Ride by hell..

[Blake]

So yeah...


Friday night i head up from Blacksburg, VA (south western tip of VA-at the tail) where i'm going to school at, up to Washington DC where my parents house is at.  Saturday morning i go to the DMV, get plates, then go get the bike inspected at a gas station (guy said he'd forgive me on my windshield wipers not working..this time...funny guy).  Anyway, I get home, change the oil, fill up the radiator, sync the carbs, and thats about all i have to do.  I was planning on riding the bike back down to Blacksburg sunday morning, but it got oddly hot around 2:30 saturday afternoon (was about 75 degrees or so), so i decided, "why not go now..its only 4 hours away."  so i pack up a bookbag and a gym bag with some clothes to take back, bungee net the gym bag onto the gas tank, and im off by 3:00.

Now to get from DC to Blacksburg when i take my truck, i usually take I66 as far west as it goes, where it meets with I81, which takes you straight down the VA/WV boarder all that way to Virginia Tech.  That route, with me cruising at about 75-80 in the truck takes me 3.5 hours.  If i go the speed limit, which is usually 65, it takes a little more than 4 hours.  Not wanting to ride on a MAJOR highway for 4 hours straight doing 70mph, i thought "hey, the blue ridge parkway runs directly alongside 81 the entire way, i heard its a nice ride, so why not?"   So at the end of I66, instead of going onto I81, i take another turn and start at the very top of the blue ridge parkway.  Mistake number one.
    I reach the parkway at about 4:00pm.  I fill up my tank, since i didnt think there would be any gas stations in the park (good decision on my behalf) and headed in.  There was a gate, 5 bucks to get in..  as i take off a glove and unzip my leathers to get to my wallet in my jacket pocket, the lady at the booth doesnt seem to thrilled to be working on a saturday at 4pm.  I pay her, she gives me a map, I put it under the bungee net and start off. (mistake number two).  Now i THOUGHT i had been on this road before, and when i was on it, i could have sworn the group i was riding with was doing 55-60.  Mistake number three.  I had never been on that road before, as i soon realized when i couldnt recognize anything.  Also, to add to mistake three, when i turn around the first curve, what do i see? "speedlimit 35"..AH CRAP!.  at that speed i dont even have to lean into the turns.  this sucks.  OH well.  i'll just cruise around 40-45 where i can at least start to feel the bike learn.  Mind you, i have a big gym bag attached to the tank that im leaning over, and a bookbag on.  Not too fun for leaning into the curves.  Anyway, I'm riding for a half hour, and then start to wonder.. when is this thing going to have an exit..so i can get back on a major road.  Because if i was going to be going 35 for 200+ miles...it would be easily 10+ hours..and it was already 4pm..definately not an option.  I continue riding for another halfhour, then finally whip out the map.  The first exit was 35miles from the entrance.  but it didnt lead to anything.  so i couldnt get off there.  the next one after that was about 40+ miles...the sun was starting to set, and it was starting to get cold in those mountains. but i kept going
     I keep riding, cruising at 40, not trying to break the law too much.  then as im going down a hill behind a car that's obviously pulling away from me and going faster than i am, you know how you just let off the gas and it strolls along, you speed up a few mph, well thats what i was doing.  Well, around a corner comes a park police officer in a SUV, i look at my speed, im MAYBE doing 42..  then just as im about to pass him, he turns on his lights, and does a turn to follow me.  He pulls me over, asks me why i was pulled over if i knew what the speed limit was, i said "yes, i was going a little too fast down that hill..the speed limit is 35."  then he asks me "do you have a motorcycle endorsement?"  about 5 times!  In virginia its on your regular license under endorsements, there's a big "M" for motorcycle.  and i point this out to him.. However, he states "You sure?  Do you have an endorsement?  if i find out you dont your in big trouble!"  so he walks back to his SUV, calls me in, then i hear him say "Can you check if he has a motorcycle endorsement?"  once hes done talking i see him writing something out.  great...a ticket..  a few minutes later he walks back with a piece of paper, tells me "this is a written warning.  We have you on file now, if you get pulled over for speeding again, we'll fine you.  This will be on our record for 5 years.  After a few more words he leaves, i whip out the map and look for the nearest exit.  about 20miles south of me. almost another hour.  By this time its around 5:30 or so, and starting to REALLY cool down.  i get back on, keep going, although this time i keep it under 40.  Then comes "The incident."
    All along this road, there's lots of deer.  i had passed a few stopped cars who were looking at them.  nothing bad.  No harm done.  Until im coming around this sharp turn that goes up a hill, with an outcropping of rocks completely blocking any view further than whats directly infront of you.  As i get to the apex of the turn, what do i see?  some stupid car parked flat in the middle of the lane, no flashers or anything on, on a blind curve, taking a picture of a deer at the side of the road.  When i see tha car im maybe 10' from him, i slam on the brakes, and move into the little space between the car and deer on the right, and luckily avoid a collision.  I lay on the horn, the deer runs off, the passenger in the car starts yelling, we pass a few words, and i keep going.
    About 10 minutes down there road, i notice more and more deer.  As i pass them, i slow down a little, since they seem to like to run across at the worst of moments.  Except for this one that ran across at the WORST possible moment. I see this big deer, nice a meaty, on the right side.  He's looking right at me, i slow down, but he doesnt seem to care, so when im about 10 feet from him, i let off the brake and im going about 20mph.  Right after that the deer jumps out about 5 feet infront of me, i slam on the brakes again, and luckily only clip his rear end with my left handle bar.  I see him run off obviously shaken but not hurt.  I check the bike, all seems fine so i continue.  I keep riding for another hour, and finally get off the parkway at 7pm.
 (continued)

