Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: (Alan Fleming)
Subject: GA DoD ride to RCR II, Pt #2
Keywords: big fun
Organization: AT&T Tridom, Engineering
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 21:46:15 GMT


I'm a little slow at getting this typed in but I've been stuck doing
the work thing and planning the Deal's Gap Ride.  Only three more parts to
go.

                     Team Suzuki Touring does the RCR  Part #2

Day 2:
   At some point I heard MikeW get up and start moving around.  I'm not an
early riser, to say the least, so I tried to ignore the noise.  At 7:30am my
alarm went off and I wasn't too happy to realize that it was time to force
myself awake.  After I unlocked the bikes, MikeW went out to adjust his clutch
cable.  I looked through the oil sight window and kicked the tires.  It didn't
take long to get everything packed and loaded onto the bikes.  We decided to
get gas and hit a fast food place for breakfast on the way.  Little did we know
that just about every place in Boone is closed until 10am on Friday morning.
Finally we found a Burger King.  As we started in, a small boy was pointing
the bikes out to his Mom.  We all gave a big wave and smiled.  Once inside
two high-school girls with exceptional taste complemented my leathers.  (Glad
they didn't see me trying to wrestle my way into my rainsuit the previous
day.)  We munched on breakfast while watching a Harley rider go through the
line.  He gave a deadpan look and sat on the other side of the place.

   At 9:00 we were rolling back south to the BRP.  It didn't take long to get
back up to speed but I was a little worried about whether we'd make Roanoke
by 13:00 to meet the N. Carolina group.  Since Roanoke was about 100 miles
away we set a steady pace of 60mph.  I quickly noticed that traffic had picked
up but was also seeing more bikes.  Seems like everyone on a bike gave a big
smile and wave.   After about 50 miles we got stuck behind a string of slow
moving cars.  Since my wrist and bladder were both bothering me I decided to
stop at the next opportunity.  After about 10 miles, were got past the cars
and immediately came upon a gas-station/store.  Despite my reluctance to get
stuck behind the cars again, we pulled off.  While stopped, I enjoyed a healthy
dose of Advil while looking over couple of Goldwings and a 1200cc Sportster
that were parked out front.

   We jumped back on and kept heading towards Roanoke.  At this point the BRP
is on the crest of the mountains so things aren't nearly as curvy as the
earlier sections.  In addition, it was still cool in the morning forests but
warm on the open straights.  It was easy to get lulled into going considerably
faster than legal and at times we'd all have to back down from 70 mph on the
longer straight sections.  It was during one of these long sections that we
encountered a Park Ranger.  Fortunately, we were running about 60 mph at the
time and slowed down once we saw him.  Almost immediately after we'd gone
past he hit his brakes and put on this lefthand turnsignal.  I knew we were
caught.  I slowed up to 45 mph and kept looking in the mirrors.  And kept
looking.  And kept looking.  After 15 miles I decided he wasn't coming after
us.  I also remembered that we'd just gone past a side road when we saw him
so I guess he was turning in there.  Needless to say, my pulse was running at
a considerable pace.  We pulled off for gas and Gatorade at Fancy Gap, VA.
MikeW said he was quite entertained by my leathers.  They have "Vanson"
written across the back in large bold letters and the wrinkles formed as I
moved around was constantly blocking certain letters.  I think it is a sign
that he's a computer geek disease that he kept seeing "Vansoft".

