thirdgenlxi

Sweet! Yea def let me know, we can give ya the grand tour

Thanks!! Yea there's a perfect picture spot up on a big rock. You've gotta go past it and park and the overlook, then walk back towards the bridge on the little path, then right before the bridge cross the road and there's a little 'trail' (worn down from foot traffic) that goes up into the trees, and you can get up on the rock right there and it's a perfect view of the whole bridge. Pretty much any of the professional pics you find are taken from that same rock

Not too long of a ride today... about 150 miles or so. At one point I was almost ready to call it off and come home cuz all these random storms kept popping up all over the place. But I decided to change my route a little bit and give it a shot and see what happens. Worked out pretty good, only got a very little bit of light rain for a short period, nothing big at all, then just some wet roads, and the rest of the time it was actually pretty nice Anyways, this is what I got to tango with all day long.... this was near the very beginning of the day, lol. So needles to say, I went the other way Made my way up NC 181/Brown Mountain Messed around with a few panoramas with a new app I found for my phone Picture quality isn't that great in these.... not sure if there's a way to improve it or not, I'm still messing around with it, lol. Anyways, interactive panorama [ame]http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=2a7bb1f1-84c7-4943-a63a-669f2441367e[/ame] Made my way up the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopped at the Grandfather Mountain overlook. Clouds were starting to roll out and sunshine moving in Made a stop at the Linn Cove Viaduct on the Parkway.... always a favorite spot Still lots of low lying clouds in the area Interactive panorama [ame]http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=d55ab7cf-0ae2-4910-b8b2-c161e80f54e6[/ame] Then as I was sitting there, a huge cloud started to pretty much fully cover the whole area I was in Here it comes! LOL That's about all I got today.... it was starting to get late and I didn't have a clear visor with me so I made my way home. All in all other than all the storms moving around, wasn't a bad day for a ride.... humid but not terribly hot out so felt pretty good

Well I did my 3rd trackday last weekend (10th) down at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC with Tracktactics.... wish I could have done the whole weekend, but could only do one day. Still went down for the whole weekend though and hung out with everybody. Don't really have too many pics as there was no track photographer there this time, so no on track pics... oh well Anyways, took the bike into work with me on Friday and got her all prepped up Loaded her up on the old hooptie, stopped at home on the way down to pick up Piper, and made our way down to SC friday evening... got to the track about 9:30 or so Track dawg Piper, lol Group shot with a few of us My buddy Josh lovin' on the Pipester My friend Dawns bike (white GSX-R) and her friend with the SV1000 (both in the group shot above) My buddy Ken with the GSX-R 1000 on the left, and our very own Ryan Merchant with the Husky supermoto across the road came out too Sunday morning.... ready to ride! I stayed in novice group since it's been a little bit since my last trackday (sept last year), but was running high intermediate lap times and kept catching up to everybody, so next time I'll prob bump up Couple videos..... not really trying to go fast or anything, mainly just working on my body position and being smooth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQnocMvv28k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpSkKPtmgw Didn't get a full session on this one... I forgot to clear the card and ran out of room half way through http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vxGHtH7LYQ Ol' girl has still got a lil spunk left in her... There's barely any left turns at this track, lol Last session it started raining lightly.... it had been kind of on and off all day, but was so light it didn't really account to anything or even get the track wet. It waited until just after the session was over and we were packing up to let loose, lol. So we got soaked loading the bikes up. But, 106 miles on the track, shiny side up the whole day and had an absolute blast, worked a lot more on my body position and do believe I made some good progress Got everything loaded up, said goodbye to everyone and made our way home. I think Piper was more wiped from the weekend than I was, and all she did was sleep under the trailer the whole time.... lazy ass, haha All in all.... FANTASTIC weekend. Hung out with some great friends, awesome time on the track, learned a lot.... can't really ask for more. First time I've ran the Q2's on the track and loved them, bike was virtually effortless to ride and by the end of the day, I wasn't fatigued or sore at all like I was the last time (didn't even ride the last session last TD cuz I was wiped). This time I felt great and was ready to keep going, lol. Oh well just have to do another one soon.... can't wait!! Bike ran absolutely flawless the whole day, zero issues whatsoever... she never lets me down. I am getting a new tent though for next time, as camping out in the front seat of Hotel LeHonda (my car) wasn't exactly the most comfortable, lol

Richard B. Russel in N. GA??

