Heading south

MacDoc · Jul 29, 2023

Take a break here

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Baggsy · Jul 29, 2023

Have you gone to Wheels Through Time?
If you're going as far south as Alabama, check out the Barber Vintage Museum.

Here I've been riding down to Vermont because it's close. Just have to watch for the clay roads over the tops when it's wet.

Relax · Jul 29, 2023

Mad Mike said:
Way too much oil, you're around 100:1, that's 2 stroke territory.

A stock engine in good shape running on the street should use about 500ml every 6000km.

Gonna be hard on the Cat. Get it checked.

Even 500 ml sounds high to me. Is this what manufacturers are saying is acceptable these days? I only have one bike that consumes oil, but only because it's past due for rings and I've been lazy.

kurtrules · Jul 29, 2023

shanekingsley said:
And if you have 6 minutes to waste, you can blow the virtual dust off this video that shows what the dragon, snake and some other roads in that general area are like.

Great weather; lovely roads; thanks for sharing.

@bigpoppa Thanks for updating regularly. How long are you out for?

bigpoppa · Jul 29, 2023

kurtrules said:
Great weather; lovely roads; thanks for sharing.

@bigpoppa Thanks for updating regularly. How long are you out for?

probably another week or so

afici0nad0 · Jul 30, 2023

Very nice.

Planning to make it out to TN, NC next season, but will be trailering it there.

I cant last like you guys. Im weaksauce. Couple of hours riding during the AM each day then chill for the rest of the PM

bigpoppa · Jul 30, 2023

Day 7:

Woke up and had a pretty good breakfast,

IMG-2094-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2094-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Easily the best omelette I’ve ever had, in a small town in Maryland, and it cost way less than I thought it would.
I tried to get out early, in order to get more riding done in the cooler mornings…

Managed to put in a lot of miles today, maybe it was the good breakfast, or the much cooler temps, but I had a lot of energy today and managed to 2 days worth of riding in one…this was my route, spend most of the day in the twisty backroads of PA, with a bit of slabbing…

IMG-2102-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2102-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG-2103-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2103-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

I did notice that although PA has some nice roads, they’re not as twisty as WV/TN, and full of more bumps and tar snakes…

Also saw a lot of riders, many with no helmets

The vibe in PA is different than WV and Tenn.. here the businesses are open, grass is cut, buildings are maintained… whereas the latter seems to be hit by a zombie apocalypse…

Spend a bit of time riding along the Susquehanna river, this is the only acceptable kind of slabbing, with scenic views:

IMG-2096-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2096-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG-2097-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2097-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Apparently there are Mennonites here as well…

I thought about going to Baltimore, to do some sightseeing, where the greatest TV show of all time was filmed, but I had trouble nailing down landmarks and filming locations, so that didn’t pan out.

I noticed a lot of latinos in my travels in the most unexpected locations, in rural PA or Maryland, just means better food along the way, and I get to practice my bad Spanish…

Im noticing a lot of towns in the states seem to have their own little local banks… a far cry from the Canadian monopolies

Also noticing a direct correlation between the number of dollar generals in town and the towns prosperity… towns with only dollar general stores or many dollar generals seem to be in rough shape…

in NJ right now, almost in NY.

bigpoppa · Jul 30, 2023

I noticed in the 2000 or so kms I put in the appalachians, didnt find a lot of bad drivers...5 mins into NJ on the other hand...

Maybe I will park the bike and take the train into nyc...

kurtrules · Jul 31, 2023

bigpoppa said:
I noticed in the 2000 or so kms I put in the appalachians, didnt find a lot of bad drivers...5 mins into NJ on the other hand...

Maybe I will park the bike and take the train into nyc...

We were there for 4 days. Family trip. Took the PATH train each day from Exchange Place to WTC. Don’t have the patience to drive in NYC. Have done my share of crazy driving in Delhi for 10 years.

sburns · Jul 31, 2023

bigpoppa said:
Also saw a lot of riders, many with no helmets

Mostly HD riders?
This was the weirdest thing I noticed in WI, at first I wasn't sure what I saw, but it was real.

Jampy00 · Jul 31, 2023

sburns said:
Mostly HD riders?

Don't get him started...

bigpoppa · Jul 31, 2023

sburns said:
Mostly HD riders?
This was the weirdest thing I noticed in WI, at first I wasn't sure what I saw, but it was real.

Correct.

They also like parking in handicap spots it seems

Jampy00 · Jul 31, 2023

bigpoppa said:
Correct.

