’m not complaining anymore.  After an allergy pill and a short ride this morning I’m perfectly happy enjoying this wonderful day.  It’s 78 degrees outside, and I’m lovin’ it.  (Hums the Mickey D’s theme)

I do have work to get done today, so I had hubby drop me off at the house.  Now he’s going off to meet one of his friends to ride hwy 178.  I like riding 178  when there aren’t a lot of bikes out, but I know it’s going to be packed today.  That many bikes can spell trouble in such a small little area.

We call it the mini Deal’s Gap because it’s the perfect place to ride if you want to warm up for the tight twisties, but unlike Deal’s Gap you’ve got a ton of squids up there showing out.  I can’t stand that.  If you’re going to ride in the mountains keep it within your limits.  Don’t try to drag a knee just because other guys (or girls) are doing it.

Well now I’m off to make me some lunch and get some work done.

Man it felt so good to take a little ride today. It was a little chilly on the way home, but I’ve been bummed out because of all the bad weather we’ve had, so I’ll ride when I can. Hubby and I both wanted to ride, so we rode up the mountain to my cousin’s house.

While they stood outside goofing off I rode around the circle he lives on, but I couldn’t do too much. Right now I can ride as a passenger no problem, but holding up that much weight on my own is killing my back. I’m going to have to get my back straightened out again before I’m riding by myself a lot this summer.

I’m thinking about checking out the massage therapy schools in our area because I know from time to time they’ll offer free massages to give their students some extra hands on training. A massage would really help my back tonight.

Other than my back hurting I really enjoyed riding tonight, but it just wasn’t long enough. We only had about 30 minutes to ride before dark, so hopefully I can get to bed early enough to night to have an early start tomorrow.