   We'd been catching up to traffic all morning but the straight road made
passing easy.  I think we were getting pretty spoiled because now that we
had crossed the Virginia state line things seemed to go downhill.  The road
wasn't in nearly as good condition.  Soon we encountered some Park Service
tractors that were clearing a downed tree off the roadside.  Since the tractors
and dump-truck were blocking the BRP, traffic in both directions was stopped.
Oncoming traffic was in the shade but we were stuck in the heat.  We all cut
the engines and started opening up riding suits.  MikeW put his bike on the
centerstand and reclined with his feet on the handlebars.  I sat there quietly
until noticing a huge puddle of liquid under my bike.  Naturally, I handled
the situation properly by panicing and looking for an oil leak.  It turns out
it was coolant from a car that must have been stopped there earlier.  Finally
the tree was cut into pieces and loaded into the dump-truck.  Still hoping to
make Roanoke in time, we cut out at 60 mph.  After about 20 miles we passed
a sign "Construction: Next 51 miles".  Over the next 50 miles we hit four
areas where the BRP was one lane with shuttle vehicle to lead cars through.
Each one entailed a 10 minute wait, then a 20 mph trip past workers that were
sitting on the roadside chatting.  Maybe they were taking an early lunch but
I doubt it.  I was determined, construction be damned, to meet the NC group
so after each stop we'd end up riding a little faster.  Fortunately, we were
only doing about 50 mph when we saw the next Park Ranger.  Again I slowed to
45 mph but after a few miles pulled it back up to 70 mph.  Twice we passed
lawn mowers but with no other traffic in site, just pulled to the other lane
and zoomed past.

   At 12:30 we were about 25 miles outside Roanoke.  I figured that the NC
group would stick around till 13:30 so we had a chance.  At this point the
BRP starts dropping back down, so the road gets curvy again.  Naturally,
we pulled in behind two slow moving cars at this point.  For 10 miles the
front car went through the corners slower than the warning signs indicated.
Then, on the next short straight would crank it up to 50 mph, preventing
the second car from passing.  Finally, after much light flashing and tail
gating from the blue car, the white whale pulled into an overlook.  The
blue car picked up the pace a small amount but was still dreadfully slow
on anything resembling a straight section.  Unfortunately, all these were
double yellows and I have an unexplainable phobia for passing on double
yellow.  By now my frustration level was going through the ceiling and my
body heat (low speeds don't do much to ventilate my leathers) was following
shortly behind.  To make matters worse, the BRP actually overlooks Roanoke
on this section so it was effectively waving a carrot in front of my nose.
Finally we hit long straight downhill section and I nailed the throttle.
My brainstate was such that I failed to downshift first but my bike still
shot around the car.  MikeW and MikeM both followed but not as violently
as I'd gone around.  It took a moment for me to slow back up to sane speeds
and after a couple of miles we reached our exit.  Roanoke rivaled Cherokee
for heat and wasn't far behind in traffic.  At every traffic light I could
feel the heat inside my helmet and leathers.  After the steady speeds of
the last 36 hours, stop and go traffic was particularly abusive.  We suffered
the 10 miles to Salem and spotted a large line of bikes in front of the
Quincy's Family Steakhouse Sizzler.  After a day of flawless duty, my signals
once again quit working just as we pulled into the parking lot.

  Out front, Amy Spiker was changing the spark plugs on the moped.  We headed
inside to order some air conditioning with a side order of lunch.  In the
far back were three tables of fearsome folks surrounded by helmets.  We
carried our food back and introduced ourselves.  Lunch was great with lots
of experience swapping and general bike chat.  After an army's share of iced
tea I was feeling great.  Amy came in and said she was taking off ahead of
us.  The Moped was making a strange knocking noise and she wanted to get on
to Cass.  It didn't take too long before the NC group was ready to head on
as well.  I managed to gobble down the last of my salad and hit the bathroom
on the way out.  I thought I'd run into the door on the way out but quickly
realized it was just the heat.  It didn't take long for us all to mount up
and soon a whole herd of Denizens was filing out of the parking lot.

