Is this winter? Did we fall into Indian Summer already? No matter, I'll take it!
Upon seeing the forecast earlier in the week, I asked Melissa and she graciously agreed to watch Dad so that I could sneak off and play on the bike. Kent Matthew pinged me on Facebook chatbox, and I asked if he would want to join me.
By Thursday we had a plan (yeah we work that fast!) and set up a time and place to meet. That, though, was an exercise in itself.
Kent didn't want to hit the higher elevations because of the cooler temperatures. Well, there just are not many areas in our region devoid of such conditions. We finally settled on an 11:30 meetup just west of Asheville -- which was about an hour and a half away from each of us.
It's been a few weeks now since I last run the Sabre. This was evident last night when I went to start it and it didn't have enough juice. I set it on charge and knew it would be ready to go at 10:00 this morning.
I got on the road on time, and made pretty good time across I-40 and even showed up BEFORE Kent and his buddy! They weren't late, I was just on time (possibly a couple minutes early). Yeah, you read that right -- I *wasn't* late!
I had just pulled in, parked the bike, removed helmet and gloves, and unzipped my jacket, when I see Kent zip in on his FJR and his buddy, George in tow on his ZZR. A trip inside the store to purchase a drink and a few minutes socializing and we were off.
Here is a link to the route we took ....
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7pd3rpk
Kent introduced me to a new "friend" ... US-74A through Gerton. He told me about it earlier in the week during one of our chats, and I looked it up through Googlemaps, and it was all gnarled up, but ...
Man alive! this was a nice stretch of asphalt. Seeing it is one thing, riding it is another! Twisting and turning and back again. I don't think there was 200' of straight for 5 miles.
Nothing very technical, but very, very fun. Back and forth, side-to-side, round and round and pure dizzying fun! We had no one to slow us down, either. Kent and George were soon out of sight, as I am still not trusting either myself or the bike ... or both ... and quickly fell behind.
We hit a few connector roads (cannot recall what they were now) riding through Chimney Rock and Lake Lure areas. George led a spirited pace, with me now in the middle and Kent in tow. This seemed to keep me "in the game", so to speak as I was able to keep better pace than I had been earlier.
On our way to Little Switzerland, we stopped for gas. I had to do cash today so I went in, gave the clerk a $20 bill to turn the pump on, not knowing how much it would actually take. After pumping, the total came to $12.35 so I asked her if I could give her $12.50 (15 cents over what I pumped) and get the unbroken $20 in return.
The poor woman had to break out the calculator to make sure I was right and not trying to scam her. Kids today have become so reliant on technology that they cannot perform SIMPLE math in their head! Yeesh!
Anyway, we soon found our way up to another old "friend" .... NC-226A. Last time I was on this stretch (all 3-5 miles worth) was when I had the Magna. Wow! I had forgotten how much this road thrilled me! Damn, it not need to be such a stranger to me. Yeah, when Kent and I first discussed this as part of the route, I was psyched! but I had forgotten how enjoyable it was!
At least until we got near the top. There was so much salt stuck to the asphalt that I backed off any speed and enjoyment I may have carried up to that point. I was now at a slow crawl (as opposed to the "fast?" crawl I previously was at?) Kent was also at the same snail's pace as I had caught up to him. George, however, was long gone. (He later inquired what was that white stuff all over the road? WHAT?!?)
We reached a point where George's GPS didn't tell him what to do anymore as we tried to get onto a closed BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway). It was funny, kind of like earlier where the lady cashier needed a calculator to make change.
Immediately, both Kent and George went to plugging in stuff into their GPS, in an attempt to find a way to Spruce Pine. Meanwhile, the non-tekkie guy (ME) noticed there was a road sign directly across the intersection stating "Spruce Pine 8 miles"
When I brought this simple fact up, it was met with "Where?" Ah! technology can be such a crutch!
So we are now on our way towards Spruce Pine to find a place to eat, since George's fru-fru style place was closed. Honestly, if it were open, I would've felt obliged to ask if they charged for a glass of water. It looked that ritzy (to me)!
We settled for a Burger King outside of Spruce Pine and upon finishing our meal, figured out what kind of daylight we had left to deal with. It *IS* by the way, New Year's Eve and we ALL have the inclination to get home before the drunks hit the roads.
In the parking lot we agreed to go up Roan Mtn. and then they would hit the GPS' "go home" route to see how much time they had left. Well NC-261/TN-143 is another old "friend". I have done this road a few times. and haven't regretted it. Again, like 226-A, it's been too long since I have visited it. However, it also was littered with salt on the way up, limiting the fun factor.
At the top, they decided they were headed home, and as much as I wanted to tag along, it made no sense for me to head southeast this late in the day. So I stared at my map a moment or two and decided I had time to hit some more "old friends" on the way homewards and still get me home before the (other) idiots hit the road.
My plan was to head north down Roan Mtn. It was amazing the contrast (just past the NC/TN line on the TN side). All of a sudden there was snow on the roadside. There had been TRACES of snow climbing the mountain on the NC side, but on the TN side, there was snow .... not traces, but at least an inch thick.
And of course, MORE salt! I slowly meandered down the mountain. Then I picked up TN-173. 173 is a nice road. Again, not technical, but lots of easy lefts and rights stacked back to back. Good stuff!
From there, I picked up TN-107 and took that (as a connector) up to I-26. 26 led me to US 19E which took me to the another "old friend" .... TN-352. I had taken this before but from the other direction. I must say it is much more enjoyable heading southbound than northbound.
Once back in North Carolina, 352 becomes NC-212. This was on Kent's original route, so I blame him for me going "out of the way" home. That's not a bad thing!
212 is great! it follows the river which meanders left and right at its own will. This is a fun road to take, when you are not heading westbound into the setting sun!
HOLY CRAP! I couldn't see ... many times ... ANYthing. I would be in full sun and then head into a shaded corner! Often, I couldn't see WHERE the road went, let alone if the surface was littered with gravel or if there may have been a kid, dog, or even a road block stopping forward progress.
I would slow down, say a hail mary (or something that time would allow) HOPING nothing was in MY lane in this blind corner! Then adjust as necessary when my eyes adjusted. Apparently, I am either living right or praying right as there were many opportunities for me to make the wrong choice.
This plague followed me all the way home. I cannot say how many times I went into a corner blind on this particular ride! I can say it was more than I ever wish to experience again.
Even though I knew that the sun going down would mean cooler temperatures, I kept wishing for it to do so, just so I would have clear sight lines. I would rather be cold and see than blind and warm!
I pulled Jitterbug into the garage a bit before 6 PM. I need to save this route (and expand on it a bit) for a summer day where there are more hours to enjoy. All in all, not a bad way to send 2011 on its way!
2 comments:
Nice writeup Ed. Sorry I missed it!
thanks chris. wish you could've made it as well.
Post a Comment