( Did I ever tell you I love my ST J )
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Ok, Ok, as I sit here this morning, gazing at my computer background screen, I discover I can wait no longer to get going on my report. Tad just had to torture me with this one which is my current background (two dads relaxing at a lookout).
I have to start out with a very big thanks to all in the group for another invite to explore the great sights of the USA on two wheels. I just keep thinking of all I have missed in my non-biking years. But, at the coming closure L of a GREAT riding season, I have to say I think I am doing good toward my goal to catch up on lost time. At the closure of this great trip, I have just crossed the 9Kmi mark on my new ST. Another thanks to Chad for making all the motel reservations.
Although I try to keep up with the younger generation, it was a refreshing change to have another person along on the trip of my own age group, Mr. Gary. I commend you for making such a long venture on an older rig. I know we pressed the limits, or at least the comfort, your CB had to offer. When I found out you were pressing 6000rpm while I was purring along at 3200, I knew the vibrations you were enduring. I offered him a switcheroo to try out my ST, but he didn't want to do that. At any rate, I think having Dennis as a riding partner has to be one highlight of this trip for me. This statement is two-fold. First, I always have this fear that I will be holding the group back, even though I realize "if they didn't want me, they wouldn't invite me". But, the older you get, the more you worry about things like this. At any rate, Dennis and I eventually realized we had more things in common than we knew. (Actually it got a little scary!) Several occasions let us part from the others who were then able to do more of their thing, riding the curves.
As for me, I do have to admit, all those curves got to be a bit much for me. After having what Tad described as a "pucker moment" on the second day of the trip, I pulled the lever back a couple of notches, and stopped trying so hard to keep up. This was a very good thing for me. First, I apologize to Dennis who had to watch my blunder. I'm not sure who it shook up more, me or him! I know it shook me up, though, and like I stated, it turned out to be a good thing. First it caused the rest of my journey to be at a more relaxed pace, for which I was able to enjoy more of the scenery rather than the intense concentration of a faster pace just to make it through the next curve. Secondly, it re-stressed what everyone in the group constantly reminds me of, and that is to "ride your own ride". Sometimes, it is easier said than done, but this time, it DID sink in. And as for me, I was a lucky SOB. My rig stayed rubber side down, there was no oncoming traffic, and there was an escape road for me to exit my missed curve. I have put it behind me and chalked it up to a learning experience. (I'm just sorry I had to use up another one of my punch cards) Dennis knows what I'm talking about here.
Anyway, I'm awful glad it all happened at the beginning of the trip, cause I know I enjoyed it more than I would have if it wouldn't have.
This trip has re-enforced a feeling I had about what people want out of motorcycle trips. When Tad, Chad, Jeff, or Adam talk about "that was a great road", I know now they are mostly speaking of how the road afforded them the opportunity to exercise their skills in sport bike riding. Both theirs and of their rigs. I KNOW, I can speak for Dennis and myself, a statement of "that was a great road" would be 90% related to scenery and pleasant, easy riding. Please don't misinterpret this observation, men. I think it's a age thing L . It's quite easy for me to look back at my youth and understand where you are at, and am also quite sure it is very difficult for you to look into your future and understand how you do slow down in your later years. This isn't a bad thing either. It is peaceful. I hope and want to do much more riding with such a nice group of guys. It just sunk in a little more that we have to do more of the "see ya at the motel" kind of riding so no one is pressured or hampered. There, I guess I just had to get that off my mind. J
Another thing I have to discuss is something both Chad and Tad told me about. That "peaceful easy feeling". They warned me that subsequent trips would never be like the first. Well, what can I say. That first trip to Canada, May 99, WILL be hard to match. I will NEVER forget that first long motorcycle trip (Canada99).
However, this current Appalachian trip was much more relaxing after knowing the ropes and not having the worries associated with a first trip. The anticipation, waiting to get going, well, nothing will help that dilemma. Chad and I talked frequently about how the mind just relaxes after you finally get to pull out of the driveway and get to getting! He keeps saying " ahha, you're learning grasshopper".
Anyway, wow, what a long introduction
I had been watching the weather channel all week, and knew at our departure, we were just one day early and would surely ride into rain. But, as Tad stated, since we had motel reservations in advance, we didn't have much latitude to make mid course corrections to "fly around the storm".
