If You Can't Laugh At Yourself...

...you probably aren't riding your R1200GS.  After all, we are on the White Horse of the Apocalypse.   The Alpha and the Omega.  ;)

Where's my little "strongman" emoticon when I need him??

Video on the Blue Ridge

I had the most difficult time culling through hours of video, trying to whittle something down to just a few minutes.  How do you decide what stays and what goes from hours of perfect riding representing 3 great days into just minutes??  In the end I had to close my eyes and just start deleting clips at random.  I liked them all, but they just couldnt' remain.  I hope you enjoy it as much as Mr. Oilburner and I do/did/hope to do again.  :)

Blue Ridge Parkway from Love Of A Motorbike on Vimeo.

Motorcycle Marshaling for Multiple Sclerosis... part 2

I know better and yet I still do it. I post and then relax.  Now I have lost my rhythm and train of thought.  Hopefully I haven't forgotten much of the day.  :-)  I do appreciate your patience for bearing with me as I try and get back into the feel.

Sunday dawned slightly cooler than Saturday.  But the humidity was still pretty high, made that much worse with the slightly cooler temps.  We were still on our 6 AM track for breakfast and discussed our roles for the day.  Sunday sees a reprieve for the riders (moto and free wheel) with only two routes to choose from: the 35 mile and the 65 mile.  We don't need the three separate marshaling groups, so two groups have been combined to cover the 65 mile route.

Again, we line up in front of the bicycle riders in preparation of the starting countdown.

The crowds are gathering...

My position in our posse

We're ready to go

The hiccup today comes with the double countdown for the bicyclists to start.  It seems the marshal at the front of the pack couldn't quite hear the countdown and didn't take off at the appropriate time.  So the countdown had to begin again...  The rest of us marshals, in our enthusiasm, repeatedly laid into our horns trying to spur the front motorbikes on.  It eventually worked and we were all under way.

Our group was again assigned to the 65 mile route.  So the two groups rode to the second break point together.  It seemed like an incredibly long distance even though the speedometer was showing 20 miles.  The slightly chilly temperatures promoted ground fog along sections of the route that created this illusion of moving without going anywhere.

The route was quiet and I hoped the church going crowd wouldn't give our riders too much of a problem.  While most of the roads were wide there wasn't much space beyond that white line.  I guess I needn't have worried too much considering how the pedalers took up the lanes yesterday.  :-)

Waiting for the train

 The rest of the group

We reached the break point in good order, trying to figure out how to corral two teams into one well oiled surveillance machine.  I guess we needn't have worried about that.  Our leaders were informed that 90%  of the riders were taking the short route.  One of our groups needed to be reallocated to the 35 mile route.  That was us!  Ready for the challenge...no maps, no clue, but point us in the right direction!!  :-)

Come on, that is one good looking motorbike.  
(And that GQ looking guy in the background too...)

We hit the road following the actual route to reach the location where it spilled back into the shorter route.  I was amazed to see so many cyclists when we reached the merge location!  And it again turned into a "wait 5 minutes before the next person leaves" situation.  So our little posse sat at the intersection and slowly moved onto the roads to haunt the bicyclists.  

Early morning, short ride, cooler temps and there weren't too many problems on the roads.  More broken pedals, no cell coverage and the like, but the work was shorter and easier today.  No one wanted water or bananas.  It was easy!  I learned my lesson from yesterday and sat at the finish line for a couple minutes and munched some trail mix.  Then hopped onto the road to continue my duties.  Did I mention that it was an easy day?

I ran into my favorite couple a few miles from the finish line.  I kick myself every time I think about it, wishing that I had ridden them in, in a blaze of power, horn honking and blinding lights to signify what they had accomplished.  But I also carried some ice for a gentleman that was going to partake of some beverages at the finish line. 

Everything was wrapping up by 1 PM.  And we were given the choice of eating lunch in the pavilion with the riders...or going back to the last break point and enjoying some freshly barbecued hamburgers.  Seems like someone has been showing his appreciation by grilling some hamburgers for the riders at this last spot.  And boy were they delicious!!  (No pictures...too good to stop eating and fetch the camera.)

Roadkill Armadillo counting...netted two over my left shoulder...

Nothing left for us but to strike out for home.  We had offered to ride another member back into metro Atlanta and we tried to take the back roads for a majority of the distance.  It was a great weekend that was drawing to a close...

