Tomorrow brings the departure for this year's Rendezvous. I checked the weather this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see that things look pretty impressive for the whole stretch. Let's hope that kind of luck continues for the rest of the vaca as well!
This year's 'Vous has been shaping up weird. We had a huge group of people who were "definitely!" in, so plans were made, motel reservations were made, porta johns were secured...and as time has gotten closer, more and more folks are backing out. Oh well, those of us who are still going will still have a frikkin' great time.
This year will be slightly different, though. Rather than coming back on Sunday, Me, Zig and Kate are going to head back with the Olean crew. We're spending a couple days with Mark and Mary, then heading down to PA on Tuesday to visit and spend the night with her folks. Wednesday morning, Zig and Kate are headed back to Olean, and I'm headed off to other locations. Nothing crazy, just a couple of locations I need to check off of my motorcycle list. Updates will happen either along the way, or after I'm back.
I hope everyone has a great week - get some miles on!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Wind Breakage Update
So I ordered the Clearview windshield. Unfortunately they don't tell you ahead of time that they're backed up on them - which is not technically a backorder, since they make them themselves, but the result is the same.
They said it'll take about 15 to 20 BUSINESS days to manufacture and ship it. Then who knows how long it'll take to arrive. Oh well, the folks at the company are very friendly and I emailed them to ask if there was any way to expedite my order since I'm leaving on a 2,000+ mile road trip soon. They checked their inventory but did not have one already made that fit the specs I'd ordered, so I'm relegated to waiting.
That's it for today, happy Hump Day.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
They said it'll take about 15 to 20 BUSINESS days to manufacture and ship it. Then who knows how long it'll take to arrive. Oh well, the folks at the company are very friendly and I emailed them to ask if there was any way to expedite my order since I'm leaving on a 2,000+ mile road trip soon. They checked their inventory but did not have one already made that fit the specs I'd ordered, so I'm relegated to waiting.
That's it for today, happy Hump Day.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Friday, June 12, 2015
Breaking Wind
I'm still on the hunt for a better windshield - one that will offer both wind protection as well as noise protection. The Klock Works one I have now does a great job at blocking the wind, but it does so at the expense of my hearing. All the wind gets moved aside and passes along the sides of my head and over my shoulders. This causes an extreme white noise effect which led me to crank the volume on my speakers up so that I could hear the music. Too late did I realize the damage I was doing to my hearing because of the constant blaring music. (It never sounded blaring - that's the point. The wind's white noise effect masked how loud the music was.)
I'm still researching windshields for the bike. Found a couple that look kind of interesting.
Freedom Shields has something that looks pretty good.
http://freedomshields.net/Windshields/_Street_Glide_Windshield.html
It comes almost straight up from the fairing which should block most of the wind. The price isn't too bad either, at only $100. Something pretty cool; they let you test it out. It comes with a protective plastic covering on both sides. Mount it and test it out. If you don't like it, you can return it for a different size, or for company credit.
Clearview Shields has something very nice which bears a resemblance to the upward slash that the Klock Works, and also extends back further toward the rider.
http://www.clearviewshields.com/motorcycle-windshield/harley-davidson/harley-2014-electra-glide-street-glide-tri-glide-limited-windshield/
I'm assuming this can only help create a bigger/better pocket of silence and wind protection. Even better; they give you the option of adding 5" to the width of the screen. This will help block much of the wind that would otherwise be trying to blast it's way around the edges.
The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward the Clearview one. The combination of the closer-to-the-rider aspect, plus the extra width, seem like two solid things which will help my situation.
I'll need to run out to the bike and do a height measurement to determine what size to get, but I believe I'll be logging an order before noontime. Maybe I'll be able to receive it before I leave for the 'Vous, which would certainly be a solid test of it. I'll post a review for it once it's been on for a while.
Ride Hard, Break Wind
I'm still researching windshields for the bike. Found a couple that look kind of interesting.
Freedom Shields has something that looks pretty good.
http://freedomshields.net/Windshields/_Street_Glide_Windshield.html
It comes almost straight up from the fairing which should block most of the wind. The price isn't too bad either, at only $100. Something pretty cool; they let you test it out. It comes with a protective plastic covering on both sides. Mount it and test it out. If you don't like it, you can return it for a different size, or for company credit.
Clearview Shields has something very nice which bears a resemblance to the upward slash that the Klock Works, and also extends back further toward the rider.
http://www.clearviewshields.com/motorcycle-windshield/harley-davidson/harley-2014-electra-glide-street-glide-tri-glide-limited-windshield/
I'm assuming this can only help create a bigger/better pocket of silence and wind protection. Even better; they give you the option of adding 5" to the width of the screen. This will help block much of the wind that would otherwise be trying to blast it's way around the edges.
