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!!

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:

It Went Like This

The conversation went a little something like this over the last couple of days.

Him:  Which truck do you want to drive to work on Friday.

Me: I don't care.  Which truck do you want to work on?

Him: I don't know.  Which one do you feel like driving?

Me: I don't really care.  Which one do you feel like working on?

Him: [questioning]  So you're going to make me decide.

Me: [exasperated]  It all depends on what on what you want to do...

And that was the gist of it for a couple days.  Friday dawns bright and late due to a middle night snore and kick fest.  So when the same line of questioning came up again this morning while I was getting ready for work, I had had enough. I quietly put on my riding gear, staging my own little revolt.  If he couldn't decide what work he wanted to do I wasn't gonna make him decide.

It was a GREAT ride.  I expected morning traffic and my usual stoplight mania.  No traffic and mostly green lights made it an absolute joy.  I guess I have been switching cars enough lately that I have fooled the stoplights.  They aren't recognizing me.  I know that will change soon, but I will enjoy it while it lasts.

My little bike is in the upper left corner...  The ride home was trouble free as well.  Tomorrow is predicted to be in the 60's.  YeeHaw!!!

Hope your weekend turns into something wonderful!

[Not So] Warm Springs

...trite and cliche.  I know.  But still a little cute.

Guess what?? 

WE COULD RIDE!!!

The snow is gone.  The roads are relatively clear.  Some cities were a little sand happy, but that probably wouldn't be the case with the direction we were traveling.  It was going to be smaller cities and farming communities where you still see 1970's Chevy pickups in driveways of mobile or cinder block homes.  Not exactly the Lexus and Mercedes communities with three quarter million dollar homes.  No.  The cities in our direction of travel don't warrant sand.

The day started like any other.  The temperature showed a balmy 29F (-1.7C).  But we should be hitting the tropical high of 46F (7.8C)!  Oh what a glorious day! 

The breakfast time of 9 AM and kickstands up time of 10 was ignored by all in the messages.  Everyone saw 10 and basically came at 10.  So we ate breakfast while the ride organizer/leader arrived promptly at 10:02.  :) 

One of the group realized he needed to put 10 lbs of air in each tire.  But he detests paying for air.  (I don't know about your area of the world, but air at gas stations is no longer free over here.)  He was going to bite the bullet until Mr. Oilburner pulled out his little air pump and all became right with the world.  Cold, but right.

In all, this started our day off about 45 minutes late.  Say it with me...as usual.  LOL.  :)

No matter.  I don't think anyone cared.  Some of us were suffering from PMS (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome) and just needed to ride and others were testing their cold weather survival gear as they hadn't ridden in the winter before.  (They were woefully lacking...)

Saddled up and ready to take off I had to verify the morning temp.  Yep.  It was still cold.


That sucker displays 32.9F (0.5C)


Now we are off for our adventure.  Which actually starts quite suddenly with some unexpected turns and immediately getting lost.  I am chuckling because the organizer was fairly stern in his warning that he was sticking to the route and everybody better have it programed in or printed out and learned.  Yet his little iPhone mapping/route wundermap (pronounce vundermap) was not following his admonishments.  Meanwhile, he is getting frustrated and trying to reroute while riding.  He's chucking it in and slows down to ask me if I would like to lead.  See, I had given him this route.  It was nearly identical to the route we three had taken last year to Warm Springs.  Only this time we would be riding it backwards.  The route, not the bikes!  Like a dutiful little anal retentive mapping person that I am, I had not plotted this route into the GPS.  He was going to have to do this on his own.  And he actually had us turned around and headed in the proper direction in short order.  But it is fun to tease him about it.

We're making good time down the road and our first break is about 60 miles out.  Someone in our group of 8 needed to use the restroom.

What is the old quote about women and always needing to pee?  She never passed a lilac bush without having to stop and pee?  I don't know, something I read in a Stephen King book one time or another.  Unfortunately, in some cases it is true.  Fortunately, not with me.  I have a bladder like a steel trap!  So I found it particularly funny that I am the only girl in this group of 8, and all 7 guys had to go to the bathroom.  Score one for the women of the world.  All the years we put up with humiliating exams.  Men over 50 it's your turn.