I learned a few lessons along the way this time:

• bicyclists tend to want more water and bananas on Saturday  (and cold bananas are well received)
• keeping yourself hydrated and nourished is extremely important - either put an hydration bladder in the back of my jacket or mount my camel back on the pelican case for easy access
• definitely benefit from a modular helmet on this ride to communicate with bicyclists and to eat/drink  (I am not fond of modular helmets, so would only wear it on these occasions)
• the saddle bags are handy, but having a cooler of some type strapped to the passenger seat makes access much easier.  Need a balance of size vs. internal space.
• need my accessory pack of tape, sharpie, first aid kit put together before each ride
• pester the leaders before the ride weekend for the break down of routes and print on small cards to laminate and put on lanyards.  (Previously we had contact phone numbers, which was invaluable!  Now it is also a good idea to put the route here too.)
• CB or Ham radio (license) is beneficial for communicating directly with leaders or event organizers...especially when cell coverage is spotty!!
• keep cool (in the summer) with a watered down hanky or one of those silicon beaded neckerchiefs
• stop for 2 seconds and take more pictures!!  (if nothing else, keep the point and shoot in the tank bag to stop in the middle of the road)  (oh yeah...take tank bag!)

Overall route:

  - green Saturday ~170 miles

  - cyan Sunday ~103 miles

  - magenta route to/from home ~200 miles

Wondering what the lame teaser was from the last post?  

VIDEO!!!

In case you still aren't sure if this is something you would/wouldn't like to do...have a look!

Motorcycle Marshal at Callaway Gardens from Love Of A Motorbike on Vimeo.

Double Trouble...

...but in a good way!!  I have a couple posts that I have been waiting for the video on.  One is together, so it will be bumped into a double day with something funny that came up suddenly.  Does that make any sense?  Probably not.

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"Glorious Green"

A friend read my Suburban Stoplight Hell post and informed me that he had just thing thing for me.  I didn't have a clue what he could have that would "help" me on my way through red lights.  I haven't heard of a civilian device that would allow me control over the stoplights.  But he refused to let me in on the secret and made me wait for snail mail to bring it to my door step.

Upon opening the package, I just about fell off the sofa laughing so hard it hurt my tummy.

Glorious Green by Rob R. Robinson

This is a fabulous little painting, obviously of a stoplight, with the green light this wonderful iridescent green coloring.  Yes, the title of this is "Glorious Green" and the artist wished me eternal green lights.  I just need to determine if I should hang this painting over the bike and hopefully it will absorb the good luck through osmosis.  Or if I should hang it above me to get the same??

Rob is a wonderful artist displaying his work in shows in the Portland/Albany/Corvallis (Oregon) area.  You can see his paintings at robrrobinson.com or his beginning treks along Oregon's scenic byways at Image Odysseys.  I love some of his future trips he has planned...and one day hope to ride those roads for myself.  And if any of you inmates ride these roads before me...please take pictures for me...

Thank You Rob!!  :-)

Now I can see a stoplight collection in my future.  You just had to plant the seed...

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Destination: Aska Rd

Aska Rd doesn't sound very exciting.  And the way it came about being a destination isn't too exciting either.  I wanted to ride Yellow Creek Rd again.  And Aska was near one of those tag game places and just looked like a great road!

We weren't going for a tag.  It was long gone from this location.  But the road was just calling my name.  And it didn't disappoint.

The hot and humid weather broke a little and gave us reasonable temperatures in the low 90's F with a relatively low percent humidity.  I know that 90's doesn't sound too low to most, but I was quite happy to have it.

The ride out was uneventful and completely peaceful.  There wasn't much traffic for Labor Day and the fall colors are on the cusp of coming.  Yellow Creek and Aska Rd are meandering byways mainly dotted with forest coverage, farming fields, grazing areas and a few houses here and there.  The sky was a deep blue with a few clouds scattered around.  The air was still and not oppressive. 

I finally took the plunge and adhered a GoPro mount to my Pelican.  I'm venturing out and starting to look for some new angles.  There was a difference of opinion in the household concerning the look angle: he thought it should point forward more; I didn't.  We compromised on a middle ground.  But from the video, I think it needed to be pointed farther out.

We hadn't eaten breakfast and decided to lunch at a crossroads location: Forno

I decided on the Gyro.  And was surprised with my selection of Chicken or Beef.  Aren't Gyro's supposed to be Lamb?  Surprising, not quite the same, but tasty nonetheless.  Mr. Oilburner took the Philly Cheesesteak.  MMMMMmmmm.  :)

We took out the mountain map to see the best route up and back again.

I really don't have any other photographs from the ride.  It was just too pretty of a day to stop.  The curves just beckoned us forward.