The pictures (especially crappy quality ones at that, lol) do these views absolutely no justice whatsoever.... not even close That parking lot you see in the background is where our bikes were parked.... we hiked up the ridge in the right of the pic. This was towards the beginning of the hike too, we kept going much further back As you can see though, we've definitely got a pretty rough life, hahah A few spots where we pretty much were blazing our own trail... climbing over rocks and trees, through bushes, etc It was getting later in the day, the sun would soon be going down and we were still in the middle of the woods, so we decided we had to start heading back. We knew we weren't far from the Parkway (road) as the ridge we were hiking along pretty much parallels the road, just much higher up. We continue along and, oddly enough, end up at a house of some sort up on the peak of the mountain. It didn't look like anybody was there, so we go up hoping to find a driveway. There was a grassy path leading down, so we took it. It lead a ways down to a gate, went around and there was a gravel road and several more houses along there (we saw these houses earlier in the hike waaaaaaaaay in the distance, just didn't know we'd pop out there, lol). We continued down this road for a little ways, then after pulling out a map and figuring out where we were, saw that this road went down close to the parkway, but not to it. So we'd once again have to cut our own path through the woods. So there was a house there that was still being built, and our closest route to the parkway was gonna be right through their yard and into the woods. So we venture down this insanely steep decent hanging onto trees and whatnot and hobbling over rocks. We finally make it down to the bottom and pop out right on the parkway. Luckily we went the way we did, as if we would have gone about 50-100 feet to the right coming down, just before the road it was a sheer drop off rock wall.... phew! So now we just walked along the parkway for 2.5 miles to get back to the parking lot We estimate that we hiked a total of about 12 miles, on some very rough 'trails', lol..... lots of steep up's and down's, climbing over big rocks and trees, etc. So needless to say, we were tired. I gulped down an entire bottle of water, and we had made it just in time before it got dark and were able to catch an awesome sunset (perfect spot for it) We headed out and went down the rest of the parkway to where it ends (or starts, depending) in Cherokee, NC. It was almost 10:00 pm by this point, we were both beyond starving and still 2 something hours from home. So we filled up with gas in Cherokee, got some food, then made our way back home. Got home a little before 1:00 am, totally sore and tired, and proceeded to pass the hell out, hahah. It didn't feel like it, but even with the late starts and hiking, we still did right at 500 miles for the weekend, so not too bad And this is the plane we were after..... I didn't take the pic of course since we never did find it, but it's there.... somewhere And a little background behind the crash..... "November 24, 1983, a Cessna 414A flying from Chicago with a destination of Sylva, NC crossed over the Snowbird VOR at an elevation of 6700 feet, then turned south and made several "up and down excursions in altitude". Last known altitude was 6100 feet about a mile from the crash site. The crash site is stated as about 11 miles from the destination. It was a night time flight with low clouds and percipitation. Two people on board, both fatalities. The pilots blood alcohol content was 0.04%. The pilot was 53 years old. Time of accident was 17:55 EST." As always, we both had a fantastic time!

Once again, another awesome weekend! Unfortunately it'll probably be the last of our long all day excursions for a little bit, as Scotts parents are leaving this coming weekend for the whole summer, so he won't have anybody to watch his dog during the day, and we won't be able to stay out all day anymore. But anyways, we got a late start Saturday as Scott and I had to put a new A/C compressor in his moms car and get that working. Finished that, grabbed some lunch and then headed out by about 3:00 or so. Ultimately we needed to end up in Greenville, SC by the days end to visit a buddy (I'll get to that in a minute), so we decided to wander around on some backroads and make our way down there and hit up a few waterfalls on the way. So we made our way over to the Dupont State Forest, where there's a whole ton of waterfalls, and made a stop at Hooker Falls We head in and the first one along the way was Triple Falls Went in a little further and did some exploring on the rocks I still don't understand how a tree can grow out of a rock?? LOL Next stop was High Falls..... it's 100ft fall but really doesn't look it We kinda ventured off into the woods to get down to the bottom of the falls, and oddly enough under a bunch of fallen trees and whatnot, there's some old steps where a trail used to be that lead down to the bottom. After climbing over enough trees and rocks, we get to the bottom How does THAT happen?? LOL It was getting late and starting to get dark, so we made our way back out of the woods and headed the rest of the way down to Greenville. We were gonna make a stop at Ceasars Head State Park on the way, but it was completely dark by that time so we just continued on into Greenville We head over to the Barnes and Noble once we get into town, and meet up with this guy He's on a couple of the other forums I'm on.... he left May 21, 2011 from southern California on a 49 state BICYCLE tour. He was staying in Greenville, SC for the weekend so I had to run down and meet up with him. As of when I met him, he'd been through 38 states already and was heading up towards the NE after SC. He plans on finishing his trip in Boston, MA in a couple months, then getting on a train and heading home to Cali for a fresh start. It was awesome hearing him tell of his epic journey firsthand.... most definitely an adventure, that's for damn sure! This is one of his pics from along the way.... I couldn't get a decent pic of the bike and trailer at night It was nearing midnight and we were all getting tired and needed some rest, so we decided to call it a night and make our way home. Stopped for some food and gas before we got back into NC (gas is about $0.30 higher in NC than in SC), and couldn't help but laugh at the idiot proof gas pumps, lol. Yup... here's your sign Sunday morning we both wanted to get a little sleep, so we didn't head out until about 11:00 or so. We had a few hiking destinations in mind, so we made our way up NC 80 (a local favorite) up to the Blue Ridge Parkway We go 100 something odd miles down the parkway (almost at the end) to our first destination.... Waterrock Knob We make our way up the trail, which the actual trail is only 0.5 mile and really not a whole lot there. But we were on a mission..... somewhere on this peak, very close to where we were at, there was a crashed airplane that hit the side of the mountain back in 1983 and the plane is still sitting there deep in the woods to this day. So we were hoping to find it. Other hikers have found it before and and there was a rough un-heavily travelled 'trail' going off deep into the woods marked with orange tape on tree branches, so we head off and follow that. Long story short.... we never did find the plane, so we were both kinda bummed about that. But there were some incredible views along the way that you'd never see along the regular trail That's a sheer drop off right in front of that tree

