Northern Va Ride II

[DNA]

Good to see you - wish the red bike had gone out for a more extended stretch...

Here is the NoVA Tag o Rama thread:
http://http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10453050#post10453050

and Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=105356897332601592866.00046b4d8cbe04e24c4c1&ll=38.85682,-77.584076&spn=0.611698,1.455688&z=10

[hovmaven]

Now the alligator passage makes sense.  Thanks.  

[Dot]

I dedided. The Red Bike is officially named Toto.

[hovmaven]

Heading to Kansas?  

[DNA]

Wow - that sounds like it was not the most relaxing vacation

Have you considered this place?

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=474259&highlight=yurt


I fear if I set foot in Vermont, Ben and Jerry would raise a mob and chase my with pitchforks and torches, but instead of killing me slowly with fire, they would make me sit around and talk about my feelings and use words like self actualization and  commitment  

[DrD]

If I use ear buds and have the line inside the jacket, so it only is exposed around my neck, how dry does the unit it is connected to stay?  I'm riding down to and back from Asheville this weekend, so I think I want to try listening to tunes on my iPhone (and I don't want to trip the moisture sensors   ).  

[DNA]

If the phone is in your jacket - should be as dry as your shirt stays.  I do not really like this set up though.

I keep my MP3 on the brake fluid reservoir with Velcro and connect via extension cords to the ear bud wire out the bottom of my jacket.  That way I can adjust volume, change songs and maintain control.  It does expose it to the weather so when I went out in the rain last week it got totally soaked when I forgot to put in back in the tank bag.  After disassembly I pored about a teaspoon of water out of the case around the battery, and let it dry out for a few days.  

It is actually working again now, but I expect corrosion to kill it soon.

Ideally, a blue tooth stereo headset connected to a Zumo 550, linked to the phone  is about the best set up I have seen lately.  That set up will be my eventual upgrade when I have lots of extra cash laying around.

[hovmaven]

I'd put it in your pocket, or in the tankbag, or if exposed via the DNA route, use a ziplock and a rubberband.  I use that waterproofing setup on my sirius radio.  Works wonders.  

[Windblown]

Any of you folks experianced with whether points are assigned by the VA DMV for speeding tickets issues on the BRP?  

Or know a good lawyer for this sort of thing?  

Ask me about my last two days.... Nevermind, I'll tell ya anyway.

The plan: Ride the BRP, Cherohala Hwy, & the Snake in two days.  

Tuesday: I and another rider leave before first light and head down the BRP.  The plan is to run the BRP to Bryson City. Hit the hotel, and then catch the Cheohala before sunset.  The schedule was tight but doable. The first fly in the oinment was an unplaned stop shorty before mile 100 on the BRP where I was given an offical invitation to visit federal court should I choose to do so. I've never in my LIFE had it take over 30 minutes just to get a ticket! She obviously did not appreciate the schedule I was on.  

With the exitement over with we continued on, at a more leasurely time eating pace. Our next stop included taking a few minutes to adjust the other riders chain. Turns out both the chain and the sprockets had seen better days, betters days a very long time ago would be my guess.  But we got things adjusted and oiled with 3 in 1 oil from the general store and called it good.  

A bit later and running short of Gas I punched up nearby gas stations on the GPS.  With faith only the truley ignorant can muster we headed off the BRP onto what turned into a goat path in search of fuel. At long last the GPS announced "You have arrived" the only problem was we were surrounded by trees, not even a shed in sight. As luck would have it, we did eventually find gas before having to resort to walking, but more precious time was lost.

With VA behind us and two detours in NC negoiated we hit rain about 40 miles north of Asheville, NC. Then heavy fog. Then the other riders bike decided to start to spit coolant. Our plans were sinking as quickly as the sun.  We limped into Asheville cold and tired. We deiced to call Asheville home for the night, and Motel 6 did in fact leave the light on, so we worked on the bike.  

Wensday: Out of bed at 6:30am with a plan to hit as many fun roads as possible while in the area and get back home at some point before midnight. I looked outide and noticed it was still unusally dark outside.  

