Lumberg's Big Day

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Bill Lumberg

Merica
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After many deferrals due to scheduling and weather, I finally nailed down the day after the 4th of July to meet my brother (from a neighboring state), for a long ride. Our meeting point took me off my normal route to Tapoco Rd/Robbinsville, and put us on the Cherohala Skyway. It was only the second time I'd been on it, and it is probably my favorite road in the southeast. Over the course of the day, I saw 8 FJR's, none of them grouped with any of the others. That's remarkable, numbers wise, for me. While it was supposed to be powering toward 90 degrees, it didn't break 70 until almost midday.

After running the skyway, we began US129, and stopped to eat at the restaurant across from the Killboy shop. While dining inside (no need to put ice in your drink, it was that cold in the dining area), I noticed a blue FJR pull up. Partly due to stickers and LD farkles, and partly due to the well-traveled stich, I stopped listening to conversation and began focusing on bike. I would have to at least say hello to the rider, who exuded a worldly aura that can only come from long miles. I suppose it was all the more refreshing to see a longrider while I was seated in a small sea of folks with leather vests whose panels were laced together with rawhide. The FJR turned out to belong to a very nice lady. We briefly discussed gear, apparel, and the zen of riding, and went on our separate ways. The young lady whose lunch I interrupted was the lauded FJRFarrier. Our brief conversation would be one of the high points of the day.

After around 7 hours on the road, we had yet to encounter any weather anomalies other than cooler-than-forecast temps. Well, that certainly couldn't last. Just clear of 129 and headed back to the north Georgia mountains, I finally hit the wall of water I knew I'd been dodging all day. And then another. And then another. Blinding squall, temp drop to the 60's, then clear for a bit. Too stubborn to put on rain gear, I kept going.

During perhaps the worst rain line I hit all afternoon, my Garmin 595LM seized. I must explain, while it works well some of the time, my fully updated (and preceded by two units that simply didn't work) 595LM is beset by glitches, and, at times, just locks up. Mid-monsoon, on a route I'd never taken before, I was without nav. For the price and functionality, I have concluded that the 595LM simply must have been designed and executed by the government. There is little other way to get such sketchy function for that price.

Of course this was in a no cell service area, so my iphones were no help. So I continued my bombing run through biblical rain, hoping I was getting closer to home rather than further. Fun, to a point. Finally, the rain broke long enough for me to rock my digital paperweight from the cradle, which, in this case, caused it to reboot without me having to remove the battery. Lucky me. Now, I was on the backiest of backroads. Happily, on this sojurn, I was not directed down any rutted goat tracks (that's another ride, another story). To my surprise and delight, I ended up dumping into McCaysville, GA at a right angle to the route I'd passed through it hours and inches before. I was back in the known world. So the Garmin did come through in the end. All in all, a very good 9.5 hour ride.

 
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This was discussed. I do not need to spend money on a darien jacket to match the pants I already own. But she had me wavering. Dare I stop the routine of buying a new Sedici rapido every year or two?

 
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Darien jacket ordered. The blame is clear. I will post my extensive but rarely used jacket collection for sale here first. I plan to recoup most of the cost and beaucoup closet space in the process.

 
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1. What a coincidence to see FJRFarrier! She is a serious LD rider, as evidenced by the FJR meetups she's attended, the ride reports she's posted, and your chance meeting far from her Ohio hometown. I'm looking forward to seeing her again at EOM.

2. The Cherohala is one of my favorites, too, and it's not often overrun with bikers. It's right up there with NC 106, NC 107, NC 215, and US 276 south of Waynesville. (By the way, US 64/74 north from McCaysville will get you to NC 30, which is a very sweet, albeit short, road.)

3. If you ended up in McCaysville/Copperhill, you couldn't have gone very far off your intended route. Of course, you can't make a turn to get off of a lot of those little mountain highways, so it's hard to get lost.

4. Glad you enjoyed your day and your brother.

 
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Love the skyway.. and Krambonz in Telico. Once a year I like to ride up there, grab a pig-tater from the K, and ride up to one of the overlooks for a picnic.

Tip - Google Maps lets you cache map areas so that you can still use it when there's no signal. I rarely use a GPS but it's handy if you come across a road and wonder - what's down there?

You'll need to have a google account (gmail)...

