April '09- 1,000 plus miles w/ RS 35cc....

[bamabikeguy]

sorry i havent been posting but your posts r so long i havent read thru them all yet.

When you spend 60 hours in the saddle of a motorized bike, the majority of the time on two lane roads, away from the major cities and the traffic, you are lucky you can remember a tenth of "what you have seen, smelled and heard".

There were so many "little things" that didn't get photographed, like flocks of wild turkeys, or the 10-20 conversations per day, (mostly humorous) with friendly folks giving the lost rider directions....that's what makes touring on a motorized bicycle unique.

I passed hundreds of motorcycles, and you would think the 2 wheeled experience is the same, but its not.

Nor is it like pedaling a regular bike, I passed 5 of the spandex crowd on a piece of road north of Greensville SC toward Tigerville, and while I was enjoying views of the mountains, they had heads down struggling to climb the hills. They missed seeing the hawks and the herd of Belted Galloway cattle grazing down on a creek bottom.

What you experience passing through unknown territory is only a taste, every intersection would give you 3 alternative views. And you can stop on a moments notice, take a few minutes to soak it in before taking off again, but there is no way to tell an audience about all that, you just have to try it yourself.

I always claim that I know our 3-4 county area better than all the bus drivers and mailmen combined, they have routes memorized while I cut through all of them at various times of the year.

I watch a lot of PBS

There is a French husband and wife in a show called "Africa Trek", who spent 3 years walking, but have their experiences reduced to 12 half-hour episodes. They averaged 40 kilometers (25 miles) per day, had to lay up for malaria, civil wars, drank out of mud puddles, but the entire journey we can only see in 6 hours of color television.

BUT, experienced MB riders could envision such a trek on their 2 wheeled wonders, calculate how many days they could do the trip, see the same man eating lions as the two hikers, take a picture and speed away. We do meet the various people, just like they do, but can race through a small town if it doesn't have much to offer, or isn't even mentioned on your cr**py map, because it's 40 miles from where you thought you were.

http://www.weta.org/africatrek/

More than travel adventure, this is a cultural exploration of the continent.

Africa Trek is the incredible journey of husband and wife Alex and Sonia Poussin. For three years the French couple walked 8,700 miles across Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Sea of Galilee. During their journey, which they personally filmed, they endured fatigue, extreme thirst, blazing sun, prowling hyenas, malaria and more.

But what they discovered along the way was an incredibly generous place rich with heart, humor and life. The Poussins experienced a piece of the world few of us have ever seen, where time and culture is so different from our own.

There is another series running on repeats, that I wish I had seen BEFORE I left:

APPALACHIA: A History of Mountains and People
Narrated by Academy Award Winner Sissy Spacek
A Film Series by Jamie Ross and Ross Spears

APPALACHIA: A History of Mountains and People is the first environmental history series ever made. An all-star cast, including Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist E.O. Wilson and best-selling novelist Barbara Kingsolver, explores the intersection of natural history and human history in one of America's grandest treasures.

http://appalachiafilm.org/

That is how I solved the salamander mystery, after I caught one of the episodes up at Bill's, then saw repeats of all 4 shows back home.

It is the story of the black bear and the salamander, of the Iroquois and the Cherokee, of Revolutionary War heroes and Civil War atrocities, of brutal industrial logging and furious labor battles. The extraction of natural resources has pushed Appalachia to the brink, but the region's diversity, ingenuity and strength of spirit endure.

My great great great great great grandfather Isaac was mentioned (not by name, just "two survivors") in the Daniel Boone part. When episode 4 started, they started naming the names of mountains, my ears perked up when "Mount Glassy" with a near identical photo as mine, flashed on the screen.

Another uncanny thing happens

For years, you will here the names of places you passed through and got to see up close. Springfield Colorado gets hit by a blizzard, or a 5 carat diamond is discovered in Arkansas, or the Okefenokee Park is on fire, or Enterprise High School gets wiped out by a tornado.

By being so close to the pavement, riding on the shoulder, at moderate speeds, taking an hour to get to the next town, the names of those places get "imprinted" into your brain.

So during that "Appalachia..." series, or a Civil War history, or a news report, the moment you hear a familiar area, you experience the story in a whole different way, "Hey, I was there....."

I hope a lot of MBfolks try these 1,000 mile adventures

Or even 2-3 day 500 mile jaunts in circuits around the homeplace. You sleep better under the stars, you can get way away from the rat race just by taking a side road or hiking/canoeing or para-gliding as a secondary adventure.

If it only costs you $10 a day to get there, you can splurge on something else along the way. And since it takes you days to get out of your own familiar area, the anticipation to final arrival makes it a bit sweeter.

