Trading Spaces

Have you ever experienced one of those perfect spring days when the weather will reach a soul warming 80F (27C), the sky will be the perfect shade of deep blue with high, billowy clouds that are pushed on their way with a breeze that just kisses your skin?  Yeah.  That was Saturday.

Is it blasphemous to the motorbike guardians to actually not hop on the bikes?  I hope not.  The day was perfect.  But is just didn't feel like the day to go anyplace.  We stayed home, did some yard work and lazed around in the sun.  I did try to appease the sun angels by using their handiwork and baking some apple pies for a party on Sunday.

My first time making apple pies.  What do ya think?  They were very, very good...

Sunday was an entirely different story with low clouds and temperatures hovering around 55F (13C).  The BMW Club meeting and monthly ride was scheduled.  Given that we haven't attended a meeting OR a ride with the club in the year and a half that we have been members we felt maybe we should go.

If that were the entire reason, we could easily have made some excuse to ourselves not to go.  However, the annual club rally is next month.  And the meeting location was the rally spot.  And we just wanted to remind the powers that be that we still have the club trailer in our back yard.  It isn't likely to turn into an "outta sight, outta mind" type of thing, but we wanted to be sure.

How did we wind up with the club trailer?  Well...the trailer was stolen a couple months ago.  It wasn't in a very secure facility, and even with a hitch lock the thieves pulled right up, hooked on and drove away.  There was good video of the theft.  But not good enough to identify the vehicle or the perpetrators.  So they purchased another and are restocking it.  We are centrally located to most of the members that would be involved in the restocking.  So we offered the storage space until the rally.  See?  We can be nice.  :)

Our decision to ride wasn't hindered by the fact that the ride was going through some of the mountain twisties too.  I was game, but Mr. Oilburner was chomping at the bit!

There was only going to be one new road for me on this trek: Hwy 348, better known as the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway.  This is another one of those roads that I had been dreading avoiding.  It is twisty, tight, open overlooks and I generally hear stories of gravel on it.  Turns out today was no exception considering there had been ice recently and they had laid down the gravel.  Some people had scouted it out and said it wasn't too bad, just be aware of it.  That really doesn't do anything to allay my fears.

The initial meeting point is in Dahlonega, about 1.5 hours from our house.  Along the route we see many motorbikes, and an increasing percentage are BMW's.  We finally catch up with one that has been on the horizon for miles.  It is a great 1980 R65 with a fairing the size of a sail on those Olympic Yngling sailboats.  He falls into our formation bumping our twosome up to an official posse.  After a couple more miles one of those fast and sexy "S" bikes came tearing through our little group.  The little R65 floundered into the right lane, trying to clear a path.  Mr. Oilburner waivered a little.  I, being the leader, held my ground and refused to give way.  The little "S" bike feigned submission and moved right to pass.  He took a good look at me, marking my helmet and eyes for memory, so he could flag me down for future trouncing.  :)  He continued down the road while we took a left.  It was in the back of my mind to follow him, thinking he might know a good shortcut.  I should have followed.  He did.

Look at the sail fairing on that R65!

Here is the little "S" bike that caught us up.

We pulled into the parking lot of a place called Riders Hill and it looked like a BMW convention.  I guess it was.  :)

For the people, it was a meeting of old friends, and some new.  For the bikes, all I can say is that I am glad they are not like puppy dogs in their need to sniff derriere's for greetings.  There would have been lots of taillight wagging and oil puddles everywhere!  Might have looked like a parking lot frequented by Harley's!

Despite yesterday being in the 80's F (27C), today's was mid-50's with low, dark clouds and a chill wind.  The weather wizards were conjuring some possibility for isolated showers.  My winter jacket wouldn't be a problem.  But my mesh riding pants might.

Everything is A-OK on the road.  Boy it is great to be on the bike!!  The standard roads are in great shape.  The Richard B. Russell Parkway does indeed have quite a bit of gravel at the high points.  But my outright glee in riding this road will not occur on this trip.  My excitement of being on this road is squashed by my fanatical search for gravel in every curve.  All but the highest peak was older asphalt where the gravel blended in perfectly.  So my speeds were tempered by my fear of that rear tire slipping out.  (Thankfully the guy in front of me was actually a little more cautious than I was.  No one noticed my chickenshit-ness.)

