Memorial day ride Exploration!! May 25-26 2013

I found a photo of a great view and wanted to go there. So I tracked down where it was and went to find out how and what was there. The destination was Lake Jocasse in SC. The road was called Horse Pasture Road. Not knowing what to expect I loaded up the bike and headed out. 

Getting down there I took a nice detour on Highway 11 scenic bypass route in SC. Gorgeous road for any who want to go. After stopping for Ice Cream at Aunt Sues Country Store and then another stop for a wine tasting. I decided to get back to exploring and find my camp site. One I found the road it looked easy. There were hikers parked along the road and it seemed like a normal road. After a few more miles in the road got harder and harder. Then came the tricky part. According the map I was 2 miles from the camp site I marked on the map and I came across trees blocking my path. With my new hatchet only 8 inches long I started whacking away. I took the bike over, under and literally through the trees just to get to the site. My guess is the road was a maintained road but at this time has not been maintained since the last storm. After a while I finally make it to the camp ground where I set up camp and just sat back and relaxed. And enjoyed watching the Game Warden pull over every boat on the water. 

Sunday I woke up at 6 am and slept OK in the hammock. It got very windy and the temperature dropped fairly quick.  I thought getting out would have been easy thinking I already cleared away most of the trees but it took me twice as long to get back to the main road then it did to get in. From the morning dew on the trees I slid around more on the wood. To be fair I got a good solid test on the skid plate. One one tree because the bike was to tall I actually had to lay the bike on it's side and slide it under one tree. Did I mention it was a 600 lbs plus bike. It got to the point I had to strip the bike of all extra weight and remove the mirrors just to get by. After making my way 13 miles back to the main paved roads I slowly made my way back to Raleigh. Zipping up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville and detouring my way home. 

More photos can be found on my Facebook page

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Here's some photos 

I found the flower fields 

Cool random Bridge in SC

View From Horse Pasture Road

Had to cut my way and go over this tree. 

First tree of 5 that were in my way. 

Had to lay the bike on it's side to get under this tree. 

Tree number 3

My campsite View

Base Camp

Ice cream at Aunt Sues Country Store off HWY 11

Got me some wine to try. 

blue dot is where I camped. 13 miles of back gravel and dirt roads windy with amazing views as you go through the mountains over looking the lake. 

Ricks Rendezvous May 15-19 2013 in Hampton TN.

This years Annual ADV Rally was held in Hampton TN at the Black Bear Resort. Sadly for me I had to work that Thursday but I had Friday off to head up and to enjoy the weekend. With the bike loaded up Wednesday night. Thursday as soon as I got off work I hit the road. After a 3 hour ride I come into Boone NC just east of base camp. quick bite to eat and I'm gone. About 45 minutes later I rolled into camp.  According to the GPS I coming in on the main road. After a nice smooth ride down a paved road I hit gravel. At first it wasn't to bad.  About 13 miles of gravel and dirt later. (Did I mention the bike was loaded up.) I found out I came in the back way and there was a much easier way into camp.  Maybe I should have paid more attention to the direction on the website. It said there was a nice paved road coming into camp from the other side of the mountain but no I had to take the back road. Damn GPS. But it was a good practice. The bike did a great job and well it just made me look more bad ass coming in on the dirt road loaded up.

Friday-
Friday morning I wake up at 6:30 am. Why I dunno I wanted to sleep but I'm used to getting up early for work and my mind just decided to wake up whether my body decided to follow or not. After a good morning breakfast. I joined the Big Bike road Ride. for today. We did a crap load of twists and turns, up down left rights and literally all around. One road we took was called The Snake. by the end of Friday I have gained a whole new level of respect for my large bike and how well it handled on the tight corners. Scrapping pegs and all the GSA took it like a champ and rolled through all the corners beautifully. Running the K60 scout dual sport tires 50/50 tread. I was hesitant on how well they would do. But I'll be honest these tires have performed beautifully no matter what I've thrown at them. Next set I may get them again.

