Winchester Virginia to Cartersville Georgia

Things heat up...............

It was a balmy 41F and clear, but very damp, when we got on the road at 7:00 AM. We continued south on I-81 in moderate traffic. After we saw our fifth deer munching away on the side of the highway, I remembered why I don't ride at night in Virginia. The temperature got up to 46 by the time we got to Roanoke.

One thing that stood out on this leg was a pretty blond girl in a white car. She planted herself in the fast lane at varying speeds, forcing faster traffic to pass her on the right. After getting by her, I cruised along in the right lane not too far ahead of her. Every time she got close to me, I pulled left and blocked her the way she did to everyone else. Instead of moving to the right to pass, she would drop back. When she finally got off at Roanoke, I am sure she still had no idea why I wasn't pleased with her or why I was picking on her. I told Sandy I would really like to know what was going on in the girls' head. Sandy said that "nothing".

I was debating whether to go south on I-77 and catch I-85 in Charlotte or go to I-26 and catch I-85 further west. In an accidental recalculation, Stella showed it would be both shorter and faster to go all the way to Knoxville, and then down to Atlanta through Chattanooga, given the part of Atlanta we were headed for.

West of Wytheville, the temperature started climbing. We had lunch just past Bristol, Tennessee and it was 78F. Off came the sweaters. One hour later,we stopped and the thermals and jacket panels came off. After getting through the I-40 construction east of Knoxville and turning south on I-75, it was 85F. There was one more left lane hog, a young Asian kid with a cell phone planted in his ear. The difference here was this was I-75 and was busy. The trucks were actually contemplating running him off the road.

We stopped at the rest area near Calhoun, Georgia and got a motel coupon book. Good offerings in Cartersville, so we headed on. Just past the Calhoun exit, northbound was stopped due to an SUV rollover. It looks like it rolled several times. Traffic would be backed way up as a result of this. Glad we were going the other way.

We pulled into the Days Inn in Cartersville. Almost didn't stay because Karen, the desk clerk, said the WiFi was down. When I said I'd move on, she rebooted it and it came back. After getting settled, we walked across the road to Cracker Barrel. Nelly, our server was nice but very slow, not too attentive and forgot my coleslaw. Twice. That cost her a tip.

It was still light at 8:00 PM. I computed the days mileages and was surprised. The bike was getting high 30's (per USG) for quite a wile. Lately, it's picked and, despite running 75 MPH most of the day, the last two tanks were in the 43 range. I wonder if the heavy dose of Seafoam on the way to Terre Haute made a difference? Oh well, I just hope it keeps up.

We're about 1/2 hour from Traxxion. I'll be very happy to get my good old crisp handling Wing back, but I'm scaring myself because I am getting used to the bouncy wobble:-)