How Ever in the World...

did I ride to the back of beyond and more on the Ninja??

Last Saturday was one of those jewels you get in the South...sunny and 67 degrees. I hadn't been out since a nice Sunday in December, so I decided to take both bikes out for a spin, just to blow the cobwebs off the engines.

First try on the Ninja, he didn't want to start. I didn't want to wear the battery down, so after about 10 seconds with the starter not getting the carbs to cooperate, I let it go and did some yard work while the bike slowly warmed in the sun. An hour later, I tried the starter button again, and he sprang right to life! I let him run a few minutes and went inside to get geared up.

When I first sat on the bike, it felt so familiar! So right! I wondered if I really needed to keep the big Honda after all. I rolled him off the back patio and positioned him at the top of the driveway to head off, and the first thing I noticed as I gave him some throttle was how far UP I had to draw each leg in order to get my foot on the peg. Really?? Suddenly, I realized how scrunchy Mr. Crunchy is.

By comparison (even though comparisons are odious), the throttle on the Ninja is mired in molasses versus the VFR. And the molasses sticks, too...I had cruise control even when I didn't want it. I've known the throttle is sticky (probably needs a new spring), but I guess I just got used to it. Throw in a hiatus of Ninja riding since August, and suddenly I'm aware of the stick.

The brakes? Again, it's comparison, but I think Fred Flintstone's got a faster braking time than the Ninja. Could it be I'm spoiled by the VFR's dual front discs linked to the rear, which will stop you yesterday with two fingers? Maybe. I rode to the distant gas station that sells product without ethanol, and my main thought going back home was, "Not much longer and you can park this thing!" Shoo, when I got home, I felt like I'd be wrestling with the bike, and was glad to get off.

Once home, I went right back out of the house, and rolled the VFR out of the shop and into the sunshine. He started right up, and immediately I noticed again how well balanced the bike is for me, even if it's taller and weighs 100 pounds more than the Ninja. Throttle anyone? There's plenty for all. What's this sensation of space I have between the seat and footpeg? Whoa, now those are some brakes! The Ninja got a 20 mile circuit to the gas station and back. Big Red got a 65 mile trip to the base of the mountains and up some country roads.

I forgot how physical riding is, and by the time I got home, I was very aware of how out of shape I am. At the end of my 2 hours of riding, I covered the bikes up, went inside and took a 3 hour nap :)

Mr. Crunchy will be making an appearance on Craigslist any day now...

Pretty Place!

No really, that's the name of the place :)

Ok, technically it's an open air chapel called Symmes Chapel at Camp Greenville, but most folks would look at you funny if you called it that.

Originally, I was just going to ride up the Caesar's Head on the twistiest road nearby, but once at the top, decided to ride on for a bit. When I neared the NC/SC border, I split to the right and headed for Pretty Place. The view there is phenomenal, and while the trees in the valleys below aren't at peak, the trees along the route, following the ridge were getting awfully close.

All of this helped contribute to my decision to return to Tennessee this weekend to ride the rest of the Cherohala and the Dragon, along with a few local roads which my local tour guide 'Calabash' has offered to reveal. Mmm. Good bakery times ahead!

Home Again

I made it home in 3.5 hours...more to tell, but sleep now.

....adding info after time and sleep has occurred...

The alarm clock went off at 4:15 a.m., and I finally dragged up by about 4:35. I'd packed most of my stuff the night before, so my main job was to wake up and get dressed. I wanted to be on the road by 5 a.m., but instead, was just leaving my room by 5:03 a.m. Down to the bike garage I crept, slightly wincing at the noise made by the electric garage door raising to give me access to Clyde. Once inside, I loaded him up and rolled him quietly outside, shutting the door, before walking up to the main building to drop off the room and garage key.

I fired the bike up and rolled away quickly from the cabins, heading out onto Hwy 68 at 5:17 a.m. The next 20 or so miles are quite curvy and the trees cling to the edge of the shoulder. Lots of places for forest rats to lurk, and I kept fully in mind that my sight distance was my braking distance. Thankfully, no large animals appeared, and through the course of the morning, I only encountered one fox (running away from me) and one cat (crossing the road).

