Escanaba Michigan to Boscobel Wisconsin

We were up at 5:30 watching The Weather Channel. Escanaba was good, but there was a front stretching from Kansas City in a hard line up to central Wisconsin lying directly over Boscobel. Severe weather was sliding up this line and the commentary was all about flooding in Iowa and Wisconsin and four people killed at a Boy Scout camp over towards Sioux City by tornadoes from this very system. OK, we were looking for a challenge and this was going to be it.

My plan was to sit tight and see which way and how fast the front was moving. The options were to run south and then turn into it, hoping to break through the worst of it quickly or to head west across the top of it and run down behind it. After about 90 minutes, it became obvious that the front was not moving so there would be no getting behind it.

We put on the new rain pants and our regular jackets and started southwest on M-35 to the Wisconsin border. There, we stopped and put the rest of the rain suits on and continued on. The suit felt quite comfortable, not steam baths like other suits are. We followed US-41 down past Green Bay, Oshkosh and Appleton and then took 26 to US-151. Black clouds were east and west, but we kept sliding between them.

The clouds started to close in on us in a little place called Beaver Dam, where it began to spit. We fueled and stopped at McDonald's to get a feel for the cloud movement. It looked like it was stable so we continued on 151 towards Madison. Not far out, the light rain turned very heavy for a few miles. Then it eased up. As we got on I-39 South near Madison, it got very heavy again with severely limited visibility. I was running with my four-way flashers on and marveling at all the vehicles with no lights on at all. We got beat on for the four miles we traversed the interstate and then it eased as soon as we turned west. The new suit worked very well.

By the time we got to Fennimore, 12 miles from Boscobel, the rain had stopped and the road was dry. At the River Inn, we were told it would be a half hour before our room was ready, so we went on down to the Sands Motel. Stewey (Illinois), Slammer (North Carolina) and Kelly and Susan (Florida, but you remember them from last weekend) were already in residence. We caught up and visited while watching weather radar on the TV in the office.

We went back to the River Inn and moved our gear into our room. It started raining, so Slammer came and picked Sandy up in his Honda CRV and took her down to Snick’s Fin and Feather, a very VROC friendly local bar. I followed shortly after on the bike and in my rain suit. A few more people wandered in, but the weather was having an effect. This place is usually packed in the Thursday of our River Run.

At 5:30 Central, we took a moment and remembered CYborg, whose memorial service was starting in Spencer, West (By God) Virginia at that time.

Fly, Susan and Sandy take advantage of the appetizers set out by Snick.

Slammer lurking by the cooler at Snick’s

Susan, Kelly, Slammer, Sandy & Stewey at Snick's bar

After a while, we went across the street to the Vale Restaurant for supper. There, some had specials and I had a mushroom/Swiss burger for a ridiculously reasonable price. Note on the special board that they had a Rhubarb Custard Crumble. Rhubarb has been a longstanding complaint of Slammers. Several years ago, Chunk, Slammer and others went to the Vale. Rhubarb was on the menu and Chunk ordered a piece. Slammer, who had been craving rhubarb, ordered a piece too but was told Chunk had the last piece. We haven’t heard the end of that to this day. But this time, there was a piece for an obviously happy Slammer and Sandy and Susan shared another. THAT was the last one.

We went back to Snick’s and then to The Sands, but the rain started to pick up and the lightning got intense so Sandy and I beat it back to the River Inn. There, we sat in the hot tub in the large, glassed in pool area and watched the lightning flash again and again. I found I needed to go to the lobby to get WiFi signal, so I did that to pick up the mail. Then we went back to the room and hit the hay hoping for better weather tomorrow.

BTW, here's a short teaser for our Kiwi friends:

Sudbury Ontario to Escanaba Michigan

Deja Vu All Over Again

If the title looks familiar, it's because we did this same run eleven days ago. This time, it's just the two of us and no trailer.

We got all the gear in the bike without too much trouble. Managed to hit the road at 8:30 AM (the lateness reflecting the short distance we need to cover). As it was the last time, the temperature fluctuated between 13C and 16C under overcast skies. No rain, though. Saw two deer on Highway 17, one right on the shoulder. I slowed right down until it left. Two sections of one-lane road near Spanish ensure that traffic should be screwed up for most of the summer. Beware.

