Empty Roads, Wandering About...and Root Beer!

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Since I have retired from work, I have had the opportunity to go out riding on weekdays when I would previously have been hard at work in the office (possibly daydreaming of being out riding). 

These weekdays are not only a new time to ride for me, but they have an unexpected advantage: There is hardly anybody on the roads. 

All right!

As long as I avoid commuting hours and school start and end times, there is almost no one on the road once you get out of the city.  Maybe a few more heavy trucks, but certainly fewer cars. 

Since I have only about thirteen miles to escape into the mountains of the Blue Ridge Escarpment from home in the metropolis of Easley, it has been great. 

There are certain advantages of being unemployed -- err, retired -- after all. 

I thought that this low traffic situation was in part due to the cold winter weather, but I went out today when the temperature was in the 60s, and found the traffic to be light just the same.  (We're a bunch of pansies here in the south when it comes to cold weather.  Anything under around 50 degrees is downright "frigid" according to most natives.  So, they stay home to avoid the chance of dying of a chill outside.) 


I have also noticed that I am taking more rides on the scooter where I am simply wandering around looking for roads I have not ridden and scenery I have not seen.

I took notice of this as I was looking at some of the tracks saved by the GPS keeps as I ride. A few of them are downright piles of spaghetti.  Look these over:

Twisted, yes?  Actually, to be perfectly honest, some of the time I was lost, if you define that as not knowing either where you are or where you are going.  I fit that description on a lot of these. 

Thank goodness for the GPS to get me back home! 


[OK, but what about the root beer, Bucky?]  

Oh.  I almost forgot.  Let me explain.  I have been a drinker of root beer for some years now.  It is the only soda pop worth imbibing.  If it isn't root beer, it doesn't merit a second glance, in my view.  I turn down anything else offered.  Politely, though, you can be certain. 

Now that I have a little more time to take rides on the motorcycle, I find that I can quaff a bottle of root beer afterward as I relax in my easy chair, and gain the ultimate in satisfaction -- recollection of an enjoyable time out on the roads, and the sweet, fragrant taste of my favorite drink.

Mmmm, mmmm, good.

Come ride with me some time, and I'll offer you a fine bottle of my favorite brew.  

Root beer, of course!

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I Don't Understand How...

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I went out for a ride a couple of weekends ago.  That is not unusual, but it occurred not long after our snow and ice storms that paralyzed us for a few days.  As you might expect here and abouts, the only retail establishments that did well then were the grocery stores, which, as usual, sold out of milk and bread just before the tumult.  

Odd, that.  Don't people have enough stock of this stuff to last a couple of days?  Ah, well.  Mine is not to question why. 

Anyway, I headed up US-76 from Westminster, SC to find a waterfall that I had read about.  This one. 

I obviously found it, and will advise you, kind reader, in a few days about its location and picturesque attributes, but first, I have an observation and a question. 

You see, I had occasion to travel back towards home on SC-28, also euphemistically known as Moonshiner 28.  Specifically the stretch shown here:

View Larger Map

(By the way, if you travel the other way on Moonshiner 28, toward the northwest, you can go all the way to the infamous Tail of the Dragon via. twisty roads almost all the way.  Some say 28 is the better road.)  

Along the part of 28 I rode, there are some nice sweeping curves, but some tight ones in a few places.  I was tooling along and two guys on BMWs passed me at a good clip in a straight section.  

I opened the throttle a little to keep up with them, and was doing well for a couple of curves when, alas, I noticed a change in the road surface. 

There was a considerable amount of sand in places.  I hadn’t seen much of that so far, but here it had been spread liberally to improve traction during the cold weather.  Its remains can be very slippery for two wheelers when it has dried out, and sometimes a light dusting is difficult to detect, but slick as ball bearings on banana peels. 

In particular, there is a pair of sweepers near the Stumphouse Ranger Station (named after the nearby and long unfinished Stumphouse railroad tunnel).  

View Larger Map

The curves are not very tight, but there was a lot of sand there.  True, it was not in the driving lanes, but some of it certainly could have been, especially lurking out of sight around the curve. 

See it there on the left side of the turn lane?  

At that point, I slowed down and never saw the two guys again.  I was bummed out a bit, as I had wanted to have a spirited ride too.  

Oh, well, the better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have sav'd my life.

Here is what I don’t understand:

The BMW guys appeared to be good riders, probably not exceeding their capabilities on this road.

Except for one thing they could not count on. 

How/why were they trusting the road surface so much so soon after the white stuff mostly melted?  A sprinkling of sand could have brought them dire consequences. 

This puzzled me.  Had they scouted the road before this run, making mental notes of hazards? 

Unlikely as it seems, were they oblivious to the risk the sand might present?  Were they simply ignoring the possible risk so as to have a spirited ride for the day? 

I like to think it was the first situation -- that they had scouted beforehand -- but who knows? 

I am certainly more cautious than most riders.  I have never dragged a hard part on a road in a curve (other than the toe of my out-of-place boot).  My chicken strips are pretty wide. 

But I cannot trust the road surface enough to do it any other way, particularly when it is very likely that there is debris on the surface like there was that day.  

What do you think?  

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Tail of the Dragon -- But Nearer By

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I have never been to the famous Tail of the Dragon at Deal's Gap, but many bikers go there to experience what is claimed to be 318 curves in 11 miles.  I've heard that it can be very busy with auto and motorcycle traffic, with the occasional semi tractor-trailer thrown in for an element of increased danger. 

I may get there some day, but I have found a place that a few have said is better.  And it starts about one third of the distance to the Tail of the Dragoon from home.  The best-paved section is 5.6 miles long with seventy-four curves, if I have my count right, or 13.2 curves per mile.  Tail of the Dragon has 28.9 per mile. Higher density on the latter, but I made up of the lack of curves per mile by taking seven passes at it before I left.

I couldn't help myself. 

It was a bright, clear day.  The temperature was in the high fifties, and there was no traffic to speak of.  The road surface was almost spotless with only a scattering of gravel in a couple of places, and a little half-lane patching that could create an edge trap in a few places.  The sight distances around the curves are adequate in most places, too.  There were some piles of pine needles that can act as little rollers for tires to slip on, but they were easy to see and avoid. 

The route is also rather scenic, but you have to watch the road unless you are just putting along.  I did a little putting, just to see the purdy leaves and to scope out the road, but I also took a few runs at higher speeds, though not as fast as I am sure many others can go on a road like this.  By the way, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour.  The fall colors were a little beyond their peak, but there was still enough to be inspired.


A view from the road.  

Views of the road. 

The curves are nicely spaced so the rider has enough time to prepare for each as it comes, for the most part.  I had the road almost to myself for the entire time I was on it.  Only a couple of cars were seen.  What a great opportunity to practice and to enjoy the curves! 

Once I had fed my addiction to this road, and time had flown away, I reluctantly headed back to more familiar -- and much busier -- roads to get home again.  

What a great day of riding and discovery!  I will have to go back again soon.  Winter, stay away a little longer. 
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