At this point we had ridden many miles, to which most were on extremely twisty roads. Josh was complaining, like he always does, about being sore and tired. Jon really didn't have much to say, however the smile that came across his face after the first run up Deals Gap still hadn't left. We all slept in and began packing in the morning. Steve woke us up to the smell of fresh cooked French toast which was amazing, like all the food he cooked this week. As I was packing up the bike I shook hands and tried to put names and screen names to faces one last time.
Anthony took us down the hill to meet up with the grounds keeper to pick up some shirts, stickers and other merchandise. Most everyone had left for another days riding at this point except Jim, who was loading up his bike as well as Dominic's.
We were given several large posters when purchasing our T-shirts from the grounds keeper. Luckily my saddlebag supports were PVC pipe and with a quick roll up there were safely slipped inside the supports. All we had to do was avoid the rain, which we hadn't much luck on so far this trip.
Josh and Jon had got their stuff together a bit later and it was around 1:00pm by time we pulled out of the gates of The Ridge. Thanks to Anthony I had a pair of gloves to wear home, since someone walked off with my gloves earlier that morning. Funny thing was, they were sitting right next to my helmet... Oh well, they were worn out and needed to be replaced soon anyway.
We topped off the tanks at the Chevron, and headed back to Robbinsville. From 129 to 74, we headed to Asheville. The clouds were rolling in so I picked up the pace in hopes to get off the mountain before the rain let go, again. Once on 40, we pulled off at the same exit we stopped at on the way in for some fuel and a stretch. The next stop was the house.
The clouds were long gone and the house was getting closer. Hwy 74 through Lake Lour was a joke. Cars and trucks were racing around the corners at an amazing 5 mph! To their defense the place was crowded, but 15 mph would have been nice. It was at this point that three of us were back into reality. We were no longer in an area where the car is a minority and everyone is looking for bikes. No one really cared anymore and it was showing as the cars began cutting us off and refusing to move over. One guy flipped Jon off after he motioned with his index finger the wide spot on the shoulder of the road that he could have pulled over on. Then later on 74 into Shelby, some lady decided the best place to pass the slow car in the left lane was on my rear tire. Needless to say she got "stuck" beside the slower car and got a bird’s eye view of my bird in the process.
Oh well, overall we can't complain. We made it home safe and sound with no incidents, excluding the river, and the bikes were in the same condition the left in. Minus some rubber from the sides of the tires! 1275 miles later, the FZ6 Deals Gap Meet was over.
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