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Friday May 27th
Last day of the trip. Wives were expecting us home. I'm sure the grass was at least 2 feet tall by now!
Grabbed our gear and loaded up the bikes early.
It must've rained good the night before because, even with the the temps warming up everything was still soaked. Looking out towards the mountains. Things looked cloudy
We made our way back towards the BRP. Although it was bright out. I still kept a worried eye peeled for those damn deer!
The ride back to the parkway seemed a lot quicker this time! We had a lot of miles to go still so we didnt waste anytime. It didnt take long for us to pickup our speed.
Weather in the mountains was great. Sunny but a little cool. Way better than we'd seen for the area on the news the night before. We'd take it while we could. We could still see dark clouds all around us.
We rounded a corner at a pretty good clip when I came very close to dumping the bike. My friend way ahead, wouldn't have missed me for some time.
Here's what I saw:
Followed by:
At the second sign, I grabbed a handful of brakes! The good old BMW has some good stopping power and I stopped right away.
There was no way I was going to not be taking pics of these signs! I pulled around to go back to take my pictures. Oppps. A little too wide on the turn. That grass wasnt just wet...It was like soft mud. The bike sunk right in and I damn near went down! She wiggled and I held on and made it back to pavement.
Anyway. I jumped off and ran to the signs to take my pictures. Gotta love the sense of humor the sign maker must've had on the first sign. I sure wish we could see some of these in our area!
Knowing my friend was way ahead, I turned on the GoPro and gave chase. DAMN does the video sound good! That boxer engine is so quite but when I pushing it, it sounded great!
Before long we reached the end of the parkway. No big signs or banners just the entrance to the Skyline drive. Now it had been in our plans to do this run as well, but with the clock ticking and already way behind schedule we decided to skip itWe have a mission for next year now though!
We exited the BRP and made our way to get some fuel and food.
We pulled off at the first place we saw with signed and loaded up.
This place was nice. Food was okay. I had a turkey dinner and it tasted almost as good as my wife makes.
While we were eating there must've been a barbershop quartet or something because these guys all started singing. Gotta admit..they were pretty entertaining!
The rest of our ride would be interstate...or so we thought! We jumped on the highway and raced towards home.
This was the beginning of the US memorial day weekend and the roads were filling fast. Tons of bikes on the road! We ended up catching up to a group and joined in for a bit (until we could pass them without looking like dicks).
Not the greatest shot, but its not easy fumbling with your camera to take pictures on the highway.
While riding in the group we also experience a scary moment. A pickup truck in the right lane decided he was sick of following a truck and decided to merge into the middle of the group. He forced his way in, then went up the rear of the rider in front of him. He got a lot of fingers when he passed the truck and returned to the right lane. Shortly after this we were able to pass the rest of the group.
We jumped on the turnpike and made tracks. It wasnt long before I noticed drops of rain on my screen. I had warned my friend that I'd be pulling over when it rained to put on my fancy new rainsuit. It was at this time he passed me and passed the next rest stop. I on the other hand didnt. I pulled in and put on my suit as fast as I could. Hopping he'd be going slow or follow the signs (I have the GSP).
Got all geared up just as it started to rain a little heavier. Pulled back onto the highway and there he was pulled over waiting. Phew.
The rain started slow but it wasnt long before it really started to come down on us. With some big bolts flashing and visibility down, Mike pulled off under a bridge. We waited there for a bit, as he put on his gear and we assessed the risk. It was raining hard. Stupid hard. Lots of cars were pulling over to wait it out. Smart thing to do, but I didnt like where we were stopped. The trucks were passing us pretty close and I sure didnt want to get clipped! Back on the bikes, we'd push on to the next rest stop (PS There wasnt another rest stop! LOL).
We started off slow, only going about 40ish mph and had our flashers on. Most of the cars were at the side of the road now. Just the trucks and a few SUV's driving. 4 ways flashing we kept going. For some stupid reason. We both laugh when we talk about it, we ended up going faster and faster. Until we were doing 70 with the flashers on, it a vicious downpour. We finally turned the 4ways off and kept going. The rain would continue like this on and off for the rest of our ride home
Here's where adventures with Garmin really took off. The GPS took us off the interstate and down all sorts of roads. Thru small towns. Pretty much everywhere. At first it was amusing. Then it got worrisome. We really had no idea where we were. It was starting to get dark and with the rain our moods were not ideal for riding around lost. What we wanted was a nice easy interstate. We received no such thing. The GPS ended up taking us right down the middle of the state. This ended up being faster. But not easier!
Bikes low on fuel we filled up somewhere in PA.
I look like a total nerd in my rainsuit. But I was warm and dry!
My friend with his rain jacket and pants under his gear didnt fair well.
At this stop, he was shivering, wet and miserable as hell. I gave him one of my dry shirts out of my side bag and he warmed up a bit.
Shortly after filling up my bike started to act up on me.
This was not cool. She'd shutter and lag then run fine. At first I thought it was my mind playing tricks but it got worse as we carried on.
We ended up on hwy 219. Finally something that rang a bell! I had remembered this road because I had wanted to take it down originally to start our trip. Sweet. But. I also remembered this would take us thru the Allegany mountains. CRAP. Although not nearly as technical or big as we had just gone thru, it was raining, getting dark and we were wrecked. Bonus. My bike was misbehaving!
Finally with no light, our stomachs very angry with us, we rode into Salamanca NY. First place we saw was Myers and the word Steak! Good enough for me! We pulled in. Originally I was just going to ask he Mike wanted to eat and if not let him know we were getting closer to home. He was soaked and freezing. We'd be stopping for something to eat for sure. This ended up being a great choice! This place was cool. One half a rustic bar (full) the other half a really nice formal restaurant. We walked in and got lots of attention right off. They kept asking if I was on a snowmobile! Laugh all you like. I was still warm and dry! We peeled off the layers and ordered. My friend ordered a hot tea right off the bat. I didnt even know he knew what tea was! I don't think he wanted to drink it..just hold it and warm up.
