Winter Update

The fall semester is over now, however winter looks/feels as though it is here to stay for a while. It the last couple months I think all I managed to get in was about 200 miles or so. Every now and then we have been getting up to around 60 but it has usually be accompanied by wet weather.

From what I hear the almanac is calling for a harsh winter this year. There is no sign of snow/ice is the prediction however. Looks as though the next few months the FZ will be getting some good cleaning done inside the garage. That and hopefully a few upgrades...

Dad and I are starting to throw out some ideas for next seasons rides. The Ironbutt idea has come back into the ring and there was talk at some point about a "Battleship Tour." Making a trip to go visit the near by battleships/submarines/aircraft carriers.

Also it looks like I will be going on a group ride with some members of the FZ6 forum I am part of. First weekend in June we will be gathering in Robbinsville, Nc to ride Deals Gap, and ride some roads in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Its shaping up to be a good size group, so it should be fun.

That and there is still my goal of crossing the Mississippi River. In my "younger years" I used to go visit my relatives during the summer months. In this traveling I have been to about every state on the east coast, no further north than Pen. but no further west than the Mississippi River. So at some point I was to cross that river, just to say I did. Maybe this year.

Well that's about it. School starts back I think on the 12th of January, so I will be enjoying some R&R for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully we will get some warm days here and there. If not, see ya around March...

Fall Color

So I have got a little bit behind on the ride reports in the past month or so. School is back in full swing again and as usual I am swamped. However I do manage to set some time aside each week or so to have some down time and relax. Usually I go riding...

At this point I have forgotten all the little details about the trips and the exact road numbers and such. However I do have a few pictures that I will put up here and put a few things about them.

On the last trip, (10-12-2008) I passed the 10,000 mile mark. I have put 10,000 miles on the bike since I got it last October. I did this in under a year! I received the bike on 10-20-2007.

Photobucket src="http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h186/skeeterman426/Rides/IMG_8250.jpg" border=0>













The following pictures were taken from at Jefferson Park in Western Alamance. The high school in the picture is Western Alamance High, which is where I have been several times to participate in marching competitions with my high school marching band.

The rock in the picture is what I was standing on to take all those pictures.









Those pictures were taken at "The Viaduct" A popular place on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The color was much better in person! However I was not able to get the camera to pick up the colors as they were. I need to spend some time researching how to set up that camera to do so. Operator error I suppose...

I apologize for the lack of details on the report this time around. As I mentioned before school has been back in full swing and I have been behind the 8 ball for the past few weeks. I will try to start writing down details after the ride so I can do better reports at a later time if need be.

That's it for now. Off to get some rest... then back to the books and the TI-89 tomorrow.

-Bryan

Labor Day Ride

The past week had been full of rain and I mean FULL. In one day we had up to and in some places more than 9 inches of rain. All of the local streams and creeks were busting at the banks and turning the areas around them into ponds/lakes.

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With all of this going on I started getting and itch for a good ride, and I dying to start scratching. The weekend coming up was labor day and I had plans for the weekend so I figured Monday was as good as any other.

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I mentioned something to Josh about it and he was game as always. In turn he mentioned something to one of his good friends John who has a GSX-R 600 like Josh's but with a bit different color scheme. I extended an invite to a few other people who turned out to have other plans and could not make the trip.

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I started making a route plan on Google Maps that Saturday evening and came up with a pretty neat looking route. Seeing as how this was John's first full day ride like this I wanted to give him a days worth, lol.

So this is what I came up with. In total it was to be around 425 miles I believe round trip. I was taking care to avoid the main hwy's as much as possible since it was Labor Day.

Well things never go to plan it seems...

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We got a nice early start and made to Lenior in a little over an hour, oops. We got a bit side tracked and turned around near Lenior and ended up going the LONG way around which happpened to put us right on Hwy 90 somehow.

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Now 90 looked twisty on the map and to be honest it was, but it wasn't that much fun as far as twisty's go. There were way too many houses and the road was a bit rough with some debris here and there, which could be due to all the rain I spoke of earlier. I mean there were sections that were covered in mud. The only clear bath was where a few cars had been though and made a small opening.

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We went on down the road for what seemed like forever. It followed this nice river and to be honest the senery reminded me alot of the West Virgina country side, minus the toilet paper in the river thing.

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Getting stuck behind a car was actually quite nice, it allowed for more looking around. The river was extreamly high and due to this it was white caping over the bridges that are the residents driveways! What a site that was! (I should have got a picture) The kudzu had taken over and was covering the trees to make them look like the old run down castles and forts you see pictures of overseas. It really was beautiful out there in the middle of no where.