Reaching the end of Aska Rd had us in a pickle.  We could continue with the plan and ride East towards cities and traffic, or head back down Aska Rd and continue in solitude for awhile.  Solitude won.

Not wanting to completely back track all of our riding grounds we hooked a shortcut we knew from our four-wheeling days.  We knew this would involve some gravel road, but would clip our time and get us closer to our side of town.  The gravel road hadn't been graded in awhile...providing tremendous washboard bounces.  Maybe that has something to do with the recent shock replacement??  :)

So...no pictures, but some video that actually did turn out...eventually.  I tried to limit you the washboard exposure.  But gave enough to let you know it was definitely there.  :)

Destination: Aska Rd from Love Of A Motorbike on Vimeo.

Playing in the Twisties

There is a highway up the hills that I enjoy more and more as I gain more experience.  This little highway isn't too long, isn't too short, isn't too narrow, isn't too tight.  It is just right.  (Do I sound a little like Goldilocks here?)  The more I ride it, the more comfortable I am on it.  The more comfortable I am, the faster I can ride it.  Vicious cycle.  Lately I have been traveling north on this highway, which just happens to mean the twistiest part is uphill and on the inside.  Which I enjoy to no end.  I am pretty comfortable with it downhill, but haven't been running it in the direction lately.  Have a look and see if you think I enjoy this roadway enough?  I believe I picked a pretty cool song to go along with the ride, so turn up the volume.

North on Hwy 75/17 from Love Of A Motorbike on Vimeo.

This all started because we finally decided to take a ride with our favorite meetup group.  Mr. Oilburner involved us long ago with a great Meetup (.com) group in our area that embraces diverse riders, rides and riding styles.  The organizer is a great guy that can handle any situation and really can take charge if necessary.  I didn't ride with them when we initially joined up since I didn't feel experienced enough for group riding.  But we would regularly attend the weekly Coffee and Chats to shot the breeze.

That is all utterly useless information to you, isn't it?  Back to the story.  A ride was planned to run up to Hiawassee and see where we go from there.  It is a fairly uneventful ride with just some good, quiet roads.  Except for Helen...but I've already told you that a thousand times before.

Taking some time to cool of with refreshments and chats.

While my back was turned someone snuck a safety lanyard onto my GoPro.  He had actually accomplished this little task down near Atlanta and I am just noticing. So for those of you who have been concerned about the suction not holding, it now has a safety belt thanks to Fearless!  (Thank you, Fearless.)

The video above was taken minutes after leaving Helen.  I do enjoy that little highway.  We all sorta scattered and went at our own pace.  Some of us were held up a little by other riders.  But there were creative ways to deal with that at times.  :-)

The congregating point in Hiawassee was a little fuel station where we just stood around and waited for everyone to catch up.  The looming decision was lunch.  Hiawassee is rather small and doesn't have a large selection of fair.  Shoneys, Mexican or a steak buffet place was thrown out there, but no one really wanted to make a decision or vote.  So I squeaked up and just said Mexican.  Official vote of 1 ruled. 

It was a nice little place that we basically had to ourselves.  I believe everyone tucked in.  Conversation went the way all conversations go when you put a bunch of enthusiasts in a small area.  Some tales were told that may or may not be believable. 

Time to leave.  The watches said it was about 3 pm.  Two of the party needed to be home by 6. The leader said it was girls choice for the route home.  The three of us just looked at each other.  I was game for anything.  I didn't have time restrictions. Suggestions flew, no one bit. Like lunch, no one could decide on particulars.  One lady suggested a route that would have been great flying down the twisties on Hwy 60.  (Another mecca!)  But the distance would have made it too long a time. 

I finally piped up on a route I have taken quasi-reglarly.  I knew it would get us towards Atlanta by 6-ish and was full of twisties for the thrill lovers.  The leaders kept raising their eye-brows and giving side-long glances as I tried to explain the route.  They finally gave up and just told me I was being awarded leader status.

Here is video of the most playful portion of that route.  It also has some good music to ride along to.  Hope you enjoy.

West on Hwy 180 from Vogel from Love Of A Motorbike on Vimeo.

I think I managed to set a pretty good pace.  The gentleman behind me might have enjoyed going a little faster, but he wasn't pushing me.  Strangely, today it was mostly empty of traffic.  It was nice to enjoy without too much concern for vehicles.

Stats:
224 miles
Great riding with new and old friends
A little warm, but a good day

Riding by Waterfalls

We made plans to ride with a friend we hadn't ridden with for awhile.  We made the plans for Saturday.  And we went to bed way too late after my getting home late on Friday from Birmingham.  This made for one extremely grouchy BeemerGirl Saturday morning.