The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward the Clearview one. The combination of the closer-to-the-rider aspect, plus the extra width, seem like two solid things which will help my situation.
I'll need to run out to the bike and do a height measurement to determine what size to get, but I believe I'll be logging an order before noontime. Maybe I'll be able to receive it before I leave for the 'Vous, which would certainly be a solid test of it. I'll post a review for it once it's been on for a while.
Ride Hard, Break Wind
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
DC and TotD; The Ride Home
Why should the ride home get it's own post? Usually a quick synopsis suffices just fine. Well ya see, here's the thing. I'd contemplated making the ride home an Iron Butt but since there's no 24-hr gas station near Steve & Jan's house, it would have to be an unofficial one. I was ok with that, but I also was ok with finding a place to stay along the way if I got tired. I was just gonna play it by ear and see how the day fell out.
My mind played its usual cruel game of "Hey dummy, wake up! It's time to hit the road!" way too early. I woke up at 2am, looked at the clock; nope, too early, back to sleep. Woke up at 3am; looked at the clock, nope, still need to try and get some sleep. Woke up at 4:30, looked at the clock...ok, that's good enough, let's roll.
Packing my stuff up on the bike, I was amazed at all the woodland creatures making noises in the woods around me. And I'm not talking about the little scurrying sounds of tiny critters. Whatever was out there was big, and there was more than one of them. I just hoped I didn't get to find out what it/they were.
I rolled my bike down the driveway and waited until the bottom before firing it up and heading on out. My route home would retrace much of the route we'd taken to get here, which meant I'd be cruising the Dragon one last time. This time, though, it was pitch black out, which of course meant my speed was kept well within the reasonable limit.
Once through, I came upon the US129 Harley dealership...ok, it's not a dealership, it's a boutique. But still, they did have this really cool dragon display which I'd never noticed before because it's always been light out when I've gone by before.
Dammit! I have tried to fix these sideways pics, but no luck I'm afraid. Anyway - this thing was pretty cool!
A gas stop on the way home. Some may recall the story of Sheetz from the ill-fated trip to Canada and Olean in 2001. Fortunately, the only sustenance I got from this place this time, was for my gas tank.
The route home incorporated about 600 miles of Rte 81. I have now learned to hate Rte 81!! So much of it is nothing but two lanes, and it's beyond-packed with semi's! I have always respected semi's and given them the proper space but no more!! These guys were doing nothing but screwing with bikes and cars. The speed limit was 70 so they all had their cruise controls set at 70 on the dot. Ok, I get that. They have CDL's and they don't want to risk any tickets. Perfectly understandable. But the problem is that they refuse to take the cruise control off! If one guy happens to be coming up on another guy (whose load is heavy and his speed drops below 70), then the faster guy just cuts over into the other lane...and goes maybe 1/4 of the length of the slower guy. Now we've got a rolling road block. Two semi's, each going 70, and nobody can get by. Then, finally, when the guy in the right lane gets his speed up, the guy in the left lane pulls back in behind him. Now we have an open left lane and can make up some time, right? Wrong! The semi in front of them both suddenly decides to cut over into the left lane because he was closing in on the guy in front of him! God forbid any of these guys take the cruise control off and coast down to a measly...oh, I don't know...68, and stay in the right lane. Nope, gotta maintain 70 at all costs. This went on for Miles! HUNDREDS of miles!!! I can't even begin to think of the time I lost because of these idiots!!
Gotta breathe...breathe...
Ok, I'm back. Let's see, what other fun things did I enjoy on the ride home. Oh, I was doing about 90 at one point (obviously I was not on Rte 81 at that time) and I tried to adjust my helmet strap a bit. Plink! I felt the snap release and there I am; bombing along while trying to hold my helmet from flying off of my head.
Here's an action shot (at speed) of the broken snap. Awesome! Fortunately, once I got it snapped again, it held for the rest of the ride home.
At another point, I'd been racing a sports car full of idiots who couldn't seem to realize that a motorcycle is much more maneuverable in traffic than their shitty sports coupe. I'd finally managed to finagle my way several cars in front of them when I went to nudge my sunglasses back up onto my nose. As I pressed them up further onto the bridge of my nose, I felt the odd sensation of the plastic parting and my fingertip coming into contact with the skin on my nose. What the...? Sure enough; the sunglasses had split in the middle! And now each side was being yanked off of my face by the wind. Well screw this - I just got position in front of the idiots in the sports car, I'm not about to pull over and pull out some new glasses! Screw safety, there's ego at play!