Open Google Maps on your phone. Click somewhere in the middle of an area you'd like to have available. Click "download", and (this is where you'll need your google account) log in if prompted. It then lets you zoom in and out to create an area to download. Done.

They expire in a month, so that the data is pretty much always accurate. Do this before every ride and you'll have map coverage - if needed.

 
Wise advice. As I would expect. I used cell-free stored maps on both my iphones for years. But was hasty to delete all that frivolous data/wasted storage as soon as I bought and set up my garmin. I mean, it cost as much as a Schuberth and was made for motorcycles, why not? :)

 
To be honest, at one point, I think I was literally trying to run from the rain. It was hurtful.

1. What a coincidence to see FJRFarrier! She is a serious LD rider, as evidenced by the FJR meetups she's attended, the ride reports she's posted, and your chance meeting far from her Ohio hometown. I'm looking forward to seeing her again at EOM.
2. The Cherohala is one of my favorites, too, and it's not often overrun with bikers. It's right up there with NC 106, NC 107, NC 215, and US 276 south of Waynesville. (By the way, US 64/74 north from McCaysville will get you to NC 30, which is a very sweet, albeit short, road.)

3. If you ended up in McCaysville/Copperhill, you couldn't have gone very far off your intended route. Of course, you can't make a turn to get off of a lot of those little mountain highways, so it's hard to get lost.

4. Glad you enjoyed your day and your brother.
 
Very good ride report. Got me jonesing to go back there. I didn't know that Julie was touring over there.

 
The FJR turned out to belong to a very nice lady. We briefly discussed gear, apparel, and the zen of riding, and went on our separate ways. The young lady whose lunch I interrupted was the lauded FJRFarrier. Our brief conversation would be one of the high points of the day.
Well, that was a pleasant surprise to have someone come up and say hello, and have it be a forum name that I recognized!

Thanks for approaching, even while I shoved pringles into my mouth...

Meeting FJRFarrier should have been a high point for you. That young lady is Awesome with a capital A and is super nice as well. I cannot say enough good things about her and when I met her it was an honor.
Right back at you Redfish!

1. What a coincidence to see FJRFarrier! She is a serious LD rider, as evidenced by the FJR meetups she's attended, the ride reports she's posted, and your chance meeting far from her Ohio hometown. I'm looking forward to seeing her again at EOM.
Looking forward to EOM, and many other gatherings this summer and fall!

Very good ride report. Got me jonesing to go back there. I didn't know that Julie was touring over there.
Pants- I tour just about everywhere... lol.

 
Just came in. Trying to get a photo to post from photobucket via iPhone. Hovering right above my screen in this picture is my brother, on a beautiful bike that cannot lean and is a death trap on a stretch of road like this.

 
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Looks like he is in FRONT of you though.
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You do realize the FFFP (FJR Forum Fashion Police) are about to descend on you like wolves don't you?

 
It crossed my mind... :)

1) we learned long ago that if he was following me, on that bike, he was going to kill himself trying to keep up. When we are in the curvies, I never let him follow. Too many close calls.

2) I don't care. :) . Imagine Julie shaking her head when we talked about LD, equipment, and aerostich, and then I ride away in jeans and a Tour of Honor t-shirt.... sometimes I mesh. But when it's hot, sometimes I don't. I had stowed my faincy jacket when we stopped for lunch. In the summer, I am all too often guilty of traveling in cooler hours wearing armor of some sort, and dressing more like a gold wing rider when the temps are up.

 
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2) I don't care.
smile.png
. Imagine Julie shaking her head when we talked about LD, equipment, and aerostich, and then I ride away in jeans and a Tour of Honor t-shirt....
I did give a little tilted head look when I saw that.... lol.
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Mostly I thought that it would be hard to put the Spot on your body/sleeve if you have no gear/jacket to put it on.
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haha!

(I say all that with a smile on my face and am not meaning to be cruel! We all have our moments...)

 
On the topic of safety and the dragon- I got a SPOT after stopping to help a couple that had crashed, on the dragon, last year. I realized there was no cell service and no way to quickly summon help. Guy had a badly broken leg. After our July 5th conversation, I left the restaurant parking area ahead of my brother, and ended up pulling over to let him catch up and overtake me. A couple slowed down to make sure I was okay. I could swear it was the same couple, same bike. Didn't have time to ask.

 
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