Fugu Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 I got to Oregon Thursday afternoon last week, and set about taking care of preparations for a family visit this last weekend for Mother's day. That's over and now I have a few minutes to chronicle this all. I will be sharing the boring details and pictures here on a trip day by day basis. Overall it was a great experience, one that many never get. If one thing sunk in during the ride it is that people everywhere were surprised (You rode that all the way from Oregon?), and then envious about it. I lost track of miles per day, started leaving places with no destination in mind other than "east" or "west" or "away from that storm". I also lost track of how many times people said wistfully "Boy I wish I could do that". Well, dammit, you can. Hopefully this makes some of you take a look at some serious time on the road, either alone like I did it, or with riding partners. So stay tuned.... working on day one's recounting right now - from Albany, OR to Ft. Bragg, CA. Will have it up some time today. Thanks again to everyone who offered and gave support.
OoPEZoO Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 awesome.....looking forward to it. I have to thank my old man for giving me the motorcycle travel bug. He planned a cross country trip back in '05 and basicly TOLD me I was going along, and that I needed find a bike to make the trip. Enter the RT and the rest is history. It let me understand that trips like that are VERY possible.......you just have to get off your ass and decide your doing it. Now I'm thinking Alaska in 2011.
Fugu Posted May 11, 2009 Author Posted May 11, 2009 So something that I found out is a bit of a “gumption trap” in the way Pirsig talked about it is planning a route for a cross country trip. I started looking at the locations of friends, great roads not to be missed, great microbreweries I wanted to visit and connecting them with what looked good, places I heard were great, etc. What I found was that not only is my grasp of geography poor, but that I didn’t know what was out there East of an imaginary line from the Black Hills to Flagstaff, AZ. So after a lot of time staring at maps, routing, re-routing, starting, stopping, not really getting it nailed down….I just left with some waypoints in mind and a stack of maps in my side case. I had a rough schedule – set up to get me to New York Saturday April 25 for my great Uncle’s birthday and a visit with my family who flew out from Seattle, all hosted at my Aunt and Uncle’s house on Long Island. It had been too long since I’d seen the New York part of the family. I had some houses of friends in my GPS. I had a list of helpful folks in my iphone and on paper (just in case). So I left Thursday April 16th, later in the morning than I wanted due to last minute prep but early enough to make it to North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg, CA for dinner. I had new tires, a fresh tune up, my Spot locator and all the other stuff I always have on the bike. I thought I was well prepared. I hopped on I-5 to make some time, planning to do that for 2 hours, and quickly decided, screw the Interstate – I couldn’t even make it an hour. I cut over to the coast and stayed there- enjoying the winding coast highway and watching the plant life change from lush green to dunes (Southern Oregon has dunes folks) and back to green as I got into North California. I snapped this crossing a little bridge. I finished the day running down CA-1 from the 101 in Legget all the way to Fort Bragg. I had driven this road years ago in a car, and always wanted to ride it. First I stopped here for lunch, packed in my tank bag. The road is amazing. Twisting and turning through the redwoods with elevation changes, in and out of the shade offered by the giant trees – mostly well maintained. Watch for trucks over the center line, do it on a week day – but go ride it. For some reason I enjoyed the hell out of riding it but could not maintain smooth speed on it like I can highway 12 between Lolo, MT and Kooskia, ID. Different curves – CA-1 is really tight, some banked, some centerstand scraping, some decreasing radius – it’s all there. Take your time and remember that if you overshoot one, there’s a giant redwood waiting to “catch” you. I rolled into town at sunset and had dinner and some beverages at North Coast, enjoying the anniversary special version of their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (a benchmark beer in its own right and the anniversary was more of a good thing). I settled in for a night of hard sleep – I was dead tired after 513 miles. I had been riding all winter- but not long distances. I was worried and looking at what I wrote in my notebook the next morning I had doubts about the 700 mile day to Coronado and making it for dinner planned by my buddy’s wife. My butt hurt. I felt a little out of breath in general – having had just moved, serviced the bike, new tires, setting up the new house after a move from UT, etc- and a long day in the saddle…. I was supposed to be at my friend’s house in Coronado, CA for dinner the next night. The general plan was to avoid storms by running south to almost Mexico, then shoot East to Pensacola, and then up to New York. Note from somewhere in CA – a guy pulled up in a minivan- I was leaving a gas station. Why are these guys always in mini vans? Anyhow, he gives my bike the once over and generates this deep question: THOSE LIGHTS? Me: Yes, they are big spotlights. There are more underneath there – see? I BET THEY MAKE IT EASIER TO SEE AT NIGHT. Me: Yes, they sure do. I rode off chuckling. Lights do make seeing at night easier alright.