I know I know.... you guys are prob getting sick of these damn things already, lol. But I can't help it... I snap pics of everything, so might as well share, right?? Actually don't have a ton of pics this time, believe it or not, lol Anyways, Scott and I got kind of a late start on saturday as we had to go into my work in the morning and mount a new set of tires on his bike, as his were also about down to slicks like mine were last weekend. So we did that, grabbed some lunch in town then headed back to get the wheels back on his bike. Got it all set and headed out by about 4:00 or so. We decided to head back up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and check out a place with a couple more waterfalls, and then later find a good spot to catch the big moon that would be coming up after nightfall. So up to the Blue Ridge Parkway we went, via some local twisty fun roads to get there It was getting close to being dark by the time we got up to the trails with the waterfalls, so we could only go on the shorter trail, which I believe is the smaller waterfall. But we checked it out.... nothing spectacular but still pretty cool. Real nice little swimming spot underneath it We continued our way up the parkway, going up to the overlook at the highest elevation point along the parkway. Ended up not being a real good spot for moon gazing as the overlook was pointing in the wrong direction from where we needed to be looking, and there was a huge rock in the way, lol. So we went back to the one before it which was a much better view, but a big cloud kept shadowing it. So we kept going back north to try and get around the other side of the cloud, and finally got to a real good spot where we could see it perfectly. Picture really sucks cuz I was just using my little point n shoot, but you get the idea, lol. It was indeed big and bright though, especially from about 5200 ft or so where we were here We sat and watched it for awhile, as well as a pretty cool lightning storm that was going on right below it which was quite cool to watch as well. But it was getting late, and we were still 3 hours or so away from home by this point and we're both pretty wiped, so we make our way back home and get some rest Sunday morning we get another kind of late start.... about 11:00 or so cuz we were both really tired saturday and needed some good rest. But we head out and decide to head up NC 80, one of our local favorites that we're on pretty much every weekend, lol. We stopped here to let a few people get ahead.... kinda funny cuz I've been up and down this road 100 times and never once noticed that there was a dam here, lol. Kinda cool too cuz it's a private drive on top of the dam (not sure if it goes to a house or what) We made our way up to Tennessee again via the same route as last weekend, across Roan Mountain. But we wanted to check out a couple other roads in that area, so we split off from there and went a different way. We stopped for lunch in Roan Mountain, but they had a large power outage and everybody was closed, so we had to continue on (hungry, lol) This is the Road we wanted to check out... NC Hwy 88. It starts off in Tennessee for a few miles, then turns into 88 in NC. Nothing super tight or anything but not bad either.... lots of nice easy sweepers, and decent scenery Made a little video.... as usual nothing fast or anything. Had to pull off a few times to let slow cagers get ahead a ways.... we always try and be respectful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX6XwF11Xi0 After that we took some more backroads through NC to get back to the parkway up near Blowing Rock, NC. Took one road (194) which was simply awesome.... in the freshly paved area, but the rest the pavement was in such bad shape + construction that it was a mess. It'll be awesome when they finish with it though.... def gotta go back. But we get on the parkway for a ways and head south for a bit, then jump off at 221, which more or less parallels the parkway for a good bit. Definitely a fun road as well But something caught our eye when we came around this particular corner above.... a little waterfall right off the side of the road It went under the road then came out the other side as well Looking up the stream leading to the waterfall, we noticed something weird way back in the woods... something big and white in a forest of green and brown. It almost looked like a birch tree, but seemed waaaay too big to be that. So of course we had to check it out, so we set out into the woods and hiked all the way up the stream via the slightly rocky route, lol. Looking up... Looking back down.... we were about half way up or so here and above pic Finally made it to the top and we both couldn't help but laugh..... it was a big cement pillar for holding up the roadway of the Parkway right above us, lol... DOH! But yea.... blurry pics as I was balancing on a fallen tree myself, but somehow every ride we always seem to end up in one of these predicaments.... our bike rides never quite stay on track, hahah I forgot to reset my trip odo this weekend so no odometer shot, but all in all we ended up doing about 530 miles for the weekend. Fun fun times as always =). Did I mention I absolutely love where I live?? heheh