The actual distance separating Dahlonega and Hiawassee is about 48 miles (77 km) by the most direct route.  But who wants to do that when you are on a wonderful steed and almost have the roads to yourself?  We went north to go east to go southeast to go north.  But they are all such fun roads!  :)  The sticking point was the car that insisted on a speed limit ride through the twisties on Hwy 17.  Most of the group managed to pass him at the first passing lane.  But he wasn't about to let us last four by.  No matter.  It's all good being on the bike.


View Larger Map

Lunch is at this little restaurant on the lake.  We see evidence of the high winds with flags flying at full length and white caps on this little inlet of the lake.  We are warm inside with some spirited discussions and good food.  And this is where I learned what an RTE is.

For anyone else as underprivileged as I am, an RTE is a "Ride to Eat".  This is an arena for people that LOVE long distance riding.  A site is selected for a lunch or dinner and everyone is invited. People will routinely ride 500 miles (800+ km) one-way to meet for lunch.  Then ride home again.  Just not sure if that is something I'm terribly interested in right now.  I have heard many people use this as the route for their Iron Butt rides.

We wrap things up and lunch has run long.  Mr. Oilburner and I opt to ditch the club meeting and head for home.  We have two and a half hours to accomplish the two hour ride home, make ourselves presentable, feed and scratch the pup and get to a party.  We don't believe in wasting a minute of a day by sitting and twiddling our thumbs. 

The day has never really warmed up.  And my single layer winter jacket and cotton short sleeve shirt is barely keeping the cold at bay.  In half hour stints it is not a problem. But we haven't stopped for an hour and a half.  All this while Mr. Oilburner still brings up his desire for me to ride his bike and it was here that I did the unthinkable...

I actually traded bikes with Mr. Oilburner... 

I figured it was only 40 more miles home, all interstate, few turns.  There couldn't be any harm.  After trading bikes we are back up to highway speeds when we realize that this is also the longest distance Mr. Oilburner will have ridden my "R" bike.  We settle into our new mounts and discuss the differences.  First?  My butt is flipping WARM!!  Wow!!  Heated seats are nice!!!  I just might spring to have a new seat made for my bike with the heating element included.  Second?  For being the same basic bike, these bikes are nothing alike!  We are already aware of the gearing difference allowing the RT to "cruise" better at higher speeds (better meaning fuel economy).  But the clutch is so much smoother, with shorter travel for engagement and the brakes are extremely touchy!  Third.  Seating is quite different. On the RT I feel like I am sitting "on" the bike.  The rider seems to sit lower on my R, hugging the tank a little more.  On the RT I seem planted and slightly disconnected from the feel of the bike.  It could just take some getting used to though.  Fourth.  The fairings that curve around behind the cylinder heads (in front of the pegs) are absolutely in the way when putting the legs down for stops.  Mr. Oilburner assures me that you become accustomed to it but I can't be so sure.  :)

As for Mr. Oilburner on my R? I make him ride in front so I can be sure that he isn't popping wheelies on my baby.  He rides it in a civilized manner but did open her up a little when passing me.  My bike is almost 100 lbs (45 kg) lighter than the RT and he definitely notices the "sportiness".  He said he finally understands what I love about the bike.

We are both able to appreciate each others bike, they have some great qualities.  But we both dismount with a better regard for our own bikes.  To each his own.  I am glad I rode the RT.  And will probably ride it again.  When I don't have to share my R with Mr. Oilburner.  :)

We arrive home, redress, collect the pies and are only 30 minutes late to the low country boil...  Eat your hearts out, because this was GOOD!!

Uh. Duh!

Cell phones, laptops and PDA's are so prevalent in our "advanced" society.  Does anyone remember that our species has survived thousands of years without 100% connectivity to Facebook, Twitter or work email?

As motorbike pilots (hehe), I'm sure each of us has been a little more aware that something has been getting worse while navigating our metropolitan streets.  For those of you that have been riding for 10 or more years, or rode 20 years ago, you probably see a huge difference in driver attention today.  Speaking for myself as a newer rider, driver distractions have always been on my mind during my riding tenure.

Image taken from web.