  We headed across the street and swamped a gas station.  Once out of there
we headed north from Salem on 311.  After the previous two days ride on
the Blue Ridge, our pace with 11 bikes and the Aerostar was a little
slow.  Immediately two bikes took off.  Not much later the whole convoy
got stuck behind a construction grater.  Tim Seiss took off and Bob Hruska
set off in pursuit.  I was really tempted but hesitated to see what the
group would do.  I regretted not going, since the group wasn't able to
pick up the pace so as to keep the Aerostar in site.  After going through
some great twisties with plenty of disturbing gravel in corners, we
crossed into West Virginia.  (then back into Virginia for a bit and
back to W. VA.)  Next we pulled onto I-64 for one exit and headed
north on VA-60.  When going past a Hardees we passed Amy and TheMoped
who gave a big wave.  Guess it had made it this far.  Next we stopped
for fuel.  One pump and all 11 bikes had grouped back up.  It was a slow
process, made more entertaining by me backing my GSXR into the front
bumper of the Aerostar (no damage to either) and Mike Mitten doing
a speed run through the lot that about gave HoJo Polito a heart attack.
Just as we were about to leave, TheMoped pulls in for gas.  Everyone
made their guess as to what was causing the ominous knocking in TheMoped.

  The fast group of four zipped off leaving the remaining eight (seven +
TheMoped) to make the final haul into Cass.  The speed was now reduced even
more as Martin was keeping an eye on TheMoped.  About halfway to Cass,
Bill Ranck (with his daughter as pillion) blew past me, followed by MikeW.
Not one to pass up an opportunity twice, I pulled out and proceeded to hit
obsessive speeds to catch up.  A look in the mirror revealed that MikeM and
HoJo had followed suit.  I felt bad about leaving Martin with TheMoped but
after a long days ride, my bike gets painful if things are not interesting
enough to distract me.  The last few miles into Cass were quite enjoyable
as we buzzed through small towns and pastures at 70mph.

  Upon arrival in Cass, I was sure we were to late.  The first major building
was a collapsed church.  Man these Denizens work fast.  We headed to the
parking lot of the Scenic Railroad where the Fast Four were already waiting.
While BSing there in the parking lot, Jim Bessette walked over and gave us
the low down on where the cabin keys were located.  Team Suzuki grabbed
our key and headed for a cabin.  When TheMoped rolled in, Amy joined us.
The last room would eventually be filled by Chris "Keep the peppers away"
Behanna and Annette.  While standing around, Matt (on his beautiful FJ)
and Katheryn Hur rolled up.  While none of the shaft-bigots where looking
I snuck out and waxed the chain on my bike.  Later I saw Martyn bravely
doing the same thing in broad daylight.  He was begging for abuse.

  After unpacking all the gear, a small group gathered up and made plans to
look for beer and dinner.  A trip to the local BP revealed a limited
selection of barley juice, but having no pride, I opted to drink what was
available.  We headed en masse to a family restaurant and ate.  Dinner
conversations varied from bicycles to computers to faces behind the posts.
Just as we were leaving, Jack and Jackie Tavares rolled in for their dinner.
We headed back to Cass, grabbed a beer and started walking around to see
who else had arrived.  This seemed to be the standard action for Denizens
once they'd arrived and soon a small but loud group was forming on a porch
there on main street.  After getting a few dirty looks from residents we
moved the party up the hill to the cabins near Team Suzuki.  For the
remainder of the evening new faces drifted in.  It was great meeting folks
but soon the beer and volume of new names overwhelmed me and I still don't
remember half the people I was introduced to.

  Nick "M'Lud" Pettefar and Charlie Smith's entrance was quite memorable
as Nick rode the PD right into the party.  Chris and Annette also arrived
and got settled into our cabin.  I tried to pass the word that everyone
should meet in the Railroad parking area at 10am for some riding but the
sheer volume of people made it difficult.  At least I had drunk enough to
be insistent.  Around 2am the final folks (me, MikeW, Nick, Mr. Bill and
Charlie) all wandered off to our cabins.

NEXT:  The group ride or "Warp Factor 7 Mr. Scotty"


Think Peace.
-- Alan (alanf@eng.tridom.com)
KotBBBB (1988 GSXR1100J)  AMA# 634578  DOD# 4210  PGP key available