Yes, we ran square into rain about 4 hours into the 1st leg that tested the limits of our riding gear. All this high faluttin gortex technology, must have brought a smile to at least one member of the group with his rubberized riding slip-ons. I know I'll have my old yellow Dry Rider suit along next time to slip over my riding suit. Not that mine did bad. My Technique upper jacket kept me warm and mostly dry. My lower pants, eventually gave out and my jeans were mostly soaked. My new waterproof boots held! Almost! My right foot was dry as a bone. I poured water out of my left boot. The leak in my pants afforded a nice stream of water down my leg to fill up my boot! My new, so-called waterproof Tourmaster all season gloves, sucked! Yes, they left me soaked. Now, once these babies get wet, don't attempt to get your hands back into them L . And because of the sucky plastic, inner liner, don't attempt to dry them out either. They hold the water real good (as well as the stink) I eventually took scissors and cut out the inner liner, discarded the torn and mangled water barrier and will yet write a disgust letter to Tourmaster. The thing that got to me stirred up was the fact that a pair of Waterproof (and yes they were) mitten/gloves I had along that I bought at Farm & Barn for $19 did their job. Again, so much for this hi-tech, high faluttin, overpriced riding gear!
Other than getting kinda wet, the drive in the rain didn't bother me that awful much cause I had "Bob the weather man" insight that we would probably eventually let the storm get ahead of us on about our 2nd to 3rd day.
I will, however never forget the black stained hands on Dennis which brings an additional laugh while writing this. (sorry Dennis. It was funny)
Feeling a cold approaching, I purchased some recreational drugs and downed a 12 hours tab.
I don't think anyone took even one picture due to the weather except for a "good night" shot of the maids at the motel. Hey, at least there were no bugs to clean off the windshields. (yes, Dennis and I have WINDSHIELDS J !) Our first night was at Days Inn in Richmond, Ky.
Day 2 .. Sunday, Oct 10 Danial Boone Parkway and rct's pucker moment
Day 2 would take us further away from home
toward our destination. We started out kinda wet, but eventually, the rain
let up. Just in time. My first introduction to some nice scenery and twisties
through a small mountain. Hmmm. I asked Chad if this is what the twisties
are all about. He said "close" but not quite. Anyway, after a pleasant
scenic drive on the Danial Boone Parkway, we were then off and headed toward
Summersville, WV. Then it happened. As I described in my opening comments,
this is where I had my moment, which I will not ponder on to long. I do
now know the cold pills were affecting my abilities, as well as late afternoon
fatigue, but I am responsible for my actions and accept what happened.
All the boys knew I was shook up and so we then stayed together as a pack
and landed finally after dark at our motel. Chad, Adam and I had a quick
cheeseburger carry-out at a DQ and then retired for the night. We lodged
at a Best Western in Summersville, WV.
Day 3 Monday, Oct 11 .. Make the most out of a soggy start
Day 3 would have Chad and I split off from the rest of the group and find our own way. Not to far from the motel, we encountered our first scenic stop where Chad insisted I remove my ear-plugs and just relax and listen. The bubbling stream was about indescribable. I wish I could include a wave here with the pictures of the sound. The sun was trying to peak out, but these shots were still under cloudy conditions.
I was starting to get a good feeling of what this trip had in store for me when I saw this color!
Another shot below of our rigs at the stream
Ok, with CRT leading (I'm always content to be the follower), he sniffed out a great breakfast at the Biscuit Palace. The name describes it all J
Next, after feeling content in the stomach (actually stuffed), we headed out on a planned route, to eventually find a lake Chad wanted to re-visit. When we hit the un-paved shale/mud soaked road I grew un-easy. I grew even more un-easy when Chad stated we should continue. After enduring to much, we stopped to access the situation. We decided to try to flag down one of the many HUGE dump trucks that were flying by us. We encountered one true gentleman that guided us back to civilization and a paved road. (See Chad's report for details http://members.home.com/ctrank/ ). My only regret is that I didn't flash a picture of that HUGE truck parked about a foot behind my ST. When he was about to leave, I had to go stand by my rig to make sure he saw it there. It was hidden from his view being dwarfed in front of his hood!