So I continued along for many a mile, holding my sunglasses in place with my left hand. Thank goodness the idiots (I'm talking about the car, not me) pulled off after about 15 miles or who knows how long I would have gone like that.
Here's the busted sunglasses. I snapped this pic when I got home and then promptly tossed the pieces into the trash.
The second-to-last leg of the return trip meant picking up the Merritt Parkway off of 287 and cruising a nice relaxing ride up through CT. I saw the exit, signaled my intent, and pulled off onto the Parkway...and encountered some traffic lights. Huh...I don't recall seeing these on the way down? Hmmm...ya know, there must be a second exit for the Parkway, further down. I must have gotten off of 287 too soon. Yeah, I bet that's it. I'll just loop around, pick up 287 west for a bit...ok...looping around...I'm back on 287 east...there's the Parkway exit again, but I'm not falling for it this time. I'll just continue on to what I'm sure is the correct exit.
What the...the next exit is for Rte 95...that can't be right? Oh, but it was right. And so, so wrong, because it dumped me into the worst traffic mess I've been in, in years. Three lanes of not-moving cars and trucks. It wound up taking me 2.5 hours to go 20 miles. Egads, that's horrible!! (Yes, I went into the breakdown lane at one point but there were a lot of cops around so I didn't want to push my luck.)
Once that fiasco had straightened out, traffic was finally starting to move again...when...bam! Brake lights again. What is it this time? Oh, there's the answer; all four lanes were blocked by construction vehicles which were moving along at 10 miles an hour. Why? Why on earth would they be doing this?? I eventually had my answer; it was 8pm and the night crews ahead of them were setting up shop. So instead of relying on the police cars, arrow signs, and cones that were already in place up ahead, they'd decided to create a deliberate traffic jam to slow traffic down.
Ok, I understand the need for safety, but to create an intentional, miles-long traffic jam is just idiotic. It makes no sense. If you're worried about traffic speed, then cut the lanes down and force folks to slow down that way. But to block all lanes of travel while you take almost an hour to meander a few miles is just being assholes.
After finally passing out of dreaded CT and into RI, I began to feel a slight burning sensation. No, not when peeing, but in the corner of my right eye. I assumed it was just a bit of the many layers of sunscreen I'd applied over the course of the day, finally finding it's way into my eyeball. So I did my best to wipe it aside. It was having none of that, though. It insisted upon working it's way into the corner of my eye, which in turn caused my eye to water, which in turn wicked more of the sunscreen in. Before long, my right eye was a running, tearing mess. I found a rest area and dug out some water and spent almost 20 minutes pouring water into my eye and wiping it out. Each time I thought I'd gotten it all, the burning would return once again. Thankfully, I had just enough water to finally get things cleared up and me moving again.
Which brings me to the last thing that happened. It pales in comparison to some of the others, but still bears mentioning. I was about 10 miles from home, dark out, bombing along, when I caught motion off to my right. And it was getting closer...quickly. I barely ducked in time as a frikkin' bat whizzed right over the right side of my face. What the hell, buddy? Didn't your radar pick up on the large, rapidly moving motorcycle? I can just see the headlines; man almost survives road trip from hell. Rides over a thousand miles and gets taken out by a bat to the face."
Actually, there are probably some folks out there who would enjoy hearing that I caught a bat to the face, but this isn't that kind of bat.
At any rate, that was the last item to happen on my ride home. When I finally pulled into the driveway, it was a little before 10pm. I'd been on the road for 16 hours and had completed an unofficial Iron Butt; 1,034.5 miles in less than 24 hours. Not too shabby.
I was too wired to sleep so I did some laundry, some cleaning, and made something to eat. I contemplated having a drink, but just wasn't in the mood so I settled for watching some late-night TV.
At about 1:30, I realized I should probably try and get some sleep, and I was happily surprised to find I dropped right off.
And there you have it; the Rolling Thunder and Tail of the Dragon adventure for 2015!!
Next up...Rendezvous!!
My mind played its usual cruel game of "Hey dummy, wake up! It's time to hit the road!" way too early. I woke up at 2am, looked at the clock; nope, too early, back to sleep. Woke up at 3am; looked at the clock, nope, still need to try and get some sleep. Woke up at 4:30, looked at the clock...ok, that's good enough, let's roll.
