It's that time of year, well it has been for a while, the cold weather has pretty much set in. However there have a been a few days here and there that have been warm enough to ride. Today is one of those days. It is New Years Eve, which happens to be one of my best friends birthday, so we are going for a ride. His bike, a 2007 GSX-R 600.
Today is also the first time that my girlfriend will be riding on the back of my bike. I am not so sure how she will like it, but we shall find out by the end of the day.
Off.. to go riding.
Well, it was a bit chilly out but not too bad. I had on my new Under Armor Cold Gear shirt on along with a long sleeve shirt and I was set. For the record, the cold gear works really well on those chilly days.
We started out towards the Silver Valley area and after taking a few random roads, I ended up knowing where I was. Which is rare to say the least. After heading down HWY 8 a bit more, we stopped at a gas station so I could relieve myself and stiffen up the rear shock. I had it set at 5 or 6 (Max is 7) and I felt that the front end was still a bit light for my personal preference, so I bumped it up to 7 to counter the added weight of a passenger. The change helped tremendously, it made the ride a little less smooth, but I regained all the front bite I was used to before having a passenger.
Today is also the first time that my girlfriend will be riding on the back of my bike. I am not so sure how she will like it, but we shall find out by the end of the day.
Off.. to go riding.
Well, it was a bit chilly out but not too bad. I had on my new Under Armor Cold Gear shirt on along with a long sleeve shirt and I was set. For the record, the cold gear works really well on those chilly days.
We started out towards the Silver Valley area and after taking a few random roads, I ended up knowing where I was. Which is rare to say the least. After heading down HWY 8 a bit more, we stopped at a gas station so I could relieve myself and stiffen up the rear shock. I had it set at 5 or 6 (Max is 7) and I felt that the front end was still a bit light for my personal preference, so I bumped it up to 7 to counter the added weight of a passenger. The change helped tremendously, it made the ride a little less smooth, but I regained all the front bite I was used to before having a passenger.
We continued back into what Jordan calls, "The Boonies" and managed to find some pretty nice roads. Not all of them were the smoothest, but they were still were nice enough to tuck into the corners easily. One of the roads we found, was back behind the Uwharrie National Forest and connected up Hwy 24/27. It wasn't the smoothest, but it offered a few nice curves and some nice elevation changes in the corners which we really enjoyed.
At this point we decided to start working our way back home, while still finding a few roads here and there. Well, that ended up getting us backward and turned around all in Stanley County, which I still haven't figured out. How do you get lost in Stanley County? After making a complete circle, while still having fun on some nice roads, we ended up going back the way we came to end up in Albemarle. At this point we were all getting a bit too cold and decided to just head straight back home. From there it was Hwy 52 to Hwy 8 and home. We totaled about 125 miles, which wasn't bad for only being out around 4 hours. Jordan really enjoyed the ride and she thinks she is up for some more rides but with more miles covered. We shall see.