With the heat and humidity we all agreed it would be nicer to head out early and decided on an 8AM meeting point about 30 minutes from my house.  Eight?  Back up the clock here:

• 30 min to get there
• 20 min prior to lock the house, water the dog, gear up
• 30 min prior for showers and dressing and dashing around the house to gather clothing and gear
• 15 min prior to make sure the dog is up, fed and pilled in time for her morning constitution to take place so we don't have presents on the carpet

If I have to be there by 8, I have to get up at when??  6 AM??  I went to bed when??  1 AM??  This was gonna be difficult.

I woke up sore and a little stiff, but the warm shower worked that out.  The really good news was that the tush didn't quell at the sight of the saddle.  And for once I didn't need fuel immediately, so that meant I wasn't suiting up with that fine layer of sweat as lubrication to ride a mile down the road to half undress to fill the fuel tank.  Then fighting with gloves to convince them they needed to cover all of my hand, not just fingers and fleshy part where you are stuck because I am so sticky!!

No.  I was able to suit up with the requisite sweat and hit the road to try and cool off.  We reached the meet location and filled up there and we were soon underway, heading to points Northeast.  For speed and time we took the highway up and veered off to start the waterfall trail on some baby twisties.

I was doing good until the point we turned off the main road.  Mr. Oilburner asked if we needed a break and since I never really answered he took it as a sign to go forward.  But what actually happened was another 10 minutes down the road my legs started to feel cramped and were screaming at me to stretch them.  But it was too late.  We had hit the beginning of the twisties on these tiny little roads and Mr. Oilburner and Alex were off at a gallop.  Being a little befuddled and completely out of sorts I was approaching everything slower.  I was expecting some tiny farm animal or another to come bounding out of some yard or field at me.  And the turns?  Kudzu was covering the white lines of this tiny, barely two lane road.  Every turn showed me that I was working my way through this area at a turtle's pace compared to the two hares in front of me.  (I will use hare's because it isn't polite to say what I would really like to call them.)

So here I am, finally on Warwoman Rd.  And absolutely no opportunity to stop and document me...on Warwoman Rd!!  And the two knuckle heads are racing farther away by the second.  Then I realize I am on these wonderful roads in a gorgeous valley with great lighting.  Something Scooter in the Sticks would completely take advantage of.  Now I am losing ground AND missing out on this great opportunity to take pictures of my motorbike!!  Grouchy doesn't even begin to convey the mood that I am in.

Almost completely through the best part of the valley I decided to pull over and finally switch the GoPro on.  But it is really too late.  I still started the camera and continued on, but the scenery and lighting wasn't nearly as nice.

Grouchy feelings and ignoring querying over the scala Mr. Oilburner rightfully deduced that I was completely out of sorts.  Which kinda spoiled the road and scenery for a ways.  And it added nothing to the mood that the waterfalls were proving difficult to find. One just could not be found.  And the other one was only spotted by me, after passing.  To be fair, it was difficult to see and regularly had to be trimmed back for viewing.  But having to park in someones driveway was annoying.  Especially when they wanted out!

 You can only see this thanks to the trimming.

Avert thine eye's grandmother.  Here I am in one of my cranky moments. Mother, you can look since you taught me this when I was 4 y/o.  :)

Giving my best FYYFF pose and showing my feelings.

I know that I was a royal pain in the ass and appreciate that Mr. Oilburner and Alex put up with my bad temper admirably.  After a few minutes of walking around and seeing the fabulous waterfall I was a mite better and we continued on.  Only a couple miles down the road is the wonderful artsy town of Highlands, NC.  One of those places that tries to showcase local stuff with this wild flare and charge outrageous prices.  This did result in another dismount only minutes after sweating back into our clothes, but Mr. Oilburner promised me ice cream.

Once I was happily working my way into a scoop of coconut ice cream (YUM!) we started trolling the shops along main street.  We did all the window shopping we desired, with some strange looks from the proprietors.  See, this is supposed to be a nice, rich, vacation area and they expect people to dress appropriately.  We are these clean cut people walking along the street in riding pants and boots and helmet hair.  Oh well.  They'll get over it.  There wasn't too much we were interested in, or could afford, anyway.  Alex and I were enamored by the balancing metal yard art, but felt the 4 foot, metal pole wouldn't do well to transport by motorbike.

Now that I am stuffed with ice cream and mad at myself for giving in and eating it in the first place, we head back to the bikes to continue on.  With parking at a premium in this town motorbikes will tend to congregate together and we found this parked next to me...

