On the open road with a different riding partner. Or how riding with "The Stig" is a little different.
Teamboxer's tame motorcyclist substitute shares a few common characteristics and differences with the man whose shoes he is filling in for.
First, "The Stig" just like Todd favors a BMW RT as his long distance mount. Although "The Stig's Germanic breed is a decade newer than the 1986 Airhead.
"Stig" is also a fan of Aerostitch. So once again Michael has the pleasure of traveling with a man in a snowmobile suit. "Stig" prefers the full suit compared to Todd's two piece ensemble. Also "Stig's" suit is actually red compared Todd's faded pink jacket.
"The Stig" also appreciates the finer things in life. Like the incredible Lafayette Hotel in Marietta, Ohio, where they stayed during the first night of the trip south.
He even sampled some of the India Pale Ale at the Marietta Brewing Company. Very good even though it does hinder your driving abilities. Good thing the brew pub is just down the street from the Lafayette Hotel.
Or the flowering trees throughout West Virginia and Virginia.
While Todd's idea of plush accommodations can consist of a picnic table.
"The Stig" requires something with a bit more English refinement. Such as staying at the The Firmstone Manor a beautiful restored mansion in a Virginia valley near the town of Clifton Forge.
What a difference a state border can make. West Virginia, without a doubt is a beautiful state but "The Stig" and Michael can't say the same for the roads. There is nothing worse that having a nice twisty road stretch out in front of you and have every single corner filled with sand or gravel or chunks of manure. It's enough to make a motorcyclist from Michigan cry.
Worse than all the jumk in the corners is the trucks. We're talking big trucks as in dump trucks, logging trucks and semis. These guys have no fear, no notion of what that funny line running down the middle of the road is supposed to do. Plus they can't read because not one of them followed the posted speed limit.
"The Stig" had a couple of diaper moments during the day as he narrowly missed becoming an ornament on the front of a dump truck.
But as soon as we hit the border with Virginia the roads were clean, the corners were peg scrape-able.
Dashing across the mountains and on to the coast
Just a quick trip recap:
Day one: Hop on the slap and hammer on down to Marietta, Ohio. Chewing up 440 miles. Lunch at Jerusalem Gardens in Ann Arbor, dinner at The Levee House Cafe in Marietta, Ohio. Accommodations at The Lafayette Motel. MAP
Day two: Back roads to Clifton Forge, Virginia, 350 miles. Breakfast at the Hotel. No need for lunch when you can hammer through curves for most of the day. Great pizza and beer delivered directly to the gazebo at the Firmstone Manor. MAP
Day three: Made a dash to the coast of North Carolina at Kitty Hawk, 311 miles. Got up late. Incredible breakfast at the Firmstone. Ride through beautiful weather through most of North Carolina until we get close to the Outer Banks. By the time we hit the causeway heading across to Kitty Hawk the winds are blowing a cold mist of salt spray at 30 mph. Thank goodness a fine meal at Goomba's along with two pitchers of beer took the chill off. Cheap motel at the Days Inn. Ya can't beat 54 bucks and right on the beach. MAP
We're four days in and things are looking up
"The Stig" woke to the sound of surf this morning.
He was not in the mood for more rain. So he called to the God's of Speed to provide some better weather. And so they did!
This was the first visit to the Outer Banks for both of us. The huge homes built on this tiny spit of land are amazing. Doubly so since this is one of the areas that continually get pounded by hurricanes. Had to laugh that one of the area high school's nickname is "The Hurricanes."
The area is filled with history. From the Wright brothers' historic flight at Kitty Hawk to Blackbeard's rampages. Wonder what the old pirate would think having his name attached to Mini golf and other tourist attractions.
The area is also a birder's heaven. From Sand Piper's roaming the beaches to pelicans skirting the waters there is a ton of birding to do with in the area.
Stig photo of the day
If you ever get a chance to meet "The Stig" you soon realize that he is larger than life. Here is living proof at Cape Hatteras lighthouse.
FYI: No photoshop here boys and girls.
To Ocracoke or not to Ocracoke
We could hop onto the next ferry ride which left in an hour and a half or find a place to stay and eat shrimp and drink beer.