We stopped in The Soo to see Mom. Anybody departing the KFC lot on Great Northern Road should watch out for the huge whole in the pavement. I almost lost a wheel in it.

The border crossing was easy. No backup, a couple of questions (I had to summarize when he asked where we were going) and we were on our way. Except that four customs booths were feeding one toll booth. The poor girl in the toll booth was doing a great job, though.

We took the same route across M-28, M-117 and US 2 to Escanaba where we are currently ensconced in the same Super 8 minus the old cars and all the kids. The spa did feel very good and we ordered in from Domino's.

Now for the big news of the day! Daughter Kim and husband Mike have given us the OK to let the world know that we are going to be grandparents sometime in mid-December. They had the first ultrasound this morning and all looks good.

RIP Michael 'CYborg' Sartor V~3007

VROC was shocked yesterday to hear of the untimely passing of CYborg the Prolific last weekend. Mike was a unique character and tales about his adventures with power tools and other implements of destruction abound.

Our deepest condolences to Jennifer and the family.

Sudbury Ontario

A Day at Home

Chores and many of them. Post the receipts and pay the bills. Order the rain jacket and head skins to be delivered to Sherm's. Change the oil and filter on the bike. Repack the gear for light running, without the trailer. Order an EZPass from the Peace Bridge Authority. Work on the blogs.

The trailer tires held together for the return trip, but will have to be changed before we take it back on the road in August. It looks like my latest tire pressures are pretty well spot on.

Tomorrow, the big trip starts. Wisconsin, Nevada, South Dakota, British Columbia, California and Oregon before returning home about July 26th.

(Posted 6/11/08 6:12 AM)

Map - May 31 to June 9, 2008

Ten days. 2,699 miles plus side trips.

Erie Pennsylvania to Sudbury Ontario

It was another clear, sunny, hot morning. We rode I-90 to Buffalo and then took I-190 to the Peace Bridge. It was windy in the bridge but there was very little traffic. Our inspector asked the plate number and I told him. To be clear, I restated it as Victor, Romeo, Oscar, Charlie. He looked at the OPPVA sticker and told me I sounded just like Columbo. I laughed and, after a few questions, he let us go without even asking to see our ID.

The bridge toll is double if you have a trailer. $6.00 versus $3.00.

The wind was heavy as we rode up the QEW. I could see a cloud line north of us, welcoming us back to Canada. We took the ETR407 to save some time and stopped at McDonald's at the Barrie service centre for lunch. Two school buses of teenage girls were just leaving and had left a mess of the tables. You'd think whoever was chaperoning the group would have made them clean up. I guess that's a commentary on how today's youth are being raised.

There had been black clouds north of us when we stopped but, amazingly, they were gone when we came out. We were fine until it spit a little bit at the French River, 40 miles south of home. Then we were OK again until we arrived.

We opened the trailer and got the gear out. We left it up for a bit to dry off the dew and this is when it started raining steadily. I hope we can get it dried and taken down before we leave again on Wednesday.

(Posted 6/11/08 6:05 AM)

Stecoah North Carolina to Erie Pennsylvania

We were up at 6:00 and ready to roll at 7:10. Packing was a chore since it was only the second time we had loaded the trailer and we hadn't found a rhythm yet.

We said goodbye to the few who were up and headed out with a beep of the horn. The road was foggy and a bit cool, a typically very quiet Sunday morning. We passed a rabbit sitting in the middle of the road near Bryson City and I clipped what looked like a box turtle with a trailer wheel over near Sylva. I feel bad about that.

Approaching Waynesville, we saw two police cars on our side of the road, one state and one local. I was slightly over the limit as, just then, a white SUV drove past me at a fair clip. Both cars pulled out and passed us, pulling in behind him. The strange thing is that they followed him for a ways before lighting him up. I'm not sure if they were just running the plate or if they had been looking specifically for this vehicle. We were by them and gone before we could see what kind of stop they were doing.

Near I-240 in Asheville, we came out of the fog into a clear, sunny day. It was quiet and most drivers seemed to be either going to church or driving trucks. We stopped at a Mickey D's on the south side of Johnson City. Sandy was disappointed that they didn't have any hot chocolate.