Well Scott and I were up to our usual weekend activities once again this past weekend.... the weather here in western NC was simply beautiful, so of course we had to go ride (but then again, even if the weather isn't nice, we usually still go and ride anyways, lol). So saturday morning I head over to Scotts house nice and early, and we head out We decided to head back to one of the places we had gone last weekend.... Roan Mountain, which is right on the TN/NC border (right here where we took this pic at the top). It was about a 2 hour or so ride up here, and along the way shared the road with literally hundreds of bicyclists as they were training for a race on this one particular road we were on.... almost non-stop groups of them for prob 15-20 miles. Made things interesting, lol From here we headed down TN 143 down the mountain... it runs right along the edge, so it's nothing super tight or technical or anything, but a nice easy relaxing and extremely smooooooooth road with some good sweepers along the way... and some nice views too. We stopped at one of the overlooks for a peek Video going down from this point... neither of us ride crazy so nothing fast or anything http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUdHLf6h_N8 We got to the bottom and headed into Roan Mtn, TN to get some lunch. We didn't eat here, but it was right next door and we couldn't help but wonder what the pinto beans thing was all about (???) LOL After lunch, made our way back up the mountain. Had to stop and let a very slow moving car (25 mph) get a ways ahead Video of the ride back up the TN side and down the NC side. Once again... nothing fast or crazy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIxjLFDK5ek Made a stop at the little parking area on NC 80 at the Blue Ridge Parkway... hung out here for a little bit and took a break. Both roads are very popular riding roads, so a handful of other riders popped in and we chatted with them for a bit before they went on their way NC 80 looking down... VERY fun road, a local favorite for both of us! We made it back to town just in time to hit up Ryans Buffet to fill our bellies... we ate and then did a little more local nighttime exploring before calling it a night and heading home. Not a bad day... did about 288 miles, pretty easy day We both got some sleep, and, you guessed it..... back at it again sunday morning. We wanted to do some more hiking, and Scotts mom had a book of all the hiking trails in western NC and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We looked through it and picked out a spot to go that had a pretty cool waterfall called Crabtree Falls up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. So we head back up NC 80 once again towards the Parkway We get there and it was about a 1 mile hike in to get to the waterfall. Pretty cool though.... 60 ft cascading fall Then after the falls, another 1.5 or so mile hike out.... fairly smooth and easy trails at this place though, at least compared to some we've been on, lol Always gotta play in middle of the creeks, lol After we left Crabtree Falls, we decided to head south towards Craggy Gardens and check that out. It's the same place we popped out on the parkway last weekend after that epic night time gravel road adventure, lol. Made a stop at the visitors center along the way to catch a view and chat with some other riders for a few minutes I love all the tunnels along here This is the road (at the top) we took up to the parkway last weekend, for those that remember that story. About 5 miles long, fairly steep uphill the whole way, hairpins, random larger rocks, one lane, and a huge drop off on the one side for quite a ways.... ohh and it was night time to boot, and had about 4-5 cars come down the opposite way while we were going up. Fun fun fun... Craggy Gardens ended up being closed, so we took a little break there for a few minutes then decided to head back north on the parkway up to NC 181, another one of our local favorites, which will take us right back into town. We get into town about 8:45 and head over to our usual Mexican joint for one of their ginormous $6.00 burritos that my dad would refer to as, "a dog house covered in cheese", lol. Seriously... their massive. But a nice ending to yet another awesome weekend It was getting late so we both decided to call it a night and head home. Ended up with about 536 miles for the weekend, all in the hills of course... no slab whatsoever. So I'd say yet another fun weekend.... I love where I live =) But of course it comes with a price too.... after these past 2 weekend rides, my tires are once again, utterly shot. These Q2's wore down crazy FAST! Much faster than any other tire I've used.... the weekend before this past one the tread was just starting to get low, and this weekend.... gone. Luckily I had a few spare tires in the crawlspace under my house, so I dug out some decent ones to put on and get me by until I can get a new set here. Damn every Dunlop front I've ever run has worn all choppy like this (the spots). I usually never run them this low, just wasn't expecting them to wear this much so insanely fast (2 weekend rides pretty much), lol Getting her all set with some new(er) rubber.... the rear wore just as fast Likely more riding adventures this next weekend.... maybe a dirt ride, we haven't done that in a couple weeks

LOL kinda funny we were talking about something similar.... when we got to the top of the second gravel road, after all our travels so far that day plus that last little off road hill climb, we got to the top and Scott made the comment... "you know, most normal people [sportbike riders] would probably never do this", hahah. And he's prob right.... I've ridden with a lot of people and I can't think of many that would do a 4-500 mile day in the mountains with cold, rain, sleet, off roading, etc.... and then go and do it again the next day, without a complaint in the world. That's why I love riding with Scott so much, he's a 2 wheel addict just like me, and will ride pretty much anywhere at any time and is happy as can be. Prob the reason we get along so well..... he's practically like a brother to me Anyways... an interesting little historical tidbit of information about that backbone rock.... apparently back in 1900 they built a railroad to haul timber from Shady Valley, TN up to Damascus, VA. When they got to this rock, they literally just blasted a hole in it to get through. The little notch you see at the top they had to cut out for the smokestack on the steam engines to clear through it. This picture is from 1900. Pretty cool.... I LOVE historical stuff, and old 'then and now' pictures

It wasn't sticking or anything... not yet at least, lol.... just enough to be annoying. That's why we wanted to leave though before it did start getting bad.... I'm sure after the sun went down it was prob a different story. It was just that one little area we were in though that it was doing it, soon as we got a little further south it was dry

