Things about riding I learned this weekend...(long version)
Thing I Learned Number One: Twisties take longer! Looking at a map, SR 135 between Nashville and Freetown plus SR 58 over to SR446 doesn't look far.
It is.
It's a lllloooooooooooooonnnnnnnnng ride. Great roads, fun as hell to ride on. But not at all the sort of road you want to use if you actually want to get somewhere fast.
Let's backtrack. Last week, I got an invitation to join my friend Deb, her husband, Lois from work and her husband Steve for a night of camping at a horse park down south of Bloomington. I usually have some reason for not doing it, but this time I didn't and wanted to go. But my brother was leaving for Boston today. No problem, he told me he'd be leaving town about 1pm. Cool. I waited around and packed my bag. Then I took the Mapquest directions Deb gave me and gave them a look over. They were from her house in Danville to the campground. I entered my address and the destination address, then printed the map.
Well, as is typical with Dave, 1pm turned into 4pm or so. Which was fine since I didn't wake up until after 3pm. After he left, I jumped in the shower, washed my garlic-y armpits and got dressed. I double-checked my bag, put it on the bike and left.
I went down south again, going via I465 to the US31 exit. Then over to Cycle Outfitters again, then over to SR135 and down to the Target store. Dave told me Star Wars Battlefront II was only $19.99 for the X-Box at Target. So I stopped and bought that, some earplugs and a travel bottle of vodka for partying with the Dunns & Millers. I putted down thataways, down through Wrafalgar (that's what it says on my map and damn me if I'll call my map wrong...) and west into Morgantown. Morgantown has a bee specialty store I'm going to check into someday. I would guess they have lots of honey and honey products. I don't know for sure, I've never been in. Of course I've said that every damn time I've passed through that town. And that's been over 10 years ago I saw that store the first time, if I recall correctly. Procrastination? Naaaahhh... I honestly just always forget about it after leaving town. Unless I see their store info at the state fair. Which I've skipped the last two years. So quit hounding me, okay?
In the center of Morgantown I turned south, through Beanblossom and into Nashville. Then I followed 135 east for a few miles, then south again. I thought I might be in trouble right after turning that way. The twisties started almost immediately. A few miles in, I realized I wasn't going to be making any kind of time on these roads. But I persevered in a "Please don't throw me in the briar patch" sort of way. The turns were fun and I saw lots of wildlife.
There were wild turkeys, bunnies and a box turtle. Plus the usual farming horses, sheep, dogs and moo cows. But it was getting late and dark. Incidentally, today was the first time all year I've been even one iota pleased with the vilest evil known as DST. I like riding at night, but I am always anxious I won't see the patches gravel or, most importantly, the oil slick my nemesis has surreptitously spread from the Dodge Neon in front of me. Or those retard deer things.
So in the "town" of Norman (if that's a town I'm hung like the dude in "Every Given Sunday". Well... actually, I am. But keep that to yourself. I like to surprise the ladies...) this drunk guy getting into his pickup gave me directions. He told me to look for a truck place that wasn't there. But he WAS drunk. Nice, but drunk.
So after a few more bad turns, I found the horse park. But no Dunns and no Millers could I find. I putted through the park twice (maybe even thrice, can't remember), trying not to panic any horses and Christopher-Reeve anybody. (I can hear the moans even through the Ethernet wires...)
So after realizing I couldn't find them, I headed back home. I was more than a little concerned. It was getting dark in Deer Country, I was dead tired, thirsty as hell, starving (since I was waiting to get to the camper to eat) and at least 1.5 hours from home. I hopped on SR446 towards Bloomington, figuring it's just a few minutes.
Except for those dang twisties again. So after almost an hour, I arrived in Bloomington. The teen/college/whatever punks working at Wendys closed the dining room at least five minutes early. So I went to Applebees instead.
I brought my bag and gear in and ordered a burger, fries, an iced tea and some asprin. I was at this point ready to check into a hotel. I also considered getting something alcoholic to drink with dinner to help with the aches. But I decided to wait until after dinner. Good thing. The food woke my brain up quick and the hydration and asprin cut into my head and body aches in no time flat. So while waiting for the check, my waitress asked if I wanted some free cheesecake in honor of their 11th Anniversary. No fool am I, I took it.
Quick aside: I made good cheesecakes. Or so everyone else tells me. So I figured it wouldn't be any good. But it was, of course, free. The taste was good if not excellent. But the texture was very, very light. The raspberry sauce was a nice touch, as was the whipped cream and powdered sugar. They went all out and I was actually very impressed.
So I paid and left, heading up to SR37 and home. The road from Bloomington is quite nice. Only a handful of stoplights. There's a nice amount of separation between the opposing lanes so your eyes don't lose their night vision so badly. And the Ninja's high beams are wide and bright enough to easily see any deer standing on the side of the road. This eased my mind big time for my impending trip to Bahston.
So while I was a little tired, I got onto I465 with no problems. I was mentally alert and, more importantly, I broke the 1000 mile marker. I cranked the engine a bit, but after the I70 split, I got the bike up to 90 indicated. (I read on www.ninja250.org that the speedometer reads high by up to 10%. So if it says 99MPH, it could actually only be 90MPH. I don't know how my bike works in this regard.)
Then I made it home to type this and go to work the last two days. Only a few more days til I leave for Independence Day at the BIRTHPLACE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION!