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I was starting to get concerned that I hadn't seen a road for 18 but my concern turned into confusion as I saw a sign that said, "End Pavement."

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"Rut Roh, Raggy'"

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Yup, I believe we missed a turn. We pulled over and looked the map and the surrounding areas. As usual these parts of the woods weren't exactly on the map and for apparent reasons. That movie "Wrong Turn" started coming into my memory...

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I pulled the ol' Cannon out and got a few shots for grins and giggles and then we got back on our way.

John is the guy in the full leathers, which he got for a steal. Luck guy. He squeeks everywhere he goes though, kinda funny.

Interesting site...

So as we were heading out as a group of bikes come rolling in with a look on their faces that I felt I was probably making when I saw the pavement turn to gravel.

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One of them was just tagging along with the group and knew the roads pretty well it seemed so why he was with them I haven't a clue. But he informed us that we missed our turn off a good ways back. Imagine that.

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Well he was right, our turn off was about 10 miles back the other direction. Turns out the sign was missing, so I guess it wasn't all my fault. John needed to use the restroom and as he was inside two guys on some, "Over Priced and Under Engineered Price Tags" rolled in advising us to not go up the mtn. "It's rainy and nasty up there. You can't see 10 feet in front of you. Horrible riding conditions."

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I wasn't about to just sit at this store all day and after all my parents weren't with me, so the curse doesn't take full effect.(Knock on Wood) Sure enough the HD guys were baby's, I guess any thing other than a sunny sky is bad weather for them.

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We went up the missed road which ironicly enough was the other end of a road that I have been down countless times in my life. Brown Mtn OHV Park is off this road and after I saw it I knew exactly where I was. A few miles later we were on 181.

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We headed up 181, but as we did we were greated with some rain. It wasn't heavy, just misting, but the roads were wet so that took alot of the fun away from that road. Now it would make the most since to slow down in these conditions and just play it safe. Well being the rider I am, which mind you is a safe one, I had to push it a bit. This road was extreamly wide with multiple lanes and long sweeping corners. Great bike road. So I decided that I wanted to see what it felt like to have the bike slide when it was wet. I had to find out where those tire let go and what it felt like. I had to.

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So I started to pick up the pace, corner by corner, little by little as to not come in too hot. Sure enough a little bit later she let go. Now before my mother and loving relatives get really mad at me. "It wasn't that bad." It wasn't a dramatic slide, the tire just let go for a second. I felt it slip and the back end may have stepped out a few inches from the front at the most. I stayed in the throttle to keep the bike moving. NEVER LET OFF OR TOUCH THE BRAKES IS A SLIDE!!! The bike straightend up and I rolled off the throttle. Now and I know. (I didn't push it anymore.)

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With the rain it also got cool and it was time to put on some sleeves so I pulled over at this little gas station on the left that had a bunch of bikes parked off the side. We all puts another shirt on and starting looking around at the bikes. A few them happened to be people that John know from a local forum! Inside the store they had a small grill and it turned out to be a bike hang out. Sport Bike mags everywhere, random oil and parts for sale and posters everywhere! It was awsome. The staff was great and apparently were riders as well. I got a chicken sandwhich combo, that came with chips and a 20 oz drink from the cooler for like $4.95. With tax it was like 5 and some change so I gave the guy a 10. He handed me back a 5 and said, "I don't want you to ride with the change in your pocket."

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A great place to stop if your in the area!

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We killed around 45 mins there letting the weather clear up and we headed off towards 221 North. Hwy 221 turned out to be a lot of fun, with plenty of tight and technical corners. The only draw back to this road would be the traffic as it is a main hwy leading out of or into Blowing Rock, NC. The asphalt for the most part was dry now, a few of the shady parts were still damp but not bad.

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Blowing Rock leads right into Boone so we fueled up there before heading into TN. I was starting to get concerned because it was already early afternoon by this point and we still had a good bit to go. Oh and it was nice and sunny in Boone...

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Going on up 321 to find some other road that would take us to Elizabethton, TN and from there it would take us around into Shady Valley through the Cherekee Forest area. We found out last trip that this road was rather fun and it had few nice switch backs that made for something interesting. I remember looking back a few times to see John all over Josh's rear with a knee out about to put some marks on those new knee pucks. (Apparently he has been practicing on Zion Church Rd.)

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Once at 421 we stopped again so John could check out the store and we could all get a bottle of water since the afternoon sun was starting to get to us.

