Sometimes, you just wanna ride

[Hppants]

On Friday, I had a wonderful day trip with 2 friends. One was Lumberg. We've known each other for a while and since I'm near his home in north Georgia this summer, we've had a few chances to ride together. The other is Jenifer. Jenn and I go way back. We met in Deals Gap about 15 years ago. I had no idea what I was doing then, and Jenn taught me how to ride the twisties. She's an MSF instructor, an EXCELLENT teacher, and, well.... a pretty cool lady as well.

I had 360 miles of great fun. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Lumberg and I texted before hand, as he was coming up north to meet me. There are three things you have to understand about Lumberg. The first is that he is ALWAYS extremely punctual. Clearly to him, on time is late. I'll tell you about the other two things later. We gas up in Ellijay early and with about 2 hours to get to Suches, I took the lead and the long way to get there. I showed Lumberg a few roads that I have found in the area worth riding, and even though we were dealing with patchy dense fog, it was still a nice ride through Gilmer and Fannin counties.

I know from way back that Jenn likes to sleep in, so imagine my pleasant surprise when we pulled into Two Wheels Only (TWO) in Suches at 9:30 am, and she was all ready to go! We exchanged pleasantries, and I was very glad to see her.

I'm quite sure that Jenn has owned a hundred motorcycles in her life. For a while, she was a full time rider. She does NOT like fuel injection, but instead prefers old school carbeurated bikes.

Oh - and she likes to paint them as well, and put her personal touch to the bike. You just don't see this every day.



We decided yesterday to ride Wayah Road in North Carolina. If you get to the Deals Gap region, and you haven't ridden Wayah Road yet, put it on your ilst. You can thank me later. Over the summer, I've been riding with some locals and they have shown me some great roads all over. I put together a good route, took the lead, and off we go.



It's been a while since Jenn has ridden the mountains and she was nervous about "not keeping up". I assured her that we were all going to ride our own ride. Here's the 2nd thing about Lumberg: He'cares about the other riders. Jenn wanted to ride sweep, fearing she would be slow. But Lumberg insisted and I know why. He wanted to make sure she was comfortable - didn't have to worry about what was behind her. Just wanted her to enjoy the road she was using and the space around it. He's faster than her, but took a very unselfish attitude, especially towards a total stranger. I admire that about him.

Jenn looks like she is having fun right away. I have no idea who that is behind her - LOL.



We run my route and it was fantastic. The weather is very nice - low 70s and sunny. The roads are clean and desolate, hardly any traffic what so ever. I'm having a very good time. We get to Wayah road, but only went a mile or so and stopped for lunch.



I've eaten here before. The food and service are good.



We had nice conversation over lunch. It was great to catch up with Jenn.

After lunch, we took off on Wayah Road. It's really curvy and twisty and the pavement is flawless. We ran it east about 15 miles until the curves straightened out, and then we turned around and ran it back. Lumberg and I can see Jenn getting more and more comfortable as the day progresses.



(no - I'm not taking a nap.... )

Further west on Wayah Road, we stopped to sniff around a bit.



The map is not clear as to if this is the Nantahala River (downstream from the dam) or a creek of some kind. Regardless, it's quite nice.



We popped out onto Hwy 74 and turned south to gas up in Andrews, and for Pants to exercise a time honored tradition....



Throughout the day, a theme is becoming apparent to me. The three of us wanted to ride.

To clarify, as with everything, people get a different vibe on riding from day to day. Some days I don't really feel much like riding - I'd rather stop and sniff more. Some days, I prefer to converse with fellow riders. Some days, I just use the motorcycle as an excuse to get me to some other place. But on days like today, when the weather and the traffic and the roads all converge into one delicious melody, you just wanna ride. You stop only out of necessity - to rest or refuel, etc. Otherwise, you mount up and enjoy the zen.

On this day it was clear, all 3 of us just wanted to ride.

We pop out onto Hwy 76 and Lumberg rolled past me to make a suggestion. We should go to the top of Bell Mountain. Excellent idea. If you haven't ridden that, but advised - it's steep. At the base of the mountain, Lumberg told Jenn to put it in first gear and don't stop.