Packing my stuff up on the bike, I was amazed at all the woodland creatures making noises in the woods around me. And I'm not talking about the little scurrying sounds of tiny critters. Whatever was out there was big, and there was more than one of them. I just hoped I didn't get to find out what it/they were.
I rolled my bike down the driveway and waited until the bottom before firing it up and heading on out. My route home would retrace much of the route we'd taken to get here, which meant I'd be cruising the Dragon one last time. This time, though, it was pitch black out, which of course meant my speed was kept well within the reasonable limit.
Once through, I came upon the US129 Harley dealership...ok, it's not a dealership, it's a boutique. But still, they did have this really cool dragon display which I'd never noticed before because it's always been light out when I've gone by before.
Dammit! I have tried to fix these sideways pics, but no luck I'm afraid. Anyway - this thing was pretty cool!
A gas stop on the way home. Some may recall the story of Sheetz from the ill-fated trip to Canada and Olean in 2001. Fortunately, the only sustenance I got from this place this time, was for my gas tank.
The route home incorporated about 600 miles of Rte 81. I have now learned to hate Rte 81!! So much of it is nothing but two lanes, and it's beyond-packed with semi's! I have always respected semi's and given them the proper space but no more!! These guys were doing nothing but screwing with bikes and cars. The speed limit was 70 so they all had their cruise controls set at 70 on the dot. Ok, I get that. They have CDL's and they don't want to risk any tickets. Perfectly understandable. But the problem is that they refuse to take the cruise control off! If one guy happens to be coming up on another guy (whose load is heavy and his speed drops below 70), then the faster guy just cuts over into the other lane...and goes maybe 1/4 of the length of the slower guy. Now we've got a rolling road block. Two semi's, each going 70, and nobody can get by. Then, finally, when the guy in the right lane gets his speed up, the guy in the left lane pulls back in behind him. Now we have an open left lane and can make up some time, right? Wrong! The semi in front of them both suddenly decides to cut over into the left lane because he was closing in on the guy in front of him! God forbid any of these guys take the cruise control off and coast down to a measly...oh, I don't know...68, and stay in the right lane. Nope, gotta maintain 70 at all costs. This went on for Miles! HUNDREDS of miles!!! I can't even begin to think of the time I lost because of these idiots!!
Gotta breathe...breathe...
Ok, I'm back. Let's see, what other fun things did I enjoy on the ride home. Oh, I was doing about 90 at one point (obviously I was not on Rte 81 at that time) and I tried to adjust my helmet strap a bit. Plink! I felt the snap release and there I am; bombing along while trying to hold my helmet from flying off of my head.
Here's an action shot (at speed) of the broken snap. Awesome! Fortunately, once I got it snapped again, it held for the rest of the ride home.
At another point, I'd been racing a sports car full of idiots who couldn't seem to realize that a motorcycle is much more maneuverable in traffic than their shitty sports coupe. I'd finally managed to finagle my way several cars in front of them when I went to nudge my sunglasses back up onto my nose. As I pressed them up further onto the bridge of my nose, I felt the odd sensation of the plastic parting and my fingertip coming into contact with the skin on my nose. What the...? Sure enough; the sunglasses had split in the middle! And now each side was being yanked off of my face by the wind. Well screw this - I just got position in front of the idiots in the sports car, I'm not about to pull over and pull out some new glasses! Screw safety, there's ego at play!
So I continued along for many a mile, holding my sunglasses in place with my left hand. Thank goodness the idiots (I'm talking about the car, not me) pulled off after about 15 miles or who knows how long I would have gone like that.
Here's the busted sunglasses. I snapped this pic when I got home and then promptly tossed the pieces into the trash.
The second-to-last leg of the return trip meant picking up the Merritt Parkway off of 287 and cruising a nice relaxing ride up through CT. I saw the exit, signaled my intent, and pulled off onto the Parkway...and encountered some traffic lights. Huh...I don't recall seeing these on the way down? Hmmm...ya know, there must be a second exit for the Parkway, further down. I must have gotten off of 287 too soon. Yeah, I bet that's it. I'll just loop around, pick up 287 west for a bit...ok...looping around...I'm back on 287 east...there's the Parkway exit again, but I'm not falling for it this time. I'll just continue on to what I'm sure is the correct exit.
What the...the next exit is for Rte 95...that can't be right? Oh, but it was right. And so, so wrong, because it dumped me into the worst traffic mess I've been in, in years. Three lanes of not-moving cars and trucks. It wound up taking me 2.5 hours to go 20 miles. Egads, that's horrible!! (Yes, I went into the breakdown lane at one point but there were a lot of cops around so I didn't want to push my luck.)