Hmmm... tough choice.
A hundred dead scrimp later and four beers and at least our stomach were full.
We found a great place to stay at Edwards motel and we were set. So we did what most tourist do.
Visit the Ocracoke lighthouse.
Found a place for Todd to live.
.
Visit the beach
Shoot pictures of the locals.
And walk head back to eat fried clams at The Flying Melon restaurant.
Incident on the ferry and then back to the North Carolina mountains
Ocracoke makes for some nice photos in the morning light.
Well "The Stig" and I are both veterans of several Lake Michigan crossings aboard the S.S. Badger. So we figured that we would just grab some coffee and breakfast aboard the ferry in the morning. Just like on the Badger.
Boy were we wrong. Nothing but vending machines aboard. Of course this was one of the few days I had not replenished the thermos with coffee.
Even the birds were begging for food.
So we munched on gorp, nuts and beef jerky. Then washed it down with a nice cold Coke. Ah, breakfast in North Carolina. It really doesn't get much better than this.
Then there was the security breach incident.
As a photographer you always look for a better angle. One such angle was from the top deck of the ferry.
Well no sooner did I step aboard the top deck and fire off my first frame when a rather perturbed ferryman came running out to tell me that I just breached security. Didn't I see the sign on the gangway?
Huh? I didn't see any sign.
Once off the boat, we were back on the road. We figured we would take 70 all the way up to Raleigh. What a miserable road. It felt like all of suburbia had grown together. Finally, we got to the super slab and back on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Stig immediately cheered up, as you can easily see.
Stig really likes the closed circuit feel of the parkway. It takes him back to his racing days.
Stig wasn't the only one with a smile on his face.
At one point, near Boone, the Blue Ridge was closed. It was getting late. There was nice hotel with a restaurant nearby but ... we pulled a Todd and pushed further on down the road to Little Switzerland.
By the time we got into LIttle Switzerland the restaurants had finished serving. And even more disturbing — no beer anywhere. Not that "The Stig" didn't try. He even lowered himself by looking for beer at Wal-Mart. Nope, nada, no way. We ended up pouring an extra Gatorade over ice for the evening libations. To add insult to injury, the only food we could bear to eat was Kentucky Fried chicken.
The good news was that we had found a little diamond in the rough to stay for the evening.
Stig photo of the day
The man from Kentucky gets the big bucket.
Life's rough on the road in North Carolina
How bad of a day can it be when you wake up and see this out of your motel window?
We pulled in late in the evening and rolled through a couple of little towns looking for a place to stay. Every place we saw "The Stig" immediately turned up his nose/helmet. So we kept pressing onward. We ended up in Little Switzerland at the Alpine Inn run by Ron and Sue Lough.
The scenery off of the breakfast deck is incredible. Owner Tom said that in a couple of weeks it will feel like you are sitting in a tree house once the foliage breaks out.
Clouds rolled over the valley during breakfast.
Great breakfast and healthy too.
Of course with clouds comes rain. For the first part of the morning you couldn't even look a 100 feet down the road because of the morning fog. Good excuse for another cup of joe.
The Inn even has special parking for cycles!
Can you get lost on the parkway. Well if you're Michael there might be a good chance of it.
If there is one good thing about riding the Blue Ridge Parkway in the spring its no traffic and no law enforcement. We never saw one LEO during our time on parkway.
The views from the Parkway are drop dead gorgeous.
"Stig" loves the predictable curves.
Stig displays his great patience during one of the many photo stops.
Riding the “Dragon”
By late afternoon we had found a spot to "Stig's" liking for lunch.
The Balsam Mountain Inn is beautiful. Restored to the nth degree. This would be a great place to stay for a night or a week.
The pie was good, but rather small, and priced for people who drive Bimmers. not rode Beemers.
Nice spot to let the calories do their work after lunch.
If you haven't heard, there is a road in the mountains of North Carolina called the "Tail of the Dragon." It consists of 318 curves in 11 miles and is located near Deals Gap. It is becoming famous as the premier motorcycle road east of the Mississippi.