Fugu Posted May 11, 2009 Author Posted May 11, 2009 So I didn't track much GPS data. I just never got to it. I will recreate the route (as much for my future reference as your use) with Google maps - forgive any minor deviations. http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Albany,+OR&daddr=43.636075,-123.95874+to:Fort+Bragg,+CA&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=7&via=1&sll=42.90816,-121.959229&sspn=5.552057,13.227539&ie=UTF8&ll=41.910453,-118.883057&spn=5.640934,13.227539&z=7 Hmmm.... and I don't know how to make a google map appear here properly. Thanks Bill. I am trying to figure out how to make the map show up like Google says it will. I will use a tinyurl link if I can't- http://tinyurl.com/ql59hz
Bill_Walker Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 Fugu, to post a link, on the post screen there's a button with a small world and a very large chain link. Click it, and a little window opens where you can past in a link. Click OK, and another window opens where you can type in the text to be displayed for the link. Click OK, and the proper stuff appears embedded in your message. Great start to your trip, BTW. Q: your profile says your home base is Ogden, UT, not Oregon.
Fugu Posted May 11, 2009 Author Posted May 11, 2009 Thanks again Bill - I updated my profile. Albany, OR is now home base. I just moved from UT before taking off on this trip.
Fugu Posted May 11, 2009 Author Posted May 11, 2009 A little video. CA-1 after the section of redwoods (was too dark for my little point and shoot camera in video mode...) A little blurry and such but you get the idea. yeah, there's a bug right in the way, too.... oh well.
Fugu Posted May 12, 2009 Author Posted May 12, 2009 So day #2 of the trip I had planned on getting from Fort Bragg to Coronado, CA…. That’s a lot of real estate. I took off down the coast and was treated to some amazing scenery. Great winding road, and incredible views seemingly at every turn. I was really surprised at how courteous the drivers were. I’d show up in their rear view and they’d scoot over, making room for easy and clean passes. Not what I’m used to at all. As the day went on I decided that in order to make it to my friend’s house that night in time for dinner, I had better get on a faster road once I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. I resorted to some larger highways and eventually interstates and toll roads, really eating up the distance South. Of course I hit downtown right at rush hour, so I did what anybody on a bike in California does in traffic- I split lanes. On a fully loaded RT with large side cases? Yup. Again, drivers made room. Every 10th or 20th would be rude or oblivious, but for the most part people in the leftmost (#1) lane moved left and those in the #2 lane moved right, leaving a nice space to roll on by. Every state needs to allow this. As tight as the gaps can get I’d rather be squeezing through and filtering than hoping I don’t get smacked from behind. My friend’s wife held dinner until I got there late and we had a great evening- before I knew it, it was 2 in the morning. Perfect since the next day would consist of crossing the Yuma desert. I’d get there right in the hottest part of the day…. Since weather was, at best, forecast to be variable I had opted for my Tourmaster Transition jacket- textile with vents as opposed to a mesh jacket with liners. I was a little concerned I wouldn’t be able to vent well enough in the desert but knew that I was going to get hit with some storms and rain and cold on this trip and wanted the warmer Transition. Of course the weather folks were predicting a record hot spell coming on the next day. Saturday morning I woke up around the crack of ten and loaded up the bike. Coronado is like some freaky Mayberry. Half the island is a Navy submarine warfare base where they are training to do who knows what, the rest is a postcard. Wide tree lined streets, and everybody on beach bikes rolling around silently to the coffee shop or wherever. My friend’s neighbor struck up conversation with me as though he knew me already and suggested I come by later in the day for some home brews he’d just kegged. No thanks, I have a big, boring desert to cross….. It was already 70 something like it always is there so I left in shorts under mesh pants w/o liners and the Transition with all the vents open. The first part