As we were outside after and I was spraying some contact cleaner on the Zumo contact strip, a local gentleman struck up a conversation. In the course of talking, he asked if I was an Iron Butt Rider. I told him no. He introduced himself as Jim Culp, IBA #88. This is a significant number considering they now have about 34,000 members. His current ride is a '94 Wing with 200K miles on it, but he describes himself as an episodic rider. He doesn't ride that often but, when he does, he doesn't stop much. I looked him up when I got home and he finished the big ride with a silver medal in 1995 and finished again in 2001. That impresses me a great deal.

At the Virginia line, we encountered our first cloud patches. These continued on up I-81, I-77, US 19 and I-79 without much change. I noted that the south I-279 interchange below Pittsburgh is still marked as a construction zone and that I-79 north of McKee's Rocks is still single lane. These guys work as slow as Ontario does. It was 95F at 5:30 as we rolled by Pittsburgh and still 90F at 6:00 PM. I-79 maintains its reputation as the main dead deer road we know, with a large number of fresh carcasses all along its length. These are good sized deer, too.

About 20 miles south of Erie, we encountered a mile or so of wet road and could see the clouds off to the east that had done it. After we checked in to the Comfort Inn in Erie, the sky changed, the wind came up and a thunder storm blew through while we were going for supper. Erie was spared most of it but the severe storm warning kept beeping on the weather channel and the radar showed the place we saw the wet pavement had, later, gotten the worst of the storm. It's all a matter of timing and luck.

After eating a Bob Evans salad, we went to bed early.

(Posted 6/11/08 5:52 AM)

Miscellaneous KSL Photos

Some random photos from down at the lodge.......

Sandy & Izzy The Cat

Roger the Big Grouch and his Oweeee

Traveler

Sandy, Wild Rose & Ron

Flip & Renata

Flip's question to the motoring masses

2Soon & Courtney

ZMean1, Flip, Sandy, Thrillseeker, 2Soon & Sherrie

2Soon & Sherrie

The I Know Mo Girls

Waiting for breakfast

Sherrie, 2Soon & Mrs. 4E

What is Sherrie hiding from?

2Soon & Barb

Ladies around a fire.......

Cheap Bastard, Wild Rose & Ron

Mrs. 2Soon caught her husband fooling around........

Stecoah North Carolina - Day 3

Shawn the Harley rider was up and out again at first light. He leaves at dawn and comes back at dusk, exploring as much as he can.

I caught a shower and worked on the last few days of blogs while eating breakfast. A number of the brethren and cistern were a tad hung over, so Wild Rose's VROC Group Ride was undertaken when the time was right. It was clear, it was warm and nobody was in a hurry.

For some reason, I got picked to lead. The assembled multitude included five Wings, four Vulcans and a Yamahahahaha. Kelly and Susan needed fuel so I sent them ahead to the Wolf Creek gas station at the top of the hill and then sent the rest up there as well. We joined them, formed up and set out south on US 28. Damn, we looked good.

We turned right on US 74 and motored on up and down the curves into the Nantahala Gorge. Traffic was surprisingly light for a Saturday morning. Except, of course, for the obligatory white SUV with the Air Force licence plate frame. After we got through the 25 MPH zone and the 35 MPH zone, he didn't speed up. He also didn't pull over for about five miles despite many opportunities to do so. I lose my patience around inconsiderate drivers, but more on that later. Eventually, he stopped at a scenic pull-out and we got back up to the speed limit.

The ride was going well. I had picked this direction because all the turns would be to the right. At US 129, we turned right safely. There, on the side of the road, in front of a gas station and facing the other way were Tom and Margaret. I honked, Margaret waved and we rode on. Later, when I mentioned seeing them to Tom, he told me he was broken down. I abandoned a VROCer on the road without even knowing it. Luckily, it was only a fuse and a Harley rider gave him some assistance. Tom, I am really sorry about that.

I missed the next episode but Grouch and some others told me that, as we were entering Robbinsville, a car going the other way was stopped to make a left turn. A second car, possibly distracted by the bikes, ran right into the back of it. Luckily, the wreckage didn't cross the centre-line.

In Robbinsville, I stopped and the group decided what they would do next. Cheap Bastard, John and the two kids opted for a run up the Cherohala Skyway, and Ron and Wild Rose decided to go with them. The remaining six bikes set out up 129 for Deals Gap. Flip & Renata and The Grouch stayed with me as I picked up the pace through the sweeping turns by the river. 2Soon and Sherrie rode a little more sedately, but not much, with Kelly and Susan. We didn't arrive very much earlier than the second element and it was busy enough we had to look for parking spaces.

