• Another monster riding day today, almost 500 miles. Rode after dark which I didn't like, but made it to friends' house near Big Bend. #
• Joel lent me a sheepskin for my seat & it made a big difference riding on the hard stock seat. I'm not a cripple like the last big mile day #

• I've been struggling changing my tires over to the MEFO Explorers Twisted Throttle sent me…ugh. I need to learn to do it by myself. #
• Thunderstorms in San Antonio…I took a break to gather a couple more motorcycle items for the trip..I also still have to buy Mexican Insurance #

• Had my fun with Moira and Roger or Elite Track Days today–I'm a lucky girl! Who gets a track all to themselves with TWO instructors ?!? #
• Ugh. A shopping Day. Lock Tie, Water Purifier, Cable lock, gas can, windproof hat for the mountains,sleeping bag liner. I hate shopping #
• Evidently I wasn't "prepared" enough when I left home. I think I am nervous, too, traveling solo, and I keep thinking of things to do #

Primm Springs, TN – Conway, AR
Moving time 7:49
382 miles

It was a beautiful day to ride. And Tennessee has some really nice back roads.

I even hit a bit of gravel road–perfect!

Dodged some farm equipment

Old bridges

Unfortunately got routed through Memphis (my first big city since NY) yet found a museum I’d like to go back to

Then over the Arkansas river

And arrived at Tinks & Scoon66’s house (Those are their ADVrider “handles”). It was great to see them again–Edward and I had stayed with them on our way West over the 4th of July weekend on our Trans America Trail adventure.

Tinks said Stir-fry for dinner, modeled after a meal she’d recently had at a Mongolian restaurant, and it was delicious.

Meet Donkey, the goat:

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Sapphire, NC – Primm Springs, TN
Moving Time 8:09
387 miles

Mom woke me up with a start at 7:30 telling me it was a gorgeous day to travel. Yesterday morning it was 35 degrees with a hard frost, so I assumed it would be another cold morning and had gone back to sleep. Yikes! I still hadn’t finish my route in Mapsource (Edward navigated this summer so I am a neophyte navigator)

Mom and I hugged fiercely, then took the requisite pic

Didn’t get on the road until about 9:30, but then it was another gorgeous day, and one where I actually turned off my electrics for the first time in a week.

I rode through Sylva, NC

then on the Great Smokey Mountains Expressway.

I rode through the Nantahala Gorge and towards Tennessee.

Somewhere along the way I saw a sign for the Cherohala Skyway, one of my favorite roads, and decided I’d treat myself. It was a Sunday and all the bikes were out. It gave me goosebumps.

Then onto some smaller roads

Then through some small towns

And finally just under the Natchez Trace Parkway, after dark, I meet up with Mark Cooke from Cycle Authority (Columbia, TN). He and his partner Kevin Owen run a great motorcycle-everything shop just off the Trans America Trail in Tennessee. This is the trail Edward and rode ths summer, and these guys were a lot of fun and a great help getting me going back on the road after some front tire issues I had. I wanted to come back and visit with Mark and meet his wife, since he’d told me so much about her and how awesome a rider she is (he preps her race bike for her–how cool is that?!?). These guys both ride dual sport and street race, and they’re just really fun.

Mark was the one that planted the idea for me buying a DR650…when we rolled through their shop my old 350 was burning il pretty bad and they let me pick their brain about getting it fixed. Mark suggested that I buy a 650 instead, and the seed was planted. So I wanted to show off my new ride.

Anyway, I rolled in pretty late, and the fed me the best steak I think I’ve ever had. We visited a bit, talked bikes, and went to bed, my bike happy among friends.

Taking care of Business
Fletcher, NC – Sapphire, NC
~70 miles

Joyce made a yummy delicious breakfast for us in the morning,

then all of us went to the workshop.

Another man-toy world, Rick has a tool to do *everything*. One of the coolest (I think) is the one in the corner where he can dyno the shocks to make sure they fit the customer’s spec perfectly. The tool even talks to a computer and he gets an immediate read out.

So while Joyce continued running the business, rick took the time put my bike on the bench and set the damping and spring rate perfectly for my weight and the weight of my luggage. I’d given him a good guesstimate when we mailed the front forks and rear shock to him, but I’d forgotten to ccalculate in the 40 lbs of riding gear I wear. (Surprised me, too! When I put it all in a bag and put itt ont he scale I could not believe it!)

Rick doing what he does:

And after that, sweet man that he is, he even checked my tire pressures (low!) and all bike systems. Then he went for a test ride to make sure I was good-to-go!

I need a pressure guage like this–easy to read:

Around 11:00 the Asheville TV station WLOS came and interviewed me. It was my first time in front of the camera like that and a bit nerve wracking. Joyce said I did good, but laughed nervously a few times. Well I WAS nervous!

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We went to the rockin’ BBQ place in Asheville, NC for lunch — 12 Bones. Go there is you are within 100 miles of the place, and don’t be dismayed by the line out the door: It’s well worth it.

[sorry, was so hungry i forgot the food pic]

Group photo before leaving

then off to the Buncumbe health dept. for my 2nd hepatitus A/B shot

next stop: Mom’s place only about 70 miles away. But as luck would gave it the devil got into my GPS again and I did a lap around Asheville before overriding the GPS with common sense and going the way that I knew.