Great job, guys! Too bad the country was only free for less than century...
It is.
It's a lllloooooooooooooonnnnnnnnng ride. Great roads, fun as hell to ride on. But not at all the sort of road you want to use if you actually want to get somewhere fast.
Let's backtrack. Last week, I got an invitation to join my friend Deb, her husband, Lois from work and her husband Steve for a night of camping at a horse park down south of Bloomington. I usually have some reason for not doing it, but this time I didn't and wanted to go. But my brother was leaving for Boston today. No problem, he told me he'd be leaving town about 1pm. Cool. I waited around and packed my bag. Then I took the Mapquest directions Deb gave me and gave them a look over. They were from her house in Danville to the campground. I entered my address and the destination address, then printed the map.
Well, as is typical with Dave, 1pm turned into 4pm or so. Which was fine since I didn't wake up until after 3pm. After he left, I jumped in the shower, washed my garlic-y armpits and got dressed. I double-checked my bag, put it on the bike and left.
I went down south again, going via I465 to the US31 exit. Then over to Cycle Outfitters again, then over to SR135 and down to the Target store. Dave told me Star Wars Battlefront II was only $19.99 for the X-Box at Target. So I stopped and bought that, some earplugs and a travel bottle of vodka for partying with the Dunns & Millers. I putted down thataways, down through Wrafalgar (that's what it says on my map and damn me if I'll call my map wrong...) and west into Morgantown. Morgantown has a bee specialty store I'm going to check into someday. I would guess they have lots of honey and honey products. I don't know for sure, I've never been in. Of course I've said that every damn time I've passed through that town. And that's been over 10 years ago I saw that store the first time, if I recall correctly. Procrastination? Naaaahhh... I honestly just always forget about it after leaving town. Unless I see their store info at the state fair. Which I've skipped the last two years. So quit hounding me, okay?
In the center of Morgantown I turned south, through Beanblossom and into Nashville. Then I followed 135 east for a few miles, then south again. I thought I might be in trouble right after turning that way. The twisties started almost immediately. A few miles in, I realized I wasn't going to be making any kind of time on these roads. But I persevered in a "Please don't throw me in the briar patch" sort of way. The turns were fun and I saw lots of wildlife.
There were wild turkeys, bunnies and a box turtle. Plus the usual farming horses, sheep, dogs and moo cows. But it was getting late and dark. Incidentally, today was the first time all year I've been even one iota pleased with the vilest evil known as DST. I like riding at night, but I am always anxious I won't see the patches gravel or, most importantly, the oil slick my nemesis has surreptitously spread from the Dodge Neon in front of me. Or those retard deer things.
So in the "town" of Norman (if that's a town I'm hung like the dude in "Every Given Sunday". Well... actually, I am. But keep that to yourself. I like to surprise the ladies...) this drunk guy getting into his pickup gave me directions. He told me to look for a truck place that wasn't there. But he WAS drunk. Nice, but drunk.
So after a few more bad turns, I found the horse park. But no Dunns and no Millers could I find. I putted through the park twice (maybe even thrice, can't remember), trying not to panic any horses and Christopher-Reeve anybody. (I can hear the moans even through the Ethernet wires...)
So after realizing I couldn't find them, I headed back home. I was more than a little concerned. It was getting dark in Deer Country, I was dead tired, thirsty as hell, starving (since I was waiting to get to the camper to eat) and at least 1.5 hours from home. I hopped on SR446 towards Bloomington, figuring it's just a few minutes.
Except for those dang twisties again. So after almost an hour, I arrived in Bloomington. The teen/college/whatever punks working at Wendys closed the dining room at least five minutes early. So I went to Applebees instead.
I brought my bag and gear in and ordered a burger, fries, an iced tea and some asprin. I was at this point ready to check into a hotel. I also considered getting something alcoholic to drink with dinner to help with the aches. But I decided to wait until after dinner. Good thing. The food woke my brain up quick and the hydration and asprin cut into my head and body aches in no time flat. So while waiting for the check, my waitress asked if I wanted some free cheesecake in honor of their 11th Anniversary. No fool am I, I took it.
Quick aside: I made good cheesecakes. Or so everyone else tells me. So I figured it wouldn't be any good. But it was, of course, free. The taste was good if not excellent. But the texture was very, very light. The raspberry sauce was a nice touch, as was the whipped cream and powdered sugar. They went all out and I was actually very impressed.
So I paid and left, heading up to SR37 and home. The road from Bloomington is quite nice. Only a handful of stoplights. There's a nice amount of separation between the opposing lanes so your eyes don't lose their night vision so badly. And the Ninja's high beams are wide and bright enough to easily see any deer standing on the side of the road. This eased my mind big time for my impending trip to Bahston.
So while I was a little tired, I got onto I465 with no problems. I was mentally alert and, more importantly, I broke the 1000 mile marker. I cranked the engine a bit, but after the I70 split, I got the bike up to 90 indicated. (I read on www.ninja250.org that the speedometer reads high by up to 10%. So if it says 99MPH, it could actually only be 90MPH. I don't know how my bike works in this regard.)
Then I made it home to type this and go to work the last two days. Only a few more days til I leave for Independence Day at the BIRTHPLACE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION!
Great job, guys! Too bad the country was only free for less than century...
Labels: motorcycles
posted by mmaier2112 at 9:51 PM
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