The risk was definitely worth the reward.



In my opinion, this is the best view in Georgia. Better than Brasstown Bald.



We leave Bell Mountain, and turn south onto Hwy 75. Then turned west onto Richard Russel (Hwy 348), stopping at the top drink some water. It warms my heart to see my friends having fun.



So here's the 3rd thing about Lumberg: the dude is a rider, man. He's patient. He's agreeable. He'll go with the flow. But deep down inside, he really just wants to ride the motorcycle. 400 miles? Sheeee - Lumberg is just getting warmed up. There's no hidden agenda. No mystery. No fine print. Lumberg just likes to ride.



We ripped it south on Blood Mountain and just outside of Dahloniga, parted ways. Jenn went north up to Suches and Lumberg and I went west. A bit farther, Lumberg and I split, each to go home.

The last 25 miles for me were relatively mundane. Admitedly, I was whooped. I pitched my big FJR around all day and she wore me out in a good way. Today was awesome. We just wanted to ride. And ride we did!

Stay thirsty, my friends....

[Festus]

You left out the part where Lumberg's driving lights melted your retinas if you look at them

[danh600]

"Put it in first gear and don't stop."

You better listen!

[D-Eagle]

Loved her bike, loved how you three all got together and made it work. The pic with the lake(s) is awesome indeed.

[wheatonFJR]

Lumberg. You've just scratched the surface. I don't know the guy...and I've ridden with him since Black Friday of 2018 when Jason invited us out to ride on a picture perfect day.

Lumberg is many things..but being a good and humble person who can ride the damn wheels straight off the FJR. Off. The. Bike. Im not a good rider , but I know one when I ride with one.

Thanks for the report...you, too are a good man.

[wheatonFJR]

Loved her bike, loved how you three all got together and made it work. The pic with the lake(s) is awesome indeed.

First time I saw that view was from Jason's camera as he and Lumberg went up there after visiting me at STAX after I busted a few bones on an FJR group ride in the NC/TN area near Erwin, TN in March of 2019.

[N4HHE]

You left out the part where Lumberg's driving lights melted your retinas if you look at them

Some don't understand how excessively bright lights cause other drivers to not look at you, to consciously look away. To avoid looking even in your direction. Modulated headlight does that too.

[Pterodactyl]

[/quote]Some don't understand how excessively bright lights cause other drivers to not look at you, to consciously look away. To avoid looking even in your direction. Modulated headlight does that too.
[/quote]

I call BS!

[N4HHE]

Some don't understand how excessively bright lights cause other drivers to not look at you, to consciously look away. To avoid looking even in your direction. Modulated headlight does that too.

I call BS!

Festus said, "Lumberg's driving lights melted your retinas if you look at them". This is very true. Bright lights in one's rear view mirror will cause one to quit looking in the mirrors. Bright lights on oncoming vehicle will force one to look away.

(fixed your /quote typo)

[escapefjrtist]

Thanks for the ride-along 'pants. Sounds like a good day was had for all !

~G

[Pterodactyl]

Some don't understand how excessively bright lights cause other drivers to not look at you, to consciously look away. To avoid looking even in your direction. Modulated headlight does that too.

I call BS!

Festus said, "Lumberg's driving lights melted your retinas if you look at them". This is very true. Bright lights in one's rear view mirror will cause one to quit looking in the mirrors. Bright lights on oncoming vehicle will force one to look away.

(fixed your /quote typo)

I’ll wager Festus was not intending to be literal in his description of Lumberg’s lights. My post was directed at your comments that appear to imply that using bright lights are dangerous to the user.

Thanks for the fix.

[Hppants]

If oncoming bright lights force someone else to look away, then you have seen me. I suppose lights that are so bright they force you to "look away" to the point where you can't track the road and you might sweve and hit me - that's not so good.

But regardless, Lumberg's lights are NOT that bright. They are excellent for visibility - considerably brighter than the OEM headlights. He has them mounted next to the headlights, and his "triangle of light" is not equilateral. That is why I like mounting the auxillary lights on the fender.

The LED headlights on the FJR are a HUGE improvement for visibility. The "lean angle" LEDS are useless.