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We had a clean run down The Snake, little to no traffic and no THP which was surprising however I missed another turn at the end, which was all my fault. It was getting late in the day and I really didn't want us to be on the roads at night on Labor Day so we set a path home. We left off the Jefferson side of the route and just headed down 421 to Wilkesboro and down 16 to Charlotte.

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I think we clocked just over 400 miles for the day. John was hurting, as were all of us, but he left with a grin on his face asking to go again in the coming weeks. Look for some more pictures of him on here because I am sure he will be joining us more often.

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Until next time:

"Yall Be Safe Out There."

-Killboy

Attending My First Road Race

I get a phone call from my dad on Thursday before the race on Sunday asking what I was doing that weekend. I explained that I would hanging out with some friends during the weekend but that was about it. Then he filled me in with some news that he might be able to get free tickets to the road race at VIR this coming Sunday.

This would be the first time that we would ever see a road race seeing as how we are off-road guys. So we really didn't know what to expect out of it, but we figured it would fun either way.
Dads Tucker Rocky Rep told us that we should ride our bikes to the race if we could because there are some special perks when doing so.

So I put the bike in the back of the truck and headed to the house Friday afternoon once I got out of work. After hanging out with some of my high school buddies all day Saturday, I headed home around midnight and finished getting the bike ready to ride up to VA.

One of our neighbors, Tim came along and we met up with another employee at the shop, J.P. (Who ride a 1098 *drool*) One of my roommates from last year, Kel, was in town so I invited him to come along and use the last ticket we had.

After we gathered up we headed further north to VIR. As we started getting closer there were more and more bikes on the road. When we finally found the entrance we were motioned around all the cars in line. We were a bit confused but then we noticed other bikes doing it as well. The continued to motion us in and down the road to the track. We had to stop at a few points and show our tickets but other than that they just pointed us closer and closer to the track.

At one point we came up to a bridge were we were greeted by a few flyby's that went below us. We were in a hurry to park after that. From there we were motioned to a gravel parking lot inside the pits where a man was pointing us where to park. In his hand he had square pieces of plywood which he threw down on the ground for us to put our kickstands on!

From there we met up with Kel and his buddy who purchased a ticket and began walking around the pits during the practice session.

The race was amazing and I could talk for days about all that happened, however I will let the pictures do the talking.

The KTM 125cc two strokes. These were the Red Bull Rookie Cup bikes. Really neat thing that they are doing. Google it for more details.

"Hold On Please!" Yup, a rear seat and a handle. Its a ride along bike. "Where do I sign?!"

Jason, the host from Super bikes was on hand doing a few stunts on the track in between rounds.

This was the session that most of my pictures came from. It was a really good spot to watch from. You were close to the track and the riders were really throwing the bikes around.

"Like to drag elbows?"

Even the 600's were pulling the front end coming out of the corner!

The Attack Kawi's were sounding great, and possibly running a bit lean?

Elbow Pucks?

Using all the track! He did that every lap. We were waiting on him to run off.

This guy was extremely soft in the rear end. When making the transition there he would pull the front too easily and when trying to turn there the front end would get out of wack. We were waiting on him to loose it. He almost did a couple times.

Showing Some Friends Around

As summer school came to a close, thankfully on a good note, it was time to go for a little ride.
Some of my friends from school have been asking to come along with Josh and I when ever we go to the mtns for a while now. Omar, finally got some new rubber put on his Bandit, so he and his girlfriend came along, as well as one of his friends on a R1. Mitch, with a built Trans-Am has been chomping at the bits to come up sometime but unfortunately our schedules never quite worked. Now this TA isn't your typical one, it has been lowered and Penske's put on all 4 corners with multiple other suspension mods, not to mention all the bolt on's under the hood... its sick!

I decided to take the group up to Asheville to show them "The loop." Unfortunately Omar and his girl friend had to leave early to pick up his brother at the airport. However he brought along the Tom-Tom so he could leave from where we were to get back in time.

We met up at the local McDonald's, first thing in the morning to get an early start on the day. As we were getting ready to leave an interesting car pulled in...

I wasn't even aware that any one made a bike rack for the Viper? It looks like it fits rather well, but dang. I couldn't get over that and I am still amazed.

We headed out going south down 85 to catch 74 west like Josh and I have done many times. This time Jordan came along as well so she could see what I am always talking about. Now the past few trips the squelch has been rolling on me due to the wind blowing around the intercom. So I have been moving it side to side a bit in order to get the wind to break else where on the unit. In this process I have apparently loosened up the bolt that holds the intercom on to the clutch perch. Which, by the way also doubles as the pivot bolt for the clutch.