I am particularly disheartened when I'm sitting at a stop light and count the number of drivers turning left in front of me on their cell phones.  My counts have been increasing over time.  It started with an average of 30% talking on the phone a couple years ago.  Today the percentages are a higher 60%.  I realize these counts are a snapshot in time.  But it is only a snapshot in time for someone to be focused more on the conversation than the road, and something bad happens.

Image taken from web.

I'm concerned at our society's fixation with their cell phone.  We have all heard the stories of being out to dinner and everyone at the next table over is texting, not talking to each other at the table.  Or walking through the supermarket and think the person walking in the other direction has said something to you.  When you turn to inquire you realize they are talking on the cell phone with their invisible Blue Tooth headset tucked into their ear, like some brainwave antenna.  Mr. Oilburner experiences people on his commuter bus just chattering away on the phone, loud enough that the entire world hears their side of an inane conversation.  Etiquette of soft talking in respect for those around you seems to be gone.


Do you think the "No Phone Zone" and "No Phone Pledge" are enough? 

Mobile etiquette getting worse, not better

(Reuters) - Whether is it texting during dinner, talking on a cellphone in a public restroom or using a laptop while driving, most people think mobile etiquette is getting worse, not better.

Ninety one percent of U.S. adults questioned in a new poll by computer innovation company Intel said they have seen people misuse technology, and three quarters think mobile manners have decreased in the past year.

"New digital technologies are becoming a mainstay in consumers' lives, but we haven't worked out for ourselves, our families, communities and societies what all the right kinds of behaviours and expectations will be," said Genevieve Bell, the head of interaction and experience research at Intel.

The poll of 2,000 adults revealed that most U.S. adults wished people practised better mobile etiquette and found the lack of cellphone manners extremely annoying, even though about 20 percent admitted to poor etiquette themselves.

Nearly 75 percent said the lack of mobile manners has created a new form of public rage and 65 percent admitted they became angry around people who misused mobile devices.

The most annoying behaviours were the use of mobile devices during driving, followed by talking on a cellphone loudly in a public place and walking in the street while texting or talking on the phone.

People reported seeing, on average five mobile offenses every day, according to the poll. Nearly a quarter said they had even seen someone using a laptop while driving, and one in five said they checked their mobile devices before getting out of bed in the morning.

It Was a Goldilocks Kind of Day

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was...

Wait a minute!!  What am I saying?  It was the best of times!!  Today was going to be beautiful and we were hopping on the bikes for a very long ride.

Yeah, the day started chillier than expected.  Much chillier.  The thermometer read 33F (0.5C) at 7:30 AM.  Brrrrr!  Especially knowing that it would soon be nearing the 70F (21C) mark.  Bed was too warm and comfy to get up for that.  So we took our time waking up and getting out.  But get up we did and hit the road.  Road construction had us thinking up creative ways to get to the other side of Atlanta.  And a fuel stop turned into some good-natured ribbing.

In case you haven't been listening, I live in Georgia.  :)  And Georgia isn't flat.  So when stopping for fuel, or anyplace really, I will generally try to exit the facility so that I can turn right.  Just makes life easier and less dangerous.  Sometimes you do have to make those lefts, but I attempt to mitigate them.  And I also try to avoid having to start moving on an up hill.  Dry clutch and all that.  (You do believe me, right??)

The entire time we're fueling up I'm weighing my exit strategy options in my mind.  If we exit the one we came in we can turn right (safety) but will immediately need to turn left at the intersection to enter the freeway on ramp.  But if we use the other exit we are more likely to have a green light to directly enter the on ramp, but I will have to turn left out of the gas station AND start on an uphill.

With all these heavy decisions going through my head, I haven't mentioned any of this to Mr. Oilburner.  But I decided to try on my big girl panties and headed for the uphill exit.  All turns, stops, starts and lights are executed flawlessly.  As soon as we are out of the lot, not even through the intersection yet, Mr. Oilburner admits his wonderment at my choice of leaving the exit I did.  (Sometimes he knows me too well...)  I had to admit to him that it was an internal debate that I had struggled through.  He had a good laugh at my expense.  I'll get even...

Today we are headed towards Providence Canyon State Park.  It's one of those places that is just on the cusp of needing to be an overnighter if you go there, by any mode of transportation.  It is about 3 hours away, by slab.  But there is so much to see and do and hike and what-have-you that it makes for a stupendously log day if there is an automatic 6+ hour travel time.