Flipped on the weather channel and saw the bad news. Rain and more rain, in several varieties all waiting to greet us and stand in our way of fun.  We resigned ourselves to our fate and hit the slab.  300 miles of nothing but rain, sometimes light, sometimes so hard it felt like driving through a waterfall. My rain gear gave in completely somehwere in southern VA during a particularly hard frog strangler. We finally broke out of the rain around Harrisonburg, VA.

PIcs? Yeah, I got some. if the camera dries out and still functions.

[vulcanbill]

My understanding is that its a federal ticket.  If you pay the fine, no points transfer.  If you show up for court and lose, they can and will go WAY out of their way to make the points transfer.  Keep us posted.  How much?  

[Windblown]

I was written for 26 over.  I'm prepared to contest the validity of the ticket, but if points are not involved I'll probably just wite the check to avoid lawyer fees.

[DrD]

Sorry to hear about the trip.  I'm riding down to Asheville this weekend; I hope with less adventure involved.

[DNA]

Ahem... Is it the 4th o July yet?    Sounds like a rough trip.

I also experienced the federalies on the BRP - but it was a double yellow or some such non-sense.

I paid it as fast as I could and never heard another word.

[vulcanbill]

I also remember something about them being able to write up to 2 five hundred dollar tickets at their discretion.  Validity hasn't been confirmed but if that's even remotely possible, I'd be tickled with anything resembling a normal ticket.  I know the various iterations of my "crew" have been INCREDIBLY lucky where that's concerned.  When we do eventually get popped, we'll have deserved it 50 times before so we likely won't say a single word in protest.  "Thank you officer"...*for not being there when I was going ###*

[DNA]

I also remember something about them being able to write up to 2 five hundred dollar tickets at their discretion.  Validity hasn't been confirmed but if that's even remotely possible, I'd be tickled with anything resembling a normal ticket.  I know the various iterations of my "crew" have been INCREDIBLY lucky where that's concerned.  When we do eventually get popped, we'll have deserved it 50 times before so we likely won't say a single word in protest.  "Thank you officer"...*for not being there when I was going ###*

See my post in your basic info for new rider thread RE: this issue.

[hovmaven]

Yea... thats going to last.

I predict July 4 weekend will see the end of it.

Well, lasted a bit longer than we thought.  Sorry you were awarded.  

[Windblown]

Well, lasted a bit longer than we thought.  Sorry you were awarded.  

Meh, overdue most likely.

I tend to view this type of ticket as a fun tax, and I WAS having fun even though I was adhering strictly to the PACE. I hadn't touched my brakes in miles until I stopped for her to catch up. LOL

No problems with the officer, nice exchange actually.  She thanked me for being being courtious towards her and having a good attitude, we even laughed it up a bit. She also appreciated me pulling over to wait for her to turnaround...  

Not much in the way of pics. We were trying to make miles versus hit every photo op.

This is the only time I stopped for the purpose of taking a pic. The entire valley was covered, pic doesn't do it justice.




Fun tax payment, the other rider only got a warning (there are advantages to not leading, LOL)



About 25 miles north of Asheville, the rain stopped, and we were getting ready to make a run for it, you can see the fog that we rode through just starting to move in.



 

[Windblown]

Sorry to hear about the trip.  I'm riding down to Asheville this weekend; I hope with less adventure involved.

Have a great trip!  Sure is a nice piece of asphalt. There's a couple of road closures on the BRP with detours. One just before Blowing Rock, the next was ways further down but still well before Asheville.  There is also a one lane section for a stretch where they are digging up and resurfacing a section of road about 15 miles North of Asheville.  The closures with mile markers are listed on the gov website for the BRP in case you wanna plan a route that just avoids both of them, they were not all that far apart.

I'll be hitting the BRP up one more time this year sometime in September. Probably run solo so that if the weather isn't cooperating I can just hole up till it clears rather than be forced into a long wet run.

[Joey Stalin]

I may or may not go out for a gilligan tomorrow with the RT, but I have to do a few more things to it. The latest problem is that the bolt holding the cylinder head cover on stripped through no fault of my own, so need to fix that. But if I do go out, it would be a ~90 mile loop I have in mind, out to marshall and 55 area. Not too far away.

[hovmaven]

Hope you got out early.