They also like parking in handicap spots

He started...

bigpoppa · Jul 31, 2023

Day 8:

Took it easy today and spend most of the day slabbing towards NY, getting a feeling everywhere has better roads than ON… even NJ

did some sight seeing as well…

Jampy00 · Jul 31, 2023

bigpoppa said:
Took it easy today and spend most of the day slabbing towards NY, getting a feeling everywhere has better roads than ON… even NJ

When I rode across the US (North to South) I found the roads to be much better than all of the major roads in Ontario. As we hit the southern states we also saw that "vehicle maintenance" is not the most popular term. Enjoy the ride and stay safe

robertv19 · Jul 31, 2023

bigpoppa said:
Day 7:

Woke up and had a pretty good breakfast,

IMG-2094-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2094-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Easily the best omelette I’ve ever had, in a small town in Maryland, and it cost way less than I thought it would.
I tried to get out early, in order to get more riding done in the cooler mornings…

Managed to put in a lot of miles today, maybe it was the good breakfast, or the much cooler temps, but I had a lot of energy today and managed to 2 days worth of riding in one…this was my route, spend most of the day in the twisty backroads of PA, with a bit of slabbing…

IMG-2102-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2102-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG-2103-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2103-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

I did notice that although PA has some nice roads, they’re not as twisty as WV/TN, and full of more bumps and tar snakes…

Also saw a lot of riders, many with no helmets

The vibe in PA is different than WV and Tenn.. here the businesses are open, grass is cut, buildings are maintained… whereas the latter seems to be hit by a zombie apocalypse…

Spend a bit of time riding along the Susquehanna river, this is the only acceptable kind of slabbing, with scenic views:

IMG-2096-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2096-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG-2097-compressed hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-2097-compressed hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Apparently there are Mennonites here as well…

I thought about going to Baltimore, to do some sightseeing, where the greatest TV show of all time was filmed, but I had trouble nailing down landmarks and filming locations, so that didn’t pan out.

I noticed a lot of latinos in my travels in the most unexpected locations, in rural PA or Maryland, just means better food along the way, and I get to practice my bad Spanish…

Im noticing a lot of towns in the states seem to have their own little local banks… a far cry from the Canadian monopolies

Also noticing a direct correlation between the number of dollar generals in town and the towns prosperity… towns with only dollar general stores or many dollar generals seem to be in rough shape…

in NJ right now, almost in NY.

I’m not sure about TN as I haven’t been anywhere except Nashville, but WV is one of, if not the poorest state in the union. Very depressed due to the decline of the coal industry.

There is a bit of that in parts of central PA as well. I’ve seen towns where the Dollar General has closed. That’s never a good sign.

shanekingsley · Jul 31, 2023

robertv19 said:
I’m not sure about TN as I haven’t been anywhere except Nashville, but WV is one of, if not the poorest state in the union. Very depressed due to the decline of the coal industry.

There is a bit of that in parts of central PA as well. I’ve seen towns where the Dollar General has closed. That’s never a good sign.

I recall heading off the paved roads into the remote bush roads of WV and knew that I was in Deliverence country from the properties with all the busted cars and broken downhouses on them.

Also remember riding into Mississippi and while crossing the state line from Alabama there was a huge difference drawn right right on the state line of the road. Alabama had nice pavement, clean shoulders with good line markings, while right at the state sign, the Mississppi was riddled with tar snakes, blown out tires strewn all over the shoulders, litter in the ditches and so on. Some of that is also representative of the specific counties, because I did ride some nicer areas of Mississippi, but it sure was a really stark contrast that reminded me of the economies from one area to the next.

Scuba Steve · Jul 31, 2023

St Louis had the worst roads I have ever seen in my life last fall. The whole thing felt like a zombie warzone movie.

Sent from the future

Sunday Rider · Jul 31, 2023

I’ve driven through Mississippi a few years ago and it felt like I was back in the 60s. There was even a chain gang digging a ditch in the 95F super humid heat with the deputy in the pick up with a shot gun and engine running to keep the a/c going. There were definitely well off areas and some real poverty.

When I rode in Nebraska ( like Sheppard Ave between Vic Park and Leslie) that was horrible pavement then you hit Kansas and the roads were great. Hit eastern Colorado and tar snakes all over but closer to Denver than real nice pavement.

bigpoppa · Aug 1, 2023

Day 9:

i started the day with an Uber trip to NYC, with a friendly Dominican guy, who gave me an informal tour on the fly.

My plan was to try out the much hyped NY pizza, but I was early and they weren’t open, so I found a bagel spot to have breakfast.

It was SOOOO GOOD!