gettin' bettah!

It’s funny! I don’t EVER recall being on the fence about going out for a ride as much as I was this morning (Sat. 10/22).  EVER!!

After my absolute failure to establish any semblance of confidence (and competence?) while riding two weeks ago to and from Tellico, I was very apprehensive about jumping back into the saddle.

It wasn’t because I was afraid to die, but because my confidence was already fragile. I was worried that if I jumped on the bike and had *another* bad day, my confidence may be shattered.

Here I am, gathered up all the gear and stuff I would need for the day, and am sitting in a chair in my room trying to talk myself into going. Yeeesh! After about 10 minutes of this nonsense, and a heart-to-heart with my better half I finally to ‘man-ed up’, and headed out. 

((quick sidebar))

((Also part of that conversation …. I had packed the DSLR in case I came across any fall colors that were worth capturing. After our talk about my lack of confidence, she told me “if you wreck and ruin my camera (yes, Skip her and I still argue over it   LMAO), I would pay for it” (somehow, I don’t think she meant financially) … WOW! can you feel the love? ))
((end sidebar))

This ride would be strictly about fundamentals. Basically, it would be all about rebuilding a skill set that I believe I once had. Slow, easy, and smmmoooooooottttthhhh!!

The first road I took had some easy turns – by design – to help build up some confidence. I then jumped on the slab to get to Knoxville as I had to pick up a packet of yeast since a beer that I recently brewed never took off, likely due to bad yeast. So the game plan was to get over there grab another packet of yeast, pick up some good beer (since Newport doesn’t offer much for beer selection), and then plan out from there where I wished to go.

One of my favorite roads, which had been on the itinerary two weeks ago but never made it to, was nearby, so WTF?!? This is a 23 mile stretch of nothing but ess curves! This will either “make or break” me. The road? TN-116 – which is Rich Dluhy’s favorite road (ask him sometime).   <>

From where I was, there was no “fun” way to get to 116. Anyway, I wound my way to 116 and once there, found NO traffic to slow me down anymore than I may have already been going. However, about halfway through the run, I found a rhythm of sorts. I am not fast, but am much smoother and have built up a bit of confidence – I am no longer burning as much brake pads as I had been for the past couple rides.

Finally! I am not on the brake EVERY turn. I am hitting my lines, holding good bike posture, looking (all the way) THROUGH the turn – all things I *wasn’t* doing for the Tellico weekend. I still am not fast – read as …. not getting the heart beating nor adrenaline flowing … but I sure-as-hell am smiling!!

116 climbs two mountains which are full of technical turns, and has many easier sashes back and forth to tie the two peaks together. Left, right, left, right, all the while, I am being serenaded by the guttural sounds of that Honda V4 engine.

After a full can of Seafoam, Jitterbug is finally starting to run smoother even on that 5500 flat spot that was such an issue two weeks ago. I think one more can may fix it.

 I have a loop including 116 that I like, but have found it to be more fun to do it from the opposite direction. When 116 ended, I had two options, continue running the route in the opposite direction, or run back down to Knoxville, pick up the Dragon, and maybe use the camera that I put in such risk (as the wife coined it).

Considering the time of day, and the shortened late fall days, I decided to just run the route in reverse. There were plenty more fun turns to “play” in and help bolster whatever confidence I have built up, or just completely go backwards, should I miss a turn.

The next fun part was TN-61. I was following some Harley guy, but he was a pretty able rider and, even though he wasn’t haulin’ the mail, he was moving pretty well, so I settled in behind him. We soon came upon some slow moving traffic and it was evident he wasn’t interested in doing a DY pass, so I just put that V4 to work and skirted around him and the other vehicles and went on enjoying the curves and my newfound sense of confidence.

Zoom! Zoom! and a “yeah baby!” I was feeling pretty good!

So anyway, I got to keep that smile pasted on my face for the next 30 miles or so (not sure as the speedometer died somewhere along that run). When 61 ended, I usually would take US 11-W but I got to staring across the intersection.

Well, curiosity got the better of me – that road has to come out somewhere. Just as long as I don’t start hearing banjo music or the road turns into gravels, I aimed to find out where.

I went straight across, to find out where it wound up. There were no street signs to tell me where I was, but I kept going since I had gas and daylight.

This little exercise of curiosity actually turned out to be a shorter run than if I had gone the way intended. Additionally, it knocked out some of the long 4 lane drone that 11W tends to be.

When the road came to an end, instinct told me to turn right, but the road to the left looked more fun as it snaked uphill. So I turned northbound instead of how I should have gone, but at the time I still was unsure where I was. After a couple of the turns, I knew where I was, but I am headed the wrong way!

The last “detour” was a sidetrip along Lakeshore Rd. I used to use this as a tire scrub run because of its many nice sweeping turns. I was scooting along feeling great by this part of the run.   

I arrived home shortly before dark and was able to unpack the bike and put Jitterbug to bed in the waning rays of daylight. The evening was finished off with a couple of good beers and as I type this I am still smiling. I ain’t back yet, but I am getting’ betta’!