Once at The Gap, Roger made his offering to the Tree Of Shame. He had lost a spotlight in his get-off yesterday and committed it to a resting place that, as you can see, stands as a testament to a whole lot of bad judgment.

We talked to a few people and then, without slaying The Dragon, we started back down US 28 to Fontana Dam running in the same two groups. Now I don't know what it is that makes some cruiser riders oblivious to anything going on behind them. My version of etiquette says I will move over and wave by anyone who comes up behind me. I did it for the Corvette's on the Parkway and I tried to do it for Bruce on NC 209 yesterday. But here was this two-up cruiser motoring along at a sedate pace, not moving over at all. I followed him for several miles to see what he would do. Finally, when it became obvious he would do absolutely nothing, I passed him in the first little stretch where I had enough visibility, Flip and Roger right behind me.

The stop at Fontana Dam was brief. The Burgesses were the volunteer couple of the week. Actually, two couples share each two week period, looking after the Visitor Center. The air conditioning wasn't working, but the man who was qualified to push the button to restart it was expected soon.

Flip rolled out ahead but Roger and I weren't too far behind. After the dam, the road runs some nice sweeping turns up to a ridge and then down the other side. Guess what we got behind? Two more inconsiderate, slow cruiser riders, both again two-up. They gave no breaks and, one time when I stuck my nose out in a small straight, the second bike sped up. So I waited. Just before Tuskegee, there is a small stretch with a dotted line. I was ready and geared down. Before they knew it, I was by both of them with Roger right behind. There was another rider ahead, but he gave ground and waved us by. My thanks to him.

At KSL, Jax and Curb had arrived essentially on time, while we were late getting back. These two do such a great job organizing SEVROC in Maggie Valley in May, which we have to miss, and its been way to long since we have seen them. Jax had told me it was iffy because his step-dad was in pretty serious condition over in Nashville, but here they were. We talked, I blogged and Sandy packed rain suits.

Cargo (aka Russ) showed up and joined Kelly and Susan in a brand new KSL Spa. It looked like a good thing to be doing, given the heat and the humidity. Russ hauled his new (to him) 800 up in his Ridgeline after skipping out of work at noon .

I rode into town to post the blogs and get the mail. The library closed at 2:00 but I didn't realize they shut down their WAP's too. No WiFi. So I headed up to the County offices across from Lynn's Place. there was a bench there with some shade behind it and I connected to what was listed as the Public Access WiFi. A deputy was coming in and asked me if he could help me. I told him I was just posting blogs and getting the mail. That seemed to do it for him.

Back at KSL, TJ (Tony) and his wife arrived. He had told me he was going to attempt a day trip. Since he retired from Tennessee DOT, he has been busier than ever with a consulting operation. We talked about him coming out on the road but there are some things he has to take care of first. We'll be out here waiting for him when the time is right. In any case, they are really fine folk and it was great of them to make the effort to get up here so we could spend some time together. He even helped me take down and fold the awning and assorted gear as we prepared for an early start in the morning.

Just before supper, Thelma, Louise and Louise pulled in. These would be the wild Arizona gals who were on a wild tear across the country sans husbands. Barb and Bev are good friends from Holbrook Arizona, traveling with their friend Lois. Here is Barb at the fire with an evil look in her eye. We've ridden with her and Jack in many places and count them among some of the finest people we know. I hope they remember I reserved a room at their place for when the glaciers come......

The fire was quiet. One of the non-VROC guys had this little guitar and played it quite well. He even sang Paradise, a song that really gets to me:

And daddy wont you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the green river where paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

In the meantime, Russ and Susan were busy tending the fire.

It was a great evening and a fine cap to the VROC at KSL weekend. It was particularly nice to get some time with 2Soon and Sherrie, who we had met before but hadn't really gotten to know. They are the kind of people that keep us coming back. Since we were planning on leaving about 7:00 AM, we said many goodbyes around the fire as people toddled off to bed. Sandy folded before midnight and I left shortly before 1:00 AM

Tomorrow, we head north.