I guarantee it feels different than simply loading up the car and seeing the same old cookie cutter interstate system, with the same Waffle Houses and fast food joints on every off ramp.

 

[bamabikeguy]

But, it is time to get this 1,099 miles off the "current events", start planning for the NEXT long trip (hopefully 3,000 miles to Northern Minnesota and back, after the mosquitos are gone in late Autumn) .

If you live in the Atlanta area, or East Central Alabama, go to Hawgs Heaven Bar-B-Que in Hogansville:

http://www.superpages.com/bp/Hogansville-GA/Hawg-Heaven-BBQ-L0507188786.htm

North of LaGrange, close to West Point Lake, rural enough where you could enjoy a lot of miles without many cars.

But there aren't many home-owned eating spots, it was about 3 p.m. when I got to the main street of Hogansville. I saw a Mama Mia looking sandwich shop on the right, heard a train approaching, pulled in and found out the guy at the door was a painter, the place was a week from opening.

He told me about Hawgs Heaven, and when I pulled into the lot, there were 3 brown sheriffs cars, BUT not from the same county I was in (so there must be even fewer places to eat in Heard County.) It just seemed weird that the main part of the Heard sheriffs department was over the county line. Those deputies pointed me on the straight up north on GA 100 wind up to the trip.

I guess that image was memorable because I had seen so few police in all those itty bitty Georgia counties, proof I was away from whatever the high-traffic areas were nearby. And I was in Hogansville is in Troup County, I cut such a small corner off of it, I forgot to list it on the post above....

Anyway, the owners name is TED, tell him that idjut on the blue recumbent recommended the ribs.

Hawg Heaven BBQ
218 Highway 29,
Hogansville, GA 30230

Speaking of Bar B Que, and mentioning the idjut on the blue bike, if you are in Cedartown, there is a small place on South Main Street, OWEN'S a few blocks from the turnoff to US 278....if you are there early morning, try the biscuit variations ! He cooks the meat in a pit near the street, a guy was about to pick up for 50 pound of pork that had cooked all night.

Cedartown used to be known as a Speed Trap

Way back in Rutledge, GA, I had crossed south of US 278, the highway that used to connect Atlanta and Memphis, that passes 3 miles from my house. I had made my final camp on a mountaintop south of Cedartown, (where I hook back onto US 278), so my last day would begin with on a down hill ride. (pic #2, the mountain starts with a "T" ??)

If I was in a hurry, I reckon I could have cut 100 miles off by negotiating US 278 all the way, but that would be boring, hectic, and the shoulders were probably full of debris.

Cedartown not only was the place I hung a left turn and headed home, it is also midway on the rails to trails Silver Comet Trail, which connects to the recently completed Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama.

http://www.silvercometga.com/

The Silver Comet Trail is located 13 miles northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. It's free of charge, and travels west through Cobb, Paulding, and Polk counties. This quiet, non-motorized trail is for walkers, hikers, bicyclists, rollerbladers, horses, dog walkers, and is wheelchair accessible.

The Silver Comet Trail is over 61 miles long, and starts near Mavell Road in Smyrna, Georgia. It ends at the Georgia/Alabama state line, near Cedartown and Esom.

At the Georgia/Alabama state line, the Silver Comet connects to the 33-mile long Chief Ladiga Trail. Plans are underway to extend the Chief Ladiga an additional 7 miles. Both the Silver Comet Trail and Chief Ladiga are fully paved rail-trails built on abandoned railroad lines. The combined Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga trail length is estimated to be over 100 paved miles from Smyrna, Georgia to Anniston, Alabama

.

I'll not say much about that, (except they don't grades over 4%).

Pics 3-5

When I come off the trail, near Piedmont, a car chased me down to stop and talk, wondering how fast I was going. I thought it would be a Mayberry "Citizens Arrest" event, but I had only seen one pair of folks walking, and hit the kill switch as I passed them.

Anyway, Paul Canter, 80 years old with 2 artificial knees, ordered a bike, which he picked up last Thursday. When I talked to him Friday he said "next thing you know, I was in Georgia !!" He has some friends wanting bikes, when I returned his call Saturday, his wife said I turned him into an 80 year old kid !

Hokes Bluff, Gadsden, Attalla then Home

That steep climb up from the Coosa River Valley outside Attalla was my big bug-a-boo the whole trip back, I could detour up 4 lane US 431, toward Albertville/Boaz, but that would add an hour to my final destination.

What the heck, I took the high road, knowing it well when I rode it daily one summer to a job site. I think I geared down on the front sprocket, from High to Medium, 3 times on the challenge, but the little engine never failed.