Search and Rescue Harley Davidson.  No, I will not comment on what they might have been "searching" for...being that it was a Harley.

Just down the road is our second waterfall.  Well known in these parts, Bridal Veil Falls, actually spills over the roadway, giving vehicles access to drive behind the falls.  Of course, this makes for much lolly-gagging and gawking.  In my mind I had always pictured the fall on a side street or turn off from the main road.  In reality, it is right on the road with just a little lay of pavement to make the detour behind it.

  Lots of cars/people and I didn't want to mess with it.  This is the best shot we could get.  Mr. Oilburner didn't want a picture.

We hopped back into the groove and made our way to the next fall, Dry Falls.  No, they weren't dry.  But we didn't go see it owing to the new large decking and steps.  We assumed it was going to be a bit of a walk/hike.  We were not up for that in our riding clothes and the day was turning out to be warm.  Heading towards home later in the day I discovered that there was a jut to the walking platform that probably gave a good view of the falls that was within steps of where we had parked.  Just goes to show you how annoyingly impatient and stupid we can be.

On the road again...  This time to our final lookout of Cullasaja Falls.

Cullasaja Falls

One of the best parts of these falls/this area is the road.  Tiny, narrow, shear rock walls on your side, baby twisties out the wazoo, long views into tree-covered valleys.

Beautiful valley dead ahead.

Sheer rock cliffs hugging the road, and narrow lanes.

Just to give you a little scale of these rocks.

We did pass the falls parking area.  Not a problem considering the size of the parking area and the blind curve just ahead.  It was only a mile or so down the road and we were able to turn around.  Check out this deteriorating parking pad that will accomodate about 2.5 cars.

Parking pad for the falls.

My baby.

Unless you wanted to be a billy goat for a few hours and attempt the [illegal] path down to the falls there wasn't much to do here.  We sat around on the rails, stretched our legs, posed for the camera and just chatted and laughed.  People came and went and we waved to the myriad of bikes and bikers on the road passing us by.  Time to suit up, though, and a family with young children had just stopped.  The boys were about 5 and 7 and more enamored with the bikes then the falls.  One just wanted to be part of the scene and wished us a "good ride" as he hopped back to their car.  Cool kid.

The jagged heart and shininess caught my eye.

I later comprehended the leaf being strangled in the background.

We suited up and determined it was hot and time to point the bikes towards home.  But there were many good roads between here and home; including the border hwy between North Carolina and Georgia of 246/106.  This isn't one that you can easily speed on since there is slower traffic.  But hairpin turns and 10% downhill grades can make for some fun.  I was actually able to capture a little of this on video.  

The roads were wonderful all the way home.  We took most of the ones less traveled and were regaled with some interesting sites of summertime redneck activities.

The one bridge that did not post signs of "No Jumping or Fishing from Bridge." 

So what do people do?  Jump from the bridge, of course.

There are a few more pictures that can be viewed on flickr.

Stats:

279 miles

1 extremely grouchy BeemerGirl early in the day that didn't take many pictures

many baby twisties to play in, only one car on my side, this trip

Bad, Bad Video

You know the expression "A face only a mother could love"?  Well, these videos are footage only a mother could love.  I shot this a couple months ago while my brother was in town riding with us.  It is crappy video taken on a camera that was never meant to be affixed to a motorbike.  It could not handle the engine vibration or the windshield.

Watch these videos at your own risk!!  I will not be responsible for replacing your keyboard if you vomit on it due to motion sickness.  You are on your own with hearing specialists, hearing loss and hearing aids due to the loud engine noise.  Please look away if the shakes get to be too much.  Please turn the volume on your speakers down!!

These are meant for mother and grandmother to see so they can watch Brother ride.  And proof that I didn't kill him, nor coerce him into riding.

For all others, this is a small, very small, portion of Hwy 60 north of Dahlonega, GA.  It is the small section between the Hwy 19 split and Woody Gap.  Hwy 60 is one of many attractive roads for motorbikes, sports cars and suicidal bicyclists.

Click for Video 1

Click for Video 2

Click for Video 3

Again, you have been warned...

Off-roading an RT

The title isn't quite as fancy or drastic as it sounds, but I still get a kick out of watching the RT spew gravel.  Mr. Oilburner assures me that he was completely in control, despite how it looks on the video.  Given his many years of off-road riding I would tend to believe him.  But who catches air with an RT?!?!  ;-)  Beware, there is the sound of my little sewing machine engine...don't blast your ears off.

Big hugs and thanks to DaviMack for pointing me to VideoSoft video editing and dubbing software.  Worked like a charm!!