Once that fiasco had straightened out, traffic was finally starting to move again...when...bam! Brake lights again. What is it this time? Oh, there's the answer; all four lanes were blocked by construction vehicles which were moving along at 10 miles an hour. Why? Why on earth would they be doing this?? I eventually had my answer; it was 8pm and the night crews ahead of them were setting up shop. So instead of relying on the police cars, arrow signs, and cones that were already in place up ahead, they'd decided to create a deliberate traffic jam to slow traffic down.
Ok, I understand the need for safety, but to create an intentional, miles-long traffic jam is just idiotic. It makes no sense. If you're worried about traffic speed, then cut the lanes down and force folks to slow down that way. But to block all lanes of travel while you take almost an hour to meander a few miles is just being assholes.
After finally passing out of dreaded CT and into RI, I began to feel a slight burning sensation. No, not when peeing, but in the corner of my right eye. I assumed it was just a bit of the many layers of sunscreen I'd applied over the course of the day, finally finding it's way into my eyeball. So I did my best to wipe it aside. It was having none of that, though. It insisted upon working it's way into the corner of my eye, which in turn caused my eye to water, which in turn wicked more of the sunscreen in. Before long, my right eye was a running, tearing mess. I found a rest area and dug out some water and spent almost 20 minutes pouring water into my eye and wiping it out. Each time I thought I'd gotten it all, the burning would return once again. Thankfully, I had just enough water to finally get things cleared up and me moving again.
Which brings me to the last thing that happened. It pales in comparison to some of the others, but still bears mentioning. I was about 10 miles from home, dark out, bombing along, when I caught motion off to my right. And it was getting closer...quickly. I barely ducked in time as a frikkin' bat whizzed right over the right side of my face. What the hell, buddy? Didn't your radar pick up on the large, rapidly moving motorcycle? I can just see the headlines; man almost survives road trip from hell. Rides over a thousand miles and gets taken out by a bat to the face."
Actually, there are probably some folks out there who would enjoy hearing that I caught a bat to the face, but this isn't that kind of bat.
At any rate, that was the last item to happen on my ride home. When I finally pulled into the driveway, it was a little before 10pm. I'd been on the road for 16 hours and had completed an unofficial Iron Butt; 1,034.5 miles in less than 24 hours. Not too shabby.
I was too wired to sleep so I did some laundry, some cleaning, and made something to eat. I contemplated having a drink, but just wasn't in the mood so I settled for watching some late-night TV.
At about 1:30, I realized I should probably try and get some sleep, and I was happily surprised to find I dropped right off.
And there you have it; the Rolling Thunder and Tail of the Dragon adventure for 2015!!
Next up...Rendezvous!!
DC and TotD; Random Riding Pics!
And here we go...
The scenery is amazing!!!
Lean that bike over!
Don't look now, but John is closing in fast behind you...
Steve, trying to find us a way out...
Not too much further along from here, we actually spotted a bear on the side of the road. Unfortunately, my camera had turned off and I wasn't able to get it turned on again in time. The bear stayed on the side of the road right up until Steve got next to it. Pretty amazing!
Not just a random pic of trees. There's a horse-drawn carriage rolling a long a side road.
Pit stop near the end of (I forget which moonshiner run this was)...
Steve got inspiration for boring beetle traps here...
The infamous Parson Branch Road...
One-way only, high clearance recommended...
Unimproved, primitive access...
Sounds perfect, let's go!
That road actually drops you out onto the Dragon. We tore it up on the KLR's but alas; there were no photographers still out snapping pics.
I think this was back in the town of Helen...
Better slow down for this curve...
That's one hell of a good looking ear...
Back at the homestead at the end of the day. Fog was rolling through the valley and looked amazing...
I think that about does it. Oh wait, I still have a few pics from the ride home...ok, one more post...
The scenery is amazing!!!
Lean that bike over!
Don't look now, but John is closing in fast behind you...
Steve, trying to find us a way out...
Not too much further along from here, we actually spotted a bear on the side of the road. Unfortunately, my camera had turned off and I wasn't able to get it turned on again in time. The bear stayed on the side of the road right up until Steve got next to it. Pretty amazing!
Not just a random pic of trees. There's a horse-drawn carriage rolling a long a side road.
Pit stop near the end of (I forget which moonshiner run this was)...
Steve got inspiration for boring beetle traps here...
The infamous Parson Branch Road...
One-way only, high clearance recommended...
Unimproved, primitive access...
Sounds perfect, let's go!
