Current attraction: The Newb and the BRP.
Between the prequel and this day’s events, the kid completed his MSF basic course and got his license. We practiced in vacant lots. I showed him my training ground, my favorite, most technical pasture splitting tarmac within a quarter day ride of the house. The pace was slow. Like stuck behind a car with a handicap tag hanging from the mirror traveling at 5 MPH under the max everywhere it goes slow. The relative kind of slow Wheat knows when I tag along with him. Speed isn’t always what makes a great day.
We have comms. I’ve never been to a riding school so Chris has more formal education on the subject of motorcycle riding than I do. As we approach a “lesson” I ask Chris what scooter school said about “x”. In each example the school addressed the issue and my thoughts on the subject were wrong pleasingly, surprisingly, rarely. I know these roads. Chris gets a lesson in blind decreasing radius turns and sneaky off cambers. It reinforces what he learned at scooter school about maintaining the proper relationship between sight distance and stopping distance.
Not everybody is looking to get the same thing out of motorcycling. Chris bought a sport bike. It’s a long legged sport bike reputed to be able to eat some miles, but it’s a SPORT BIKE, says this old dude who has ridden it. Most of us FJR buyers chose the FJR with eating some miles in mind, didn’t we? A sleek little red sport bike makes a good prop for hanging out downtown at the sushi place taking Abercrombie & Fitch selfies. Uh Oh. Just because the kid bought a “sport tourer” doesn’t mean he seeks the same thing out of motorcycling as pa-in-law.
Chris’ VFR at bike night, next to his buddy’s and his buddy’s girlfriend’s. Gen 5, Gen 6 and Gen 8 line up.
Pretty cool, I admit.
A little weird though, Chris has friends his age with the bikes that inspired his bike choice, and he keeps calling an old man when he wants to ride. Maybe he just wants to use the old guy to pick up a little confidence before riding with peers?
Saturday Sept 3, Our first ride into the good stuff.
Mrs1911 reminds me over and over “don’t break the son-in-law, we don’t want the daughter moving back home”. Warm, humid day, partly cloudy with scattered light showers. Joyriding traffic is light. Breakfast at Stax. 288 over to Holly Springs Country Store. 178 up to Rosman. East Fork down to Sassafras Mountain and the new overlook. The clouds break up and blue sky slices appear as we look out from the overlook. 276 down to Caesars Head. How can a person grow up here and have never been to Caesars Head? Nevemind. We lived in Sacramento when I was in 4th and 5th grade and never went to Yosemite. From Caesars Head it was down through town and back home to the BBQ place. Plenty of sunshine on us as we sweated our way through downtown Greenville. The pace was what the pace was. Not every ride is all about the pace.
Sept 3 was a good test. After lunch Chris still wanted more. He also started to figure out why I like to ride in the winter. The VFR might not be a Gen 1 FJR but all bikes throw off heat, unwanted on a warm humid day.
Sept 24 Chris wants to ride again. There may be hope for him after all.
Sport touring weather perfection. Clear, dry, 47 degrees when I leave the house. We had discussed mountains versus foothills versus lowlands. How can a person grow up here and have never seen the BRP? Nevermind…..life… work….no Yosemite…. With this forecast we can’t pass up the mountain option.
First, just a little out of the way to harass the Wheatons. Strange taste in pets, or should we tell the refugees from Chicago that them ain’t chickens? Should the upcoming cookout should be BYOP?
Up 276, past Caesars Head. Little sidetrack, See Off Mountain Rd, before rolling into Brevard for breakfast at The Morning Social.
That sleek little red minibike makes the FJR look dated and porky.
276 northward past Caesars Head used to be a great little run. It will be again after a new layer of asphalt. We get held up at the bottom by a slow moving van. Slow even by Chris’ account. There are passing lanes going up 276. Once we clear the van plus a couple cars also held up by the van we have clear road all the way to the top. I decide to play a little “squirt ahead then let grasshopper catch up”. I’m surprised how little I have to wait for Chris to catch up, especially given the rough condition of the pavement.
After breakfast we continue up 276 all the way to the BRP. Chris is giddy. The post breakfast part of the day has a lot of larger radius turns with longer sight lines. There are a couple safe and reasonable intercom assisted passes. I start to recall the anxiety of blind curves on strange roads on a new bike. Rivers and waterfalls and fly fishermen and bright shiny happy outdoorsy people just add atmosphere.
The BRP!
Lots of “OMG look at that!” The day is above average as far as clear skies. Not Rocky Mountain clear blue, but visibility is high. What better way to see the BRP for the first time than on the first minibike. Bonus-first tunnel to blip the throttle in.
The high spot before backtracking to 215.
215 north for a little bit to the waterfalls, a u-turn and then down some of the best road out there.
The pace isn’t fast, but it isn’t painfully slow. Mutual confidence is growing. I’ll leave Chris to his own devices for spells. When I’m following, his riding doesn’t scare me. Smooth. Nothing twitchy or erratic. Good lines.
This day’s weather means the joyriders are out in droves, two wheels and four, and three. Seeing Chris’ wonder at the variety of different parades is almost as good as hearing his wonder at the roads and scenery. The full race leather wearing crotch rocket crowd with full race leather wearing pillions hanging off in unison, copping a feel of the pavement, really caught his attention. Mine too. Damn!
I can’t wait to see Chris’ reaction to The Dragon. I dread taking Chris to the Dragon.
This time when we get home, Chris isn’t looking for any more ride. Next time I want to go for a real ride will he call “IN!”?
Stay tuned.
footnotes:
All the pix in this installment were taken by the newb.
These youngsters sure take a lot of selfies.
BYOP-Bring your own poultry
**picture hosting updated to Attacktheroad.com.
