MACH 15: Day 10 - Interstatement

Tuesday Day 10
Cinco de Mayo, 2015
Copyright(c) 2015, Jim Beachy

437 miles today, 2,490 miles total.

"It's only 624 miles to home.  We can be there by 8:00 PM plus fuel stops," I say in the headset as we strike out northward on I-59.  It's another gorgeous morning, not a single cloud visible in the entire sky from horizon to horizon.

I find the perfect seating position on the big comfortable seat and it's one of those mornings when I feel as though I could ride the 600 miles home without ever changing position, without ever stopping except for fuel stops.  I think Kitty might actually be thinking the same thing.  My Gold Wing becomes an extension of myself, effortlessly gobbling up miles and miles of a black magic carpet that magically appear in my windshield, pass under my boots, and disappear in my mirrors.

As we cross the state line from Alabama into Georgia, we lose the hour we gained a week ago and I watch the GPS-synchronized clock in my multi-function display suddenly jump ahead one hour.  Since it's slaved to the GPS time, and the GPS knows where it is at all times, it also knows exactly when the time zone changes.  It also factors in time zone changes when it estimates destination arrival times.

We catch I-24 and ride for several miles in Georgia before crossing into Tennessee.  Reality intrudes into this Interstatement when we stop for a comfort break at the Tennessee welcome center, 45 minutes into the day.

In the welcome center, strapped to a trailer, stands a 15-foot cow, its origin and purpose a mystery.  From the front, this is one scary-looking cow!  Just as we are ready to leave, a man wonders over and starts talking motorcycles.  His name is Mike; he's a trucker, and is also the Safety Coordinator for the GWRRA (Gold Wing Road Riders Association) chapter, or perhaps for the entire state of Tennessee.  He's quite a story-teller, and an hour after our stop we finally set off northward toward Chattanooga.

"Well, I had visions of riding all the way home today," says Kitty.  "But one stop like that pretty much changes that picture."  She's right:  To ride over 600 miles in a day, especially one where we lose an hour, requires a commitment to steady (not fast) riding and minimizing stopped time.

We navigate through Chattanooga and Knoxville amid heavy truck traffic, pick up I-40, and stop for fuel at Exit 419, just south of where I-81 splits off to the north from I-40.  My buddy Ray and I used to meet at this exit for breakfast on many of our cross-country rides together.  We both had GPS units and left our homes at the respective time to have us to this exit at 11:00 AM on a particular day.  For me, that mean leaving the house between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM; I had a little farther than Ray, but we always ended up here just minutes apart.  Today, it's just fuel and lunch at a Subway, then we're on our way, after being informed by a guy in a red pickup truck that my left low beam headlight is out.  I add it to the list of service items for when I return home.  I'll also need a new rear tire before my next trip.  The stretch from Chattanooga to Knoxville is among my least favorite Interstate stretches because of the heavy traffic generated by the convergence of five or six Interstate roads, and I'm glad to have it behind me.

We ride 206 miles from here without a stop or a pause, crossing from Tennessee to Virgina at Bristol, which is bisected by the state line.  I give Kitty many opportunities to stop for a break or for the evening, as it's now after 5:30 PM local time.  But it's her idea to ride without a break to the next fuel stop, which we complete at Christiansburg, VA, and then ride the 30 miles or so to Roanoke, VA, to the same hotel where we stayed on our first night.

About an hour before, I was startled by the XM Weather announcing "Weather alert.  Precipitation in the area.  Rain in the area."  Sure enough, several small pop-up showers were making little green splotches on the display, but none in our path.  It's the first rain or even water-bearing clouds we've seen since we left home Sunday a week ago.  I don't recall any trip taken this time of year, when the weather is at its most active, where we have made an entire trip without rain.  We'll see tomorrow - looks a little sketchy.  The closest we come today is at the fuel stop, where a few drops of rain splatter on the windshield.  The temperature has dropped from a trip-high of 84 F to 72 F, so we insert the liners into our mesh jackets for the remainder of the ride.

By the time we arrive in Roanoke, the sky is once again cloudless and the temperature has risen to 82 F.  After checking in at the hotel (we'd not made reservations and we are fortunate they have a few rooms left), it seems apropos to walk to the Mexican restaurant next door and join the Cinco de Mayo revelers.  But by this time it's after 9:00 PM and the revelers are mostly leaving the restaurant just as we arrive.  Apparently the revelry stops early here in Roanke.  So we enjoy a sedate Cinco de Mayo celebration and excellent Mexican fare.

Today's GPS elevation graph is of some interest, showing significant elevation changes with a maximum elevation around Wytheville, VA.  We've covered four states and ridden almost 450 miles today; we expect to be home tomorrow after a short ride of a little over 200 miles.  

GPS Track (Dark Gray)