The road draws motorcyclists from all across the nation. We saw plates from as far away as Alaska.
The Dragon was not the only strange animal hanging around in the North Carolina hills. Beasts ranging from Buells to Suzukis roamed the curves. The entire place has a carnival/zoo atmosphere. Bikes would literally launch from one staging area. Front wheels heading skyward.
Oh yeah – the bugs were out. Side note: Our hosts from the previous night told us a great story bug story. A bunch of Harley riders were going out for a evening ride on the Blue Ridge. The host said be careful of the bugs. One of the riders said that bugs don't bother us. They responded that it not the bugs it's the bats coming in to eat the bugs. The year before a bat diving for dinner got wedged in the side of an open-face helmet. He just about rode off the side of a mountain before he managed to get it out.
"The Stig" shook his head several times as we walked around the staging area. I could tell he was thinking someone is going to get hurt.
As usual, he was right. Halfway through the 11 miles, paramedics had someone strapped to a gurney while his buddies looked on. The remains of his sport bike were off to the side of the road.
The road itself is one heck of a ride. We rode through twice. The road has a nice cadence, with a few tricks up it's sleeve. If you worked on one end of the Dragon and your house was at the other end of the Dragon, life would be very, very good. (Of course you wouldn't want anyone else to know about it.)
Michael rounding a corner on the Dragon. Photo by Killboy.com
Stig always upright and proper. Photo by Killboy.com
By the time we got done with the "Dragon," daylight was dwindling. Someone had mentioned the Cherohala Skyway, and how we shouldn't miss it. So off we went.
Temperatures starting dropping, sunlight was fading, and we needed to make time. After five minutes on the Cherohala Skyway, it became apparent that not a lot of vehicles were about. We flipped the heated grips on and sped onwards.
Not sure who surveyed the Blue Ridge or the Cherohala Skyway, but they created some incredibly precise curves. After 15 miles on the Cherohala, I noticed my speeds were creeping steadily upward. After 30 miles, it was time to slow down a little bit. (Right) Incredible scenery flew by but we were in the groove and never even stopped for one photo opportunity.
After 55 miles our fun came to an end, and we pushed onward to Knoxville.
Well, all good things must come to an end.
The Longest Day
Today we had a 600 mile pull from Knoxville back to Michigan. No sleeping in! This would be the "Stigs" biggest single day pull of his life. (n00b!)
It was a rather chilly 39° as we pulled out at 8 a.m. "Stig" had wondered about putting on his heated vest, but after five miles he had it amping away under his 'stich.
Ten miles from the hotel it started to rain. And it rained. And it rained. And it rained. All through Tennessee. All through Kentucky. All through Ohio.
Thankfully it warmed up to 40°.
This is where having the right gear makes all the difference. My Aerostich triple digit rain gloves kept the rain out and the heat in. "Stig's" one-piece Roadcrafter suit was flawless, as was my BMW Rally jacket. What could have been a miserable day in the saddle was a "so what."
Once we hit the Michigan border, the heavens opened up and sunlight streamed through. It's amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do to lift your spirits.
Just north of Ann Arbor the big GS stumbled. The trip meter read 171. I should have at least 10 more miles in her. Another stumble and I knew she was dry. The big girl was all over the map during this trip. One tank went over 220 miles. But we had been pushing hard into an oncoming wind.
The "Stig" pulled up behind. He just shook his head as I explained the situation.
You have to remember something about the "Stig." He is precise. He would have calculated the amount of head wind, our speed, gravitational pull, the curvature of the earth, the rotation of the globe, and would have figured out that we should have pulled over 9.89 miles ago.
"Stig" keeps track of every single drop of gas that goes into his bike. For all 20+ bikes in his fleet. It's his racing background. Very embarrassing to run out of gas on the track.
I would have felt stupid if it wasn't for the Jesses. Ahh, the Jesses. Those aluminum boxes are big enough to hold a kitchen sink. Or just a quart of gas.
A minute later we were back on the road.
An hour later we were back home.
I think the "Stig" had a good time.
But sometimes it's hard to tell.