Travels with jdrocks-the Blue Ridge 2012

[Solace]

Hey JD, thanks for the informative and entertaining ride reports. I recognized many of the place names you rode through as I frequent the paved roads in your area. Routes 33 and 250 over Shenandoah Mountain are favorites and the roads to connect them we've ridden many times. I've been through Sugar Grove and Moyers many times and have ridden Doe Hill Rd and the one along the Cowpasture River quite a bit. I stop at the little country store at McDowell to buy Cheer Wine. Can't get it here in Ahia. Will have to look for CR25 through Briery Gap next time to get us over to route 257. And I need to bring my gravel-road bike instead of a sport-tourer. You have many roads to play on that sound great.

Had such a good time reading ride reports I ended up following along with the Delorme ...



Keep up on this thread - we want more ride reports!

Later,
M

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by Solace

Hey JD, thanks for the informative and entertaining ride reports. I recognized many of the place names you rode through as I frequent the paved roads in your area. Routes 33 and 250 over Shenandoah Mountain are favorites and the roads to connect them we've ridden many times. I've been through Sugar Grove and Moyers many times and have ridden Doe Hill Rd and the one along the Cowpasture River quite a bit. I stop at the little country store at McDowell to buy Cheer Wine. Can't get it here in Ahia. Will have to look for CR25 through Briery Gap next time to get us over to route 257. And I need to bring my gravel-road bike instead of a sport-tourer. You have many roads to play on that sound great.

Had such a good time reading ride reports I ended up following along with the Delorme ...



Keep up on this thread - we want more ride reports!

Later,
M

hah, now there's a photo, a ride report road up on somebody else's screen!

i purposely tried to put names to the roads in case anyone wanted to make the same runs, and with that info, a rider can build the route without much trouble. if never there before, at least the description will let you know what you're getting into. the caveat would be that there is sometimes no 100% agreement between the road names in the gazette, your route software, and the road sign. if your GPS says turn, well, most of the time, that works...except when there's no road, if you recall the last report segment. when you get on gravel, it's a maze of roads, so "if ya can't find a church steeple in a freakin' bean field", plan accordingly.

anyone reading the reports would have noticed a recurring theme on riding both gravel and pavement in the areas covered in the reports, rider safety. you need to be on top of your game to ride out there, the situational awareness dial switched up to high. a careless rider won't last long on those roads.

the newly paved CR25 takes you from CR21 up and over the mountain at Reddish Knob and back down to 257. nice and smooth right now, lots of loose gravel washed into the corners, no shoulders.

bring your gravel bike the next time, plenty of real good gravel roads, all flavors.

glad you enjoyed the reports, should be another when i get the V649 bike back together, currently in my shop for some changes.

[jdrocks]

had the rat bike in the shop to get it cleaned up, and took the time to make a few changes. now that it's done, at least for the time being, there's only one thing to do...road trip!

coming soon...

December, 2012


The Fried Pie Expedition

The V649HP rat, ready for the road.

[UpST8]

[biker128pedal]

Wintry?

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by UpST8

hey Chris, kinda like your upcoming Death Valley trip, rode 600 miles and never got 100' above sea level.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by biker128pedal

Wintry?

saw ice, it wasn't floating in whiskey either.

[UpST8]

[jdrocks]

report coming soon, but here's a photo of the rat going on a boat ride...




see that red fuel bottle, there's a story there.

[jdrocks]

I ran the first mile at a little over the posted limit, ok, way over, kinda like a full systems check for body and machine, nerve ends jangling, instrument needles jumping to a crazed jive, exhaust spittin’ and cracklin’, all the lights on the bike lit up in the crude oil blackness, and I don’t think that the couple drivers of the vehicles I passed knew whether that thing was landing or taking off, rather just that it was gone, outta site right quick.

I had been tied up with obligations, and the bike was in the shop for an update and maintenance anyway, no matter, I don’t ride every day, no errands, no ride to lunch, hardly anything in the category of short excursions. My rides seem to belong under a title called “Manic”, an expedition, sometimes a brutal march, never boring, always entertaining…and an adventure.

So it was today, headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, determined to find, need I say consume, some fried pie, several flavors if lucky. It was a long shot for sure, a better chance in central to western Carolina than eastern, but much better in Carolina than Virginia. With an excuse that bold, and combined with some pitiful whining, well, ya got yourself a day trip most every time.


At the five mile mark I was facing an unfortunate conclusion, mainly, it was damn cool and I wasn’t garbed quite right for it. My Olympic riding jacket is a good one in many ways, but leave warm off the list, it isn’t that, even with the liner. Not sure of the temperature, but the frost was so heavy it looked like a good covering of snow, and was the kind that crunched when you walked on it. Roadside ditch water was iced over. Downgrade that cool setting to outright cold, head back for an extra layer or two, ya got to be kidding, the march had started, no retreat was in the cards.

The merge onto VA17 south during early rush hour had about the same feel as being involved in a catastrophic dam failure, a flood of vehicles, bumper to bumper, man, every single one must be late for work, maybe some other event, anger and rage palpable. Never, ever, call customer service first thing in the morning.

I would have enjoyed it more, but my visor was solid with ice crystals, couldn’t see much, and when I ran into that cold fog at the York River, heck, I mostly couldn’t see anything at all. That was my excuse, ‘cause I couldn’t see the GPS, and missed one of my turns on the Colonial Parkway, now I had to put up with that incessant Garmin “recalculate, recalculate…”, lucky I didn’t have a freakin’ hammer in the tank bag. I was seriously frozen, but a ferry ride was coming up right quick, I could regroup onboard.

The sun was almost up when I got to the landing at Jamestown, only a few cars in line, and this ferry would take me across the James River to Scotland Neck.





The Virginia DOT runs two boats, so the wait is never long, and I was parked on deck in no time, hopped off, danced a little jig to get thawed out some, my brain waves had been reduced to fuzzy AM static, no stereo, and I stopped to talk with one of the DOT deck hands, a black guy, only about twice as big as me…and I’m big, he was in a league called freakin’ huge.

He was wearing one of those uniform hats with the ear flaps, they were down, no kiddin’.

“Cold day to be ridin’ ain’t it?”

“Naw, I’m good, sun comin’ up, bound to get warmer, where y’all from?”

“Southside, over to Surry County, that way”, and after only a few words, I knew I was going to like my chosen direction of travel today. Southside, and keep on a goin’, into the land of the plainspoken, unlikely to encounter anyone fluent in Marie Claire or Depeche Mode.

“I’m lookin’ for some fried pie, know anywhere Southside where a man could get some?”, and that question brought out a deep rolling laugh from my new deck hand friend.

“Ain’t thought about fried pie for a long time, old folks on my Momma’s side used to make those, but they’re all gone now, don’t know of anyone who sells them, sorry.”

Damn, struck out, but the chase had just begun, and I was a hound dog on the fried pie trail, confident I’d catch the scent. I was living in the moment once again, and as everyone knows, hope dies last.

(to be continued…)

[UpST8]

more!!

[JaxObsessed]

Excellent!!!! I like pie!

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by JaxObsessed

Excellent!!!! I like pie!

i know you guys, you're pie-aholics, a peculiar ailment, and according to the CDC, no known cure.

[JaxObsessed]

Originally Posted by jdrocks

i know you guys, you're pie-aholics, a peculiar ailment, and according to the CDC, no known cure.

ceptin pie.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by JaxObsessed

ceptin pie.

see what i mean folks, the CDC is right, the stuff is frightfully addictive.