Unfortunately, I have had this particular bee in my bonnet since autumn.  It's south and is very, very, warm in the summer and I wanted to get down there before it became too hot.  I was also hoping for some photo ops on the quiet back roads.

Awhile back I read on someone's blog (I wish I could remember who) about the camaraderie of motorbike riding "back in the days."  It was a thought provoking little piece of when there was a time when you, as a lone rider, could hook up with another rider on the road.  Swoop in to be the wing man, share a nod, the road and some miles.  When it was time to split up, a nod or a wave acknowledged the appreciation of this forged bond and it was back to singleness.

I had the thrill of being able to experience this today.  One of my times looking in the mirror I saw another bike behind Mr. Oilburner, falling right into formation.  I assumed he would be passing soon and didn't give it much thought.

He didn't pass...

There wasn't much traffic, but every so often I would switch lanes to pass someone.  I took our new friend into account and only changed lanes when he was clear.  I also tried to keep us moving and his tail clear of rushing cars.  He was in sync immediately, moving lanes as soon as I turned my signal on showing my intent.  And since he remained with us for 80 miles he must have enjoyed our pace.  Imagine a big, pretty Harley Dyna voluntarily filling in our little BMW pac.

For a very long time Mr. Oilburner and I speculated on his intentions.  Was someone all the way on the other side of the world, who knew where we were going and had access to Mr. Tell-Tale, my SPOT track, having us followed?  Was this guy following us to conk us on the heads at the next stop and steal one of our bikes?  Conspiracy theories abounded.  Especially when he stayed with us through a freeway change to a lesser traveled thoroughfare.  After the theorizing stopped we settled in for the camaraderie.  There was only a small pang of disappointment that he didn't follow us down the off-ramp to relieve our 100 mile saddle soreness.  It would have been nice to share stories over a soda.  I guess that is just part of the romance of the open road.

Ferocious little beast trying to steal my M&M's.

By this time we realized that we had left lunch on the kitchen counter.  We weren't thrilled with the prospect of going into town to get anything.  So we decided to see if the convenience store at this gas station had anything deli-like to offer.  Not much luck for anything that looked good, but we settled on a couple hot dogs and a box of wings.  It was only another 30 miles of empty back roads to our first destination, Florence Marina State Park.

Ah....so peaceful!!

Ok, faithful friends.  This is what middle Georgia looks like...

Ok...if you have looked at a map...that is actually Alabama over the waterway.  But the view behind me is fairly similar.  :)

We enjoyed the sounds of the birds, watching the squirrels and listening to the occasional boat on the water.  We took some time for a couple photo ops of the bikes under the Spanish Moss.  Since I wasn't willing to do the dirty deed of putting the bikes on grass where this is no parking...I let Mr. Oilburner be the one to garner any dirty looks.  Since there weren't many people about it wasn't an issue.

Providence Canyon is only 8 miles down the road.  And we are treated with the splendid sight of two C-17's crossing our path; huge and cumbersome on the ground but so powerful and graceful in the air.  Such a rare treat to see two in flight.

Arriving at Providence Canyon with full tummies on a warm and quiet day has us thinking of a nap.  Why not take advantage of it?  We find an empty parking lot and prop the bikes in the shade.  Ourselves as well.  Mr. Oilburner sets to sawing logs, but my mind is wandering.  I take a few pictures of the world from ground level.  I listen to the birds.  I hear the people walking along the paths.  The cars buzz by.  And the I hear the first "Plane of Summer."  The high and far off plane with that perfect drone marking SPRING for me. AAAAHHHH!!!  Mixed feelings that winter is going away and summer will be here too soon.  But right now is absolutely perfect.

It's nearing that time when we need to think of heading home.  I stroll along the canyon rim path for a few shots while Mr. Oilburner folds the blanket.  Honestly, how far can you hike in armored pants and riding boots?  I didn't travel far.