Well talk about an epic weekend of riding! hahah. My good friend Scott and I went out yet again (as we do every weekend, either street or dirt, or often both, lol), and he had a big route all planned out which turned out to be freakin' amazing, covering some of North Carolina and Tennessee's finest! So Saturday morning Scott headed over to my house good and early so that we could get an early start, ended up leaving my house about 8:30 am.... this was the route. With the exception of where we had to jump on the highway for just a couple miles to get to another road, there was no slab whatsoever... all backroads the entire way Stopped once we got into town to fill up with gas and we were ready to go Made our way up to Mountain City, Tennessee on a bunch of back roads.... by the time we got there it was around lunch time so stopped for some food Next stop was Shady Valley, Tennessee, and 'The Snake' - US 421. It's like Deals Gap, only with more curves (489 in 12 miles). Scott had never been so he wanted to check it out There were threats of storms so it was a lil cloudy and wet in some areas Next we went to a cool little place Scott found called Backbone Rock, which is 10 miles north of Shady Valley. There's a hiking trail off to the side you can go up and walk across the top View from the top Hit a little rain later in the day, but nothing too bad..... checking the map here for our next leg of the route and off again Pigeon Roost After a handful of more awesome backroads, we get here.... NC 197. It starts off as paved, and is super tight with lots of hairpins, then all of a sudden it turns to gravel, and stays gravel for 5 miles before it turns back to pavement for the rest of the way. Thaaaaat was fun! (but nothing compared to what we went on later.... read on, lol) Even managed to snap a couple pics as we were going along (hey what else are you gonna do for 5 miles in 2nd gear?? LOL). A little blurry, but you can imagine as to why, lol Finally made it back to the paved part and continued on our way.... we took a few more backroads that would lead us up to the Blue Ridge Parkway which we would take to get back home. We're on the road that is supposed to lead us right up to the parkway, and.... surprise! That one turns to gravel too, lol. Only this one wasn't as nice as the first one.... this one was steep uphill, very narrow, only one lane with a sheer drop off on the right side into a very rocky stream quite a ways below (and there was 4-5 cars/trucks that came down the other way as we were going up), and it was full of hairpin turns as it went pretty much straight up the side of a mountain (anybody familiar with the BRP and the roads leading up to it knows exactly what I mean, only this one was gravel instead of paved, lol). And it was about just as long as the other gravel road, prob 4-5 miles. Oh yea.... and it was night time too. Finally about 20 minutes or so later, we finally get to the top and arrive at the BRP and stopped to take a little break, get all the rocks out of my boot and let our brains stop shaking for a minute, lol. Then jumped on the BRP and headed home We finally made it back into town about 11:15 or so after getting rather soaked by a good rain shower around Asheville (well, Scott did, I had my rain gear). It didn't last too terribly long though and then was dry after that. Stopped for gas before we both headed home to pass out... definitely a LOOONG day! And when I say pass out, I mean... pass out. Lets just say I woke up at 5 am, curled up on the dog bed with Piggy. Don't ask... I don't know... I guess it was the first place that looked soft, LOL All in all logged about 457 miles for the day (I forgot to reset this right when we left the house, reset a couple miles down the road). Not too bad for a day of all twisty mountain roads! Was about 475 for Scott since he lives about 17 miles from me But that wasn't enough! Sunday morning, after we both woke up around noon today, and saw the storms that were supposed to be here all day had broken up, so we said lets go ride! LOL Got a little bit of a late start (about 2:30 or so), but off we went once again We took NC 80 up to the Blue Ridge Parkway once again.... ran into a young guy on an '04-08 R1 at the bottom of 80, that joined in behind us and followed us all the way up. There's a parking area at the top, we all pulled in and chatted for a few minutes. He had his R1 loaded down with saddlebags, tail bag, and was in full leathers to boot.... turns out he was from Chicago and on a big roadtrip on his bike. Really nice guy! But it was cold and windy where we were, and starting to rain/sleet, so after chatting a few minutes he headed back down the mountain. We were originally gonna go back to the road we took up to the BRP last night (the gravel one) and take the little side road that it popped out on going the other way, which goes down into Craggy Gardens. But that would mean going up and over Mt. Mitchell (highest elevation point this side of the Mississippi), and with the weather what it was it would certainly be snowing there. So we headed the other way towards a trailhead we had wanted to go to and do some exploring. There's usually at least one good hike somewhere in pretty much every one of our rides, lol Rock staircase.... pretty much what this entire trail was, climbing around the rocks These pics didn't turn out that great cuz it was cloudy, and I was getting blown all over the place standing on this rock (or trying to at least). Temps had to be in the 30's and winds prob 40+ MPH at least and steady, it literally took all I had just to keep upright and still enough to snap a few pics. There was also snow/sleet blowing directly sideways that was pelting me in the face.... felt like a damn sandblaster, lol. Didn't want to get too close to the edge with the wind blowing like it was, as this rock has no rails or anything and it's not all that big, just a straight drop off and a loooong ways down, lol Oh yea, did I mention it was cold and windy?? LOL I should have done like Scott and just wore my damn helmet, hahah. At one point the wind was blowing so strong you couldn't even breath walking into it.... had to turn around and walk backwards, lol. Glad I at least kept my balaclava on From a little higher up.... the arrow points to the rock I was standing on taking the above pics You can see the road (BRP) winding around in the background. If it was a clear day and not all cloudy and stormy like it was today, you could see A LOT more from up here It was getting late, cold, and sleeting/snowing/raining pretty good so we started heading back. Got some dinner once we got back into town then headed home. Only did another 182 miles today, so about 640 miles for me for the weekend, about 675 for Scott. I'd say a pretty fun filled and adventurous weekend, no doubt! And I most certainly couldn't ask for a better riding buddy Definitely a word to the wise.... if you come on one of our rides, come in shape and prepared for.... just about anything, LOL