of the drive out of So Cal I knew from years and years ago, out through Campo on 94. Good twisties and desert / rock scenery. Good road. I started seeing lots of the border fence, and an incredible number of border patrol vehicles and checkpoints. I never had to do anything but open my visor and answer a few questions – usually along lines of “where are you headed?” and “are you a US Citizen?” Got a couple double takes but nothing out of the ordinary. The amount of money we are spending down there on the fence, the electronic fence, the vehicles and manpower must be staggering based on what I saw. I stopped for a fuel up and to fill up my camelbak with ice and water before crossing the desert, and looked for a way to do so other than I-8. Another rider heading the other way, a local, advised there really isn’t another way – I’m pretty much SOL. So off I went, into the heat. Luckily it only hit about 85. Quite manageable with the right windshield angle and the right breeze upwards from behind the fairing – with feet out on the Sparky pegs, the airflow works OK to keep things cool enough. I caught up to a Harley on a curvy stretch, passed him, and found him following me at a reasonable distance on a set of downhill curves into the desert. As we hit the straights again, under an overpass, we spied a full dress Harley in the shade. I went about half a mile down and found a good U turn to go back- the other rider did something else, but we got to the stopped rider about the same time. I’ll try not to rag on makes of bikes and riders here…. But the old fella had no water crossing the desert. No air pump. No patch kit. There was no way to get the wheel off the bike without a stand or laying it on the ground. Meanwhile the guy, outweighed by a factor of 5 or more by that behemoth bike, horsed it around on a sloped piece of graveled and rocked road shoulder like it was a lightweight. Every time he got on to move it a little I said to myself “here it goes, on its side” but he had the thing licked – and 125k on the odometer. He ran through the list of things he’d done to it in that time mechanically to the other Harley guy as I stood there eating a powerbar and drinking out of a tube. What an odd group we made. Anyhow, air into his tire resulted in nothing more than noise that sounded like a valve core had been pulled- we were looking for a huge hole but couldn’t find it because we couldn’t see under the fender. At that time the old guy tells me he plugged the hole a month ago but hadn’t replaced the (totally bald) tire. Probably got so thin it spit the plug out… He had friends in Yuma that would get there in a few hours he said, and with nothing more to do I packed up my compressor and left them. I suggested we pull the wheel to find the hole but he wasn’t interested. At least he was in the shade and it was cool for the desert. I circumnavigated Phoenix and its ring of silly cameras (85 to the camera sign, then 65 as traffic bunches up, then the speed goes back up…. And we inchworm down the highway…) and headed up to Payson, through a forest of cacti, into steadily cooling evening air in the hills. I started the morning at sea level, rode through a desert where I was 20 feet below, and parked the bike around 4000 feet. I had some really tasty Mexican food and hit the hay. An older lady outside the restaurant was really excited about my bike and then got to the part of the talk where people feel like telling riders all about the person they know who was killed on a bike. I hopped on the bike to go fill it up for the next day and found a big scratch in the middle of the GPS screen and my SAT radio LCD screen cracked so the display doesn’t work now. I figured it would be OK uncovered for a short while. Typically this is something that would piss me off royally and have me fuming, but I found that I shrugged it off pretty easily. Maps, approximate: Ft Bragg to Payson Coronado to Payson
Fugu Posted May 15, 2009 Author Posted May 15, 2009 OK I'm writing up day 4, 5 and more... I have put some vids on youtube of the prior posts. Here's some to look at if you're bored- some are action, some are scenery. If it's boring skip forward a bit. No editing on the vids, no catchy music- sorry I haven't got that set up. crossing the golden gate on the CA coast more CA-1 still more on the CA coast. Some vids for what I'm posting now are uploading as I type this.