Mike went out to call the wives and warn them that we'd be really late and I asked the waitress what state and city we were in. LOL when she asked where we were from, it didnt sound as impressive as where we'd been.
After warming up and a great meal (chicken parmigiana) we dragged ourselves outside and mounted up. Only a few hours to Buffalo and a bit more to home! woohoo.
We didnt know it but the crappiest part of our ride lay ahead.
The rain had stopped for a little bit and we were feeling good. It didnt take long for this to change. We got behind a group of cars that were going the same route and we followed along. Not long into our ride the drizzle started and soon turned into a light rain. It wasnt too bad as I could wipe the rain off my visor every few seconds and still see the road. Even in the dark.
Only a short time after, the fog started to roll in. Vision went to crap. There was van in front of us that I could just make out. They kept putting on the brakes for any reason at all. A slight turn...brakes..a house..brakes. Oncoming traffic..brakes. That red light was driving me nuts. Happily..or not so much, they pulled off and vanished. The road went from a two lane to 4. It was black out..pitch black. The reflectors on the road were crap I couldnt see a damn thing. The fog and the rain made it so I couldnt even see the end of the lights. The 4 ways on, our speeds slowed right now. Tops now was 20 mph and even then I had to ride with my visor up and squinting. At the slower speed I could at least make out a bit of the road. If we could've pulled over I wouldve, but the idea of sitting on the shallow shoulder seemed far more dangerous to me. On thru the darkness we road. Every once in a while the bike would lurch and sputter. As if to remind me things could get worse. Finally the fog began to lift. Visor down we were able to speed up. Before we knew it, we were seeing orchard park signs. WOOHOO! I knew we were close. My friend raced up beside me and passed me then sped off. He didnt know my bike was misbehaving. I didnt want to tempt fate so I kept my speed. At this point I was kinda miffed. The last thing I wanted now was my bike to die and he'd be long gone. But he slowed down and after a while I caught up. Its a good thing having the GPS! He pointed to his tank and I programmed the GPS to find us the nearest station. We filled the tanks to overflowing (filled up with premium this time. Incase I had been running on bad gas). Last chance for cheap gas so we took full advantage.
Back on the bikes and we roared to the border. My bike was running fine again! No sputtering or hesitation. I figure it must've been the gas.
Duty free to grab some booze and then the final race home. Customs was a breeze (Canadian customs usually is). It was nice to be on the QEW. Never thought I'd say that it, but being on the familiar roads was a relief.
Nothing under 120 the rest of the way and we were home..Tired, sore, wet and cold we rolled into our driveways.
It was after midnight but we'd made it. Two riders, two bikes, left, two riders, two bikes returned.
I walked in the door and although my kids were long asleep this is what I saw
End of the trip, I checked the GPS. 5059km total ride distance. Not too shabby!
I can't wait until next year!
Things I learned:
Blue Ridge Parkway takes forever! Even if you ride like mad and don't stop for pictures its going to take you longer than you thought!
Learn to use your GPS before the trip
Learn to use your GoPro or other camera before you go
Leave 1/2 of what you packed behind. You don't need it and won't use it
Deer..beware
Turkey's...beware (but not so much)
Vultures...Beware..because they don't care..they won't move and they're scary looking.
Snakes. They're slippery and there's lots of them! LOTS! I mean like everywhere! Did I mention slippery?
The Dragon. Not nearly the best road out there! Explore!
Make sure you have enough fuel. ALWAYS. My buddies bike drank fuel at the higher elevations. Mine got way better mileage.
Tires. If they're not brand new (mine were), expect to have to replace them (my friends are shot).
Chicken strips...don't exist in the mountains.
We camped it out and I thought it was great. The mountains are awesome.
I brought:
Tent - Nomad Tenere. This tent is awesome. Its pricy compared to a walmart tent but it packed up smaller than my friends tent and setup fast and easy. The bonus having your bike in the tent at night to stay nice and dry. Yeah, I'm a suck. so what.
Sleeping bag - bought one of those thin ones that rolls into nothing. TOO COLD at night. I have no fat so I froze until I bought some warm clothes to wear at night. Bonus it packed up small though.
Chair - I had a Pico chair. Thing folded up small and fit perfect. Full sized when it was opened up. GET A GOOD CHAIR. After riding the bike for 10ish hours you want to sit on something comfortable. Trust me!
Pillow - I brought a memory foam pillow. They can be compressed into nothing and take up no room. When you take it out you have a full sized pillow..
Other things I packed:
Inflatable air mattress, stove and fuel, pots, pan, dishes, coffee, kraft mac (didnt eat it). Shorts, shirts, etc. TIP: wear workout great. The kind that wicks away sweat. I ended up wearing the workout shirts the entire week and they worked awesome! I could've left half my shirts at home. I also brought along a basic tool kit and first aid kit.
Awesome trip. Awesome roads. Awesome people. Awesome sights. If you're thinking about doing it, don't think about it anymore. Do it.
Hope you enjoyed the report.
Allen
Oh yeah..One last thing! If you're ever doing a post like this, copy the report. You get logged off if you're typing for awhile and you don't want to lose a long report before saving!
. Fontana village is close by if you need anything or want wifi, and the dragon is not far the other way (hwy 28 is a great warm up for the dragon too). The only downside with camping is getting firewood. LOL can't fit on the bike, but I heard Fontana will deliver.
Originally Posted by atss2006
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