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It was Saturday afternoon, I had just got in and cleaned up after playing paintball with some other "engi-nerds" and I called to see what the plan was for tomorrows ride. The plan was to head north on 52 towards Roanoke, Va to Mabry's Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was trying to figure out what time I needed to leave Charlotte to be in Lexington that morning when Mom informed me that it was daylight savings time. I was going to loose and hour of sleep... So I packed up the bike for an overnight stay at home, checked the tire pressure, fluids, lubed the chain and made a path home. I had found a nice way of getting back to "L-town" from Charlotte, with out getting on I-85 in a previous ride. Taking 49N to Hwy 8 outside of Albermarle is a nice little ride and doesn't take too long to do, compared to 85. I headed home.
[ It was a bit warm for paintball, especially when you have to stay in sleeves. I am deathly allergic to Poison oak/ivy. You'll never get me to stay out of the woods though.]-
We got a bit of a late start Sunday morning, after breakfast and fuel, I believe it was some where around 10:30 or so. Oh well, we were riding, nothing to complain about. We set sail up 52 towards Winston-Salem and some how we got a bit turned around in Tobaccoville but we made it to Old 52, which was what we were looking for to begin with... Dad was navigating.
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We made a stop on the side of Old 52 before heading up the mountain so that we could get the on board cameras set up. While Dad was trying to figure out to work a camera with 2 buttons and 4 functions, Mom and I got in a wrestling match, again. Once the match was settled, I won, Mom went inside the store for a moment, so I went ahead and mounted up my camera. A few minutes later Mom came out laughing. Apparently our little scuffle had the store clerk and a few ladies inside scared. They were thinking about calling the cops... wouldn't that have been funny if the 5-0 showed up, lol.
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The cameras were ready, gear was on and we took off heading up the mountain. I took point as my mini sport-tour seems to turn and carry speed a bit better than Mom and Dad's "Oink Machine" (I had to). The link below is to the video.
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At the top of the mountain we pulled off at a small gas station next to the Lake View Restaurant. I have been by this place half a dozen times and I have never seen a lake up there, go figure. We topped of the tanks and headed back to the Blue Ridge Parkway to go north to Mabry's Mill. Once again the camera's were rolling. The video below is the first 6 min. of the ride. Enjoy a little Joe Satriani as you take in the view...
At the top of the mountain we pulled off at a small gas station next to the Lake View Restaurant. I have been by this place half a dozen times and I have never seen a lake up there, go figure. We topped of the tanks and headed back to the Blue Ridge Parkway to go north to Mabry's Mill. Once again the camera's were rolling. The video below is the first 6 min. of the ride. Enjoy a little Joe Satriani as you take in the view...
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(On a side note, I really need to find another online video hosting site. Youtube compresses the videos way too much)
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While we were heading down the parkway, trying not speed, which is rather difficult. Dad realized we were coming up on mile marker 178. 178 was his number when he raced MX back when 4 inches of travel was alot. When they used a rubber strap to hold a metal fuel tank in order to save weight and the handle bars were 4 feet wide. I joke with him about this, but really, I do have alot of respect for the riders back then. I have no idea how they rode those bikes that fast when they had so little... Oh yea, and my last racing number was 178 as well, when I ran 250B a couple times. So the number carries some sentimental value between us.
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But anyway, we pulled off at the marker to get some shots. After this we decided that from now on we have to stop at every 178 thing we see and get a picture of the bikes with it. The challenge has been set.
[Father like son, eh. Playing around with the camera for a new effect. I am sure Dad will post pictures of me setting this up.]-
From there we headed to Maybry's Mill, which is a nice little spot with loads of history. They have a little store and restaurant, however it was closed. So we walked around, did some reading and took a few shots.
We stopped for lunch after leaving the mill, then headed up the parkway further to Tuggles Gap so we could head down Hwy 8. This particular stretch of road is very fun, nice and clean and recently paved with some banking on a several of the corners. The cameras went back on for this, and I decided to face mine backwards again. I really like this video.-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX9ysCpKZvE
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After this stretch Dad and I just about collided when we decided to shut our cameras off at the same time with out warning each other. Squids...
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Off Hwy 8 there is another fun road, SR-40. So we hung a left and headed up it, we were in for a surprise. I had only been up this road once which was a couple years ago on Billy's VTX and the road was a blast. Not this time.
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It started out nice, it was smooth with only a few corners that had gravel in them. However, the further up the road we got, the thicker the gravel accumulation got. It didn't take long before I had lost complete trust in the road and started crawling around the corners. A mile or two later we came into a left hander that was covered in small gravel. As I was continuing to slow down I could feel the bike shifting on the rocks. I kept the bike where I wanted it and set up for the next corner. It was a complete wash out. Completely covered in rocks, I mean a rock short of a dirt road. Dad and I got the bikes through that section and the rest of the road with out any issues, but that road was then nicknamed rock-fest.
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We had left the cameras rolling for this road, so it was interesting to how everything turned out. Within that bad spot you can actually see the back end slide on me. It wasn't much of a slide, and you have to look close to see it. In the video I slowed it down and marked it. (That section is at the end)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn_BKhfkr7g
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From there we set a path home. Heading down 220 to what turned into 85 through Greensboro... We made it in before dark to knock out ~300 miles. Not bad for starting late and spending a good bit of time "flower sniffing."
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Hope you enjoy the videos. I will be linking Dad's blog entry on this ride to mine when ever he does his. If anyone has any suggestions a video hosting site that does not compress them as much, please let me know in the comment section. Thanks!
Once we got to the 176 intersection, we pulled off to get a few pictures at this nice looking park.
Turns out that the park was also a hoarse park, if you call it that. This included those jumping things and a show ring. (You can tell I know nothing about that sport)
Josh had a really good idea for picture with the stables. Put the bikes in a stable and caption it, "This stable has never had this many hoarses in it at once." I was close to doing it, but then some fancy looking people came by on a golf cart and they were eyeing the stables and rings. 