I looked down to see my intercom sitting sideways, so I reached down to try and tighten the nut under the perch. This is happening while heading down I-85 and after a few seconds of messing I realized I wasn't helping the situation as I saw the nut fall off the bolt and bounce off my fairing...
We stopped at the next exit and with a paper clip and rubber band I was able to secure the bolt so it wouldn't jump out on me till I found a hardware store in the next town, Shelby. Luck would have it that as soon as you enter Shelby, NC there is a nice Honda shop. So we all pulled in and I managed to get a nut and borrow some tools to get the intercom secured. While this was all going on Mitch and one of other friends, Richard (riding in the car with Mitch) starting looking around the shop.

Mitch and Richard cussed me for stopping at a shop as they were now trying to figure out how to afford a bike was well as their cars!

We continued on down the road up to Asheville, but instead of getting off 26 at 64 I decided to continue on up closer to Asheville to get on the parkway.

I had no clue where I was going as I saw the Parkway cross about 200 feet above the highway. A couple exits later I saw a sign for the Blue Ridge Parkway and we pulled off to get fuel as well a good stretch break before getting into some corners.

30 mins later we were off. The parkway was just around the corner and fortunately my "Pokey Magnet" didn't seem to be as strong. (The Pokey Magnet, as Jordan calls it, is when we continuously get stuck behind slow people in the mountain that will not move over.)

This particular stretch of the Parkway I had never been on and I was amazed at the number of tunnels! It seemed that there was a tunnel at least every 5 miles or less. Mitch got a few videos going through them to get the sound of his car however I was coming out the other side by time he was entering so I didn't get to hear it.

We pulled off after about 30 miles or so to get on Hwy 215 heading south. I had given everyone fair warning that the twisties were about to start so we headed off. Jordan and I took point with Omar and his girl friend Leanne (spelling) behind me. Tarrence (spelling) was behind Omar on the R1 and Mitch bringing up the rear. As the corners started getting tighter I began to watch behind me to see that everyone was still there. Omar was staying pretty close, however Tarence seemed to be a bit slower and then Mitch was coming out of the corner all over Tarence's butt. Now when I saw his R1 I got the impression due to the shape of his tires that he hadn't spent alot of time in the twisties. As Omar put it his bike is a "Stunter' with out the Stunta'. " But everyone has to start somewhere. I had seen Mitch drive before and he could throw that car in the corners well, so I knew that he was being held up. I pulled over at the next wide spot to let some traffic that I had caught a glimpse off earlier move along. Before we took off I motioned for Mitch to take point so he could push his car as hard as he liked.

Mitch took off, and was railing the corners, staying in his lane and hugging the white line. Omar stayed right there with me for the most part with Tarence bringing up the rear. As we came to the end of 215 we pulled off in a parking lot of some general store. Mitch got out of the car smiling ear to ear as was Richard. It was already 12:00 and Omar needed to be heading back soon, so he broke out the Tom-Tom and he and Tarence took off back to Charlotte. It was short day for him, however he seemed to really enjoy what twisties we got to and can't wait to join us when he has more time.

I told Mitch where 178 was and he took off with me right behind heading for another section of "The Loop."

Once we got out of Rosman I motioned to Mitch to head on out as we entered the corners. 178 is much more intense that 215 with multiple hair pins and elevation changes mid corner.
With Jordan riding with me I didn't want to push the bike like I normally do on that road, so Mitch pulled off again. I could hear him from time getting on it coming out of corners, but that was about it until we got to a straight away where he slowed up to let me catch back up. There was a football team taking a break from camp in a field next to the road at one point. They started yelling asking Mitch to light em' up. Being the good sport Mitch his, he did a nice rolling burn out leaving a cloud of smoke for the athletes to watch dissipate.

We stopped at the store there at the intersection of 11 and 178. Mitch's arms were tired and Richard was complaining that his lower back and neck were starting to hurt from hitting the corners. :) So we took a break and I snapped a few shots.

Its a darn good looking car if I say so myself. He has won multiple awards at various car shows with it and at last show it was referred to as the "Harley Car." I will never let him live that down. That car beats the ground and I enjoyed riding behind him when he was engine braking into some of the corners. Truly one of the best sounding small blocks I have ever heard.

Jordan and I saddled back up and Mitch and Richard followed me over to 276 headed north. Once again I moved over to let Mitch take point. I had gave him a heads up on the funny lane changes this road has and warned if that if he was going to pass there he needed to do it quick.