The temps dipped to their lowest when I got to Murphy, NC, just over an hour after I left (and still dark). In addition, this is where the fog started. It would come and go in spurts, but was heavy enough, I couldn't always tell when I was out of it, since my face shield would stay misted over from the condensation. All the way to just past Hiawassee, the speed stayed pretty conservative with the fog, but shortly after leaving Hiawasee, I started climbing in elevation and the fog lifted. Oh joy! The temps stayed in the low to mid 40's until around sunrise, and finally started to edge up. My heated grips and vest were given medium duty, and both performed admirably (once the controller on the vest stopped having fits).

Once again, Highway 76 heading south into Clayton was a beautiful sight to see, and with the fog gone and the sun finally starting to lighten the sky, that road was great! I made it to Clayton right at 7:15, and filled up, back on the road at 7:30. It was such a relief to ride those roads without the clogging traffic I'd dealt with on Friday, and the overall trip ended up being 30 minutes faster on the return.

So, I've come through dark, twisty, foggy, animal infested roads, and it wasn't until going through Clemson that a student talking on her cell phone decided to change lanes into my space as I was beside her. I love my air horn. She jerked and got the car back over, but never missed a beat on the stupid phone. Rer.

I rolled into my driveway at 8:47 a.m., exactly 3.5 hours after leaving, made a quick trip inside to unpack, change clothes, make a cuppa joe, grab a quick snack and head back out to church. Someone at work suggested I could have found a place closer to Tellico to attend, and yeah, I probably could have, in hindsight. However, I'd not done any prior 'vestigating, so I just headed back home. My Sunday afternoon nap was on the intense side :)

Chasing Calabash

Update to follow, but for now...good ride today, cool sights to see, both underground and on the mountain top.

and now for the goods...

The plan Saturday morning was to meet up at a gas station in town, and then head over to a bakery that Bill (aka Calabash) frequents. I highly recommend his bakery acumen...it was wonderful! However, at the bakery, a schism was forming, with one group wanting to just ride all over the countryside, and another group taking a more leisurely approach...visiting a local tourist spot, taking local country roads to another town for lunch, heading down to an orchard for famous fried pie, and then meeting back up in Tellico for supper (Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride).

It ended up being nearly a half and half split, and I actually stayed with the more local crew. The Karl Kontingent was heading back over into SC and then up to NC, riding on Highway 28, but I'd ridden that route three weeks earlier, and it seemed a little silly for me to ride 4 hours to get to Tennessee so I could meet up with folks and ride back over to SC, yaknow? Plus, Calabash knows the area we were going to ride, and if his choice of roads were as good as his choice of bakery, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed.

Heh heh. Good deduction :)

I'm sure we took what had to be the most circuitous route possible to get from Tellico Plains to 'The Lost Sea' near Sweetwater, TN, but it was probably the most fun route as well. I made myself Bill's shadow, and chased him across miles of curves, sweeps, hills, dales, and straights. It's really nice having a bike like Clyde that will stand up and say, 'yes ma'am!' when I twist the throttle. The riding I did Saturday would have felt like I was pushing right to the edge of the envelope on the Ninja, but on the VFR, I knew I had acres of envelope to spare!

The tour itself began after you walked down a long, yellow tunnel. Our tour guide had a few forays into humor land, and kept things interesting enough. There were cool rock formations and lights that had been placed to show off the area ended up having random plants grow up around them from spores and seeds carried in from visitors. There were writings on the walls dating back to the Civil War, and Indian artifacts found inside what was thought to be a council chamber. In one room, we got to experience utter deprivation of light, and about 99% of the folks in there fell sucker to a ruse involving the generation of static electricity together. We got to take boats out on the largest underground lake in the country and see a bit of a feeding frenzy when food was tossed to the fish they stock the lake with.

Once back topside, it was time to ride off to our lunch destination in Englewood. We got there about 15 minutes before they closed, and it overwhelmed their kitchen for a bit. The last two people in our party got their food about 45 minutes after we got there (and after half of us had finished eating). Two in the party had gone to look at an antique store before going to the restaurant, and when they finally stopped by, the doors were locked. We didn't realize until later that they were locked out, and the one who went looking didn't see them, so we had a disconnect until after lunch.


Once we left lunch and were heading to Mercer's Orchard, it was after 3 p.m. and an hour ride to get there. Once again, Calabash excelled at his road selection skills so that we took some exhilarating twisties on the way. We wound our way along some rivers and rock faces. When there was a long uphill stretch, and Bill started pulling away, I tagged right along behind with him. I figured my defense would be, "Well, officer, I didn't know where I was, so I had to make sure I didn't lose that bike up there..." True enough :)

We stopped for gas in Ducktown and decided to skip the fried pie run, since it was getting late, and no one was really hungry anyway. We were supposed to meet up with Karl's group by 5 for supper, and were going to be later than 5 if we went straight back, so we started heading that way, finally making it in to Tellico Plains around 5:20 p.m.

