Aarrffin' around Appalachia

[Aarrff]

This from Wikipedia:

In 2006 Knox, a British manufacturer of impact protection for use in extreme sports, patented the SPS (scaphoid protection system). Designed for motorcyclists, SPS offers protection against common scaphoid injuries caused either by a compression fracture or by hyper extension when a glove palm made contact with the road. SPS consists of two low-friction pads positioned on the palm of each glove designed to eliminate the ‘grab’ effect and allowing the hand to slide.^[5] In 2012 Knox introduced SPS for mountain biking and cycling applications too. SPS has been adopted by many brands of motorcycle glove^[6]

[_anatic]

Originally Posted by Aarrff

Oh, I still have a somewhat sore thumb from the day I crashed the KTM a little over on Davidson with you and the guys about Thanksgiving. It seemed Ok as we kept riding but got real sore by the next day. Apparently cracked a scaphoid bone in the base of my thumb but its doing a lot better now That opposing thumb is important I realize

Yup, right up there with binocular vision. Glad it's doing better, didn't realize you broke it.

You can ride it some day if we are out...

Proley not a good idea, you know what happened last time I rode one of your bikes.

[Aarrff]

Originally Posted by _anatic

Proley not a good idea, you know what happened last time I rode one of your bikes.

Well..you have enjoyed your KTM though... If Gertrude were mine, I may not have traded. She has everything my GSA has in a lot of ways and not as tall. The 1150 engine is a workhorse! I do think you should buy her some new glasses after you went and broke them last time I saw her she appeared to have had a head on with something???? Maybe some good glue...I know screens are $$$$!!

[_anatic]

The kTm definitely bounces a lot better than Gertrude. I originally broke the screen on the Asbury Trail. Got a new one an immediately scratched an chipped it up at Joe's. The last time I dropped her in the back yard trying to put her in the basement. At that point I kinda said screw it an just super glued it back together. The 1150 is a tank, proley a good thing for me.

[Aarrff]

It seems that Spring is slow showing up here in the hills but today is certainly nice enough to ride. I had a few errands to run in Ashvilley so I took the beemer and found myself a nice little ride late in the morning. Went by Europsort for a few then took off from there in an easterly direction.












This road was Ok for a while then here came all these sucky curves again.


















I only took very few photos off the bike, most everything here is on the fly so sorry for the poor quality..but you can get the idea of this ride. Here at the little gap on the Divide.








Enough of this well traveled road, let's hit some less traveled...they say the bears wallow up here. Last time I came up here was on a bicycle maybe 10 years ago.









Dirt!








Hmmm...how fast did they think I was going already I guess I should speed up now....








Ah!!! Darn gate is locked! Now is when I need that bicycle!








I decided to hang around the top a while to see if any of the tower folks may open the gate and I could sweet talk myself a ride, this phone guy showed and he could not get in either...he shut his truck off...then it would not start. Just had a mechanic work on it a few days ago for erratic starting problems after having a new battery installed...







I decided to go over and see if he needed any help ( like I might know something ) He may be good at phones but on trucks....well....?? He had a VOM so we checked the battery...good voltage...solenoid only clicked when he hit the starter. I got to looking at the cables for corrosion,,,should have taken a photo!! The darn pos cable going to the starter motor was only bumping against the pos post and NOT under the bolt??? How's that for battery installation I told him to fix that while I took some more photos and in a minute or so...the truck fired right up and he came over and thanked me. He was a really nice guy...still no key to the gate so I took a few shots in the other direction and headed down toward the other side.







There used t be a little airstrip right on the top of this mountain....like a big level pasture that had been improved and leveled and several planes up here in a hanger. Now its gone and these million dollar plus homes are here...I had no idea! Where does all this money come from?







They are going to cover up every mountain top we got with homes sticking up in the air...who wants to live up here in 100 mile an hour winds??? Not locals!







See that wind sock in the yard...last remnant of the old airstrip I guess....









Its still pretty up here. We used to absolutely fly down through here on mountain bikes on a good dirt road...







Can't tell from this shot but that big Oak on the left must be 10 foot in diameter at the base.








Ok, down in the valley on Clear Branch I thinks, where the apples grow...









And Texas Long Horns









And some big ol' Herefords








think I saw his Blue Ox out back...









Headed for Terry's Gap









Into the back side of Fletcher ....








I like barns...






Even metal ones can have some character...













Taking some back roads toward Brevard then over the hill on 276 to the Haywood Hacienda...













Pulled off on a dirt road for water and pee and looks like the bike before me burned up








Take note, I may throw this up in the NC tag game or ATOR some day (9999)








Trying to decipher the hieroglyphics... some humanoids thousands of years from now may find this and wonder about us....








Rollin' on













is there any wonder why my tires never wear out in the middle??? This bike is basically new with just over 3K on it and the original metzelers are trashed on the edges. I am headed for Austin TX to see my son in a few weeks then maybe on to NM before heading back so guess I'll need new rubber before I go.







Just before turning up my driveway, I see I have 3,330 miles at 3:30

[klaviator]

It must suck living around all those crappy roads.

[Aarrff]

Awful stuff...Like a fool, I went out again yesterday for an even bigger loop so I'll post that up soon. Anything I can do to unadvertise this place.

Hope you are well and finding some good straight roads to ride

Originally Posted by klaviator

It must suck living around all those crappy roads.