(posted 6/10/08 at 10:08 PM)

Stecoah North Carolina - Day 2

The Great Rain Suit Run

We were rolling northbound by 7:30 AM, headed for Johnson City, Tennessee under clear, cool skies. There is a new style McDonalds in Waynesville, replacing the old one torn down after repeated health code violations. The girl serving us wore a Dale Earnhardt Intimidator shirt
so I felt right at home. Unfortunately, after I filled my coffee mug, I tipped it to see if the lid was on tight and poured hot coffee all over my hand. And the table. And what was left of my breakfast sandwich. Stella Lidback? Where are you when I need you??

After breakfast, we negotiated our way around new curbs to get back on US 74 and I-40. The rest of the trip to Asheville and up and over the state line on I-26 was uneventful. I was impressed by the amount of work they had completed since Wednesday. The crews back home could take some lessons.

We arrived at Ken’s Cycle and tracked Angela down. She had a large box of rain suits just delivered and started going through them. The XXL jacket and XL pants fit me fine. Sandy liked the XS pants but, after finding the S jacket too big, couldn’t find the XS. The invoice indicated that the XS and XXS jackets were being shipped from California instead of Memphis and wouldn’t be in for several days. Too late for us, but we now know the size so we can order on-line. Ken talked to us for a bit and we said we’d drop by the next time we were going through.

One thing I forgot to mention when we went through Johnson City the last time. I saw a black school bus that looked like the one I posed by at Bristol years ago. This time, the bus was all black except for a green marquis that said “Teresa Sucks”. NASCAR fans will understand.

Heading back south on I-26, we stopped at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Unicoi; one that the GPS didn’t know was there. We bought another camera case and Sandy found some specialized underwear for riding. Ask her about them the next time you see her. I talked with a lady working there named Alice. She and her husband are RV people.

From Unicoi, we headed a bit more south and then took a back route over the state line. We got off at Exit 9 and the GPS told us to follow Cedar Branch Road. This was a one-lane asphalt path that looked like a driveway disappearing into the trees. I had faith and, after a mile, it dumped us on Tennessee 352. This road wound its way up to the state line at the top of the ridge and then, after becoming NC 212, wound down the other side. This is a quiet area with old homes and mobiles, very green and sedate. I think we saw ten cars in 20 miles.

It was very hot and, when we got to US 25 and found The Steady Eddy coffee and espresso shop out there in the middle of nowhere, we had to stop. The sole proprietor, a friendly young lady, made a couple of excellent strawberry smoothies while we talked about the challenges of running a small business in the North Carolina mountains.

After the smoothies, we headed west on US 25 to a little town name Hot Springs. We turned south on NC 209, passing two cruisers on the way out of town. The road was very tight and very technical, with occasional bits of gravel in the corners. After a while, I slowed down and started cruising. Before long, the others caught me and I pulled over to wave them by. The first one pulled up, slowed and asked if we had gotten the rain gear. I took a closer look and saw it was Bruce and Gail, who had their trailer next to us at KSL, on their Vulcan and friends of theirs on a Harley. We rode together down toward Maggie Valley where we caught US 74 back to KSL. At the 74/28 split, we got rained on for about two minutes and, boy, did it feel good!

It was hot, hot at KSL so Sandy and I headed into Robbinsville. A few minutes at the air conditioned library let me get my mail and newsgroup messages. Then we stopped at Lynn’s Place for a light meal and discovered that there was a WiFi signal from the county building across the street. The NC Baptist Men Disaster Relief gang (we saw their bus yesterday) was also there, and I met a man with a 2005 silver Wing from Alabama. He had owned a Nomad and was familiar with VROC. Then we stopped at Ingles for water and saw this unusual yellow VW powered trike.

Back at KSL, the clouds caused the light to be distinctly yellow. Flip and Renata and Traveler (one L) had arrived and Roger the Grouch was modeling some new tape after a mishap where he lost concentration on a corner for a critical moment. Luckily, he and the bike only suffered minor damage. We called Sherm to say Hi and skipped supper because we were still full from Lynn’s.

After supper, Mark, AKA Cheap Bastard, his son John and two grandkids from Slapout, Alabama (really!!) arrived. Weldon is John’s son and Elyse is Mark’s daughter’s girl. Elyse is a big fan of horses and particularly likes the Paso Fino breed. Mark is full of questions about everything under the sun.