Fugu Posted May 15, 2009 Author Posted May 15, 2009 Day 4 I woke up feeling pretty good. I was dodging weather successfully. Every day I’d talk to my girlfriend back in Oregon and she’d ask with some hesitation if I was getting rained on – but so far, so good. It’s not that I mind rain but I’d rather ride in the sun. I headed out of Payson up to Show Low, AZ and was treated to a nice winding road, sun, and decent temperatures despite soon being at 9000 feet or more. I stopped by a little lake to eat something and take a break. Still some snow on the banks, but a great day. I remarked that it was pretty amazing I was still in Arizona. I knew there were mountains but that’s still a pretty diverse set of geography for one state. Not unlike Utah. Mid day I saw a sign for a ghost town and said – why not? So I road down about 10 miles of twisty old singletrack (paved mostly) to an old ghost town called Mogollon. Many of these ghost towns are let downs for some reason – I guess I expect to find something AMAZING but they are still great little detours. I bumped into an eccentric local (well, narrowly avoided bumping into thanks to a warning from one of the other two tourists there on bikes….) and listened to him berating the other rider for something along the lines of “No man, see you don’t GET IT man, it’s the buildings man! The buildings!”. I saw a bunch of locked doors, into old mine shafts, and damn if I didn’t want to pry them all open and go peek even though I know that’s foolish, etc. my dad can fix that, he’s a TV repairman and he’s got a bitchin’ set of tools. Here’s a vid of cruising Mogollon ghost town… I took a little journal with me and it’s funny to see notes. I’m not much of a journal type, but my notes from by that lake are really happy. I left the mountains and headed into the flats of New Mexico, however, and my demeanor changed. Nothing like 100 miles of some boring roads to suck the life right out of you in an afternoon. By nightfall I had doubts about making it. I was dreading crossing Texas. I was supposed to go to Pensacola, FL to see a buddy there, and it was dumping rain with no end in sight… Later I figured out I was being an idiot the way I was eating – not enough protein, not enough calories during the day. Plenty of fluids, but I was yo-yoing my blood sugar. Here’s where Autocom is nice. Sure, the solitary time on the road is good for us- but after a while… so I got a call from my girlfriend, who happens to be remarkably perceptive and she picks up right away that I need a rest, I need to stop for the night and I could use the company of a beer and a hamburger. She also chided me for the above mentioned eating stupidity- which I deserved. I know better, too. Anyhow, the town I was headed for was dry on Sundays- so she googled me a brew pub, found me a cheap hotel to flop at and texted me all the info on both. My notes show this: tired. Time change. Stopped early in Las Cruces, NM. I have some worry about making it nagging at me. I’m not going to Pensacola, going through Tennessee instead, I need some rest So yeah, I was tired. I guess I have a need to tire myself out before I can relax? I don’t know. I do know that I was surprisingly beat. The days hadn’t been longer than I have managed before but I was whipped. Anyhow, I found my burger (with a big roasted chile on it) and some acceptable brews at a local brewpub… THE local brewpub- this sure ain’t Oregon - and turned in early. The next morning I had a bit more energy, aided by some tasty breakfast items I’ve never seen before – a spicy sausage wrapped in some sweet dough, in a little cellophane packet. No doubt highly healthy but for some reason tasty. I stuffed some in my pocket (screw you Powerbar! I’m eating PORK!). I headed out towards Texas. I had planned to meet a buddy in the DFW area but that didn’t work out. About the middle of the boring part of NM I think I called Whip about how the hell to cross that state of his – or maybe it was the day before. I’m a bit foggy here, but in any event I was greeted with a friendly voice. Another thought here about what a wonderfully odd sort we are riding around on motorcycles. I’ve met Whip one time and was greeted like an old friend calling up. Anyhow, I got the straight dope and that cemented my “plan”. Get across Texas quickly. Skip Pensacola. Go ride twisty stuff in Arkansas. Now I’d never been to Arkansas. I had Deliverance like ideas about the place. My girlfriend has lived out in that neck of the country and said it’s beautiful so I was trusting her…. I really wanted to make NY in time to be there with my family flying in from Seattle and to celebrate Russian Easter and my great uncle’s birthday (yeah, we were late on both counts but we designated that weekend our celebration). Going all the way to FL would kill that. I headed out of Las Cruces, uphill, and on the way to Alamogordo found Mc Ginn’s Country store, seeing a banner for ATOMIC HOT PISTACHIO BRITTLE my bike turned in, deployed its side stand and shut off. Damn thing. I ate pistachios, bought brittle for my saddle bags, and shipped myself more nuts and brittle. Wonderful stuff there – great big tasty pistachios, and I had a nice chat with the guy working there, a McGinn family member and a nice old guy. Funny how I found myself talking about personal stuff with some guy in a country store I just met but we had one of those conversations. The brittle is buttery, spicy