[klaviator]

Originally Posted by Aarrff

Awful stuff...Like a fool, I went out again yesterday for an even bigger loop so I'll post that up soon. Anything I can do to unadvertise this place.

Hope you are well and finding some good straight roads to ride

I really miss some of the places I used to live that had really great roads, places like Floriduh and Michigan.

[KingJarhead]

Awesome Aarrff! I have been waiting for one of your ride reports. Once again you show what a great ambassador to our sport you are. If I ever have car/motorcycle/van trouble I hope you are around!
Thanks for sharing your tales.

[rwpeebles]

Always fun to read your RR's. 9999 eh? Is that worse than 999?

rw

[Aarrff]

Originally Posted by KingJarhead

Awesome Aarrff! I have been waiting for one of your ride reports. Once again you show what a great ambassador to our sport you are. If I ever have car/motorcycle/van trouble I hope you are around!
Thanks for sharing your tales.

Good to see you in here. I am finally diggin' out from under the snows I did not think spring would ever get here. I was going to post up another little loop today but never got around to it. Spent what time I had mounting up some better rubber on the bike so I can hit the road next week for a little longer run. I have TX and NM in my sights but we'll see ifn' I can get away from business and such long enough...

Originally Posted by rwpeebles

Always fun to read your RR's. 9999 eh? Is that worse than 999?

rw

At least its not upside down 9's... Thanks for your mail and info on Big Bend....I hope to make it that far but got to stop and see my son in Austin first so....maybe...be a few days yet to get ready.

[Aarrff]

It was Monday morning, not much going on work wise, I had my big bike over at mtngal's place near "the patch" over the weekend. Really nice day on tap so why not take a creative way home to the Haywood Hacienda, we'll perhaps I should say "mi casa" as its not an estate or plantation as such, just a place I call mine for now. It is off US 215 which is nice for me and my riding

So I'll just head north east instead of south and see what we find: Probably more sucky roads...and this place a few miles down the road that everybody recognizes with those rusty tags:







Some really nice folks run this organic farm just down the road and we get really good veggies and meats from them too.









With the snows melting in the higher plateaus, sounds like big deal mountains, and good rain over the weekend, there is more water in the streams.








And I hit the main drag down to "Hot Sprangs"







Here we go again on these darn awful roads. I guess the state gets tired of repalcing the guard rails every time a trucker tries to follow his GPS to dodge the weight scales







I picked up a follower near town...actually mtngal had to run into town to do a few errands for work and saw me headed through so I waited on her to have a brief chat before continuing on so here she is following me until I pull over. I don't mind getting pulled over by my sweetie







Headed on over the hill







This newer bike does not have the tire pressure monitor software like my older bike so I just installed an aftermarket tire pressure monitor system which I like so far. Not as important off road but I do a lot of interstate sometimes to get down the road to where I am exploring and I like knowing that my tires are not having problems with pressure or heat. Here the rear is showing 46 lbs warmed up. It will climb a good 4-5 lbs in the curves! Most recommended tire pressure are "cold" pressures and should be followed to prevent heat from building by over flexing the sidewalls. I run 40 in the rear on the big bike carrying a load or 2-up.







Haulin' fer TN..


















A fun little connector between Flag Pond and 19W













TN does not build straight roads either...think I saw myself at one point in this curve...














Spring....








Back in a bit with the rest of the story...

[klaviator]

Originally Posted by Aarrff

TN does not build straight roads either...think I saw myself at one point in this curve...







Back in a bit with the rest of the story...

It looks like you like the same kind of roads I do

That last curve looks like you could almost rear end yourself going around it. I wonder how your insurance company would react if you did

[Aarrff]

Continuing on









Still a lot of brine or salt-sand mixture on the roads and often still out in the lanes on backroads









What can I say about this? maybe " left elbow headed down the South Toe"









I think this is Jack's Creek








Heck, let's just try the British side








Was headed here for lunch but the Hill Top Restaurant has become a boutique









On the west side of town ( Burnsville) I saw this headed up the hill so I went back to give it a try. When I got there, there were a few locals on the porch eating and so I asked what they thought and got two thumbs up which was good enuf fer me. The service was great and food as well and I sat on the little porch to eat. It is air conditioned inside if you like. It is really good place for bikes to stop I think. Called "Wish Bone"














And the price was right too









Heading east on 19E the construction is in full swing but no delays today for me









Micaville!










I like old barns










This road going south toward Old Fort is endless stuff like this















Old Fort Depot











Making a full circle around Mt Mitchell today ( peak in the background)









Stopped here to take a break on Mill Creek but the beer in my tank bag must have got shaken up










So the battery gave out in my camera and I went on up to Black Mtn then hit Ah Fourdy, got tired of that quickly then headed for Pisgah Forest which I have posted a lot of that stuff before and here I am on 276 maybe 15 minutes from "mi casa" and a cousin lives in that house behind the mirror













Collecting some old "Mercs"












Rolled in the garage with 211 miles today. Headed maybe for TX and NM next week so trying to decide whether I'll post it up here or start a "ride report". The whole trip will be like little day trips just not connecting back home for a while A bigger loop

[Aarrff]

Originally Posted by klaviator

It looks like you like the same kind of roads I do

That last curve looks like you could almost rear end yourself going around it. I wonder how your insurance company would react if you did

I have had a few tumbles over the years that felt like front and rear were colliding I wonder if you could go around some of these curves fast enough to find a time warp??? Probably just a good head warping