None of the other folks were there yet (sooprise, sooprise!), so we milled about for a bit, and then decided to eat, since the kitchen could handle shifts better than a mob of folks. We ate (I had a huge meal), and by 6:30, we figured the other group was probably waiting for us up on the Cherohala Skyway somewhere, since that was the destination we were going to head for after supper as a group. The five of us who were still riding at this point headed up the Cherohala a little before 7 p.m., and made it to the first large pullout facing west around 7:15 or 7:20, just before the sun started to dip below the horizon.

We (Bill, Ty, Clay, Rick and I) stayed up there, watching the sun sink completely, washing the sky in a pink flood before the blue clouds overpowered the afterglow. For the ride back down, four of us followed in the blazing wake of Ty, who has what he affectionately calls 'barn burners' on his bike. As we rode under the tree canopy, there was a tunnel of light extending forward from his bike that was borderline ridiculous! I didn't really even need my headlight...his array was enough for all of us to thread needles and do cross stitch. I feel sorry for any oncoming traffic that was momentarily blinded while he deactivated the reactors needed to fire those babies up. I wonder if I could get some for my bike...

At any rate, we ended up back at the Lodge around 8:30 or so, where the Karl Kontingent had just shown back up and started to have supper. It turns out they had pulled off at an overlook further up on the Cherohala, and then passed us on their way down while we were still admiring the sunset. After supper, the bulk of the folks were heading back over to the campsite where the rest of the rally folks were, but I decided to call it a night, since I was planning to get up in the wee sma' hours Sunday morning
.

Three for Three

Tonight I'm in Tellico Plains, TN, winding out the third of the three annual rallies organized by folks at BeginnerBikers.org. A lot of the folks took the whole day off and got here by early morning, but some of us have wrung nearly every morsel of vacation time out of the work rag, and I only managed to get a half day off.

However, the weather has been ultimado perfecto! Sunny and low 80s were as hot as it got, and the further up into the mountains I rode, the cooler it got. By the time I pulled in at the Lodge this evening at 5:00 on the nose, it was 60 degrees outside.

There was some typical Friday afternoon traffic to deal with (trucks hauling camper trailers and the occasional motor home), and I managed to ride through Hiwassee, GA, right when school was letting out, when cops were holding up traffic on the main highway. Overall, it was a good ride, and the last 30 or so miles were quite zippy :)

Once at the Lodge, one of the regulars from the forum (Bill, aka Calabash) saw me checking in and invited me out to the patio. I sat out there and we talked until a couple of the rider's wives, Anna and Brandi, showed up, and then another couple (Stephen and Jan), and another rider (Rick), until it was just a big ol' chat fest out there. Gradually, some of the other riders came back from an afternoon jaunt (Tyson, Larry, Clay, Mike & Angie, and James & Deanna), and eventually, everyone had something to eat, although it was done in about four shifts.

There was also a jar of moonshine passed around, which I got to sample. You don't want to have your eyes open too wide when you drink it, because the fumes burn, but it actually tastes pretty good (as far as whisky is concerned). Right after I tried a sip, and pronounced it good, Angie (hostess up at the Dayton Bug Bash rally) tried some, and, um, didn't like it so much :) Good job, Brewmaster Ty!

Tomorrow, folks are going to meet up at a gas station around 10 a.m. and then head to a bakery for breakfast. I'm thinking I might get up a tad earlier and do some riding before the official gather time. There are too many good roads up here!

An Idea...

Ideas are interesting things. They start small, but grow. Larger. They start needing more attention, take more time. Require more planning.

Just like the next big trip. A thought. A place. A destination or two. Or three. A national park. A scenic byway. Or two. Or four.

For now, Clyde is getting his final spa treatment. Heated grips have been installed (original ones weren't even connected), and air horn is being figured out. Notalotta room under that fairing to fit the Stebel, but TJ is concocting something. It's a good week for him to be in the shop, since I've had a cold. Hopefully the worst is past and I might be able to ride again this weekend.

Sneezing inside a full face helmet is no fun.

Ready to Ride, Clyde?

Up until Labor Day, the only riding I'd done with Clyde was back and forth to work, to church, and to the dealership to pick up the license plate and registration. Saturday of Labor Day weekend, I was at a friend's lake house and ended up riding a jet ski like a maniac so that my legs were really sore on Sunday and still quite sore on Monday. No matter, Monday was the day to ride.