That road actually drops you out onto the Dragon. We tore it up on the KLR's but alas; there were no photographers still out snapping pics.
I think this was back in the town of Helen...
Better slow down for this curve...
That's one hell of a good looking ear...
Back at the homestead at the end of the day. Fog was rolling through the valley and looked amazing...
I think that about does it. Oh wait, I still have a few pics from the ride home...ok, one more post...
DC and TotD; Smoky Mountains!
In looking at the last two posts, I realized I haven't been true to my word. I've been blathering on quite a bit. Well, here's where things straighten out; here's a shyteload of pics for ya! I started to sort them in the order/days I took them, but then realized I was mixing things up. So, the ones that were easy to determine, I listed on the correct day. After identifying the easy ones, I realized I had a ton left over so I 'm just going to post them all and add little snippits if anything strikes me.
Ready; go...
We came in at the bottom end of the Dragon, about 6pm. It was late in the day for the Tail, and there weren't a lot of riders so I wasn't expecting any of the photographers to still be out. But, in one of the turns, sure enough; one of the guys was there and as I rounded the corner, I saw him bring his camera up and start snapping pics. Damn! I wasn't ready! I'd been enjoying the Dragon, not trying to slay it, so my lean wasn't great. Dammit. Oh well, it's only Sunday night, I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to get a better shot. No need to turn around and try again, let's just keep on moving.
No sooner had we arrived at the Kalliavas homestead, then Steve realized he had something he had to put up on the mantle. I give you; the prank that won't die...
A fine looking lineup...
The pic loaded sideways, but if you expand it (and tilt your head), you'll see Steve's collection basin for his spring, at the top of the hill. He cleverly disguised it as a still.
First attempt out on the KLR's. Jan's was sputtering (they'd warned me ahead of time that it did this), but then it died completely. So, John headed back for the truck and soon the bike was deposited at Wheeler's for fixing.
After dropping the sick bike off at Wheeler's, John, Steve and I went back and grabbed the street bikes and salvaged the day by riding down through SC and into Georgia. Those pics will be in the following post, as I wasn't able to easily discern what was from what.
Here's Tuesday morning; Steve and I took the two remaining KLR"s that were working and hit some high spots for some views.
A quick shot into town for fuel. Hmmm...rocket, or jet?
Cruising the mountain roads!
An old, official homestead...
Complete with mesh bed supports (gotta tilt your head again for this one)...
And here we get to the infamous crash. The backstory here is that I was following Steve down a decline and the "road" (I use the term loosely - just about as loosely as the gravel on the surface was packed!) turned to the left. I saw Steve grab his handlebars and then his bike started skliding (I made that word up but it's a combo of skidding and sliding - you get the idea), where both tires were jumping side to side. I thought for sure he was going over the edge, and my impulse was to slam on both of my brakes to prevent me from sliding into the back of him.
But, I shoulda known better. Steve brought the bike under control without issue. Me? Not so much. It was my first time dirt-biking! I'm used to the 4" rear brake pedal my Street Glide has, not the 1" brake pedal the KLR has. Needless to say, my foot completely missed the lever, meaning I got nothing but front brake, which of course meant I washed the front end, and down I went. Hard.
I remember being tossed when the bike hit, and then rolling. I also remember feeling my helmet go flying off, too. When I finally came to a stop, the bike was on it's side and had stalled. My helmet was about 20' down the path, and my shoulder was yelling at me.
Oh man...forget the shoulder...what the hell have I done to his bike!?!?!?
I felt (and still do) horribly that's I'd banged up his bike. In addition to the scrapes, the handlebars were skewed to the left a bit, the front fender was off kilter, and the radiator guard was all bent out of place.
Steve assured me over and over again that he didn't care about the bike, that it was much tougher than that and would be fine. He even said he'd been wanting to paint the thing rattle-can black, and now he had an excuse to. (I hope he was serious and not just saying that to make me feel better.)
Sure enough, after bending things back into workable positions, the bike fired right back up and off we went.
To Steve's credit, he did say "I hope you're not gonna go all gun-shy on me now, are you? Not gonna be all scared to ride, are ya?" LOL, hell no. The bike works, my shoulder works, let's go!
Scenery shot, post-crash. The bike didn't seem fazed at all...
Steve, off to the side. Probably contemplating why he took me out on the mountain in the first place.
After we'd ridden most of the rest of the day, we returned to the house and put the KLR's away. It was getting close to dinner time so Steve headed inside to take care of some things.