hot in just the right way, and loaded with delicious pistachios grown right there in NM, one of two growers in that state competing with the Californians. The brittle has won awards at spicy food contests. They also had really good chili seasoned nuts in and out of the shell, and the standby – salted pistachios. Can’t you almost taste them? Sorry, none for you. Just kidding. http://www.pistachiotreeranch.com Go buy some nuts and some brittle. I have no affiliation at all. Somewhere in there I went through White Sands National Monument. It’s got a lot of white sand. I was happy I got in free (booth wasn’t open yet). Riding through white sands monument (still uploading, 1:33 PM 5/15- give it a minute to finish) Up in the hills, I saw a squiggly road on my map and took it- NM 244. Great little windy bit of road. Here a sidetrack- NM has WEIRD speed limits. 55 on a divided highway, 2 lanes each direction. 40 on this little slice of heaven 244. Later in the day, I see 60 on a 2 lane highway, not divided! Good riding in parts, but boy was I pushing serious fines if caught due to the artificially low limits in some places. Here’s a taste of riding New Mexico And more NM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRTXAKAzVwM I finished the day by blasting into Wichita Falls. Texas. I had a list of BBQ joints--- what did I find? CLOSED, out of business, for sale….. Depressing. Lots of little mom and pop joints gone for good. 6 of them- GPS and Google maps sourced, all gone. I had some Q at a local “chain” suggested to me and found it lacking in smoke and spice. Bland brisket, cheap sausage. I was almost happy about this because I was able to mock Texans I know for it the next day…. For I was going to BBQ mecca. I rolled out of Texas, and was eager to leave it (and the roaches in my towel-less motel room which the manager rightly and cheerfully comped me for) behind. Before I knew it I was seeing green and the roads were turning. Curves. How does this work again? Push where to go where? Arkansas was a great day. I could ride there an awful lot. Not much to photograph but I had a blast. I was literally winging it across AR, my next “goal” being seeing my buddy in Nashville some time the next day and heading out to ride with him some. So I picked twisty roads on the map, rode them, rode them again in some cases and I really haven’t got a great clue where I went in the Ouachita “mountains” but it was a really fantastic day. The map is a guess…. My spirits were high and the miles just disappeared under my wheels. THIS is what I was needing. Crossing Texas was a pain – boring, straight – sure, it was fast, but who wants to be blasting straight through a field in the middle of nowhere at 97mph? Not I. I know there are better parts of Texas but I’ll have to save that for a trip down to the Gulf Coast- the nondescript ranch roads I was burning up in TX made Arkansas that much better. Not much to photograph (wink wink) So after a long day strafing turns in AR to the best of my abilities (I’m hugging apexes still… I always need to work on that line…) I headed to Memphis for some BBQ- planning to just run up the slab to my buddy’s place. AR roads more AR Well, a big ass plate of BBQ slowed me down a bit but I got through it at the landmark Neely’s Interstate BBQ. Had a nice chat with the manager about bikes- I was happy he was outside on the phone and checking mine out while I was eating – I didn’t have to watch it as close. The neighborhood has seen some hard changes as Paul Delay wrote in a song about a fictional rib joint called Bess and Ernie’s. Great Q though. Smoky. Great sauce. Good sausage. Tender pork with good heat. Even the beef ribs were good and I don’t like beef ribs. The waitress, who was obviously a little curious about my overall appearance, that weird bike, my lack of accent, etc was the most polite young woman who’s ever waited on me. I checked out the wall of fame and paid my (tiny) bill. Look at that mess of food- a sampling of the whole menu. Chopped pork, chopped beef, pork ribs, beef ribs, sausage, BBQ spaghetti, beans (there’s pork in the beans- gotta love it) cole slaw, and artisan squishy white bread. I couldn’t have a ride tale without a mechanical failure, so here it is. I will try to build suspense. I was riding along when it happened out of nowhere! Major electrical system failure! My headlights dimmed slightly and I turned off my PIAAs and my built in fog lamps and then found myself in total darkness (well except for the lights from the cars and stuff) You’d think that BMW would fix this crappy design by now and fix all our bikes. Yes, that’s right I ended day 6 by popping my low beam bulb, and not wanting to run down the road killing everyone with my auxiliary lights, or ride tired in deer country on secondary roads- I pulled into a Walmart, changed the bulb in the parking lot (the usual assortment of cussing, hand scraping and wrist contortions will be omitted here) , and hit the hay. Lady at the checkout looked me over – my big overloaded tank bag in my Wal Mart cart, my bug splattered helmet, riding gear, etc. and says “whatcha riding?” I half mumbled “BMW RT” because frankly I was sick and tired of people assuming Harley or getting down in the face when I didn’t answer Harley and she replied “I figured” and smiled. Ahhh, that’s better. Her husband rides one too. I phoned my buddy in Nashville and told him I’d see him the next day and we’d head out to that famous wiggly road… day 4 map day 5 map day 6 map Notice how as the roads improved my mileage per day went up.... bonus day 1 video- just some road in OR on my way out to the coast
