Saturday June 4, 2005
Waynesboro, VA to Morgantown, NC 483 Miles
On the map these two points are not all that far apart. However, the way I rode between them was! I broke camp and was on the road by 9am. I got out to 81 and cruised for a bit, but soon got tired of the semi-blast. The weather looked to be good, so I picked a point in Georgia and told the GPS to take me there in a straight line and not on any highway. What I got I could not have planned better. I was and still am amazed at the great roads I traveled. I tried to look it up once I got to Orlando, but can’t seem to retrace the roads I did take. Suffice to say there were twisties galore. I’ll re edit this when I can verify, but the roads taken were a mixture and I got into “the zone” It’s kind of hard to describe, but in hind sight I was so engrossed in riding that I lost track of time and mileage. I was surprised to finally notice that I had ridden much farther than I had thought once I stopped long enough to figure it out.
I dumped off I-81 somewhere around Route 8 and then on to 321 going southwest. Then into Route 173 that fed into Route 226. I might have this a bit wrong, but regardless, it was some of the best riding I have done in my short cycle life. I learned a few things on this twisty day. I learned there is a zone. I learned that I need to not shift too aggressively with this much weight on the bike or the front wheel pops off the ground. I need to work on being smoother in corners. I rode well and didn’t over-cook any corners, but I kept hesitating and not picking up the line well until I was “in” the corner. More experience.
In the late morning I stopped at a pullover on a narrow road next to a river. I fired up the stove and reheated last nights dinner leftovers and had a nice lunch. There was a nice rock cliff on the other bank.
I stopped at this nice (it was a rotting old country store) for water about half way through the day. There was a rafting operation going on, and this was the general store the kids were coming to for refreshments. It was the kind of place that has been there for decades, with not a straight line in the place. All the timbers warped over time from the weight and constant humidity. I yakked with an older couple that was on a circle ride and enjoyed the shade. I also needed to rewet the air conditioning. The efficiency of the Aerostich evapodana and the wetting of the T-Shirt was very effective at keeping me cool. I also found that I didn’t get sore butt as easy, as I was moving around in the seat so much.
At one point I got behind a train of cruisers loping along at 35-45 in a 55 zone. This was very frustrating. No rain drops got to me this day, but I saw evidence in wets roads all over. The route I took is EXACTLY what you would look for in a great day of riding. Hitting unknown roads and taking a “pick a direction and go” routing. I am having some interesting thoughts about how to continue the trip once I leave Florida.
A picture from a rest stop on 226 in NC. This is not a fisheye lense picture.
[ This message was edited by: JasonS on 2005-06-10 17:06 ]