I jumped on the SG and headed out to toward the Dragon, but just before reaching it, I turned right, onto Rte 28. You see, when I was down here two years ago, I'd been following Jan and Steve (on an ice cream run - woo-hoo!) and had spotted a plaque mounted on the face of a rock wall. I didn't have time to stop and look at it, so it's been in my mind ever since then, to go find it the next time I was down here. Not only did I find the plaque, but there was a second one as well.
Two riders, two different fatal crashes. I found some info on the second guy (Keith), but wasn't able to find anything on the first one (Ahwin).
Per a buddy of Keith's; "Keith was a very experienced rider, MSF instructor & friend to anyone that met him. He was the one guy in the group that would talk to you like he had known you his whole life even if it was your first time to show up for a ride. He was extremely active in all realms of sportriding organizations from the AMA to the HSTA to our local MSSR club & will always be considered a true leader. He drifted wide on a blind turn & crossed the yellow into the path of an oncoming car. He grabbed too much front brake, washed the front end, and the car ran over him. It should be known that in addition to Keith being a highly experienced rider he also preached rider safety & never did anything even remotely stupid. Crossing the yellow line in our riding group is a sin and will result in you being ridiculed for weeks so I can only assume that he drifted wide for a reason other than just carrying too much corner speed. He was a founder of our club slogan 'make the turn'."
While there at the turn (a very sharp, 10mph turn by the way), I'd pulled my bike well off into the grass, out of the way. It seemed like a decent shot to take (sorry, I don't know why some of these pics are loading sideways).
I think this was a different night - Steve and I were coming back from somewhere, and I peeled off to go check out the cemetery that he'd shown me back in 2013 when I was down here. The cemetery is located OVER 1.5 miles off the main drag, at the end of a dirt road which slithers along the side of a mountain and seems to get darker and darker, the further in you go.
And the thing about this cemetery...this CREEPY, Stephen King-esque cemetery, is it always looks like it was decorated RIGHT before you arrived. As if there had been throngs of people caring to the grass and markers, then they heard your pipes and ran and hid, and any second they're going to jump out and scare the bejeezus out of you.
Wednesday. Steve, John and I hopped on the Street Glides and headed down into Georgia. When it was lunch time, Steve brought us to this little town called Helen. It was a very cool place; very German-esque.
This place had great food. The waitress talked me and Steve into the Reuben and it was a good call.
Damn...another sideways pic...
After we got back from the day of riding, John and I decided to hit the Dragon. This shot is from the Outlook, about a mile and a half from the southern end.
The Kallivas clan (sans Steve Jr). This pic looked great on my phone with the contrast between the green and browns and yellow...but when I expanded it, the clarity is pretty lousy. Oh well...it makes a great pic on the phone.
And there you have it - my best attempt at organizing the day's pics. What's next? Another large batch of pics from the trip, in no particular order...
Ready; go...
We came in at the bottom end of the Dragon, about 6pm. It was late in the day for the Tail, and there weren't a lot of riders so I wasn't expecting any of the photographers to still be out. But, in one of the turns, sure enough; one of the guys was there and as I rounded the corner, I saw him bring his camera up and start snapping pics. Damn! I wasn't ready! I'd been enjoying the Dragon, not trying to slay it, so my lean wasn't great. Dammit. Oh well, it's only Sunday night, I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to get a better shot. No need to turn around and try again, let's just keep on moving.
No sooner had we arrived at the Kalliavas homestead, then Steve realized he had something he had to put up on the mantle. I give you; the prank that won't die...
A fine looking lineup...
The pic loaded sideways, but if you expand it (and tilt your head), you'll see Steve's collection basin for his spring, at the top of the hill. He cleverly disguised it as a still.
First attempt out on the KLR's. Jan's was sputtering (they'd warned me ahead of time that it did this), but then it died completely. So, John headed back for the truck and soon the bike was deposited at Wheeler's for fixing.
After dropping the sick bike off at Wheeler's, John, Steve and I went back and grabbed the street bikes and salvaged the day by riding down through SC and into Georgia. Those pics will be in the following post, as I wasn't able to easily discern what was from what.
Here's Tuesday morning; Steve and I took the two remaining KLR"s that were working and hit some high spots for some views.
A quick shot into town for fuel. Hmmm...rocket, or jet?
Cruising the mountain roads!
An old, official homestead...
Complete with mesh bed supports (gotta tilt your head again for this one)...
