Rideabout

One of my friends in Texas said I was going "rideabout". I think that's appropriate. I did 535 miles the hard way today. It was fun but long - more than 11 hours on the road - primarily because the scenic routes are slow-going (less than 60, anyway). It's worth it. The scenery is so beautiful, you want to thank Woody Guthrie. "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California..." etc etc.

I left the Ski's this morning about 8:30 after a quick picture with Michael.


As Sharon took Michael to school, Ski led me out of the city.


I couldn't have done it without the guide. It was a mess - lots of early morning rush hour traffic and several different roads and highways. I was glad Ski was ahead of me in his brand new truck, albeit a brand new truck with its first ding. Which makes it a truck that you can now just give away. It's no good anymore.

Just before we parted on the highway, the fog rolled in. I rode in it a while and then decided to put my chaps on. I pulled off and struggled with them and sure enough, by the time I got to Manassas, the fog was gone. Getting them off was worse than putting them on so I put on a show in a Walgreen's parking lot...

I rode into the Shenandoah National Park. The road is called the Skyline Drive and sure enough, you are up in the air.

It's a beautiful place but the speed limit is only 35. Most people were doing 45 until the curves and then it was throttle back and downshift. That was more than a two hour ride with some shallow and some steep curves, winding roads, lots of trees and frequent cutouts for scenic views. Very pretty park and an enjoyable ride. Here's the skinny:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline_Drive

After you come down from the mountain, you exit the Shenandoah National Park and almost immediately you're on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The speed limit is higher and the curves aren't as severe so you can really move. It, too, is tree enclosed and full of shadows. The good thing about the ride today is there was very little traffic. I saw more motorcycles than cars. As I headed south, I noticed I was less than half full. And no petrol stations anywhere. I didn't know if I could find a place to tank up so I was trying to figure out the point of no return on the reservoir. I looked ahead and there on the road, in the middle of nowhere, was a guy on a bicycle. Those guys are everywhere. Rail thin, muscles like ripcords, they're what a whippet would look like if it was human. I slowed down, pulled abreast and asked him about gas stations. He said there wasn't anything between where we were and Roanoke. That wasn't good. I decided to pull a u and I backtracked to get out of the Parkway. (It turns out I could probably have gotten gas at Buena Vista but it worked out OK anyway.) Once back at the start point between the Shendandoah Park and the beginning of the Parkway, I caught I-64 and soon ended up on I-81. I didn't want to do the interstate but I'd been yimyamming around and I was never going to get out of Virginia otherwise. At least I wasn't going to get out at that rate while the sun was up. The state is amazingly beautiful and I'll bet in a few weeks, when the leaves start to color and fall, it'll be breathtaking. That would be the time to ride.

I hit the interstate hard and tried to blow out the carburators. At Roanoke, I peeled off and got back on the Parkway.

What a ride the Parkway is. As Bob Sims said, "Biker nirvana." Some info for wikipedia fans:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_Parkway

I got off the Parkway at Fancy Gap and drove state road 52 into Mount Airy, NC. It seemed like it was almost 12 miles of downhill curves. That couldn't be.... S-curves the entire way down the mountain, all between 45-55 mph. Really fun. (Do the hand.) I got into Mount Airy at 5, so things were closing but I was able to talk to the lady in the Visitor's Center. The Center is downtown, right on Main Street. The pace in Mount Airy is slow, the drawl is thick and even slower. While the town doesn't look like Mayberry, Andy Griffith got his inspiration there. (He was born there.) The woman in the Visitor's Center talked loud, slowly and very heavily, heavily accented. She scared me so much, I said, "Yes, ma'am" to her. I was thinking, "No one really talks like this." But, I listened to her for a while and she was the real deal. Next door to the center was Barney's Burgers - an obvious attempt to capitalize on Mr. Fife's popularity:

Down the street was Floyd's barber shop. There were two characters sitting out front on a bench. I was tempted to ask if one of them was named Emmit. They were nice guys, though, and offered to take a picture of me in front of the shop. One of them said he'd had a haircut that day by Floyd. I asked if his name was really Floyd. Sadly, it wasn't. I don't think he talked like Floyd either. The place was closed so I looked in the window. Nope. Wasn't Floyd's barber shop like on the show. He gives a good haircut, though, judging by the loafer on the bench in front of the shop. $8. I'll bet he makes a fortune - cutting hair for tourists so they can say they had their hair cut at Floyd's.


I rode over to the Andy Griffith Museum and had a guy take my picture with the Andy and Opie sculptures/statues.


I'm not in many pictures - my bike is making them all, though. It's like a kidnapped garden gnome - the bike is on vacation and you have to wonder where it will turn up next. This is the Andy/Opie shot but from the street. I was considering riding the bike on the sidewalk to get next to the statues but the Mount Airy Police Department is right next to this picture. I don't think they'd be as forgiving as Andy. More likely, I would have gotten a ticket, ala Barney. Probably a Section 415.


The picture taker told me he'd lived there his entire life and then he invited me to church. I declined and got back on the road. It was getting late and instead of backtracking to return to the Parkway, I headed west on I-74 for a few minutes, then south on I-77 until I caught I-40 west. I broke the rule about riding on the interstate but when you make 'em, you can break 'em. I was worried about deer in the mountains so the Parkway had to be a no-go. I guess I could have stayed in Mayberry/Mount Airy, but I felt like riding some more. The sun went down when I got on I-40 and the glare was blinding. I'll stop tomorrow before I ride into the sun again. Probably not smart riding blind on the interstate.... I rode on in the dark after the sun disappeared and at Morganton, NC, I'd had enough and finally pulled over. I was still wearing my sunglasses like a moron.

Another great day of riding. I've had a good trip - even with the rain and wet boots... Got to see friends and family, and got to put some serious miles on the bike.

I'll hit the road early tomorrow. I'm going to try to get home by Saturday sometime. Along the way, I want to find a Krystal's. I know that's no culinary treat for most people but in January, when I was headed for Alabama, I did a taste test between Krystal's and White Castle. It's heresy for me to say this, but Krystal's won easily. I won't pass up a White Castle but I'd rather find a Krystal's. I didn't eat today so I'm probably turning this into something more delicious than it really is....

Later. Thanks for reading and for posting.