We decided on a more direct route home instead of back tracking the way we came.  Only more direct equals longer time as it will be along the back roads; a 4 hour tour compared to a 3 hour blur.  I start seeing signs for other landmarks that were also on my hit list.  But we are out of time for today.  Until we pass a sign for Plains, GA and I asked Mr. Oilburner if he wants to see The Peanut, one of those ludicrous weird landmarks that we enjoy collecting.  So we did.  :)

The back roads home were gorgeous.  We passed through smoky valleys filled with the aroma of burning wood.  We floated through quiet neighborhoods where the smell of back yard barbecues wafted on the breeze.  We passed through small towns where the sidewalks were being rolled up for the evening.  We waved to families sitting on front porches watching the cars speed by.  We exclaimed about hearing the Spring Peeper frogs in the swamp through our helmets and over the engine noise.  Nearing the major metropolis the slow life dwindles and we jumped on the freeway to make some time getting home.

We parked our steads in the garage a little before 9PM.  Luckily these steeds don't require feed and watering after their rub down.  Our trusty steeds had carried us 410 miles (660 KM) in the last 9 hours.  They received well deserved hugs and pets.  Then we left them in a dark garage for a little slumber.

More pictures from the day can be viewed at Flickr.

And our track:

Hey. Maybe Just a Smile.

It's been weighing heavily on my mind that I haven't been doing any solo riding lately. The last solo ride that really sticks out in my mind is my Savannah trip in Nov 2009. That was a long time ago...

Why don't I ride on my own more?  Well, I have one of those more unique situations in that my husband also rides.  Therefore I have a built in riding partner.  And since we don't work weekends we don't have any scheduling conflicts.  Many people with standard riding partners have to negotiate a ride destination, meet location, meet time, wrap up time, etc.  We merely wake up in the morning, look at each other and ask "Where do you want to go?"  Of course, I should point out that this doesn't automatically make life easier and give us all the answers.  Quite often the response from one of the other of us is "I don't know.  Where do you want to go?"

The point is that 99% of the time I have an automatic riding partner.  It is difficult to say that I want to ride to ride alone today.  Generally I enjoy his company and don't necessarily feel compelled to ride alone.  However, I believe it is very important for women to ride alone every once in a while.  Of course, some of my female blog buddies don't have a choice.  SonjaM jumps immediately to mind as a strong female rider who regularly rides solo for various reasons.

Mr. Oilburner and I belong to a couple of riding groups.  Not necessarily to ride with, but definitely to get together to chat with and relive wonderful or harrowing riding moments.  But I belong to one other that Mr. Oilburner doesn't, and that is a women only group.  I have only been on one ride with them and enjoyed it.  It is liberating to remove the testosterone from the equation. While walking around at our destination, or eating lunch, we giggled and had the chance to get a little catty, but in a nice way.  :)  Just being with girlfriends that all happen to ride.

On a regular group ride I have typically been the only girl, or the only girl riding my own bike.  To be honest I actually take pride in that at times.  I don't ride with a "soft" crowd and enjoy being "one of the guys."  Tough enough to hang out with this crowd without them having to tailor rides to my riding abilities or slow down for me.  Sometimes that is scary as I push my limits.  But it also helps me to grow.

I grew up a tomboy.  I climbed trees, rolled in the mud with the dogs and felt fidgety when put in a frilly dress.  I can hold my own in most male pissing contests, figuratively speaking.  But I do have the inkling that they may still be holding back a little around me.  I think the boys can get much raunchier when they get together then us girls give them credit for.  So sometimes I may "cramp" their style a little.

All of this helps to round out my riding experiences.  But there is something important to riding alone.  I knew this as I was learning to ride and forced myself outside of my comfort zone.  My very first solo ride occurred after work one day.  I wanted to overcome my fear of rush hour traffic, riding alone and riding alone in it.

I'll let you in on a little secret.  I was not one of those people that just hopped on my first bike and immediately started riding 50 miles.  A four mile day had me worn out from the stress of turns and cars and stops on hills.  My "practices" including riding down one of three neighborhood roads to the church parking lot.  The lot literally circled the church.  Eureka!  No U-turns!  :)

By the time of my first solo ride I was probably up to 40 miles rides.  Big whoop now, but that was huge back then.  So I saddle up, with butterflies in my tummy, and realize I need fuel.  Yay...  :(  There is nothing like self-imposed pressure to not fuck up when witnesses are around.  And we usually fail at looking cool or being inconspicuous.  This was my first, and so far only, time that I have forgotten to put the kickstand down on my bike.  (Thank goodness it was the crappy Suzuki.)  While Mr. Reipe has written more eloquently about his experience, I only strained the muscles in my back successfully preventing an all out drop.  I managed to save the bike and learn two valuable lessons.  One:  Remember to PUT THE DAMN KICKSTAND DOWN! Two:  If the bike is going over LET THE DAMN BIKE GO!