My buddy Scott and I went out again sunday for another awesome day in the woods at Brown Mountain. Had a great time once again, took some crazy new trails we didn't go on yesterday, and I even went the entire day without any spills, lol (well ok I did have one crash, but I wasn't on the bike at the time so I won't count that, lol) Anyways... all loaded up and ready to go. Forecast calling for low 70's, sunny and 0% chance of rain. Perfect! First trail we did was #10. It was rated as 'easy' on the trail map, but the sign when we got there said 'more difficult (the trails are rated easy, moderate, and difficult). So I'm not sure which one it was 'supposed' to be.... wasn't too bad though. I remembered my little rubber clip for the GoPro this time, so no annoying clicking noises, haha. And again this is Scott riding the Kawi, I'm behind on the KTM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yLqfMaBJF8 Then down trail 4.... I was kinda surprised this was a two way trail http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpZmmjbCDUU Then up trail 2.... this one was pretty crazy, lots of big roots everywhere, and up towards the top the trail just kinda disappeared into a big rock cave and we got lost for a bit, lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yFFWWAECO8 Had to bust out the map here and try and figure out where we were and where to go, as the trail markings disappeared. We weren't sure if we had somehow gotten off the trail and onto one of the old unmarked trails or what (there are quite a few of those here) After a little backtracking and a detour around the rock cave, we finally found our way out, went back to the truck and grabbed some lunch, then headed out again. This time down trail 3, which was craziness. It's marked as 'most difficult', and was very tight and nothing but loose sand almost the entire way. Definitely wore me out, even though I'm still turtle slow, haha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9JHa6NNdUU It seemed like an eternity before we got to the end of 3, but then jumped on 1B, a favorite for both of us! Def one of the fastest trails there, and seemingly very easy (even though it's rated as moderate??). Pay attention arond 4:15 for Scotts little 'oops' with the big mud puddle, lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhK_hbCaTYU Stopped to take a little break and snap a few pics at the end of 1B before jumping on trail 8 to head back to the truck Trail 8 is a nice wide easy trail... good for at the end of the day for a kind of relaxing ride back, lol Was getting late in the day and the sun was going down, so jumped on trail 8 and headed back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FszvyJ44g9A And made it back just in time before the sun went down Once again, had a GREAT time! This was only my 4th time out so I'm still pretty slow, but definitely getting A LOT more comfortable, and getting faster little by little but not pushing it, especially riding Scotts bike. He still had to help me out in a few of the nasty spots, but I'm getting there, lol

It's part of the Pisgah Nat'l Forest, located just off NC 181 just north of Morganton. It's about 34 miles of trails, and very spread out. When we were at Brushy Mountain a couple weeks ago the main trail was about 24 miles, but along the way we could see people on other trails (at one point it 'looked' like somebody was coming right towards me, but they were actually on another trail that made a turn I couldn't see... it ran right up next to the trail I was on). At this place its much more spread out and you never see any of the other trails except for where they intersect. There were a lot of people there when we got there (only like 2 parking spaces open), and we only encountered a very small handful of people on the trails, and usually only when we stopped. As slow as I am, I only had one guy come up behind me the whole day... I just pulled off and let him go by when I heard him coming. Lots of land and very spread out... it was nice!! Map http://g.co/maps/54v4y Info http://www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trails/info/north_carolina_09477/ride_3f30.htm Trail Map

Went out again with my buddy Scott sunday (as we do every weekend), and headed up to Brown Mountain OHV trails, as it was their first day open for the year. This was the first time there for both of us, but we've been wanting to get up here for awhile now just waiting for them to open. It's really the best deal... we both bought the season pass for $30 for the entire year, go as much as you want. Plus you can camp out there for $5.00, either up by the parking lot or out in the woods, and it's open 24 hrs so if you wanted to ride at night... well... Anyways... all loaded up and on our way to sunday morning...ummm.... church service... yea! Conditions were absolutely perfect.... around 70-75 or so, kinda scattered clouds, perfectly dry trails but wasn't dusty either. Got a real light rain sprinkle later in the day, but it wasn't anything really... sun came out again after a few mins Supposedly there's some real nice scenic overlooks in here somewhere, but didn't run across any on the trails we were on that didn't have trees in front of it Since it was dry and not much mud at all, bikes didn't even get that dirty Video.... Scott is riding the Kawi, I'm on the KTM. I'm still a dirt n00b, this is only my 3rd time out in the dirt. So needless to say I'm slow as crap, lol.... that's why I put the camera on Scott... he's been riding dirt since he was a little kid and is much MUCH faster, and doesn't crash nearly as much (or at all), lol. He's awesome though and has the patience of a saint... always stops and waits up for me, and if we get to something tricky that I'm not quite sure about he stops and runs back down and either helps me out with which line to take, or a couple times just rode it up for me when I really wasn't feeling it (not to mention he's letting me ride his bike... shopping for one of my own though). We ended up on more 'difficult' rated trails than easy or moderate ones, so we had to do that several times, lol. I'm still learning though and getting more comfortable every time we go out, so I'll get there eventually. We both had a blast, and liked this place a lot better than any of the others we've been to so far I'll give fair warning.... vid is 25 mins long and kind of a big file, so may take a bit to load. Sorry for the annoying clicking noise... I forgot the little rubber clip for the GoPro mount, lol. May have to turn HD off to load a lil faster too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8EHboPrN8k