Whoola.....I'm on the way home !!

20 miles away, near Snead, I could see the smaller ridge before the higher one beyond it, where I lived, that hazy bluish one you can barely see.

Rainbow Crossing, left to Blountsville, right to Arab, I'm going straight ahead, 6 miles from the house.

Mulberry Creek (to the Locust Fork, to the Warrior/Alabama river), the last hill to climb, my road is at the top of that hill, the first road on county line.

Wow, the grass sure needs mowing....after I cut three trees off the fences, from all that storm raging three days earlier. No rest for the wicked, as they say.

So, I parked Rucio, and didn't ride her again till yesterday when I put a to a new 2.1" wide tire on the front, WHAT A DIFFERENCE in the steering.

The engine, after cleaning the plug, filters, changing the oil, runs like a champ, and its definitely hitting on all one cylinder now.

 

[robin bird]

I will soon experience 1500 miles thru British Columbias mountains--Penticton--prince rupert vancouver island---trip has been shortened to 800 miles --travel vancouver island north to south and back

 

[eastwoodo4]

cool man.i like how u made a kid out of that 80 year old man.thats awsome.ive searched for diamonds at crater of diamonds state park before.i see in that one pic 30 days in jail.did u ride down that trail?

 

[bamabikeguy]

Everybody knows what they are aiming at, ATV's and dirtbikes, I saw muddy ATV tracks coming off a dirt cross road, which there are plenty of on a hundred mile run.

It's all about "courtesy/respect" of others, that's why we have a kill switch. 4 strokes make it even quieter.... No cars or lumber trucks to worry about, an hour of solitude riding.

I told Mr. Canter, the 80 y.o. kid to get a doctors note, "he rides OR he dies", to carry along the trail with him. Plus, on weekdays it is basically unused, he lives right next to it.

2-4% grades were a pleasure to on the final day, but US 278 was always a half mile away, easy to scoot over there if I had to.

 

[SirJakesus]

Fantastic post Bama.
Thanks for sharing. I opened up the whole thing in tabs and read through offline this morning (I'm also on dialup).

I've also wanted to take some of my vacation time to just tour around and camp with no absolute goal other than to be comfortable and have an enjoyable experience. You've given me a lot more confidence to go ahead and start planning and preparing.

Thanks for the tips ESPECIALLY the one about waving to the truckers in your rear view. That'll save both of us lots of worry out on the asphalt. I'll watch out for those potato holes though

Peace dude!

 

[bamabikeguy]

Thanks for the tips ESPECIALLY the one about waving to the truckers in your rear view.

Yeah, that really works, truckers have remarked on it.

You might want to talk to a trucker on the first chance you get, at a gas station say...and relate what I told those quarrymen about "radioing ahead". Or ask them if he's heard any chatter about YOU locomoting down the road.

The way they always were courteous, gave me plenty of room or stayed way back for a few minutes when a hilly/curvy road was ahead of me, I just thought they night be playing a CB radio game, "Spotting the Idjut".

Then, when I hit a country road shortcut, meeting zero trucks, and came out a 1/2 hour north, on a whole new highway, I could almost hear the game continue, but on a different route.

I would be like the Golden Snitch of Highway Quidditch.

 

[eastwoodo4]

May 10 with chinese 2 stroke 50cc --i plan to do 1500 miles thru the mountains here---penticton to prince rupert--down vancouver island and home---will keep you posted -will be pulling a Bob trailer--single wheel--less width--plan to pack like backpacking --40 pounds

wonder if this guys doing his trip?

DAY #2

the "Cracker Barrel" is really a "Capt. D's", the Arby's is spelled "H*A*R*D*E*E*S[

lol.wow that sucks.have u ever taken a hand held cb radio?maybe that would help u get directions and u could hear them talking about you..i watched that youtube video 250 mpg 10 times.never knew it was u.thats cool.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

I was just reading and enjoying it. I don't think anyone not familiar with the area or involved in the ride, should post. But that's just me. Sorry, I was just put off by the bored yawn.

Well here I am in sunny Hawaii, reading and enjoying every word of bama's adventure. And wishing I was there.

ZevO, get a grip. We're PFC's(civilians).

There are no posting police. Anyone can chime in.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

May 10 with chinese 2 stroke 50cc --i plan to do 1500 miles thru the mountains here---penticton to prince rupert--down vancouver island and home---will keep you posted -will be pulling a Bob trailer--single wheel--less width--plan to pack like backpacking --40 pounds

Good luck to you Robin. We're the same age so I'm rooting for you.

FWIW, "Bob" trailers need "Bob Nutz" adaptors to connect to solid rear axle. They retail at $50/pair.

That's nuts!