Well sure enough got behind on of those Honda Fit's as we approached one of those funky passing lane corners. Mitch stepped on it coming out of the first corner coming around the fit, the road was rough and he hit it a touch to hard. As he headed around the car the back end started to step out. He stayed in it, keeping the car under control but slid past the car. You should have seen the look on the drivers face.

We stopped for lunch and headed on up 276 back up the parkway to figure out how we were going to get home.

I decided it would just be easier for Jordan and I to go back to Charlotte before heading to Lexington, since neither Jordan or I wanted to do I-40 from Asheville. As we loaded up to leave, Mitch's car refused to run. It would light then stumble and die. The fuel pump sounded funny and we were wondering if the fuel pump and just failed. The motor was a bit warm as was the rest of the car. We decided to let it cool of and see what would happen. The car lit after cooling off for about 30 mins. It must have vapor locked, but just in case it was the fuel pump Mitch didn't shut the car off till he got home.

Jordan and I made to the house around 6:30 or so I believe. Both tired and a bit sore. We jumped in the truck and headed back to Lexington to take her home. My intentions were to ride her back home, but I was a bit too tired and it looked like rain was working its way in.

Another good ride with some new people. Mitch and Richard enjoyed it alot and I am pretty sure Omar and Tarence did as well. Hopefully we will get back to the western side of the state soon.

The Snake!

Ok so once again, Dad having Monday's off gives him alot of "free" time. Thanks to the new super fast computer, I have a feeling Dad never leaves the basement. Maybe that was Mom's secret plan to get him out of the living room so she could watch her TV shows....

So here ya go. Link to last weekends ride up 421.

http://rdytogo.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-27th-2008-back-to-valley-of-snake.html

So a few notes to add to the trip.

77 is not bad first thing in the morning, in the afternoon/evening it is really not so nice. When Josh and I left that morning we got up to Statesville in a hurry, one- because we were running late, and two, there were no cars on the road. However coming home was another story.... Darn left lane bandits were out like crazy. Oh well.

Josh and I had been wanting to get up to "The Snake" again because the last time we went we were less than prepared, riding wise, for what it had to offer. It was my first trip out on the FZ and while I didn't do too bad that time I was still trying to figure out this asphalt stuff, lol. That and that was the first time Josh and ever seen corners to speak of.

Those are some pictures from our first time up, The Snake, last fall.

Since then Josh and I both have improved greatly since we have made several mountain trips in the late winter and early spring. So we felt it was time to go back to see how we improved.

It was much more enjoyable this time! We have learned to read each other when riding and have a pretty good trust riding together now since we have made so many trips. I normally take he lead when we are out and as I am taking corners I normally glance in my mirrors to make sure Josh is still back their and watch him exit corners.

For the most part he was right there with me the entire way untill this sharp right hander. It snuck up on me thats for sure and it was all I could to stay in my lane and pull through it. So I turned back to watch Josh. Well it spooked him a bit and he stood the bike up and was forced to break the double yellow. He was less than happy with himself about it since we really hate when people do that. Thankfully there wasn't any on coming traffic so everything was ok.

After the stop at the store and we had that truck incident, it got in my head a bit. But then again if you worry about everything that could happen you will never be able to get out and enjoy things. But I do hug that white line a bit more now.

When we found our way back to the twisties, Josh and I checked out again and like Dad said it wasn't that we were going fast it was just being able to carry a consistant speed through the corners. Mom played, "Mom" and managed to fuss at me a bit over the radio. I know she just misses doing that a daily basis.

A little ways into Hwy 58 we met a FZ1 coming down the mtn but it odd was because he shut the bike off as he approached us and then took both hands off and pointed and Josh and I. I didn't think much about it, but it turns out that the person riding the bike was person I have been chatting with on the net who lives up that way. We were going to meet up that weekend but he avoids Shady Valley on the weekends due to the amount of THP. Small world!

As Dad mentioned we ended up getting stuck behind some of the slowest people and it always seemed to happen at the best parts of the road! Oh well, I guess things happen for a reason sometimes.

We made it home safe and sound, ironicly with the exact same amount of miles on the trip meter as my parents. I mean exact. Odd.

Overall it was another great ride, but then again I don't think I have ever had a bad one. Riding a bike is by far one the most enjoyable things I do. No matter what kind of bike or what the terrain. Being on two wheels is what I enjoy the most, there is just something about it. It can't be explained...