Had some awesome weather this past weekend (60-65 and not a cloud in the sky), so my good buddy Scott and I went out and did some riding. He's a riding addict just like me, so any chance we get we're out riding. Last couple weekends we've been doing other stuff (dirt riding, bike show, supercross races, etc) and haven't gotten a street ride in for a good bit, so we were overdue for a good long ride. I had to work half day saturday so got kind of a late start, but between the two days ended up logging about 400 miles on some of North Carolinas finest Anyways, Saturday we ventured on some local backroads up to the Blue Ridge Parkway I took him to one of my favorite overlooks along the BRP..... you park and then hike up a trail about 10-15 mins to the top of this ginormous rock overlook where you can see just about EVERYTHING, lol. Love the view from this little perch It was getting later in the day, and both of us are on the forever quest to find the perfect sunset spot up here.... the perch wasn't that great as it had some trees in the westward direction that somewhat blocked the view. Scott knew a place a little further up (or down rather... going south, even though going higher in elevation) that he had been to before and should be a good view, so we headed that way. It was just before the highest elevation point on the BRP, about 5500 ft here where we stopped Sun started going down FAST! Photographer in action, lol Still would have been better with a few light random clouds in the sky, I think After the sun went down it gets COLD on the BRP, lol. So we hung out for a bit then decided to start our 3 hr trek back home in the dark. Luckily going down in elevation, it got warmer as we went. I'm not sure how cold it was on the BRP, but by the time we got home it had def warmed up, and it was 42 when I got home. The BRP is generally about 10-15 deg cooler than at the lower elevations (awesome in the summer time!) Sunday Scott wanted to go over to Cathys Creek Motocross track cuz they were having an open practice session and the track is like 8 miles from his house (they only do open practice like 3 times a year at this track). So we loaded his KX 450 in the truck and headed over there Waiting for the quads to finish.... Neither of us had been to this track before, so not really sure what to expect on the turnout. Well it turned out to be PACKED!! They combined almost all the groups and sizes into one group (125's to 450's, 2 strokes, 4 strokes... A/B/C groups.... all in one). The only separate groups were the kids... 85cc group and 65 cc groups, and the quads. So needless to say it was a complete zoo on the track. Later in the day they split it up that the fast guys went first in their own group, but there was only a handful of them so the novice group was still almost just as big. Scott went out for a short time then came back in, said screw it too many people to learn a new track. I couldn't get the whole track in one pic... this prob isn't even half the people that were out there So after we hung out for awhile, we loaded everything back up and headed back to the house. Unpacked everything and decided to head out for another street ride (with an extra hour of daylight!). Took him on some other local twisties that he hadn't been on yet. Didn't snap too many pics as it was getting late and dark so we didn't stop too much We had a great time.... awesome weekend for being on 2 wheels!! On a side note.... I think I could do some serious damage up on the BRP with a GOOD camera (DSLR) and wide angle lens.... there's so many awesome photo ops that just don't come out the way I wish they would. All these were from my phone but looked much better in person, lol

So.... Piper has been escaping from the fence lately, and I can't seem to figure out where she's getting out at. I've walked the entire fence line and can't find any holes or loose spots in the fence where she could be getting out (kinda wondering if she's jumping it??). She never does it when I'm there and watching her, and even when I tried to bait her out by walking the other dogs around on the outside of the fence, she just glared at me giving me the, "do you think I'm stupid??", look, lol. She never runs off when she gets out, just wanders around the property and lays on the hill in the mulch pile by the house and chews on mulch, lol. But still, I want her to stay inside the fence for her own safety (there's lots of loose animals of all varieties out here in the sticks where I live) So I had an idea to find out where and how she's getting out.... I strapped my GoPro camera to her collar And the video.... of course she didn't get out now, lol. But the video still came out kinda cool..... funny seeing everything from their view. Note the awesome 'come when called' towards the end, all the way from the very back of the yard, heheh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euAGKtGnnoQ

No it stayed it place perfectly the whole day, never budged.... I didn't have it the first session just cuz I figured that would be a pretty slow session getting used to the track and all, and then after the last video I posted, the next one I made after that it went about 3 minutes into it and the battery died, lol. So I just took it off the last couple sessions. I should have charged it up between sessions but I completely forgot Still I put my name on both the camera and the case.... 'just in case', lol

So last weekend I did my 2nd trackday.... went down to Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC with the Tracktactics crew. Had an absolute BLAST!! I really like the Tracktactics guys.... they seem to do alot of little extras that not everybody else does, and lots of instruction to go along with it, which I really like cuz I'm still very much learning with this kind of riding (I don't ride fast on the street). I've been broke as a joke lately cuz work has been so slow, so I could only afford to do the one day (sunday), but decided to head down Friday after work and spend the entire weekend... at least get to socialize and meet some people the rest of the time, lol I was debating taking the dogs with, but I think it would have been a little too much for the youngn's and their fear and anxiety problems (all the noise + people + me being away). Piggy sure wanted to go with though.... as I was loading the car up Thursday night, first chance she got she darted out and jumped straight in the car, lol. She sure didn't want to get out either, haha Got everything loaded up Thursday night and hauled it all into work Friday morning. Got her all prepped at work (nothing better to do anyways) and ready to go Skipped out of work a little early and headed down.... not too many people there, ate some BBQ and hung out with everybody while I waited for some buddies to arrive who got a late start and wouldn't be there until pretty late. Next morning... everything is set up Hung out and socialized on Saturday (it rained half the day anyways)... then Sunday... fun time!! Oh yea this track is almost all right turns, as you may notice, lol. The left hander had a dirty spot that kept scaring me all day so all my pics from there are REALLY bad, haha I still need lots of work on my body position... mind you this was only my 2nd trackday, and the first one I was totally nervous as hell and very tense. This one felt MUCH better and I was actually able to work on alot of the stuff I learned at the first but didn't get to practice as much. I went to the body position class held by the lead instructor and learned ALOT from him, and tried it out each session and it really helped out a ton. I felt much more comfortable on the bike and wasn't 'fighting' it nearly as much as I felt I was the first time.... much smoother and confident. Still far from perfect.... I'm still a little crossed up, need to get my head and chest lower and further out, just for what I can see. But it'll just take practice practice practice.... a perfectly viable excuse to do more trackdays!! hahaha A few videos I made with the GoPro. I had to break some of them into two parts cuz YouTube won't let me upload anything longer than 15 minutes. It's nothing fast... I wasn't even worried about going fast or hammering it in the straights, I just wanted to go one step at a time and work on my body positioning at a reasonable pace. Once I get that on par, speed will come, but I HAVE to get the BP thing fixed first 2nd session.... I was working with one of the control riders for almost the entire session. And yes, I had a few shifting mishaps, lol. This was my first real time riding with my new Sidi boots I just bought, and the shifter was set a little low, so I was struggling a lil bit with that getting used to it. I did it twice in this vid, went to upshift and accidentally bumped the shifter with the corner of the boot and knocked it down instead. Embarrassing... yes, but s**t happens, right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHS3dn9cZDM 3rd session (part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL89asv3uGk 3rd session (part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dtVegWlXdQ 4th session (part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuzmzM1crPc 4th session (part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXrnopsDz6Q My good buddy Ryan joined us as well on Sunday on his KTM supermoto. This was from his GoPro (I totally forget which sessions) Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDWZG_A5dSc Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71g-9Uy91k Found out I mounted my GoPro a little lower than I should have....oopsss! Live and learn... glad that suction cup is a beast, lol (and yes Riley was very happy to have his bed back... I stole it for the weekend to sleep on in my little tent, lol. Thing is damn comfy!) Overall had a fantastic day!! I learned alot, didn't crash, the ol' girl ran absolutely flawless the whole day and didn't miss a beat (unlike me and my missed shifts), and I believe I made some improvements, so that's always a good thing. Now I need a second job to support my new found track habit =-/. I was exhausted at the end of the day... we got everything packed up and headed out. I was so tired when I got home I didn't even unpack the car or unload the bike, I just went to bed and hauled it all back into work Monday morning Got her all put back in her street attire and ready for the daily commute once again, until the next trackday!

