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What a great vacation.
Here are some of the observations that made the ride back up to michigan more and more difficult, the colder, more rainy and more flat the journey became.
First off, if you live anywhere south of I-70 in ohio, I envy you, the ride down I-77 to marietta, then down to Asheville was the second most enjoyable slab experience i've ever had, only I-90 in western MT was nicer. And this is before taking into consideration roads like Rt 26 out of marietta, that's the route I finally put that last 1/2" of tread on the sides of my tires to good use.
Taking the blue-ridge parkway from asheville to cherokee, then up 28 to the gap then all the way back down 129 and back to asheville was one of the most gorgeous rides I've ever been on. Again, my tires and brakes have never gotten a work-out like this before. Kudo's to suzuki and continental, if either had dropped the ball, i'd have dropped the bike, in what i'm sure would have been spectacular fashion.
The gap was VERY quiet when I went there, i'd say less than 12 bikes at the gas station when I got there, only 2 or 3 at the overlook each time I went by there. It made for very good riding, the only cars/vans I came across must have realized the kat was on a mission to grind off the outer-most wear bars and slid over to let me past. Kudo's to those aware cagers.
Angry stink-eyes to all the cagers and Tour-bus sized RV's with the optional 10ft trailer AND jeep pulled behind that (and may one million middle fingers dance infront of your eyes) on the parkway/28, when you're doing 20 mph, in a no passing zone, and you're doing your best pied piper impression, please pull over. I'm not too hot on blowing by people where there's double yellows. I got over that issue in the first 10 miles of the parkway/28. These little excursions into the dark side of the rules of the road made my ride so much more enjoyable I'd have taken any ticket written me with a smile on my face.
Finally, people are so much nicer the further south you get. I'm so used to the people up here that give you that cold stare when you say hi at the gas-station. Down south I couldn't help but get into conversations about roads to ride, places to see and restaurants I had to eat at. Needless to say, I got into michigan on US-23, stopped at the first gas station to dry off and grab a smoke and yep, got the cold stare. Although honestly, it could have been that they thought i was bat-sh*t crazy, riding in a downpour, in 50 degree weather, smiling like I was at the bunny ranch.
I'm just waiting for killboy to upload the pics from last week. I hope they came out ok, I only did a couple of runs past him so who knows.
Here are some of the observations that made the ride back up to michigan more and more difficult, the colder, more rainy and more flat the journey became.
First off, if you live anywhere south of I-70 in ohio, I envy you, the ride down I-77 to marietta, then down to Asheville was the second most enjoyable slab experience i've ever had, only I-90 in western MT was nicer. And this is before taking into consideration roads like Rt 26 out of marietta, that's the route I finally put that last 1/2" of tread on the sides of my tires to good use.
Taking the blue-ridge parkway from asheville to cherokee, then up 28 to the gap then all the way back down 129 and back to asheville was one of the most gorgeous rides I've ever been on. Again, my tires and brakes have never gotten a work-out like this before. Kudo's to suzuki and continental, if either had dropped the ball, i'd have dropped the bike, in what i'm sure would have been spectacular fashion.
The gap was VERY quiet when I went there, i'd say less than 12 bikes at the gas station when I got there, only 2 or 3 at the overlook each time I went by there. It made for very good riding, the only cars/vans I came across must have realized the kat was on a mission to grind off the outer-most wear bars and slid over to let me past. Kudo's to those aware cagers.
Angry stink-eyes to all the cagers and Tour-bus sized RV's with the optional 10ft trailer AND jeep pulled behind that (and may one million middle fingers dance infront of your eyes) on the parkway/28, when you're doing 20 mph, in a no passing zone, and you're doing your best pied piper impression, please pull over. I'm not too hot on blowing by people where there's double yellows. I got over that issue in the first 10 miles of the parkway/28. These little excursions into the dark side of the rules of the road made my ride so much more enjoyable I'd have taken any ticket written me with a smile on my face.
Finally, people are so much nicer the further south you get. I'm so used to the people up here that give you that cold stare when you say hi at the gas-station. Down south I couldn't help but get into conversations about roads to ride, places to see and restaurants I had to eat at. Needless to say, I got into michigan on US-23, stopped at the first gas station to dry off and grab a smoke and yep, got the cold stare. Although honestly, it could have been that they thought i was bat-sh*t crazy, riding in a downpour, in 50 degree weather, smiling like I was at the bunny ranch.
I'm just waiting for killboy to upload the pics from last week. I hope they came out ok, I only did a couple of runs past him so who knows.
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