Fugu Posted May 20, 2009 Author Posted May 20, 2009 Day 7 preface: I’m not a great writer of things like this- looking back at what I’ve written up so far I don’t like that I’m a little gloomy, a little negative in what I’m writing. Make no mistake – this trip was fantastic. Every “annoyance” is just part of the experience. Yeah, crossing N. Texas was straight roads in the middle of nowhere- ranch road XXXX, etc., but I was rocketing along through the countryside, turning where I wanted, going where I wanted, stopping when I wanted. I could gush endlessly about how great it was. How I rode down the CA coast amazed that mile after mile, turn after turn the scenery was fantastic, the drivers were courteous, etc. I tend to ride where there aren’t many other folks, and I like it that way. People in small towns waved. An old guy in Texas, ambling along in a small neighborhood I passed through stopped and pulled one hand off his walker to give me a big thumbs up. Kids in school buses are always thrilled to see people on bikes, and the fact that I was making a big lazy loop of the entire country is something that I didn’t really appreciate fully but that started to sink in around now on the trip. Actually I may still not fully get it. It was pointed out to me the other day that I rode more in a couple of weeks than some people EVER have, or more than they did last summer, or last year, and that’s pretty cool I think. Day 7. I wanted to get up to Nashville to link up with my buddy, the plan being we’d head out to the Cherohola Skyway in East Tennessee / Western North Carolina. I was filling up with gas when a police officer pulled in and expressed that he was jealous as hell I was riding while he was working. He asked where I was going and of course I replied “wherever you guys aren’t” with a smile. He suggested I-40 with his best “I’ll still bust your ass for speeding, fellow rider or not” look…. Well that wasn’t happening. I added I was heading up to the Nashville area and he pointed out what he said was a good route on the map, saying it was a good day ride. It was about 9:00 and I said I was going to be there for lunch… So I took his suggestion in part, then found that I was right by the Natchez Trace Parkway – so why not go ride that up to Nashville? Very happy that I did. What a great thing these parkways are – aside from the silly 40mph speed limit they are a real hoot. Gorgeous scenery, no traffic to speak of, no lights, no stop signs, no turning traffic. Maybe they could have “bike Wednesdays” or something on them and double the posted limits for us riders, eh? Yeah, let a guy dream…. Again I prioritized fun over legality and enjoyed my time on the Parkway quite a bit. After a couple hours of fantastic riding it was time to go around town and up to my buddy’s place in the suburbs. He was more or less ready to go, and we rolled out of his driveway just after lunch, bound for the hills and the twisties. We took local highways even though they were slow- through lots of small towns, and lots of stoplights. The closer we got to the general area of “the Dragon” the more law enforcement we saw. Video of the natchez trace parkway After dawdling through a small town, we got stuck behind a Subaru Forester (is it just me or are a disproportionate number of Foresters driven by slowpokes who refuse to move over?). The Subie was doing 10 under in a double yellow lined section of road that was winding through a rural residential area- one of those “neighborhoods” of 5 acre plots for folks with horses or something similar- so I wasn’t going to be tearing it up with the possibility of kids and such, but 10 under? Yer killing me! OK, you’re on vacation…. The Subaru pulled into a driveway at last and I rolled on some throttle to enjoy a couple of bends. BRAAP BEEEP BEEEP goes the V1. Thank you Valentine One, thank you. I waved to the nice officer and made mental note of the “save”. I long ago stopped figuring how close the V1 was to paying for itself (and the one in the car….) and started approximating the multiples of its own cost it’s saved me in my head. It was getting late in the day and progress was slow but we decided to head out the Cherohola Skyway in the fading daylight and were treated to a great sunset in the hills and very little traffic as we carved turns. By the time we rolled into Robbinsville, NC just barely after dark there were a ton of bikes at the hotel we chose. A spied an RT with a bike on it- black like mine but an 1100. A couple other BMWs, a slew of sportbikes, some Harleys (including my buddy’s can’t turn can’t pass but looks good cruisin’ model) and some guys unloading bikes from trailers to go ride the dragon. My buddy had warned me that the road has been spoiled by the sport bike pressure, but I wanted to ride it just because, and the area in general was fantastic. We grabbed a quick steak dinner and spent the rest of the evening shooting the bull. Would have been nice to have a cocktail with my friend, but it’s a dry county. Who knew? This does not do Cherohola Skyway justice, at all. The light was fading and we were set more on getting to Robbinsville with light enough to ride curves than we were on good photos. Trust