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Yesterday (Monday), sitting in my office at work about 4:00 I was looking out the window at some beautiful blue skies and thought to check my vacation days remaining, I had a few to burn, more than enough to cover the 3 days prior to Thanksgiving and cover me through Christmas, so I check my calendar, only two meetings, neither was very important. Off to check with the boss-man, I knew that would go well since about 2 hours prior he mentioned he was having a hard time being present at work since he and his wife spent Sunday in Asheville, and sure enough, I had a vacation on my calendar and the out of office reply on for my in-box. It is late October in North East Tennessee, the whole week is supposed to be in the mid 70's with no chance of rain, and the previous weekend I had to do my first round of leaf remediation in my yard, so I knew the leaves were still in color, but not for long. I had a sneaking suspicion that the leaves would be down at the higher elevations, but that gave the side benefit that fewer leaf watchers would be out to slow me down. Now just about a month ago I got to ride with some VFRD members around here for the Fall Bristol Ride, and I had a blast, but I got my fill of Shady Valley and the area around it, which is my normal ride. I wanted to hit some less traveled roads (at least for me) and tune the aggression back since I would be solo. After a little time looking at the map, I decided a trip over Roan Mountain and down 226 until I hit the Blue Ridge Parkway, then take it back north to Blowing Rock and then find my way home from there. Tuesday morning, a little fog out, but not bad, temp around 50, so I put the liner in the jacket and get my neck wind breaker. I have my 4th gen ready to go, a stop at the local gas station, fill up and I am on my way. I am taking back roads, it is about 9:00 am so what little traffic there is in the Tri-Cities of East Tennessee is cleared out. I make it through Bluff City and Elizabethton and now I start getting to the good stuff. I turn towards Roan Mountain, stuck behind a few slow cars, but my belly is talking to me, so I pull over and have a little breakfast. After a short break, back on the road and heading up Roan Mountain, the leaves still have some color, but as I get higher, the leaves are mostly gone. At the pull off on the side of the road, the trees are all but bare, but the sun is warm and the asphalt is smooth (mostly) and the traffic is no where to be found. I crest Roan Mountain and enter the great State of North Carolina and start heading down Hwy 261 to Hwy 226 and to Spruce Pine, where I get into a detour and turned around, a quick look at the map, a U turn and I am heading in the right direction. A few miles farther and I am at the Blue Ridge Parkway. When I am in the mood for some easy riding and want to turn the brain off of "11," I really enjoy the parkway. This is not my favorite section of the parkway, more rolling farmland than the Mountains around Asheville, but the benefit today is at the lower elevations, the trees are still full of color, lots of gold, some red and the traffic is light, which is a very good thing when the morning coffee is begging for an exit... As I get closer to Blowing Rock, my old belly starts talking again, and since it is about 12:30 I think I will listen to it, there are some good little restaurants in Blowing Rock and since it is Tuesday, it should not be that crowded... Well, I was wrong, seems when you are retired, a Tuesday might as well be a Saturday, and as I see the tour buses rounding all the corners, I realize I need a different plan. I turn back south, I am pretty sure there is a restaurant at Grandfather Mountain, and it is not too far away, so back down Hwy 221 which parallels the Parkway, but I get stuck behind leaf watchers, which turns out to be a benefit as the leaves on the road do a wonderful job of hiding the sand and gravel in the turns, and after my front washes away and a barely catch it and my foot cramps up from the pucker factor, I decide the leaf watcher pace is not so bad. The one thing I can say about Grandfather Mountain, it ain't cheap... But I suck it up and pay the price and have a nice Philly Cheese Steak and soda. I ride to the top and take a few pictures from the Mile High Bridge. After that, back down the mountain and headed home, it is about 4:00 when I make it back, I did the whole ride on a single tank of gas, I filled up about 2 miles from the house, so about 230 miles for the day. Six and a half years ago I left Atlanta to move up to the Mountains, I have never regretted it, and this was one of the main reasons I made the move. I don't do these rides nearly enough, but every time I do I make myself a promise to do it more often, and today I fulfilled that promise to myself.