Kelly (Thrillseeker), Sandy and Mean Susan modeled their I Know Mo T-shirts. People stayed up and talked for a while, slowly drifting away as they reached their limits. We decided we would try a group ride after breakfast in the morning. Flip and Kelly were the last VROCers keeping Mo company at the fire when I turned in about 1:00 AM.

Stecoah North Carolina - Day 1

Kicking Around Kickstand

We were up at 6:30 looking at another warm, clear morning. After a hot shower, I did some blog writing while Chunk cooked breakfast. 2Soon and Sherrie were sitting with us as we swatted flies. They would be heading for Bryson City shortly to take a scenic train ride. My back, which I had twisted somehow last week, was feeling much better.

I checked the oil and the tires on the bike. Oil was fine but I’m concerned about the rear tire. It had 9/32nds tread depth on it when I left home and now, after over 1,700 miles of towing the trailer two-upon very hot pavement, it still has 9/32nds. These Bridgestones are really something else.

We rode into Robbinsville to take care of business. I stopped at the public library and used their WiFi to get the mail and update the blog. Then we stopped at the Ingles grocery store to pick up water, prunes (don’t ask) and earwax remover. I’ve been having a few problems with sudden elevation changes. Robbinsville is much like Mayberry, small town friendly where people greet total strangers with a smile. It also has the highest proportion of pretty girls I have seen just about anywhere.

From Robbinsville, we decided to run up US 129 to Deals Gap for a cool drink. The first part sweeps back and forth along a quiet river. At Tapoco, you come to the Cheoah Dam. You might recognize it from the movie The Fugitive. Harrison Ford jumped off it escaping Tommy Lee Jones. Then we started up the next stretch, a tight, technical section of road leading to The Gap and known as the Mini-Tail of the Dragon.

We didn’t get far. Bikes coming down grade through the 20 MPH curves gave the signal that police were ahead. I thought it would be a document check but, when we came around a corner, we found State Police had the road closed due to a semi that had tried to negotiate the almost impossible turns and put the trailer over the edge. This is a US Highway but I sometimes wonder what goes through the driver’s head when he decides to try to go through. The trooper on site allowed me to park and walk down to get some pictures.

Since the cool drink at the gap was out, we returned to Robbinsville and went downtown to Lynn’s Place, a restaurant we found a couple of years ago with Sherm and Thrillseeker. There were two sport bikes out front with Ontario plates. These riders were from Toronto. The food was as good as ever. I had a club sandwich and Sandy settled for a BLT.

After lunch, we rode down US 129 to US 74 and then turned left, following the track down through the Nantahala Gorge. I assume that the local Indian dialect had many words ending in either ‘hala’ or ‘eoah’. Maybe when I read this sometime next winter, I will look it up. In any case, the river through the gorge supports a thriving rafting/kayaking industry. We saw these brightly coloured kayaks floating peacefully downstream between sections of mild white water. As we started up out of the gorge on the winding road, we met a semi flying downgrade trailing the smell of fried brake pads. He was going to be happy to see the level part just ahead.

On the way back onto Highway 28, we got behind a group of 75 Harleys wearing HOG patches. We passed them all on the four-lane road, noticing that the leaders did not wave to any oncoming bikes. I shake my head in sorrow at their lack of belonging to the society of real riders.

Shortly after we got back, Tom and Margaret showed up with their new wooden trailer. Tom is a real craftsman when it comes to wood. Roger the Big Grouch arrived from Windsor, Ontario around 4:30, ½ hour earlier than he had predicted. 2Soon arrived back from the train ride, not impressed. Sherrie, who paid for it, said it was nice but riding the bike through the Gorge was nicer. It was very hot. The proprietor of Lynn’s Place (not Lynn) told me he hadn’t seen weather like this in 20 years.

We had supper at 8:00 and I had dish duty. We talked about all things under the sun. Sandy and Sherrie hit the sack about 11:00,leaving 2Soon, Tom and I pondering the great, unanswerable questions until 1:00 AM.

Johnson City Tennessee to Stecoah North Carolina

It was a good morning. Storms north and east, clear south and west. Excellent.

I checked the newsgroup this morning. It seems that Don VSP has named the Northern California ride on July 13^th the Sandy Robinson Ride . Sandy was tickled but hoped it wouldn’t be a memorial ride. I signed us up for it.

