Subject: Re: RCR, Lake Lure Date: Mon, 08 Jun 1998 16:13:24 -0400 From: Martyn Wheeler Reply-To: bikers@listserv.oit.unc.edu To: bikers@listserv.oit.unc.edu Sharon wrote: > Great roads that prompted my friend > Lisa (Martyn's passenger) to say "these are MUCH easier on a bike!" Martyn > particularly liked a road called "Buffalo Shoals", it had tons of twisties. Yup. Like Deals Gap, but a little shorter and with *no* traffic! :-) > The Seca was great for the twisties, but it lacks comfort for the long > drive out and back, not to mention the loss of power up high on Mt. > Mitchell. And Lake Lure is very pretty. And appears to be Hog Heaven on > the weekends. There's a place called Margaritaville on 64/74A that is like > HD catnip. Mostly yuppie poser scum. Lotsa pretty semi-custom (i.e. "I paid my dealer to do the work with off-the-shelf-parts") Harleys. Some of those are *very* nice, though. Some serious riders too, some with some *real* customs. Ken's bike would be the dog's bollocks there. > RCR-- > A great bunch of folks showed up at Camp Westmar. So did some very chilly > air and a strong wind. The long ride up and back went through some nice > parts of VA, and I learned a bunch of things on the trip: > 1. If Martyn says that it's going to be warm and the TV weather > mentions an Arctic front, believe the TV weather. It's the RCR. It's supposed to be hot. What the heck is it doing in the 50's in the "heat" of the day? > 3. The western route is MUCH prettier and less crowded than the > eastern route up route 15. Found some fun roads too... :-) > 5. No matter how nice and wide and new and sticky that radial tyre > is, it doesn't stick on damp grass. Ouch. But damp grass doesn't scratch your bike. > Bikes that were there included Mr. Bill's bike with the wankle engine ( I > didn't know they made a bike like that!). Heretofor to be known as the Wanker engine. It gave up the ghost about 10 miles into a Saturday ride, apparently. > There were a number of > multiples, my favorite being the four Bandits, two red 600s and two blue > 1200s; I have to say the fact that the 1200s were owned by girls and the > 600s by guys was a source of amusement. Yeah. It was way cool watching guys drool over the ladies' bikes... :-) Several Hawks (including the Oompah's), CBR1000F's, and the usual mix of UJM's. Saw a *real* nice Hepco & Becker hard bag setup on a GSX-R1100 (Hmmm..... :-) ). > Catness had her CB1 there, loaded > with about the same amount of stuff that Martyn and I brought on the Guzzi. Let's be specific here -- *I* brought it on the Guzzi. You travelled light, which is no doubt how you were able to stick on my butt when we passed those cars... ;-) > Emily > (Fredneck's HD) had apparently had a complete makeover; she was very > pretty. You wouldn't recognise her from last year -- she's fantastic. Fredneck did a *great* job over the winter. > And Bill brought his very pretty burgandy wing, and showed us the > electric reverse gear (I'm jealous). Um. So am I, but I wouldn't trade the Cali for one. > Anyway, I'll let Martyn, Mike Sayers, Mr. Pou, Josh or Melanie add their > own comments... 1. It was too cold. Too friggin' cold. Next year's Oompah promised to do it later in the year and somewhere further south. And dryer, hopefully. 2. Catness is next year's Oompah. She's *really* keen to do it -- none of the volunteer-when-drunk stuff we've done before -- and promised that it would most emphatically *not* be at Westmar. 3. Several people asked me where the heck you all were -- they're used to seeing the TriDoD being the biggest contingent, and we were crushed by the NeDoD this time fer sure. 4. It was definitely fun. 5. The Sacred Six are down to Five. Cliff Weston didn't make it this year. 6. The time in Lake Lure and at the RCR just warmed up my distance skills. The ride back was a breeze, not sore at all. Time to work on some serious miles this year, I think. 1400 miles in a week or so is just scratching the surface. 7. So that's what Kahlua tastes like... :-) 8. I'm not fond of the BT17 rear profile. It's too triangular for a sport-touring tyre, although I have no complaints about stick, wet or dry. Maybe it'd be better in a narrower 130/90, to flatten out the profile a bit. OTOH, the front BT17 is wearing rapidly and unevenly, although otherwise it's a very nice tyre. 9. Lots of fun folks, lots of interesting bikes, lots of fun. I *never* regret going to the RCR! No doubt more comments to come later... ;-) Martyn --sasmjw@unx.sas.com--(Martyn Wheeler)--SAS Institute Inc.--DoD #293-- "Touch me with your soul, Bless me with your smile / traci lords Give to me all your love, Baby watch me fly, watch me fly!" "High and wide open, reaching forever, I fly into the blue" -- Moby