FJRiders.com

Good fortune is when:
- you want a long twisty riding day in the mountains and one of your riding buddies is free and wants the same thing
-your good riding buddy also makes said day ride route and shares it with you
EDIT: -Route taken-

-it's summer in South Carolina, and the forecast is cloudy with periodic rain during the day
-it's summer in South Carolina, but you're going to be up in the cool elevations

-when you get to the base of Rt 80 in Marion and there's light traffic going up the hill
-when the main part of 80 is freshly paved
-when the rain forecast has kept the majority of "wannabes" off the roads
-when the main part of Roan Mountain is freshly paved

-when you start filtering through a few bikers on Roan Mountain, that turn into 15, but its no big deal as they don't road rage because the club rides Indians-and not Harleys
-when various, multiple pickemup trucks road rage with you because you passed them because they were going slow or are trying to get around them, but you don't end up in an ambulance
-is riding US421 and having the road to yourself
-is stopping in Shady Valley in a fairly empty parking lot for a break and meeting a couple other FJR riders that come up to you and saying, "Nice bike!"

-is riding in the cool forest canopy of Rt 33 midday up to Damascus
-is when ambling through Damascus you see a very large biker club all cued up to head out and you are able to get out ahead of their "parade-without-a-permit"
-is when someone warns you at Shady Valley that "VA58 will be all clogged up with weekend traffic and they can take you on a better way", But you listen to your riding buddy who wants to do 58 anyways, and it is clear!
-when Rt 58 is freshly paved

-is when your riding buddy takes over lead in the cooling rain because you are a rain pussy
-is when you are wandering through the countryside and all you see is rural beauty
-is when you have a couple hours of mostly light cooling rains in the heat of the day
-is finding a spot under a rain free canopy in Banner Elk to stop and have a late day sandwich and coffee, just the way you like it in a SS thermos, to give you that late day boost to get home on a longer day

-is finding 181 in the dry when heading downhill from the BRP
-when 181 has great pavement
-is having those last few shared wiggly miles before heading on the rural country connector roads to get home.
-is getting home 15 minutes before the GPS says you are going to arrive, and having no bad things happen on the way

-is having a wife that understands, even though she is increasingly fearful
-riding an FJR and meeting all the people that came with the bike

You have a lot of good fortune. You have to be happy about that.

Wow! That was a good day

Sounds like a GREAT day! Well done!

That's one heck of a route. I've ridden all of it, but not in one day. Wow!

Me like it!

I really like this ride report. Yeah what is it about some men in jacked up pickup trucks? Jerks at best. Yesterday I had to use the paved shoulder since some jerk in a pickup was in passing forcing me to the shoulder. If I didn't yield we would have collided. A hole son of a cow. Grrrrrr.

fontanaman wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:13 pm I really like this ride report. Yeah what is it about some men in jacked up pickup trucks? Jerks at best. Yesterday I had to use the paved shoulder since some jerk in a pickup was in passing forcing me to the shoulder. If I didn't yield we would have collided. A hole son of a cow. Grrrrrr.

Yes...I didn't go into detail on the incidents, one when I was tail end charlie with the group early in the ride, and the other, more dangerous blocking maneuver was late in the ride when I was alone and within an hour from home.

The first was the pickup making a run, repeatedly, at my backside then staying there. We had all just previously passed him at a relatively sane speed as he was just poking along. I was watching and was not going to let him touch me...but we had a rider with unknown abilities in-between Duane and me, so I sat back there for awhile, when I would ordinarily run away from him with ease. He eventually turned off to go suck xxxx at home.

The second was a jacked up pickemup truck in rural North Carolina on a lonely narrow two lane road that I was approaching at...ummm...speed. I put my blinky on and was moving into the oncoming lane to overtake when he moved over a little and then moved over alot. I put my brakes on so I did not run into his backside as he weaved back and forth between both lanes for awhile. I kept my revs up and waited for a little bit and chose a time to punch through and did...and kept going so he knew there was no chance of playing at keeping up with me. That drama done, I settled back down to a relatively sane pace and continued on my way.

The last event was a dick measuring contest between 2 pick-ups going through Landrum, SC...with the front pickup intentionally holding the pickup behind back at a crawling speed below the already low city speed limit as the other tail-gated. This continued for awhile until I had enough and passed both in a safe manner, but likely not per the city ordinances.

I am beginning to really not like pickups. Too much misplaced ego and sense of righteous "hall-monitor-syndrome".

That all being said, it was an absolutely great day...and good fortune smiled on me, even in these encounters with the jackoffs in the pickups.