Getting lost...again

I went for a ride yesterday. Many of you already know, for me, getting out for a couple of hours to ride is now a luxury. I hadn't intended to be gone 4 1/2 hours. It was only gonna be around a 70 mile loop ride I discovered last year, and had only been on that one time. I left with good intentions this morning, to be the "good girl" and return home a little after the noon hour...still in plenty of time to fix lunch for my Mom, and spend some time with her working in the yard. Ah well, the road is paved with good intentions!

Leaving out of the house this morning at 11.30 AM, my intention was to ride to the pinnacle of Roan Mountain, where the North Carolina and TN. state lines collide. Ride down the NC side, into Bakersville, head west to Erin TN. and back home.

My sister and her new squeeze are riding...and I offered to show them some great roads. Diane, is a widow of 9 months, and after some time searching, has found a man who is fun, interesting, active, splits his time between Florida and TN., works for himself and actually has investments, likes to flip properties...hell the list goes on.

My sister has never been on the back of a bike, and her squeeze went down to Florida, and brought back his motorcycle. Diane went for her first ride last weekend and spent the day riding The Snake and spending time at the Shady Valley Country Store. A huge gathering place for local bikers. She loved it. Anyway, I told her I wanted to show them this loop ride this coming weekend, and I thought I should refresh my memory of the road before taking them. As I said, I had good intentions.

Once arriving at Bakersville, I made the Westerly turn on another State Road, followed that...until I nearly T-boned a jackass who thought it feasible to make a turn in front of me at some town named "Loafers Den" or something like that...I'm sure I looked like Mr. Bill as I was standing on both brakes trying to avoid the collision. In his defense though...he realized in time he had fucked up, readjusted his maneuver to avoid me...(bless the angel who was riding with me,)after that, I also realized it wasn't the same road I remembered from the first time. Once that realization set in...I said to hell with it...take some good looking side roads! I veered right onto a road named Jack's Creek Road. I couldn't rightly say which direction I was headed in...once in the mountains, I get all topsy turvy with absolutely no sense of direction.

Jacks' Creek Road is a great little ride...about 25 miles of riding next to a creek with all the great views one encounters as they ride the hills of North Carolina next to a winding creek.

I spotted deer...(Three of em jumped into the road ahead of me...such fine looking animals! Long and sleek, graceful as they bounded across the road...two of them looking at me as they leaped...) Very cool.
But as I kept going on Jack's Creek Road, I realized the miles were mounting, and no gas stops to be seen.

I was at the sixty mile mark of my ride, and I was beginning to worry abit. I hate knocking on the door of farmers, begging for a gallon of gas! As it turns out, riding the roads of the mountains and hills, your not twisting the throttle as full open as you would (and do) on the straight highways and roads of the flat lands. I can get about 90 miles to the tank and not hit reserve before I fill up. That's exactly what happened this time as well. at the end of Jack's Creek Road, I found US 19E. I'm still in North Carolina, but I know if I head north on 19E, I will eventually end up on the other side of town from my home. So I jump on 19E, go north for less than a mile, find a gas station and fill up. 1.83 gallons, and 94 miles on the odometer. Whew...my angel again be praised!

Now I've never been this far south on 19E...and in fact I didn't even know where the heck I was. But 19E turned out to be a great road for motorcycling...including the rain clouds that popped up and bounced along side the mountain I was traversing. The shower popped up, small drops at first, enlarging to pea size as I moved up the side of the mountain. I was completely soaked in minutes, but it was all good. Rain seems to wash the cares of the past from me. I like it just fine, sometimes I liken the event to being scrubbed with sandpaper...at least the part of me that harbors all the evil shit that hides within...the places that even a good long ride can't get at! This rain shower did just that for me.

I did stop at a gas station/ auto repair station. There I sat in the rain, next to another HD that had been parked near the turn in (I suspect the owner was a mech. who worked in the auto shop, because I could see him peering out at me as I switched my smokes and my cell from my bra to my purse.) I'm sure he believed I was there to get out of the rain...must of surprised him as I just sat on my bike doing the transfer thing in the rain, then started her up again, and moved on out into the traffic and the rain. Shortly after that little stop, I arrived at the peak of the mountain, and started down the other side. No rain here, and I began to dry out as I reached the lower elevations.

The road narrowed, became less dense with traffic, and soon became twisty...as I again started ascending in elevation, crossing another mountain. I traveled on 19E for another 90 miles, before coming to Elizabethan TN. and another five miles to home. Except for gas stops, two smoke breaks, and the rain stop...it was all riding. It was only 164 miles, it took 4 1/2 hours, and when I returned home I had the best feeling of contentment I have had in a long time. Mom...who rode for years before her health declined, understood. She took care of herself, and I was damn happy to come home and find her exhausted from her own day! I so love getting lost, I love the rain, and I love coming home again. Chessie