So now that Riley and Piper have been in their classes for a little while, I figured I'd start a little thread on their learning progress. This isn't everything they know, but mostly the stuff they're really really good at so far and I could make a video of easily (they're real good at come when called as well, but it was dark out, lol). There's still stuff they're working on to perfect, and of course always learning new things as well. A lot of it is just basic stuff, but it's all the fundamental building blocks for things ahead, and they certainly ain't no dummies! For those that remember me mentioning it, I have future aspirations of getting Riley and Piper certified as therapy dogs once they're old enough, as long as I can get them over their social anxiety issues (they're getting much better with that though) An FYI this was all done with positive reinforcement training.... I never lay a hand on them (some people apparently think beating your dog into submission is how you 'train' them....ugh). Everything is voice commands, hand signals, body language and tone, and treats.... pretty simple stuff really, and it works! The sit & wait for their food.... I don't even have to say a word anymore, as they've been doing it every time since they were 11 weeks old This was at 11 weeks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=macwhsg5yl4 Now at 10 months.... don't even have to say anything Also, later in the vid, the treats I'm using are soft chewy Salmon treats.... the good stuff made with real salmon, not dry crunchy treats. They're extremely pungent with a very strong fishy smell, which the dogs absolutely LOVE. More or less equivalent to putting a piece of raw meat in front of them... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT1cmwoo6qw Then this was from a couple days ago.... I let them out in the front yard to do their business one at a time (off leash, non fenced yard). I let them out in the exact same order every single time... Piper first, then Piggy, then Riley. I've been using the "wait" command because I don't want them all rushing out the door at once (plus I use this command elsewhere as well), so 2 of them wait, one goes out, and they have to wait for that one to come back in before the next one goes out. They've got it down so well, that when I say "lets go outside", they'll run over to the front door and, starting with the side of the door that opens, will line up side by side in the exact order that they go out in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIOdnUdeWko That's all I have for this weeks doggy boot camp.... I'll update later on as they learn new things

A buddy and I went out riding saturday afternoon...... beeeaaauuutiful day out, nice and cool, bright and sunny.... lots of fun As with all my rides, it's nothing super fast.... I don't haul ass on the street, just a reasonable pace to have fun and get back home safely NC 80, aka "Buck Creek" is always one of my favorites, headed north towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. We got stuck behind some cars towards the end but not for too long http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7SL6mDN1NY Short ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway.... and as you can see, I caught a stinkin' bug right on the lens of my GoPro, lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8198lzJjKGA Then we rode up to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, which is the highest peak on this side of the Mississippi @ 6,684 ft http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2nuOObRe7M

About to turn 219,000 on the F4i... I think I have about 50 miles to go, lol. Bought new 10-17-04 with 3 miles

Had a fun little ride on the playground yesterday evening before the sun went down.... headed up NC 226A which is always a favorite cuz it's soooo empty every time. I wanted to come back down NC 80 which is another favorite, but it was starting to get dark so I just came back down the same way. I don't haul ass on the street so it's not a fast knee dragging kind of ride, just having fun at a safe reasonable pace and working on my body positioning and trying some new stuff I learned sitting in on one of Lee Parks "Total Control" classes last weekend (hence I got the wiggles a few times, and missed my lines a few times too trying different things, lol) I was playing around with my GoPro camera since I haven't used it in awhile, and trying it in a few different spots on the bike. I think I like this one... Going up the mountain (the really good part of the road starts at about 1/3 of the way into the vid or so) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrykBHpKcoA And coming back down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXD7UiIpufs This is why I loooooooove living here where I do so much =)

7 years young.... still going strong!

Sweet deal.... I may be out there this weekend myself! Hope you guys have a fun and safe trip! If you see a black/red F4i tooling around give me a hollar! Or if anybody wants to shoot me a phone # we can try and meet up somewhere...