I didn't have a set destination in mind, nor an idea of how long I'd be gone. I left the house at 9 a.m., with Riley all settled in for the day, and headed out to Chik Fil A for a breakfast biscuit and then to a gas station to top off the tank and air up the tires. It was a little on the chilly side, and I was wearing sweats under my mesh pants, and two shirts (one long sleeved and one sleeveless) under my regular textile jacket. I thought it might warm up to be a little much for those layers, but since I was heading up into the NC mountains, decided I'd probably appreciate the warmth.

One of the first curvy roads I took was 276 heading up to the top of Caesar's Head. I'd only ridden this road a half dozen times on Mr. Crunchy, and only two of those times were by myself. This was a good warmup to try out Clyde's cornering ability, and man could I tell a difference! He feels very stable in the curves and engine braking is very manageable without being jerky. That road is full of swoops, curves, hairpins and decreasing radii, all with probably a 5% to 8% grade uphill.

Near the top, I got behind some Very Slow People, but the first one finally pulled off at the visitor station at the top of the hill. From this point, you're riding along the ridge, and angling slightly downhill before getting more curvy and downhill heading into Brevard, NC. If I thought I had been behind Very Slow People earlier, I now got behind someone who made them look positively breakneck in their speed. This guy braked when he saw a sign indicating a curve ahead. Whose average speed was 37 in a 55. I lollygagged behind, swooping back and forth in my lane, and reveled in the extra kick this bike has when a passing lane finally appeared.

Heading up the mountains and across to Brevard, most of the road was in the shade and I can say I did NOT have too many layers on! I only wish I already had the heated grips from the Ninja on the VFR. I can't get the brother in law job on the current, supposed, alleged, imaginary heated grips to work now. Hopefully that swap will occur this week.

Went through Brevard, and decided to keep on 276 and head up through Pisgah National Forest (I thank you again, Mrs. Vanderbilt) and hop onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for a spin. The sky was the prettiest blue, without a cloud in sight, even though the tree canopy only allowed a few glimpses on the way up to the BRP. Once up there, it was smooth sailing. There were several cars and bikes up there, but I wasn't in a hurry, and kept pulling off to get glamour shots of Clyde. As is usually the case (grr) my batteries died in the camera, so I have limited shots of the bike after the first hour on the BRP.

Still without a definite route in mind, I kept riding west (east bound had some construction ahead, so I went t'other way). I passed the exit for Highway 215, and headed on to a visitor station on the parkway that's up a big hill and has restrooms (ok, they're pit toilets, but well kept) and a store with water, snacks, posters, shirts and cool stuff. I grabbed some water and a granola bar, but balked at paying $8 for a 4-pack of AA batteries. It was nearly 12:30 at this point and I flaked there for a good 20 or 30 minutes, enjoying the view, and watching the ants on the parkway below.

Once I left there, I continued west and passed the turnoff for Highway 23, but finally took the exit for Cherokee (it's not every day you can ride through a different nation), where I filled up with gas. I'd only gone 120 miles, but figured it wouldn't hurt. That tank got me around 48 mpg, which was about right, since I always get better mpg in the mountain twisties than on the regular roads. I headed out from there and followed signs for Highway 74. I originally got on, headed east, but then remembered a wonderful stretch of 28 that was further west, so did a u-turn and went the other direction, going back towards Bryson City.

The stretch of 28 I was thinking about branched off to the south of Hwy 74, but then I got to thinking (the plumber always gets worried when I say, "I was thinking...."). If I took Hwy 74 to 28 north, I'd be on the back doorstep of the Tail of the Dragon. And since Clyde ate the curves up, and since I didn't have to be back at any particular time (well, there was a church picnic, but I'd been a little ambivalent about going), and since it was only 1:50 p.m., I decided to go for it.

I'd only ridden that stretch of road once before (and you can read about it here). Before 28 meets up with 129, there's a Pit Stop gas station, where I took a quick break, grabbed some water and took a bathroom break. I left there at 2:35 and rode on down to meet Hwy 129, one of the curviest roads in the country. The first bit of it was pretty good, but within a short distance, I got behind two cars with Tennessee plates who did not know how to take curves very well, and also did not know or appreciate the value of the 60 some odd paved pull offs on that stretch of road. For at least nine of the eleven miles, I was behind them. I would slow down as much as I could without backing up anyone behind me, but within seconds, I'd be back on the Mazda's bumper. That's the downside of going there.