I wasn't sure where to post this report because it's an intro/first post, as well as a document of a short little ride I did this past Sunday... Actually, it was not a short jaunt at all. It was 532 miles through Central and North Central Pennsylvania. I had the chance to get nicely acquainted with my new-to-me 2007 VFR800 and to see parts of PA that I have never seen before. I had heard that PA Route 44 was one of the best roads you could find in Pennsylvania and decided to plan a day around getting there and back. Its slightly northwest of Williamsburg, PA, the little league capital of the world (?), and goes for over 60 miles through nothing but deciduous forests and an occasional village. Now, why did I buy a VFR? I had always been into Interceptors but my love of the old/vintage/classic stock has always kept my attention longer. I had been saving for a long time in hopes to find myself an excellent 74 Commando 850. However, somewhere along the way I started daydreaming about a lengthy 7000 mile (or so) trip across the US and back next summer. This would leave my choices of trusty equipment to be a nearly 40 year old British twin, as romantic as it is, or my 1985 CB700SC Nighthawk S (below). The Nighthawk is awesome and Ive owned 3 of them, but my practical side usually wins me over. So a few weeks ago I picked up a beautiful 07 and have been thoroughly enjoying it... Another goal of this ride was to see what kind of mileage I was physically capable of riding in a day in preparation for a long cross country trip. Luckily I saw some weather and road conditions that were anything but ideal which added to the trial. I left at 8 am and headed west from Philadelphia towards our bankrupt filing state capital, Harrisburg. This would be mostly interstate riding for 90 miles to get west quickly. The temperatures were in the low 50s and sun was shining, but it was a drastic difference from the 90+ temperatures we've seen only a few weeks earlier. I was cold, not going to lie. I also was slightly unprepared for the Dutch farm-country winds blowing across the interstate. The same interstate with an artistically exploded mammal on the asphalt every mile or two. When I got to Harrisburg city limits I exited I-76 and headed north on PA route 147. A beautiful, Sycamore lined country road that took me up towards Williamsport. The new 800. A beautiful mid-October day soon turned into a late November day as I neared Williamsport. The sun left and the temperature dropped 10 degrees it seemed. The outside temperature gauge on this VFR is not accurate at all and I need to fix that. While riding behind a slow moving, tiny Toyota Yaris I smelled burning. I momentarily thought it was the charging circuit I have yet to inspect and that I was about to be stranded in Fracksville, Pennsyltucky for the night. But I needed fuel, so I stopped to check things out and stretch. The Toyota happened to be pulling into the same gas station. As it did, I noticed plumes of black smoke near its rear wheel. The Toyota pulls next to the highly explosive gasoline pump and its rear wheel engulfs in flames. I was glad to conclude that it was not my charging circuit. Next came the task of urgently yelling at the boyfriend driver to let him know his girlfriend's car was about to ignite and ruin the day for a few people. Luckily, they moved the car and were able to put out the flames. I made sure they were okay and tried to leave but a pride of cougars hunted me down to ask me to help them with their tire that had gone flat. I finally made it out of there with no singed eyebrows, all of my clothes, and a full tank of gas. The weather had turned worse and it started raining a little. But there was this. For over 60 miles. The road I came 200 miles to see. It was a beautiful forest, mixed with pines and deciduous trees. The smell was amazing and the colors even better. I had read about Hyner View State Park and its grand vista. Hyner View road turns off of Route 44 and is about a 10 mile trek through the east coast's version of Redwood National Park with smaller trees. Jurassic... I made my way up to to Hyner View overlook on another mountain climbing road that reminded me of California. I was greeted by a beautiful landscape overlooking Renovo, Pennsylvania. I stayed for a short while but the winds were nearly blowing me off the mountain. There was a group of dual-sport, off road riders there that went down the mountain the fun way. I haven't tried the VFR on muddy, narrow logging roads yet but It seems like it'd be an educational experience. The beautiful 44 continued for some time longer and I came to a valley opening that had photo-op quality. The obligatory bike-anchored-in-the-corner-ride-report-photo The sun finally came back out for a short while as I started to make my way home. Still about 200 miles/4 hours from home. The remainder of the ride was generally cold, wet, and windy, so my inspiration for photos was pretty low. I was getting pretty beat after nearly 10 hours with the stock handlebars. I came to the conclusion that, if the weather isn't so great and roads are tricky, then 300 miles is my maximum. 400 miles is a great day in good weather. 500 miles a day if I have to get somewhere and there is beer at the end of the ride. You can see the full gallery here. I recommend full screen viewing.