Let the Good Times Roll

Tim Schwab texted me on Wednesday evening asking me if I wanted to go ride Sunday. This is a rhetorical question right?

Of course I *WANT* to go ride, the real question is, Can I? After checking in with Melissa, I was told she would be available to tend to Dad after church and could be home by 11:15 AM.

With the shortened hours of daylight this time of year brings, that would only allow us a good 5 hours or so of riding, depending on where we met. We intended to meet in Hot Springs, NC around 12:30 PM, which is only about 40 minutes from me, but nearly 2 hours away from Tim. However, he was able to sneak away a bit earlier than I, so we planned on that.

Yeah, plans! Heh! His buddy, Chris, was not going to be able to make it to Tim’s in time for him to meet me in Hot Springs so he texts me Sunday morning letting me know he cannot commit. What?

I call him so we can cut through about three rounds of texting while working out new details. It turns out that he could not commit to a time frame. Basically, he didn’t want to pull an “Ed” and be late. So we setup plan B and decide that Asheville is nearly equidistant from my house and his and plan to meet at the Black Mountain exit off I-40 at 1 PM.

I chose to take I-40 over so I could replace my lost NC map at the Welcome Center. After fighting through the hordes of Gamecock fans proudly flying their flags celebrating their victory over my Vols , I found myself in Black Mountain and at our rendezvous point at 1:10.

Woot! I am 10 minutes late, but for me, that’s *not* late.

The only “problem” was there was no one there to corroborate that I wasn’t “late”.   ; ) Tim and Chris show up shortly thereafter and it felt good for once not to have folks waiting on my sorry ass! After a brief social session, we jump on the bikes heading south on NC-9.

I ran this a few weeks ago (waaayy) behind Mr. Schwab, but I am feeling much better about myself now. He tells me to take the helm as he is going to ride with Chris who has not got a lot of confidence yet.

So I take off and dispense of a few cagers and start enjoying the twisty bits that frustrated me just a few short weeks earlier. After a few miles there is a long (maybe ¼ mile or so?) straightaway, so I slowed waaayy down watching the mirror for two bikes. Nada!

I continue on and gave up passing cars by this time as I am still watching the mirror in hopes of seeing them approach. Still nothing … and it has been a while, so I find a spot where I could pull over and park the bike.

After a bit they show, so I merge back in and head on. The plan was to stop at US 64 and turn back north to run it again.

I pulled over at the first spot I saw once we merged onto 64 and found out why it took so long for me to see them. Apparently the first switchback corner we came to Chris handled wrong and was pitched off his bike.

Fortunately, damage was minimal, but he thought he had a cracked rib. The gear and a little luck was largely the reason for minor injury and the bike damage was basically cosmetic.

While at this stop Chris decided he was just going to jump on US 74 and head back home to Charlotte. Probably the wise decision considering he was hurting. (side note – he did make it home okay)

Tim and I meanwhile headed back up NC-9 to enjoy another run up the mountain. Then we would turn eastward and pick up NC-80 northbound.

I had never been on 80 before and Tim and I have talked about hitting some of the roads in his neighborhood for a loooong time. Today we finally made that happen.

This was good stuff! It offered a nice variety of curves. Stretches of it kind of reminded me of TN-116 with its mix of tight stuff and lazy esses.

I am still dealing with a flat spot at about 5500 RPM. I have poured two bottles of Seafoam in it, and it has gotten better, but there is still a slight sputter there. We were running on a long straight and I decided to try and work on that flat spot a bit.

I revved the engine up on this long straight to hit that flat spot, kept it there, backed off, and repeated. All the while, my attention is being split between the road and the odometer. I knew there was a curve coming up, but was paying too much attention to the odometer.

I noticed that curve was coming up rapidly and immediately stood on the brakes.Whoa boy things happen fast when that V4 is in its power band.

RRRRRRRTTTTTT  was the emanating sound as the tires squalled and speed was scrubbed off … then I just sauntered into the curve as if nothing happened. DUMBASS!!    

The rest of the run up the hill was uneventful, but quite enjoyable. Amazing what happens when you pay attention to the road, eh?   ; )     

Once at the top of the hill the BRP crosses 80 and Tim was waiting there in the parking lot across from the intersection. We then proceeded to take the BRP across to NC-181 and turned south.

We are cruising along at a good pace and passing what few cars we come up on as politely as we can. Then we come up on another rider who was just kind of poking along.

Tim gets up there and shows him a wheel for a second and that rider picked up the pace. He was cooking along pretty well and the two of them looked like a symphony the way they were in tune with one another. It really was a thing of beauty.

I knew we were going to be up in the higher elevations so I had layered up prior to leaving the house and by now was darn glad of it! We had been running along in a two or three mile patch of shade now and I was starting to feel a bit of a chill through my layers. Tim confirmed later that it wasn’t just me.

A few miles later, the other rider pulled off and gave a friendly wave indicating he enjoyed Tim’s company. Who doesn’t?

We soon found 181 – another road I had never been on that Tim told me I needed to check out. And he was right! This is nothing but looong sweeping turns that you can really motor through and it wound up putting a huge smile on your face.

We came upon a slow moving truck and Tim managed to have the time and a sight line to get by. However, I failed to have the space-time thing to have the confidence to pull a DY pass. I got stuck behind it for a long time because of my timid approach.

There were a few times I could have made a pass, but by that time the truck had caught up to slower traffic and it would have been to just set behind another vehicle to await another opportunity, so why bother? I just kind of gave up and rode along for most of that run.

At one of the “allowed” passing spots, I revved the engine to 7-8K in 4^th gear passing 3 cars in one swoop and was scooting along pretty well.  By the time I crested the hill, I had gotten the bike back down to a more legal speed, and not a moment to soon as there was a state trooper riding in the opposite direction.

I saw him tap his brakes as I passed. However, I didn’t see him again, so I guess he was not interested in me – and I’m okay with that. If he had crested that hill a couple seconds earlier, I am sure things would’ve been different.

That road needs to be run again. It was pretty sweet!

I just wish I wasn’t so timid and got stuck behind traffic for a good part of the more enjoyable bits. Tim, we shall do that one again to be sure.

We wound up in Morganton and grabbed a bite at the Sonic near I-40. As much as I love riding, I was damn ready to get out of that seat by this time as my arse was hurting!

Besides, sometimes the socializing about the ride (and just socializing in general), is just as good as the ride itself – especially when the company is good. After enjoying each other’s company for a bit, it was time to put an end to the day and head our separate ways.

When I got on the interstate I found the sun glaring directly into my eyes and that I had another 150 miles to go until getting home. I rolled in just after 8:00 with about 350 miles logged for the day, thoroughly sore, and smiling. Good times!