Sunday April 26, 2015
Copyright (C) 2015, Jim Beachy
3-day, 4-day, 5-day plans. MACH.15. Between 1,100 and 1,200 miles separate our home and Vicksburg, MS where the great Mississippi Area Crawfish Hunt will commence later this week. Kitty and I have ridden that distance many times in two days of two-up Interstate riding but that's not our preference. Give us a winding two-lane road in the countryside any day.
At last year's MACH.14, we had a slow-down two-lane route planned, but had to abandon it after hunkering down in Cleveland, TN for several days amid vicious tornado-spawning storms that moved through the area. We spent one night gathered in the hotel stairwells for safety. Because of the delay, we had to abandon our two-lane slow-down plans and finish the segment to Vicksburg on the Interstate.
Our good friend (actually, everyone's good friend) Roger Riley was the original MACH organizer, but was unable to attend last year because of illness. We spent an evening passing around a Skype-enabled laptop talking to him while he lay in his hospital bed. A week later he was gone. Having just gotten home from that ride with Kitty after wandering around in West Texas for a while, when I heard of Roger's untimely death I jumped right back on the bike and rode the 850 miles or so west to Missouri for the memorial service. This year, the event will continue at his wife Marlene's request, but it will not be the same without him.
Nevertheless, I've spent some time again planning a two-lane route, but this time with contingencies should we run into severe weather. 3-day, 4-day, and 5-day plans. Yesterday while at Dad's I looked at the weather and thought we'd be into the 4-day plan because of heavy fronts moving through, but by this morning the front had moved through and we decided to execute the 5-day slow-down plan starting today. Five days to ride 1,138 miles might be the lowest planned daily mileage we've ever done on any trip, even our slow-down trips. After Vicksburg, we plan to slide on over to Gulfport, MS to see our son and family, and then probably an Interstate ride home from there. I need to conserve a few vacation days for another planned ride in June (stay tuned - not a slow-down ride!) and for some other family time in July.
"Clickety-click" says Kitty in the headset. For years she would say "And there we go" when she was seated on the bike, plugged in, and ready to go. Her announcement has morphed into "Clickety-click" in honor of the small click heard on both our headsets when she plugs in her helmet. Secretly, I miss the older time-honored phrase just a little.
But it still serves the same purpose, so at 12:54, after video-streaming our church service, we ease into the street and turn left at the first turn. It's mostly sunny and 63 degrees F. It's just a short 210 mile jaunt to Roanoke, VA where we plan to stay when this half-day ride ends. We discuss whether to take US 11, a pleasant scenic route that parallels I-81, but somehow we stay on I-81 after making the 50-mile run on I-66 west.
It's considerably chillier than I'd envisioned. While packing the bike and trailer, it always seems warm, and thoughts creep in about whether we really need the jacket liner or an extra layer. But experience has taught us to always dress at least one layer heavier than seems warranted while packing. And so it is. We've brought both our leather jackets and our mesh jackets. Just because we can. The trailer enables us to do that: One set of jackets in the left saddlebag, wear the other set, with the rest of our gear stowed carefully in the California Sidecar Excel trailer. I'm glad I put the liner back into the leather jacket I'm wearing.
Heading south on I-81, the mountains to the east are showing some early Virginia green along the lower flanks, and what appears to be nearly bare trees on the upper elevations. The stunning feature of today's ride is the prolific redbud trees in full bloom. Their purple buds are everywhere among the light tree growth interspersed with the open, rolling green fields of the Shenandoah Valley. Sometimes they seem to form a majestic purple gauntlet for us to ride through.
After a stop for fuel and a bite to eat near Staunton, VA, cloud cover has moved in and the temperature has dropped from about 61 F to 55 F. I've had the engine cowl heat vents on all day, but now I also turn up the heated handgrips and seat. Kitty has had her heated seat activated all day. When I got this Gold Wing, I scoffed at the idea of heated grips and heated seat. "What could that do to keep a rider warm?" I thought. "You're still out there in the wind, and it's not like heating up your car in an enclosed space." Well, those thoughts were put to rest the first time I actually used the heated components. I can't explain why, but the introduction of an external heat source, even if just to the palms and fingers of the hands along with the seat and back rest, creates a completely different riding environment. Before long I've gone from nearly shivering (I really should have added another t-shirt layer) to feeling warm and comfy at 53 F.
We stop as planned in Roanoke, VA after our short 200-plus mile sprint, clean the bike's windshield, cover the bike and trailer, and find a really excellent Mexican restaurant within walking distance.
Tomorrow is scripted as another short 300-mile day on Interstates. I'm signing off now to see if I can find some non-Interstate routes that will get us to the same place by nightfall tomorrow.
See you then.
GPS Track Log
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