Finally, once through the twisties and back on straighter roads, I pulled over, waited for a clearing and then headed back the way I'd just come. This time, there was one car in front of two bikes that were in front of me. Before it got too twisty, the car pulled over (oh, thank you! thank you!) and after a little bit more, the two bikes waved me in front of them, scooting to the right of the lane so I could pass without going over the yellow line.

For the next 9 miles, I had no one in front of me and it was divine! This was the time to bring back into play some of the riding courses I've taken, and I was using all of my lane and shifting my weight all over the place to keep the bike going through the curves nicely. I managed to scrape my footpegs on both the left and right side while going through the curves, which was a mark of personal satisfaction :) Near the NC line (about a mile from the end of the run), I got behind a black cherry Lincoln Town Car with Georgia plates, but they pulled over and let me pass, so I once again had a clear shot all the way back to the Pit Stop gas station.

I was feeling a little beat by now, since I'd had nothing since breakfast but a granola bar and some water, and it was now close to 4 p.m. I grabbed an ice cream bar and a Dr. Pepper and plunked down on the sidewalk to enjoy them. By now the day had warmed up and I took off the sweat pants and long sleeved shirt, tucking the folded up shirt into the back of my waistband and looping the sweatpants onto the grab handles, tying them tight with the waist drawstring on the pants. I'd not brought a saddlebag or tailbag for the trip, so improvising was required.

It was near 4:30 when I left the gas station, heading south on 28 to meet up with 74 again. While on this stretch of 28, I got behind another SUV who graduated top of his class from the Slow School, and finally passed him several miles down the road. The next car I came up behind was a...black cherry Lincoln Town Car with Georgia plates :) I passed them once again, but keeping my speed within very friendly terms of the limit, since there were many LEO's about. When I got onto 74, there's a short jog before you pick up the rest of 28 South, and I saw a BP station on the way. I stopped in for a quick top off so I wouldn't have to stop any more before getting home. This time, the mpg was somewhere around 56 mpg (told you those twisties are good!) and I'd gone another 115 miles.

I was out of there in minutes (never even got off the bike) and back onto 74 for a couple more miles before the sign showed where 28 headed south again. That really is a lovely road. I'd only gone north on it once before, so it's still fairly new to me. There was hardly any traffic on it, again, and the pickup truck in front of me pulled off onto a side road fairly soon, and after that, I came up behind a...black cherry Lincoln Town Car with Georgia plates. They probably were wondering how in the world I kept showing up in their rear view mirror! True to form, they pulled over within a couple of miles and I honked a quick toodeloo when I passed them for the last time.

Miles down the road was Franklin, NC, where I picked up Highway 64 towards Highlands. Minivans really can be annoying, but thankfully, the one creeping in front of me did finally pull over and I had another beautiful run on a twisty road with rock walls to the left and waterfalls to the right. By the time I got to Highlands, it was nearly 6 p.m. The picnic went from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., so I figured it was a lost cause, and decided to head home to let Riley out, rather than try to show up across town for the last 10 minutes of the picnic.

Highway 64 is a beaut, although retirees tend to clog the roadways around Cashiers and Sapphire. It wasn't too bad, though, and I made it through to the turnoff for 183 south to 130. Ended up passing a couple of pokes that were slow, and descended down to Highway 11 around Lake Jocassee. On the scenic highway, there was a gaggle of cars in front of me until the turn off for Pickens at Highway 178, and then a clear shot until I completed the loop of the day and passed the turn off for Caesar's Head. The last bit of 276 through Travelers Rest was uneventful and I pulled into my driveway at about 7:50 p.m.

It had been a good day's ride and I'm happy with Clyde. I may have to do something with the seat...I was very ready to get off after only a 365 mile day. Time-wise, I was in the saddle for about 9 hours, and as a reference point, my two Iron Butt rides had me in the saddle for an additional 10 and 12 hours in the same day. Ain't no way in heck that could happen on that seat!

While I don't have any pictures past the first couple of stops on the BRP, I was able to get a couple of the proofs of me going through the Dragon on a couple of websites (www.killboy.com and www.us129photos.com), that are cool to see. Lord willing, I'll be heading up there in about 3 weeks for another run at the Dragon, meeting up with folks from BBO for the third rally this year. It might be early to have some autumn colors by then, but we'll see.