Those of us watching the bikes and personal property began to wonder where the others disappeared to after 5 minutes of minutes of waiting from them to return from the bathroom. I was told on questionable authority later that not all were using the facilities.  Some were purchasing hot coffee to warm their frozen fingers after their gloves proved deficient.  It might have been more productive if they had just dipped their frozen digits into the scalding coffee.  After all, holding the cups merely warms the palms; areas that aren't as cold as the outside of the hands!  Other gentlemen were making new best friends of the hot air dryer in the bathrooms.  Either way...they were still cold.

One pet peeve that I have been encountering more frequently lately is people leaving their bike at the pump and walking away!  Walk away to either go to the bathroom, get something to drink, chat, you name it.  And it is never for just a minute.  Stopping for gas in a group generally means 10 to 20 minutes of hanging out.  It just seems so inconsiderate to other people that need the pumps and to the gas station owner to deny access to other customers.  Does anyone else experience this?  So our little group was blocking access to 4 (out of 6) pumps while they were taking care of business...at Wendy's next door since the gas station facilities were out of order.

OK.  Female superiority intact, we head out again.  Only another hour till our arrival at Warm Springs.  First order of business?  Food!  Believe it or not, it had been four hours since breakfast!



Our motley crew


We headed directly for the BBQ shack.  They have limited seating in their establishment and we would not have left room for upcoming customers.  Or so we told ourselves.  They couldn't possibly have been profiling us as some die hard biker gang come to destroy their place.  Could they??  So we were shepherded into the adjoining steak house that wasn't opening until 5.  They allowed us to spread out on the HEATED, enclosed patio. 

Alan snuggled up to the heater, making a second new best friend of the day.

Grilled chicken with good flavor.  The BBQ improved it.  Slow baked bean side...yum.  Hey
it wasn't like we were in an enclosed car if I had any problems...

Mr. Oilburner's rib plate.  The Brunswick Stew was really good!

Tummies full and fingers relatively thawed we hit the rest of town.  Still being winter there wasn't much open at all.

Narnia nearby?

Warm Springs is becoming a little hotbed of bikers in the summer months.  And they are learning to cater to their our singleminded obsession with all things of two wheels.  The motorcyce museum has overflowed its interior space and has displayed their wares along any space available in the walking avenues.  Here are a couple examples that I stumbled across.



Lil Sturgis my foot!



Yamaha Midnight Spirit 1100

Honda 175

Honda CL70.  This looked so cute!

Triumph Bonneville.  Beautiful!

Couldn't find the model on thsi one.  ;-)

We have realized that the warmest portion of the day is upon us.  And it will only become colder from here.  The road home isn't long, but will be at highway speeds and higher wind chill. The group stays together for a long ways, but slowly new friends begin to peeling off and wave their goodbyes.  Some make them quick waves to keep their frozen digits out of the arctic slipstream we are creating.  But we maintain our contact with the leader since we have organized a post ride meeting at Sheridans with another friend.  Sheridans...Frozen Custard.  Are we stupid or are we complete geniuses?

That little temp gauge is reading 39.2F (4C) when we stop for frozen custard.

Our fourth party is sitting in traffic, still another 30 minutes away.  The breeze is a little stiff and we don't want to wait.  We check our options and think of the Thai place a couple miles down the road.  Dinner thoughts are lingering and we all agree that is better suited to our needs; a nice warm place with hot food!  This place is our favorite Thai restaurant, all organic and the owners are the nicest people.

Crispy Duck for Mr. Oilburner.  I manage to steal a few pieces.



Penang Curry for me.  Before

After


Dinner is great.  Company is festive.  Those of us on bikes manage to regain a little of our warmth.  We are reluctant to gear back up, but the sooner done the sooner we are home.  Luckily we are only 6 miles away.  Poor Alex has about 30 miles to traverse.  But he has a better hot tub waiting at home that I do.

Last temperature shot revealed a whopping 31.1F (-0.5C) at home. 

Stats:
237 miles, wonderful but cold
I managed to see 44F (6.7C) on the gauge...once...as we headed for home.  It was short lived.
The new Gerbing's jacket worked like a charm
Men can get lost in the bathroom just like women
Can still get a good ride in cold weather with some friends
More images at Warm Springs on Flickr
Roger, get one of these so you don't have to take it down the block in ATGATT to air up.  Slime Top Off.  Has some high reviews on ADV and sells for about $13 USD.

Hope everyone else has some great stories to share!  Our weather is taking a bit of a downturn this week.  Hopefully the weekend will look up.  :)