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Got to Mom’s at 5:30, we chatted for a bit and turned ont he evening news. Watched from 6:00 – 6:30 and NOTHING! We were so disappointed. I called rRck and Joyce, and it was on the FIVE THIRTY News. ARGH! Mom and I were just sitting there catching up and I missed my 15 seconds of fame. Oh well, it’s bad enough my hair turned pink, I don’t need a swelled head to go with it.

Day 7
Rest / catch-up day at Mom’s

Hillsboro, WV – Fletcher, NC
Moving time= 6:39
367 miles

I woke up this morning to fog and a thermometer that read 29 degrees. I guess I was getting out of the Northeast just in time.

Joel made me a nice breakfast, I followed him around taking care of all his animals, and I got the industrial tour of the farm. 11-ish I was back in the truck, across the river to retrieve my bike, and on the road.

My GPS got a devil in it when leaving Hillsboro, and kept trying to route me back to Joels to pick up the beginning waypoint, but several circlesa round town I ot a nice photo and got on the right road.

It was definitely fall, and a lovely ride.

West Virignia is a beautiful state, and while I had 350+ miles to ride that day, I was glad I took the scenic backroads for a while. Even I 64 was pretty scenic when I decided I had to make time to get to North Carolina.

One of the many mountain tunnels through the Appalachians.

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I was running late for my next stop: Rick and Joyce Tannebaum of Cogent Dynamics. Cogent dynamics (Fletcher, NC) ony does custom suspension on motorcycles, and with the load I was carrying, I needed better-than-stock suspension. Cogent customizs suspension for all bikes, though right now they’re most widely known in the Ducati (Joyce has one), KLR 650 and DR650 (Rick’s got one) circles.

Cogent had agreed to sponsor my ride (remember it’s a fundraiser and early detection awareness ride for breast and ovarian cancer CURES!!!) and am I grateful. The bike handles just great, despite the load ( I weighed my Trax boxes, with contents, on their UPS scale before leaving: Left pannier (45 litlres) 38 pounds. Right pannier (37 litres becaue that’s the exhaust side) 34 pounds. Top box=22 pounds.

Rick and Joyce has arranged an ADVrider dinner Thursday night at a restaurant in Asheville, NC. 20+ people turned out to wish me a good trip, and it was gret to meet so many more enthusiasts like myself. One person (thank Earl!) handed me a cash donation for my ride, I received a jar of honey made by motorcyclists (I didn;t catch your name but I am grateful nonetheless) and someone else brought me a fleecey thing for around my neck. Southern hospitality at its best.

• Left Dallas yesterday, back in Valley Mills, TX at Camels on the Creek. Carolyn went off to California, and Mike and I are changing tires #
• My friend Moira, of Elite Track Days in Austin, TX, offered us a (free!) track day. So we're putting off crossing into Mexico for 3 days #

So Joel lives across a river. He has a refuge / animal sanctuary where he helps animals in need — both domestic and wild. He’s an interesting character. Former motorcycle rider, he told me he called in “well” to work when he was “38″, told his boss he was going for a motorcycle ride, and left for 5 months. He went back to work and tried to resume his duties at the NIH, but it didn’t jive any more for him, so he left permanently and has never looked back.

Joel is now 60-ish, with this wild wild grey Einsteinian hair, and is full of tales of travel and out-of-the-box lifestyle. He can rant as good as by boyfriend Edward, and Joel has definite o-p-i-n-i-o-n-s. Joel has the distinction of being the only person to win a case in the WV superior court *without* being a lawyer! He’s brilliant and argumentative, with an amazingly large heart for all creatures great and small. Oh, and he’s a man’s man with all the boy toys for sure. He asked me if I could stay a day and dig a pond with his bulldozer. I think I’ll back

I had a pet squirrel we rescued growing up…o I fell in love with Crinkles.

Joel's Deer

Nov 4th
Machester, MD – Hillsboro, WV
Moving time: 6:00
298 miles

Jeez, I was cold today. It seemed pretty warm when I got started, but it never got above about 50 degrees today…so my body core eventually got cooler and cooler. Twisted Throttle set up the bike with heated hand grips and a plug for my electric (Gerbings) . The DR650 has a puny alternator, so Twisted also very cleverly installed a battery monitor — a little dashboard device — that shows me whether I am running the battery down or whether it is being charged. It took some getting used to because it was another light that I had to keep track of.

Anyway, since the DR650 has a puny alternator, I cannot run all the electrical heating devices all at once. I have to decide whether I want my body warm, my hands warm, or just a little of both. Cleverly, Twisted throttle also installed a headlight “kill” switch, so I can turn off the stock headlight (that draws ~30 amps) and instead use the Denali LED lights that are super bright (that draw ~1.5 amps). In other words, I have a Rubick’s cube of electricity I can play with to keep me comfortable.

Anyway, I rode almost 300 miles, some highway and a bunch of county roads (I highly recommend WV 219–great road!) to Joel’s place.

I didn’t know Joel (he is the brother of my friend Linda) and had never been to his place. He suggested meeting me on the other side of the river and driving me across…I said “no, that’s OK, I ride a dualsport I can cross a river”. Well, here’s the river separating Joel from from the rest of civilization:

mmm…lemme rethink that. 2-3′ deep, ~450 feet across, 45 degrees, and almost dark.

No thank you, I opted for the truck.

Both ways