[Blake]

   (continuation from first post

     At that time i immediate head back for 81 to make up for lost time.  What a bad mistake, but there was not much else i could do.  Once i get on 81, i notice theres HUGE gusts of wind coming from the west (coming down the mountains) that literally almost blow me off the road.  I stop after a few minutes to take a breather. then get back on, still the same thing.  So i try leaning down on the gym bag on the tank, that seems to help, but its still difficult to stay on the road.  So I continue riding like this for another 3 hours.  After about 2 hours of that, i got it down to an art.  Taking left turns was a MAJOR pucker situation..  your leaning left, then a big gust comes in from the right, trys to blow you over, so you lean to the right, while turning left, and as you turn right, you can feel your traction start to go.  REALLY wakes you up.  The worst was passing Semi's.  As your coming up on them you getting blown you your left (so your leaning right), then once you get along side of them, you pretty much are getting sucked into them so you have to lean hard to the left so you dont.  Then as get right by the front of them, the wind comes back, so you have to quickly lean to the right again.  And oddly enough, about 10 feet infront of them, every time, a HUGE gust of wind from the right came which was even harder to counter lean against.  I attributed this to the hole in the air they were punching that was pushing air to each side.  

So needless to say, i rode the Vision for 7 hours straight, on a trip that i can make in 4 hours in a car.  I got to school at 10pm, took all my stuff off, and then slept..for 13 straight hours. I didnt wake up until 11 this morning.  I've never felt that tired before.  Guess hanging on for your life will do that to you.  All i can say now is that i'm DEFINATELY not riding the vision back up when school ends in a month.  Someones either going to have to bring their truck, or ill rent a u-haul, but i definately dont want to go through that again.  what a day.. what a day..


Blake...

[Lucky]

The deer shit on the left grip couldn't have been much fun either!! :D :D

Sorry, I couldn't resist... :)

[George R. Young]

Sounds like the Skyline Drive, not the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both are fun to ride if you're not in a rush to get anywhere.

[Tim B.]

Glad you made it out unscathed. My buddy had a different outcome on his Maxim. He was coming home from studying late one night, turns onto his street and WHAM! A deer blind-sided him and knocked him right off his bike! He tumbled a bit and landed on his rear in time to see his Maxim continue down the road without him.
He walked away with a few scrapes and a sprained ankle.
Night riding can really be scary. :o

[blurred_vision]

Hey Blake,  I know what it's like with the wind, I rode through Wyoming on my ninja years ago and had the wind gusts blasting me from the left.I was leaned over to the left to keep from being blown off the road and then it would shift to the right in an instant and back again, while passing trucks! It  beat the hell out of me. I ended up stoppping at the nearest motel.   >:(   And regards to the deer, I'm glad you got by with just a scare. I was not as lucky this year. I killed 2 deer with the same truck in within a month apart, replaced grill headlight and turnsignals and leaving the bent bumper for the next one! I nicknamed my truck : The dearslayer,   and I'm putting check marks on the air deflector for eack kill!