After breakfast, we headed out. I noticed on leaving that the Perkins restaurant next door was the same one Leo, John and I stopped at for pie (in the rain) on our way to Atlanta last May. We got upon I-26 East (funny because it heads due south) and headed for one of my favourite stretches of Interstate.

I-26 is the former US 19/23. It winds its way up the north side of a ridge and crosses the state line into North Carolina at the top. Then it winds its way down to Asheville. There were two things different this morning. First, signs indicated this was the I-40 Wide Load Detour. This meant that any wide load would have to divert from Knoxville up I-81 to I-26 and down to rejoin I-40 in Asheville. The second difference was that they were resurfacing the outside lanes in both directions. We were confined to the middle lane with a concrete barrier in the centre and orange barrels on the right. I’m not sure what they were thinking when they decided to send all the wide loads on I-40 through this. Now picture a poor trucker hauling half a modular home, detoured from I-40, trying to climb the ridge and keep his wide load between the wall and the barrels. When we caught up to him, there were orange barrels flying everywhere. Then, near the end, there was a long scraping sound as he caught the barrier. The entertainment value more than offset any frustration at being held up.

Once we cleared the construction, the ride over the ridge and down to Asheville was uneventful. However, for the first time, I missed the I-240 West ramp which would have taken us to the direct I-40 route to Kickstand Lodge. I don’t know how I managed that, but I decided that we wouldn’t turn around. Instead, we rode down I-240 East to where the Blue Ridge Parkway crosses and climbed up on the scenic road. At the first scenic lookout, I stopped and gave Sandy the camera. After a brief lesson on how it works, we were off again.

The only part of the Blue Ridge Parkway I haven’t run before was the stretch from Asheville to US 276. This turns out to be the section with the most tunnels. Some were long enough and curved that it was difficult to see with sunglasses on. Very disconcerting. There was one driver, from Florida, who was doing 25 MPH. I’m sure he had never seen curves or hills before. We passed him in a short straight stretch. Then, at one lookout, there was a herd (flock, school, gang?) of Corvettes. Later, they caught up to us and I pulled over and let them go. At the highest spot on the Parkway, we met two VTX riders from Ottawa who were traveling to Key West via Nashville. And on the last stretch, we met a white Wing that waved and then waved again, most likely the infamous VROCer Gramps2Soon from Virginia out for a ride.

When we reached US 74, we got off the BRP and then stopped in Sylva for lunch. I stopped at the Radio Shack and got some Tuner Cleaner to fix the plugs on Sandy’s headset cords. Then we rode on the Kickstand, where Mo greeted us warmly. We also met Izzie, the new cat that replaced the late, great Hairy. It was hot and sunny while we set up by the creek. We also met two sport bike riders, one from Louisiana and the other from Texas, who were staying in one of the Fontana cabins.

After we were set up, I took a little solo run up I-28 to the Fontana dam. It felt good to ride without the trailer. At the dam, I met a couple riding a pair of VTX’s from Florida. They were heading for Deal’s Gap and the lady was remarking that the twisty roads were getting to her. She hoped the Dragon wasn’t worse. I had to tell her it was, but that she would be just fine if she took her time. Then four bikes from Athens Ohio (we went through there on Monday) pulled in and we traded stories for a bit. On the way back to KSL, a tree had fallen blocking the other side of the road. This happened in the time I was at the dam and underscores the need to expect the unexpected.

Back at KSL, Chunk had returned from a run to Wal-Mart and 2Soon and Sherrie were back from their day ride. We visited while Shaun (who we had mistakenly taken for a VROCer) did chicken wings on the grill. Supper consisted of the wings, brats and kraut, Mexican pasta and two salads. After supper, we visited some more, looked at maps and plotted potential rides before turning in fairly early.

Delaware Ohio to Johnson City Tennessee

We woke up about 6:00 AM and turned on The Weather Channel. Delaware was the south edge of a rain system that was moving east but the big concern was a large, highly organized mass of green, orange and red to the west. This looked like the large hail and damaging winds that yesterday's forecast said was bound for Chicago. Surprise! It ran south of Chicago and would be over US-23 to the south of us before we could get there. Lead elements were already hitting Lexington Kentucky, and the weather reader predicted "copious amounts of moisture". Time to invent a Plan B.