Well, now that our rigs were trashed and knowing the Trank make-up, we both knew a car-wash was in order to get this event behind us so we could move on. Chad again found the right place (after I set him straight on our directions with my $1 bubble compass).
Guess mine was mostly cosmetic (with a shaft drive), but I know he was mostly concerned about cleaning the rocks, mud, and debris from his chain. With newly washed rigs, we set out on our way. By this time, the sun had FINALLY broken through the clouds and when we left the carwash, we were actually hot!
This event set us back an hour or two, but we were again on our way. Chad knew where he was taking me, but I had no clue what I was in for. One more snapshot along the way I just had to take:
We were doing some solo riding. (chad rides ahead to enjoy some more challenging riding and then waits for dad to catch up).
When we got to what I would call the top of a mountain, we pulled over and enjoyed what I will say was the most brilliant fall coloring that I encountered on the trip. It's a toss-up between this stop and another I will describe. We paused for quite some time, with some conversation with a very pleasant older woman who, after I asked if she had been here before, responded with "many, many times". I almost cried with the way her old voice was describing what had to be a very pleasant and enjoyable life.
The two pictures below are at the bottom of the lookout. We just had to drive down this windy road to get to the creek we saw from above. It's very hard to see, but if you look very closely, there was a man standing in the stream with waders doing some fly fishing. Guess he was also enjoying an inner peace out in the middle of nowhere.
At this point in the day, I was again, lost in splendor. We had made advance arrangements with the other members of our group to meet at the motel and all have a nice dinner together. So, I knew we had to boogy to get there by the allotted "depart for dinner" time. Oops, another great shot along the way I just had to stop and snap.
After arriving at the motel and seeing the other
members still there, I was relieved. But, something was amiss. Dennis's
bike was in parts. He had encountered an electrical problem with his ignition.
Hmmmmm, an electrical problem with at least 2 electrical engineers along
J
. We soon diagnosed his problem and installed a toggle switch to bypass
some faulty ignition switch wiring and got his rig back together. Now,
to clean up and head for dinner. After a perfect day, we retired and again
slept like babies. Day 3 ended in a Days Inn at Winchester, VA.
Day 4 .Tuesday, Oct 12 Find the Blue Ridge Trail
Day 4 again started out soggy, and after a nice breakfast at an old time Diner (with juke box stations at all the booths and at the counter where we sat), we headed toward the Shenandoah National Park, along about 100 mile stretch called Skyline Drive. It was scenic, but the $5 entrance fee ($10 for cages J ), was kind of a rip. As I would later find out, the Blue ridge was more scenic and free. Anyway, it is all part of the Appalachian mountain range, so it was worth the drive and my first adventure up to some higher elevations. The rain finally diminished and left us some nice scenic spots. This is where Tad captured Dennis and I relaxing at an outlook. You can see pictures all day long on TV or wherever, but until you have experienced this in person .well, need I say more?
Late morning had my insides on fire and breakfast was not sitting well. Hmmmmmmm, do you know where this is going? Yes, I found a nice secluded spot and had to give into my stash of blue towels. Thank God I had them along. That prop rock was kinda cold on my right cheek J
Well, now that that's out of the way, the afternoon was just more pleasant sights and sounds. As it grew later in the day, Dennis and I broke from the group and motored to the motel by interstate. It was dark before we got there and, damn, I don't see well in the dark! We encountered a pedestrian/motorcar accident and never did figure out exactly what had happened to the girl laying in the street.
The picture above is where Tad caught Dennis and
I daydreaming J
Day 5 .Wednesday, Oct 13 More Blue Ridge
Day 5 would take us back up on the Blue Ridge. This day, we encountered some severe fog conditions. One section (for about an hour) we couldn't see 10 feet in front of the bikes. This morning would have Chad's bike fall over while yielding assistance to Tad who was stuck in the mud. Not a happy moment for him, but I was surprised how well he got over it. When the fog lifted here and there, it was a mind boggling site to see brilliant color and the cloud tops BELOW your vantage point.
Chad rolling into an outlook site (about 5 minutes before his incident)
Chad coming round a curve after his fall-over. Hmmmmm where's your mirror bud?
