blue ridge parkway
well, after getting home from my recent epic motorcycle trip, my priority shifted from posting about my ride as soon as possible to recovering from my kidney infection. i tried really hard to write but everything i got into pixels and bits was just shite. i was only awake for 20 minutes at a time and the writing was, unsurprisingly, disjointed and feverish. that, or disjointed and vicodin-ish. so i scrapped it all, but that made the task of getting back to it seem HUMONGOUS and MONUMENTAL. so i took a nap, instead. this was a very effective strategy for making the task appear smaller, but not for actually smallening the task.
but here i am, well recovered and recently returned from an adventure on the Frio river in Concan, TX. i packed the ice cream maker and my towels and swimsuit and sun screen and some marshmallows for roasting. i got a little drunk, a little sunburned, a little sticky (from the ice cream and marshmallows, you pervs...), and had a rollicking good time.
and when i got home, i had photos from the tennessee leg of my motorcycle trip waiting for me! i wrote it up with a nice story in the usual place but for those of you who are link-averse, i've included just the highlight photos, behind the cut for your friends-list friendliness.
at the top of the mountain that is the beginning of the "Tail of the Dragon", p and i very nearly had an argument about whether her camera used the same USB adapter as my GPS. i was TOTALLY wrong, hers takes MICRO USB, my GPS takes MINI USB. *sigh* a nice guy overheard us and stopped to chat. he took our picture and reminded us that arguing was a bad way to start our run. i joked that we were taking this picture to document our presence so that the state troopers would know which lake to dredge for my body after the argument was over...
this is the promised killboy.com photo of me coming down the road. you get a vague idea of the curviness of the thing. it was 11 miles exactly like this, but with a few hairpins and steep grades thrown in.
i like this shot of me taking a corner on my bike. i didn't realize i leaned it that far. of course, there are far more extreme leans out there, even on big bikes, but this is enough for me. :P
here's p coming down the hill on her yamaha royal star.
and a nice side shot of my honda valkyrie
safe and sound at the bottom of the Tail of the Dragon in Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort. food, chatter, bike-gawking and t-shirt shopping was had by all!
This odd little scooter made the same run we did that day. i don't know if you can tell, but the elderly gentleman riding this thing has it thoroughly packed, he's added on two extra tiers to complete his windshield and canopy, and he built in a little air conditioner that sits on the floorboard. not to mention all his razorback paraphernalia, and a hand-lettered sign proclaiming the 10 commandments on this side. there was another sign on the other side, but i forget what it entailed. it was all over odd, and quite the most unique conveyance out that day.
from the Tail of the Dragon, we went on to another glorious ride on the Cherohala Skyway. This is one of the views from near the top at Santeetlah gap.
The Cherohala was a fun ride, relaxed and with lots of big swoopy curves and wide lanes that let you ride fast and safely at the same time. it even included PASSING LANES! p adored it and has proclaimed it her MOST. FAVORITE. ROAD. EVAR!!!!111!!!!1!!!11 this is the river you run alongside at the bottom of the skyway. it keeps you company off and on for most of the descent, getting wider and fuller as you go down into the valley.
and then we went (where else?) for dinner. good times!
but here i am, well recovered and recently returned from an adventure on the Frio river in Concan, TX. i packed the ice cream maker and my towels and swimsuit and sun screen and some marshmallows for roasting. i got a little drunk, a little sunburned, a little sticky (from the ice cream and marshmallows, you pervs...), and had a rollicking good time.
and when i got home, i had photos from the tennessee leg of my motorcycle trip waiting for me! i wrote it up with a nice story in the usual place but for those of you who are link-averse, i've included just the highlight photos, behind the cut for your friends-list friendliness.
at the top of the mountain that is the beginning of the "Tail of the Dragon", p and i very nearly had an argument about whether her camera used the same USB adapter as my GPS. i was TOTALLY wrong, hers takes MICRO USB, my GPS takes MINI USB. *sigh* a nice guy overheard us and stopped to chat. he took our picture and reminded us that arguing was a bad way to start our run. i joked that we were taking this picture to document our presence so that the state troopers would know which lake to dredge for my body after the argument was over...
this is the promised killboy.com photo of me coming down the road. you get a vague idea of the curviness of the thing. it was 11 miles exactly like this, but with a few hairpins and steep grades thrown in.
i like this shot of me taking a corner on my bike. i didn't realize i leaned it that far. of course, there are far more extreme leans out there, even on big bikes, but this is enough for me. :P
here's p coming down the hill on her yamaha royal star.
and a nice side shot of my honda valkyrie
safe and sound at the bottom of the Tail of the Dragon in Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort. food, chatter, bike-gawking and t-shirt shopping was had by all!
This odd little scooter made the same run we did that day. i don't know if you can tell, but the elderly gentleman riding this thing has it thoroughly packed, he's added on two extra tiers to complete his windshield and canopy, and he built in a little air conditioner that sits on the floorboard. not to mention all his razorback paraphernalia, and a hand-lettered sign proclaiming the 10 commandments on this side. there was another sign on the other side, but i forget what it entailed. it was all over odd, and quite the most unique conveyance out that day.
from the Tail of the Dragon, we went on to another glorious ride on the Cherohala Skyway. This is one of the views from near the top at Santeetlah gap.
The Cherohala was a fun ride, relaxed and with lots of big swoopy curves and wide lanes that let you ride fast and safely at the same time. it even included PASSING LANES! p adored it and has proclaimed it her MOST. FAVORITE. ROAD. EVAR!!!!111!!!!1!!!11 this is the river you run alongside at the bottom of the skyway. it keeps you company off and on for most of the descent, getting wider and fuller as you go down into the valley.
and then we went (where else?) for dinner. good times!