And here we get to the infamous crash. The backstory here is that I was following Steve down a decline and the "road" (I use the term loosely - just about as loosely as the gravel on the surface was packed!) turned to the left. I saw Steve grab his handlebars and then his bike started skliding (I made that word up but it's a combo of skidding and sliding - you get the idea), where both tires were jumping side to side. I thought for sure he was going over the edge, and my impulse was to slam on both of my brakes to prevent me from sliding into the back of him.
But, I shoulda known better. Steve brought the bike under control without issue. Me? Not so much. It was my first time dirt-biking! I'm used to the 4" rear brake pedal my Street Glide has, not the 1" brake pedal the KLR has. Needless to say, my foot completely missed the lever, meaning I got nothing but front brake, which of course meant I washed the front end, and down I went. Hard.
I remember being tossed when the bike hit, and then rolling. I also remember feeling my helmet go flying off, too. When I finally came to a stop, the bike was on it's side and had stalled. My helmet was about 20' down the path, and my shoulder was yelling at me.
Oh man...forget the shoulder...what the hell have I done to his bike!?!?!?
Steve assured me over and over again that he didn't care about the bike, that it was much tougher than that and would be fine. He even said he'd been wanting to paint the thing rattle-can black, and now he had an excuse to. (I hope he was serious and not just saying that to make me feel better.)
Sure enough, after bending things back into workable positions, the bike fired right back up and off we went.
To Steve's credit, he did say "I hope you're not gonna go all gun-shy on me now, are you? Not gonna be all scared to ride, are ya?" LOL, hell no. The bike works, my shoulder works, let's go!
Scenery shot, post-crash. The bike didn't seem fazed at all...
Steve, off to the side. Probably contemplating why he took me out on the mountain in the first place.
After we'd ridden most of the rest of the day, we returned to the house and put the KLR's away. It was getting close to dinner time so Steve headed inside to take care of some things.
I jumped on the SG and headed out to toward the Dragon, but just before reaching it, I turned right, onto Rte 28. You see, when I was down here two years ago, I'd been following Jan and Steve (on an ice cream run - woo-hoo!) and had spotted a plaque mounted on the face of a rock wall. I didn't have time to stop and look at it, so it's been in my mind ever since then, to go find it the next time I was down here. Not only did I find the plaque, but there was a second one as well.
Two riders, two different fatal crashes. I found some info on the second guy (Keith), but wasn't able to find anything on the first one (Ahwin).
Per a buddy of Keith's; "Keith was a very experienced rider, MSF instructor & friend to anyone that met him. He was the one guy in the group that would talk to you like he had known you his whole life even if it was your first time to show up for a ride. He was extremely active in all realms of sportriding organizations from the AMA to the HSTA to our local MSSR club & will always be considered a true leader. He drifted wide on a blind turn & crossed the yellow into the path of an oncoming car. He grabbed too much front brake, washed the front end, and the car ran over him. It should be known that in addition to Keith being a highly experienced rider he also preached rider safety & never did anything even remotely stupid. Crossing the yellow line in our riding group is a sin and will result in you being ridiculed for weeks so I can only assume that he drifted wide for a reason other than just carrying too much corner speed. He was a founder of our club slogan 'make the turn'."
While there at the turn (a very sharp, 10mph turn by the way), I'd pulled my bike well off into the grass, out of the way. It seemed like a decent shot to take (sorry, I don't know why some of these pics are loading sideways).
I think this was a different night - Steve and I were coming back from somewhere, and I peeled off to go check out the cemetery that he'd shown me back in 2013 when I was down here. The cemetery is located OVER 1.5 miles off the main drag, at the end of a dirt road which slithers along the side of a mountain and seems to get darker and darker, the further in you go.
And the thing about this cemetery...this CREEPY, Stephen King-esque cemetery, is it always looks like it was decorated RIGHT before you arrived. As if there had been throngs of people caring to the grass and markers, then they heard your pipes and ran and hid, and any second they're going to jump out and scare the bejeezus out of you.
Wednesday. Steve, John and I hopped on the Street Glides and headed down into Georgia. When it was lunch time, Steve brought us to this little town called Helen. It was a very cool place; very German-esque.
This place had great food. The waitress talked me and Steve into the Reuben and it was a good call.
Damn...another sideways pic...
After we got back from the day of riding, John and I decided to hit the Dragon. This shot is from the Outlook, about a mile and a half from the southern end.
The Kallivas clan (sans Steve Jr). This pic looked great on my phone with the contrast between the green and browns and yellow...but when I expanded it, the clarity is pretty lousy. Oh well...it makes a great pic on the phone.
And there you have it - my best attempt at organizing the day's pics. What's next? Another large batch of pics from the trip, in no particular order...
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