I moved the bike under the front awning of the motel, loaded it and brought in the rain gear so we could get suited up while we had breakfast. The other guests in the breakfast room were both curious and sympathetic. Someone came in and said it was raining harder. I pointed out that if we waited for it to stop raining here, it would just be raining somewhere else when we got there. I wrangled with the Zumo trying to get a route that would take us southeast quickly, hopefully so that we could get south of the incoming system before it caught up with us.

On our way out, the fellow behind the desk said a local police officer had stopped by and was wondering if our trailer was a pop-up. I told him to let him know it was.

We pulled out in light but steady rain headed south on US-23. We passed two Tim Horton's, one with a line-up at the drive-thru (made me feel right at home) and one that was brand new. I stopped for fuel and cursed the breaking of my own rule. When staying near a big city, get through the city in the evening so that you don't have to navigate morning rush hour traffic. That said, it wasn't too bad. We climbed onto I-270 which took us to US-33, the most southeasterly road I could find. Somewhere in here, we ran out of the rain.

My rant of the day is about the 95% of rush hour vehicles with only one person in them. It doesn't matter whether you are motivated by environmental concerns, cost or simply traffic congestion, this doesn't make any sense. But for all the talk, nobody really wants to change.

US-33 was a pleasure to ride. As with23, some was two-lane with very light traffic and some was four-lane. The sky was optimistic, light cloud with a few darker patches here and there. It was warming up pretty quickly, which can make full rain gear pretty oppressive. We reached the Ohio River and crossed into West (By God) Virginia. I almost rear-ended a car on the bridge when he stopped. In his defense, a construction flagman was holding a Stop sign in front of him. I was thinking about the Mothman Prophecies (look them up) but Point Pleasant is actually a few miles downriver.

We stopped at a Mickey D's in Ravenswood for another breakfast bite, since we had shortchanged ourselves at the hotel. Sandy made use of the trailer as a folding table to put our gear away. I enjoyed listing to the WV accents the people were speaking with in the restaurant.

US 33 got us to I-77, again heading southeast through Charleston, with its gold domed Capitol building, and Beckley on to Princeton. There, at a gas stop, I was told the tunnels were fine southbound but were lane reduced on the northbound side. This was the case, so we'll come back through Tazewell to avoid them. On the minus side, as soon as we passed through East River Mountain Tunnel into Virginia, it started to spit rain. After Big Walker Mountain Tunnel, it got a little more insistent and, just after we turned onto I-81, I stopped so we could put rain suits on again.

A word about warm front rain. It wasn't the heavy, damaging stuff we were running from but it annoys the daylights out of me. The clouds aren't dark. They are luminous, bright, glowing and lightly spitting rain without end, but barely enough to wet the road. And so they did all the way to the Tennessee border. At which point they stopped. State line to state line. Very strange.

The rain was now stopped and the heat and humidity rose. We followed the GPS to Ken's Cycle Center in Gray, near Johnson City, Tennessee. They told me last week that they had a selection of Tourmaster Elite II rain suits in stock. Turns out they only had a few sizes and not the ones we needed, but Angela, shown here, called and ordered at least one of each size. Can't ask for more than that. They will be in by Friday so we'll take a ride back up (it's only 140 miles from KSL). Kenny, the proprietor, showed me the MadMaps Smoky Mountains Regional Scenic Tours Map (Part 1). It looked like something I needed so I bought it. We'll try a few roads we haven't been on over the next few days.

The Super 8 in Johnson City was off the main drag and not in a neighborhood to my liking. A stone's throw away, there was a Ramada on the main drag. The price was right, so we settled in. Then we took off our boots,put on our new Crocs (big, tough bikers that we are) and went next door for supper at the DQ Brazier.

While I was blogging and Sandy was sleeping, The Weather Channel was providing ongoing coverage of the severe weather north of us. It looks like we missed the bullet today, but Kansas City to Indianapolis to Central Ohio and right through to Washington DC are getting beat pretty bad with thunderstorms and twisters. Minute by minute, they are calling more watches and warnings. Is it my imagination or is the severe weather getting more frequent?

Our forecast tomorrow looks pretty good,with rain north and east. We are going south and west. But can we trust the weatherman? We'll see.