Tad following Chad around the same curve. I still think you should do the Michael Knight thing with your Givi's J
Tad enjoying one of his moments at the gift shop outlook
Hard to see, but another road on the Blue Ridge took us THROUGH a portion of the mountain. Neet!
Day 6 .Thursday, Oct 14 My peaceful easy feeling day
Day 6 started and ended perfect. This day would have most of us going our own way and returning to the same motel for a 2nd nite. After some perfect recommendations from Tad, Jeff and Chad, I planned my route and headed out. I first headed southeast, down into Georgia
Then, I eventually wandered back northwest into Tennessee, and then north a bit to get on to the Cherohala Skyway. This is where I do my WOW. Being alone, no commitments, no restrictions, no one to follow, no one waiting on me, etc, etc. Yes, I found it here. This was it for my trip. At one overlook, I sat for nearly 1 hour. I was in excess of 1000 miles from home, My trusty, dusty ST got me there, and I lost it. Yes, the gaze and comfort with not a thought in the world. Ahhhhhhhh. I mentioned earlier about that spot in Virginia being the most colorful, well this next shot on the Cherohala is a close 1st or 2nd, whichever way you look at it. And for the most part, I couldn't believe how alone I was. Very few cars (and bikes for all that matter) This was truly the highlight of my trip J
Day 7 .Friday, Oct 15 Start thinking of heading home
Day 7 was time to start thinking about putting on some mileage toward home. Knowing I had substantial mileage before me to get to our next stop in Carbondale, Il, Dennis and I decided to hit the slab right off the bat. Well, so we thought. Out there, there are no straight roads. Our so called slab turned out to be about a scenic as some of the sights we had encountered on previous days. We got along this one stretch where, in wet times, I think they do white-water rafting. I think the river and dam were part of a TVA project. So, the ride was adventurous as well.
Chad had warned us of the speed of vehicles
in Tennessee, and when we finally did break out of the mountains and truly
on the slabs, the posted limit of 70 was not quite being adhered to. I
tried to keep my pony at a limit of 75 for Dennis's benefit, and it didn't
bother me at all to limit to that speed. Dennis bought me lunch at McDonalds
and we were then off to the races again. We got into our motel about an
hour before Chad showed up. Not knowing the plans of others in the group,
we decided to take a cab to downtown carbondale and have dinner and a brew
or two. We had, what I will describe as, the best Mexican meal I have had
in my life at Tres Hombres. Dennis elected not to go for whatever reason.
We missed the major nitelife because, as Chad explained, we were "
out
to early
all the chicks are still making themselves beautiful". Whatever.
After nearly 500 miles for the day, I was quite tired and ready to go back
and crash (ouch, don't use that term when your cycling J
Day 8 .Saturday, Oct 16 Slab it home
Day 8 after viewing some damage to Tads rig, we learned of Tads lowside earlier Friday morning and thank goodness, he was fit and well and no injuries. For him, just as it was for me, it is yet another LEARNING experience that can only lead to better things. For details, see Tad's report at http://members.home.com/tadgralewski
Everybody basically just left at their leisure to
find their own way home. With a post of 65, I basically locked the ol ST
on 75 and hit the bricks. Only needed one gas stop where I ate my lunch
of peanut butter crackers and water and then hit it the rest of the way.
Did hit some pretty heavy rain once I turned off 57 at 74, but my trusty
Farm & Barn gloves again found a sweetness to my warm and dry hands.
After arriving home, I was greeted to a warm hug by my honey and let me tell you that was a VERY welcome feel. My but was sore as hell, but I was home Toto, and as you all know, TNPLH. (after 3075 miles in 8 days, my but deserved to be sore)
My trip conclusion. None that I can describe more than I already have. I had an absolute tremendous time and was, after all, able to find the inner peaceful feeling. I can, at the conclusion of this trip indeed say, yes, I AM glad I know now what I didn't know then.
Well there you have it. I'm tired of typing and hope I didn't make to many mistakes. J
So long to all my riding companions and safe riding to you all. I sincerely hope to ride with you all again soon.
Rct
Send me an email if you like
Edited 11/02/99.......rct