[Hppants]

Loved her bike, loved how you three all got together and made it work. The pic with the lake(s) is awesome indeed.

It was effortless to "make it work". After the ride, the 3 of us exchanged text messages, reflecting on how much fun it was. As Wheatie points out, when you are among GOOD riders, you know it and it doesn't take long to get the picture. Of course, I've ridden with both of them multiple times - that was never in question. But as we know, you won't understand if the "group chemistry" is good until you put all of them together. In this case, it was great.

To me, what made it work was the intangibles.

First, the weather was perfect. Low humidity, sunshine, temps topped out about 80 down in the valleys, and mid 70s up top. You can gear up and sit on the bike for a few minutes making last minute preparations without sweating. NO chance of rain anywhere. NO fog (after we met Jenn). I mean - perfect.

Second, the roads were clean. We've had some rain over the summer. Really, with resepct to this discussion, just enough rain to wash off the roads every now and then. That day, they were in excellent shape. No road kill. No gravel. No dust in the curves. No oil spills. No debris littered frm some Billy Bob that doesn't secure his pickup truck load. Very confidence inspiring.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly - there was NO traffic. It was a Friday - sometimes the weekenders go early but on that Friday, they did not. The few times we found traffic, the others played fairly. We'd pull up on a slower vehicle and they'd pull over and wave us around. Or a rare "passing zone" would present itself at the perfect time. The few oncoming vehicles we encountered stayed on their side. In the little towns, the signal light was usually green for us or if it was red, we'd be first in line.

It was like the riding Gods were shining upon us. And we were smart enough to recognize that and just go with it.

After all these years, I still enjoy EVERY ride, one way or the other. But I will remember this one for a while.

[bill lumberg]

It was a great ride with great riders. Thanks to you and Jennifer for allowing me to tag along.

[FJRPittsburgh]

Accessory lights that are too bright, modulating headlights, and excessively loud exhausts are all annoyances to me. It's one thing to be seen and heard. It's another to be disrespectful of others.

I've experienced many overly bright lights from oncoming motorcycles. I've had excessively bright accessory lights blinding me in my rear view mirrors. I've had my windows in my house rattled from ridiculously loud motorcycle exhausts. In my opinion, these practices are all overkill.

I know some riders think these upgrades make them safer. The ideas are good, but taking it too far is obnoxious. I have Darlas mounted on my front fender. At the lowest setting, they're as bright as my low beams and the extra lighting makes the bike more visible. I would never think of increasing the intensity to the point of partially blinding other drivers. That's what makes me special and lovable.

[Festus]

Didn't mean to derail this great ride report with an in-depth discussion about the brightness of driving lights

Sorry Pants!

I'll take Lumberg's lights in my mirror any day. Means we are riding together and he's letting me lead

[FJRPittsburgh]

Sometimes, you just wanna ride and sometimes, you just wanna bitch about bright lights.

[N4HHE]

If oncoming bright lights force someone else to look away, then you have seen me. I suppose lights that are so bright they force you to "look away" to the point where you can't track the road and you might sweve and hit me - that's not so good.

Will have seen you, but will not see you again having learned the pain of looking in that direction.

A couple of riders I often ride with have driving light and super bright headlight fetishes. They know I will not ride in front of them. When they follow every time I think to glance in mirror memory of pain stops. To check my mirrors requires conscious effort rather than the usual muscle memory continuous scan.

Blinding bright lights are no more visible than modest lights.

Am reminded of a rider who boasted having added a headlight modulator of how well it was working. "First ride, 3 drivers tried to pull out in front of me and changed their minds!" That is not normal. How about considering the headlight modulator disturbs the driver's ability to judge distance so they thought it was safe to pull out in front of you? Fortunately they were paying enough attention to correct their mistake in time.

[N4HHE]

Sometimes, you just wanna ride and sometimes, you just wanna bitch about bright lights.

Bright lights are cheap. If they are so great then why are they not the law? Why do we have high/low beams and not just use high all the time?

Answer: Because too bight blinds other drivers.

Same as for "loud pipes". If everyone is loud then no one is loud. No one stands out.

[wheatonFJR]

Sometimes you just wanna ride...
...and not talk about accessories.