Saturday-
Today was the Bike Bike off road ride. Now what I mean by Big bike. I'm referring to big bikes 650cc or bigger. All the little dirt bikes went on their rides where my bike is just to big and or to heavy. For the Big Bike off road ride our leader had a preset route we were going to try. But due to the weather rolling in and all the rain the group made some changes to the course. After a short delay we hit the road and road for about 6-7 hours of mostly gravel and dirt roads. One second we are in TN and then out of no where we pop out into another small town in VA. make a few random turns that almost look like driveways or dead end streets and boom we're in NC. One one trail we were on it for about an hour and we stop and gather at a nice over look of the mountains. We are all sitting there and chatting about how adventurous we are and how much fun we are all having. Then out of no where a Buick driven by an old man and his wife in the passenger seat just drives on by us. As you pry assume we all didn't feel so adventurous anymore. But we were still having a good time. After a few more hours of riding and my GPS loosing us in some of the hills and valleys we finally made it home with no casualties just in time for beer o'clock.

Sunday was an easy day. everyone started packing up and slowly headed back to the real world. To make the weekend last a little longer we took a dirt road called old hwy 105 south for about 18 miles. It entailed very steep inclines and descents  fog was thick but made the road that much more challenging. Once we hit pavement we took a few more detours and stopped at Childress Vineyards for lunch. Not to exciting but the food was hot and very good.


More Photos can be found on my Facebook Page
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Here some pictures.

Headed to Basecamp Thurday

Headed into Basecamp

Friday ride gathering for a day of twisties

Just finished the snake and didn't even know it.

Maggie Valley

Some kid having a blast on his GSA

That's the trail head we were going to take. 

Do you see it???

Some back roads. 

Yes that is a ninja 250 with knobbies on it ridden by a female.

Saken falling a sleep at 8pm. 

Lovely couple from OHIO. With matching his and hers GSA's

Over view of Base Camp

Gathering up for a day of dirt rides. 

Group two. for those riding 2 up

me. If only you could see my smile. 

another group headed out

Some really fun cool road. 

More country roads 

Sunday Headed home. I told you it was foggy

Thats a cliff going straight down the mountain. 

More fog Sunday Morning.. 

That little light is Saken on his Triumph Explorer. 

Update on the BILT Explorer Helmet.

So awhile back I purchased the new BILT Explorer Helmet from Cycle Gear. At first it was great. It fit very well didn't seem to heavy and at highway speeds the visor didn't seem to be in the way unless I turned my head at an angle into the wind. So here I am a few months later and I'm on Helmet number 3. Lucky number 3. So here is what I've experienced. On my first helmet the chin strap started to come apart. the fabric was just falling apart literally.  Not sure why. It was the show model on the shelve so that could be it. So I took it back and got a new one fresh out of the Box. Helmet 2. Color flat black I had this for a few months. All seemed well didn't have any issues for a while. But after awhile my helmet started needing more maintenance than my bike. The screws that hold the visor to the helmet were all loose. Had to super glue the screws in place to keep from coming apart. Just getting them tight wasn't enough they kept working loose. There are two on the back of the helmet an three up front on the main visor part. The three on the main visor hold down a end visor piece that seemed more as a looks function because it could have been easily built in to make a one piece visor. After the three screws were glued I noticed an annoying vibration at highway speeds again. Felt around and the end visor piece was loose again. the screws pulled through it. YAY right. So carefully removing the piece I super glued that back on too. Super Glue seems to be a popular tool with the helmet repair. A few weeks went by and no repairs. but one day in the garage I noticed the rubber seal around bottom of the helmet was peeling off. Took a closer look. It barely had glue holding it. Just enough but not enough. So once again super glue to the rescue. Then one day I got caught in a rain storm. No biggie. but why is there water on the wrong side of the clear plastic see through visor. hmm. Got home and inspected. seems the seal was worn and water found the sweet spot. Also found on the lower side by the front beak the rubber had a small tear. Also the inside pads became very worn. I know the pads will break down over time but I've had my last helmet almost 3 years and the pads aren't nearly as worn down as these were in only a few months. So now to helmet 3. Just got in only had it a week. And guess what new colors. YAY. So I upgraded to the HI-VIZ color. Very Bright which I like.

So since Cycle gear has a 5 year warranty at this rate I'll have a new helmet every 6 months until I get one that stops falling apart. For a $200 helmet It's already paying for it self. If you ride every so often maybe to the store and back or one long trip a year. This helmet will pry never break down. But I ride all year and in all conditions. For that I just purchased the Shoei Hornet DS Hornet. No drop down internal shade which by the way I really like. So there are my thoughts.