Well, it's been well over a month since the last time I have had either bike out to play. Saturday the forecast was a 20% chance of rain and a high of 60*F. Perfect!
Even better, a group that I occasionally ride with was doing a ride on Saturday. I haven't seen Dan (the founder of Country Roads Riding Group) in nearly a year. He's quite a character and always is good company.
The plan was to meet in Walland, TN at 10 AM. I hit up Googlemaps to find the quickest way so I could sleep in as long as I wanted -- besides, that early it is rather cold anyhow.
Google gave me the info I needed. I wrote down the directions; complete with miles to the next turn.
I got my gear together and headed out to the bike shed. Then I realized Cloud9's tag is expired. Dammit! Well, the KLR it is then!
It kind of sucks, too, because it was the Bandit's turn to get out (I try to make sure to take one one time, and the other the next). Additionally, I shod a new rear on it back in February and have yet to wear it in. Timing and weather have conspired against me lately.
I gear up, roll the KLR out, and I am moving. A quick gas stop and I'm Walland-bound.
I quickly am reminded that when I had the KLR out with Skip last time, I had knocked the speedometer drive gear out of its hub on the front wheel. I meant to set that back in, but forgot. HA! good thing I wrote down the miles to get to the next turn.
Anyway, I am about 20 miles into the run and I don't mind saying I was a bit cold. It was in the 40s and I had my liner in the suit, AND a flannel on, yet was chilled. I must be getting old!
Other than the chill of the damp, morning air, the ride there was rather uneventful and I pulled into the parking lot 10 minutes early and parked right next to Dan. He starts smiling and asks "What you doing here?" I replied "I came to see you big guy!"
With us today is his wife, Janet, who is a sweetheart, and Ron, whom I also have met before and like. We are going to meet another rider en route "somewhere along Miller's cove".
Dan has a new Harley (each time I see this guy, he has a different, new Harley), Ron has a 'Wing, and Paul, who will be joining us, has a 600 Ninja. After a great bull session and catching up some, we are off and rolling.
One of the neat things about riding with Dan is he KNOWS the area very well. He rides ... ALOT and finds some of the neatest backroads. Nearly everytime I ride with him I find something I hadn't been on before and it's all usually pretty good stuff.
Today was no different. We headed out through Miller's Cove. Miller's Cove parallels a creek and is about one and a half lanes wide and just twists and turns as it traverses two mountains. It is eally pastoral. About 20 minutes into the ride we encounter Paul coming from the other direction. He does a U-turn and files in behind us.
About a half hour more of twisty roads and we are at an A&W for lunch. Paul is not one for lunch and just motors on to .... wherever he decided to go.
More socializing ensues and a little "nourishment", well, as much as a fast food type joint can provide anyway. We are soon back on the road and are headed over English Mountain. We live on the foothill of English Mountain. I have never been on *this* road, which is just about 8 miles away. Again, Dan KNOWS the area.
Oddly, though, I *have* seen this road on Google maps when I was looking for stuff to explore with the KLR. It was put on the "one of these days" list -- today turned out to be that day. ; )
This was practically empty, freshly paved, and fraught with curves. I had a hard time keeping my eye on the road, though. There were LOTS of little "trail" type roads branching off here and there and I am rubber-necking every time I see one. I will be taking the KLR back up there again!
When we got to 321 they were turning back west. I wanted to head to Asheville to grab some beer (and it's an excuse to run NC-209 and NC-63 again). So we split there and about 20 miles out of Newport, I had forgotten about the detour and was now more concerned with how much gas I had left in the tank. I have no idea how many miles we had done up to this point due to the busted speedometer.
I knew the Ingle's in Marshall had a decent beer selection so I pointed the bike in that direction instead. Besides, the ride to Marshall is rather enjoyable too. I am hitting a great rhythm through the curves and encounter virtually NO traffic to slow me down. Good stuff!
I got what I wanted at Ingle's, topped off the tank, and head towards the house. Again, minimal traffic and I am motoring right along. Then, it happened. It has been a WHILE before I have had a serious butt-clenching moment on the bike. I guess I was overdue.
So I am headed into a blind right and I *know* the road rather well, so I'm scooting right along. I have it leaned over and am just powering out of the curve. As soon as I gain a sight line I see a pickup truck ... coming towards me ... in MY lane!
My heart STOPPED! I mean it ... just ... STOPPED!
There was a space between the rock wall on the side of the road and the truck but considering the speed I was carrying and how fast he was moving, I am not sure I could have made it there in time. That was my escape strategy, but luckily the guy swerved back into his lane in just enough time for us to not meet.
I was scared! I mean *really* scared. I thought that was it. It was *that* close.
Last time I felt that way was when Pearl and I encountered that tractor trailer that was blocking the road. It took a few turns, but I got calmed down and back into a rhythm again -- heh, once my heart resumed beating, that is.
I have seen this shortcut on the map before and even tried taking it once and wound up backtracking about 20 miles. I figured I would try it again today to see if I could take the "right" turn this time.
The shortcut I am referring to is between points A and B on this map ....
http://goo.gl/maps/0b47c
This would knock about 4-5 miles off the run. However, the road splits in a few places and there are not road signs to tell you which way is the road you are on. Last time, I backtracked. This time, I didn't, but still missed the A-B "tangent" and wound up adding miles. If you study the map, you will notice points C and D. This is what I found yesterday.
I knew I had missed another turn, but I had a (nearly) full tank of gas and plenty of daylight left, so figured, what the hell? let's see where this winds up. I eventually, came across an area I had been on before and wound my way back home. Maybe *next* time I can figure out that "shortcut". ; )
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