me. Go out of your way to go ride it, and do it during “non peak” time. Day 8 -The next morning we were up pretty early and on the road – so early, in fact, that none of the photogs camped on the dragon were ready for us…. A combination of relatively quiet pipes (sorry, we are not saving lives…) and the early hour. I’m a little bummed by that. I’d like some decent action shots of me on my bike. Regardless of the lack of evidence, we had a great ride- that is a seriously fun road when there’s no traffic on it like this particular sunny Thursday morning. Perusing the websites I find a million shots of the guy with the bike on back who I know was just a bit behind us- having seen his bike at the hotel, and then having him pass us later on as we took this shot: Yes, that’s right- my buddy is Lt. Dangle from Reno 911. He headed back home, I headed North to the Shenandoah Valley to see another friend who lives with his wife on her family farm (now leased out to a big farming group but still a gorgeous spot with an old farmhouse). On the way – another parkway… the Blue Ridge. Unfortunately I couldn’t get on film (pixels) what I was seeing due to haze and only being armed with a point and shoot, but the views were great, the road was great, and I finished my day riding through a verdant valley of farms and dairies. I arrived, met the dogs, got cleaned up and we headed out for dinner and microbrews (with a designated driver…) Here’s video of me riding the dragon. Yup, more or less the whole thing. Fun road. I was mentally set to enjoy myself and not do anything stupid. I succeeded. Then I got the tour of the guest room, recently done up by my buddy’s wife with some family memorabilia- the purple heart, citation, and medals from my friend’s grandfather’s time in the Marine Corps. Men like him risked everything to protect a country where I can ride around like a dufus whenever I want. What a comparatively easy life I’ve had. The next morning, day #9, having noted that my back tire was looking really bad the day before, I headed to Morton’s BMW in Fredericksburg, just down the road. The service manager had told me on the phone the day before that they were short a guy, one mechanic having gone down with appendicitis, but he assured me he’d get my wheels in for tires if I could pull them in the parking lot. He was willing to do the tires for me regardless, but when I said I could pull them he actually said something to the effect of I’d be in and out. I rolled up to the dealership, met the service manager, and got to work- as promised, my back wheel sat for all of 10 minutes before they had it on the tire machine. Ditto the front. I wasn’t real thrilled with only 4850 miles on the Roadsmarts, but I have to acknowledge the fact that with the weight carried on the bike- me being a big guy, extra fuel, totally stuffed system cases, and my 50lb tank bag (cripes, what’s in there- bricks?) accompanied by some stretches of ludicrous speed, that the tires were likely not solely to blame. I put Pilot Road 2s back on- I think I like them better overall. I was down the road by about 1:00PM, and I can’t say enough good things about Morton’s and their staff. Their mechanic who did my tires happily lent me his torque wrench for final tightening, and showed me a great trick for getting the back tire back on the bike – breaker bar in the exhaust pipe lets you pull it out enough to wiggle the wheel under without pulling the back fender or having to loosen the can as I have been doing. Thanks again Morton’s. I was happy to be rolling – the goal of this leg of the trip in sight- twin goals actually. Making Dogfish head brewing in Rehoboth Beach, DE this Friday night of day 9 for many beers, and then finishing my Eastward trip Saturday morning with a run up to Long Island in time to meet up with my family. I headed towards the Atlantic ocean and soon was on a two lane, in the sun, with a smile on my face on an empty road I was weaving back and forth, over leaning through corners to get the tires scuffed all the way to the edges, etc. During one such corner I got a roadside X ray courtesy of a VA state trooper’s radar gun. The V1 alerted me but I was a dead duck. He was on the outside of the corner, I was cranked over and on the gas, and he lit me up with instant on- I couldn’t exactly jump on the brakes hard, so I rolled off the gas, applied some brakes and pulled over. He was nice enough, issuing me a performance award for the 13 over I was allegedly doing and as he walked away he said have a nice day. I replied “thanks” and then added, jokingly, “hey, did I just THANK you for a ticket?” He took that wrong—thinking I was busting his chops he gave me the “I’ve got a job to do, too” response. I let it lie, figuring a closed mouth gathers no (more) feet. Sorry, officer- I was just joking with you, not busting your chops. Don’t forget, folks- radar detectors are illegal in VA. I forgot that. I disguised mine with electrical tape while there, and used it as a gloves rest when I got pulled over…. Once again my travel agent came through as I headed towards the brewery. My girlfriend got me a room at a great little hotel literally two doors down from Dogfish head. Great room, and cheap. The nicest under $100 hotel ever, and it was $60. Woo hoo! A pause here…Her support, not just with conveniences and comforts and advice like finding me a hotel, suggesting a route, or gently suggesting I