Ok.  In 99% of the situations that may be good advice.  I can think of a couple where self-preservation will kick in and prevent your brain and body from giving up. One: your gonna go ass over tea kettle down a slope.  Two: your inexpensive little bike going down will go right into a very expensive bike or car that is worth more than your life.  I decided to screw the fuel and continue on my way.  I would probably only be going 5 miles anyway...

I survived the journey with one other near drop negotiating a u-turn. Once you mess up it really can be difficult to clear your head and convince yourself it isn't going to continue on like this.  But I did survive and learned many valuable things.  I love that it teaches me that I am stronger, mentally, than I think and that I can actually accomplish what I set my mind to.  (Now if I could recognize that I can do this for others things in my life!)

Back to the present. Circumstances aligned and i was going to be left to my own devices a weekend or so ago.  The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, I couldn't not go for a ride.

Where to go??

Unfortunately, I am one of those destination oriented people.  I love the journey, but need to have a destination to travel towards.  I don't have to actually make it to the destination, but it gives me a direction.  And I couldn't think of one darn place that I wanted to go.  The Georgia Tag was 600 miles (966 km) round trip away.  The North Georgia Tag was in some heavy-duty dirt.  And I didn't want to go to the motorcycle show in Greenville, SC.  Dilemma.

I forced myself to the group breakfast for the people meeting to ride to Greenville for the show.  I know that if I didn't actually leave the house that the chances were very good that I wouldn't leave all day.  Breakfast was good, having the chance to catch up with someone I hadn't see for a year.  And there was some good-natured ribbing of someone and his pink phone.  Everyone tried to shame me into riding to Greenville.  The pressure was very easy to resist.  

There was still the problem of "where to go" as I watched the troop ride off.  I'm pretty sure most people have a "fallback" location they come up with when asked to quickly identify a favorite place, off the top of their head without thinking.  What would you name?  My fallback location is Homer, Georgia.  I just like the name and all of the roads leading to it.  Homer it is.

I jumped on the interstate just to clear the jumble of stop lights and people of the city.  But I jump off the interstate at a location that will take me into the rural areas.  I keep an eye on the GPS just to steer me in the correct direction, but not dictate how to get there.  Since I don't ride alone regularly, I have found there is a "clearing" process that takes place.  Suddenly that "little voice inside my head" that is Mr. Oilburner is gone.  I am going to have to do my own thinking!  What do I want to think about??  But relaxing into the ride is easy.  Just let the mind wander in its thoughts and enjoy the scenery.  Today, the struggle to decide to stop and install my liner to combat the windchill is my struggle alone.  Don't get me wrong, this also isn't easy.  I am stubborn and can be even more stubborn when it is myself I have to fight with.  :)

It turns into a successful day.  I stopped to put my jacket liner in and was happily surprised to find myself here:

If I hadn't stopped I wouldn't have recognized it, traveling in the direction that I was.  If I hadn't stopped I would not have taken the unknown road to the East.  If I hadn't taken the Eastern road, I wouldn't have come across the church house:

I rode through Homer and just started making my way home again.  I turned into all of the back roads.  Saw McMansions next to burned out husks of old homes.  I saw Spring Daffodils and men on their John Deere garden tractors tilling their land.   I saw young kids playing in front yards.  And I didn't once have a Stephen King moment.

Yeah.  It was a good day to reconnect with myself and force myself to make my own decisions.  But I was also responsible for this relaxed and tranquil girl that was headed home with a smile on her face.

I Think It's Fair

It's only fair.  I get an accessory for my bike in the Hugger.  Mr. Oilburner gets this pretty little fender extender.  It seems to serve the same purpose as the Hugger: prevent rock flingin' from the tire.  His little extender is more for the benefit of others riding or driving behind.  Mine is a little more selfish in mostly protecting my shock.  His is plastic, mine is carbon fibre.  His cost $39 US, mine was only 8 times more.  :)  I think it's fair.

The installation looked difficult and even came with an installation manual.  (?!?!)

Insert extender into the existing fender.

Insert screw.

Tighten screw.

Done.