might be tired and should stop, was huge. From the first time I mentioned doing this she was 100% for it despite some reasonable concerns, and I can’t thank her enough for her fantastic attitude. Ok – Delaware….After a great sunset that I saw but was unable to get into the camera (First shots I was illegally stopped, and then while moving to my second photography location the sun passed through the sweet spot…. ) I was at the bar at Dogfish head by 7:00 and I did not plan on moving until I had sampled everything. I was happy to see that in addition to some of the best brews anywhere, they are embracing the boutique distilling trend. Dogfish head’s beers are spectacular, but so too are their spirits- their rum in particular. Food’s good, too --- if you are near Delaware, or can make it a stop – go. My plan for Saturday morning- day 10, was to hop the first ferry across Delaware bay, but the schedule sucked- clearly it’s a tourist ferry not a commuter ferry. First sailing wasn’t until 9 something, and it takes 2 hours to go 12 miles. That wouldn’t do- I had an appointment with a racing form, my great uncle, my father, my uncle, and my brother in law, oh, and with a Pastrami King sandwich as well. I headed out of Rehoboth beach into some really humid morning air around the bay, already heating up. Luckily the humidity didn’t last too long, as the prior evening’s excesses were taking a bit of a toll. I sucked the camelbak dry in the short ride into the city- and then my mouth was dry for another reason- the traffic in New York is RIDICULOUS. Saturday morning and it was as bad as last week’s foray into downtown LA at Friday night rush hour. No fewer than 3 wrecks on the Long Island Expressway found me stopped and stuck and heating up (bugs in the cooler? It wasn’t that hot, but the bike was caked with bugs and bees). I decided that despite not knowing whether my new friend lane splitting is legal in NY, I was going to do it- because what’s a cop going to do- yell at me from an overpass? En route my sister called- she and the girls were going shopping and she had the address of the OTB for me to punch into the GPS. I’d have to meet the guys there since traffic ate up an hour or so. I rolled into the OTB and my brother in law, a pretty low key guy, came out to let me throw all my gear into his rental car. I was still sort of on the bike mentally until my dad came out. Every time I see my father he seems to age another big chunk of years even though it’s not that long between visits. My family really loves watching where I am with the Spot locator, but they worry anyhow, and as New York natives the thing they were most worried about was me getting out to the island and getting smacked by a car. My dad teared up and gushed at the accomplishment of riding cross country alone. I guess I still don’t see it as such a huge thing- it’s not like I pedaled – but he was very proud and that always makes me happy. I’d ridden 5200 miles in 9 1/2 days – arriving at my destination more or less on time for lunch on the 10th day. I got inside and saw my uncle Fred- the guy never seems to age by contrast, and my great uncle Peter- he’s 90 but refuses to acknowledge it. He’s still sharp as a tack, sitting and absorbing the conversation then speaking sparingly, but incisively. We could all learn from that I think- listen more, speak less. The waitress seemed to get lost bringing me a well earned beer- and my uncle put on his best New Yorker attitude and said “Hey, my man here just rode a freakin’ motorcycle across the country, you wanna bring him his freakin’ beer already?” Out of character so much it made us all bust up. Later in the day we met up with my mother, my aunt Barb (also living in a time warp) and my sister and started a week of celebrating a late Russian Easter and late birthday for my great uncle. Too much of everything, but a very memorable trip made more so because I got there on the bike. As lifelong New York residents, they were all pretty impressed by the scenery in my photos and videos. Maybe someday they’ll move out West. I hope so. My great uncle enjoying a libation and telling stories about singing on the radio for a dollar a week, and his time serving in the Army. I got out for a few local rides on the island- nothing huge, just some puttering around. I also got the hotel to let me park up on the sidewalk in an alcove right by my room, where I serviced the bike one afternoon. I didn’t want to go into the city again, so I grabbed a six pack and rounded up oil, trans/ FD lube, and a cheap pan. I had packed a filter and a filter wrench. Something really nice about taking a little time to do that. I had planned on attending the tech day in Connecticut on my way back home to Oregon but since I had to get tires in VA anyhow, this would allow me to get home a day sooner- and I had the urge to see my girlfriend and take some of the load of a new puppy and preparing for Mother’s Day weekend at our place off of her shoulders. I also figured that since I had been mechanical trouble free so far it might be wise to build a little extra time into the schedule for the unknown. Schedule…. Well by now I was no longer watching or caring about miles per day. I knew it was about 4000 miles to get home. I knew I could do that in about 7-8 days, since I was now back in long distance shape and had a week of rest to boot….
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