My Inzane 14

[RainMaker]

Left Arlington at 4:45am on Friday, heading to Austin to join up with Texas Deb and ride with her to Inzane.  She had 1000 miles on her Valk Standard so I wanted to make sure she got to Asheville and not let her ride alone.  Met up in Hutto and started a trip across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and then to North Carolina.  Per her request, I plotted a trip that avoided Interstates - all back roads, state highways, etc. 

Folks, those are the roads to take.  Beautiful roads, limited traffic, time to smell the roses, etc.  Made it to Winnsboro, LA on Friday night after 10 hours riding.  Saturday, started riding at 8am and went to 8PM, stopping in Childersburg, Alabama.  Great roads.  Sunday, we loaded up and Deb hit her starter.  I heard the "CLANG" from 40 feet away over the noise of my motor.  Yup - hydrolock.  Pulled the plugs, dropped it into second and bumped the motor.  Gas shot out of cyl 6 about 10 feet - almost got someone on a sidewalk!.  Put the plugs back in and hit the starter.  Spin - no grab.  So bumped it along until the gears lined up and with a nasty clatter, the starter got the motor running.  Called and talked to Disco, who said it would be best to try and make it to Asheville.  Rode to Oxford, stopped for gas and then I went to find a place to have a 2nd key made for her bike.  Sunday morning in Oxford is not the best time to find much open.  So we resigned ourselves to doing bump starts for the rest of the day and headed on to Asheville. 

Did I mention we avoided interstates and the roads were beautiful?

Arrived in Asheville around 6:30PM  During our travels, Disco had organized a plan for how to take care of Deb's bike and it will be going to Colorado on a trailer to be repaired and she will fly home.  For now, she is having no problem finding a ride as everyone (not kidding - everyone) knows and loves her.

Les's 2014 valk with his bags and windshield is getting a tremendous amount of attention.  There are a few of the 2014s here.

Hotglue made great burgers on Sunday night and they have a really nice complementary breakfast here daily.  Monday was opening day - went on the staff luncheon ride out to the BRP and ate at 5000 feet in a nice restaurant.  Coming back, one bike had a battery go dead and Hotglue's alternator started squealing, so repairs broke out upon the return to Ground Zero.  All is good.

Opening ceremonies featured the return of Ali to DDT.  Lots of gnats in the tent as Bruce swung his leg over the seat and got into his very familiar position on Ali.  T-Man (Terry) is really humble and I don't think comfortable with all the attention he is getting, but he is just a great human being who could not have been more gracious or generous.  A great guy.

Took a few pictures - will try to do better. 

Ali after the handoff but still in the tent.  She sure is a pretty gurl



Bikes line up at Inzane Ground Zero








View from where we stopped for lunch Monday on the BRP




RainMaker

[Baron]

Mark,

Sounds like a great trip except for a few bumps in the road.  It pays to have someone like you along to help. 

Thanks for posting the pics.

[RainMaker]

Today's pictures

This is the first thing you see at the hotel registration desk



Riders heading out for the waterfall ride





brew1brew waiting to pounce on the little 1500cc valks



Clint is selling his leatherwork here.  Just some examples



Those gas cap covers should cut down the glare


I went on the ride to the Biltmore estate. This was the home of the Vanderbilts - largest single family home in the US.  250 rooms, full pipe organ, 47 bathrooms, servants quarters, bowling alley, inside pool, 12 square miles of land, etc.  The scale is beyond comprehension.  Could not take pics inside so this is the outside.  4 stories. 







They have a winery, too, so went over with TxDeb, Flamingo Babe and Hotglue to the free wine tasting room, then headed to meet the group at Biltmore Village.

Had Mexican food (came from Texas for Mexican food) at Biltmore Village with TxDeb, Hotglue and Flamingo Babe, then we headed back to Ground Zero.  More fun tonite, then we have another full day for tomorrow.

Until then

RainMaker

[john]

 

[brew1brew]

I don't know about "pouncing"  but I certainly have no problems keeping up or catching up!

[f-Stop]

Keep 'em coming Mark! 

Thanks!

[Rocketman]

This serves as a good reminder to "those left behind" of what we're missing.  Looks beautiful.  Maybe Stephanie and I will make it out there sooner rather than later.

Mark

[RobertC]

Thanks for all the great photos...

Robert C.

[Red Diamond]

Thanks for the report Mark, I knew I should have gone, even having bike problems sounds like the trip was fun.

[RainMaker]

Wednesday, spent most of the day working the Ride for Kids luncheon/charity ride.  t got a BIT off track so the 45 minute ride took 3 hours.  Got back in time to help sell 50/50 tickets and have dinner with TxDeb, TJ and Mrs. TJ at the hotel restaurant.  I took zero pictures - sorry.

Today, thought it a good idea to actually ride in the mountains, since this is motorcycle heaven.  BuzzKill and Hollyday led a ride with Larry, Disco and McKenna (Diskette), Hayhauler and BJ and TxDeb riding pilion on my bike to see waterfalls in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Here's the pictures I took - Hollyday was shooting a lot from back of their valk so will probably post a ton more.

Looking Glass Falls


Whitewater Falls


Bridal Veil Falls - we drove under them!


I don't remember the name of these falls - they were the last ones we visited and were spectacular.  You could walk behind them and the water was really flowing.


After visiting here, the rain started.  Hay, BJ, Larry and Preacher were smart and put on their rainsuits.  The rest of us, not so much.  Heavy rain in the mountains with 20 and 25 mph switchback turns.  After a few miles, Disco pulled off and put on his rainsuit, as did Diskette, BuzzKill and Hollyday.  We then drove on and after about 20 more miles, the rain slacked off and we started to dry off.

In the entire week of riding, from leaving Arlington until today, this is the first time I've ridden in the rain.  That is incredible since the entire week has had rain chances of 40-60% every day.

Leaving tomorrow for home.  It's been a great week in Asheville.

RainMaker

[TxDeb]

Thanks Mark, for so much, especially for riding up with me on my first road trip on my Valk!  And then for hauling me all around all week, I had a great time and am glad you had room on your bike for all three of us (yes, Pat was with us too!)  Each year Inzane has been my annual vacation since 2008, I can't think of a better group of folks I'd rather spend it with!  I look forward to next year and hope to be riding my own Valk then!  For all those who missed it, start planning now for next year! 

Also want to thank Misfit for the work he will be doing to get my bike back on the road again!

And thanks to all the staff for another great Inzane!!

[RainMaker]

Early Bird told me that he was riding back Friday with LynDel and MarcusS so I decided to ride in a group back to Texas.  After getting our U-Turn out of the way, we found I-26 and headed to Atlanta.

Along the way, on I-85, LynDel's trailer broke it's torsion bar and the wheels leaned in and started smoking as they rubbed against the trailer.  The left tire gave out after a while.  A guy in a truck waved her down, then waved down Ray and I.  We went to the shoulder and Ray walked back while I went up the road and turned around to get to her.  By the time I got there, a guy and gal on a Harley had stopped and were assisting.  Nice folks.  They helped us change the wheel and told us where a welding shop was nearby.  We then tried to go, but the tire started smoking immediately so pulled back onto the shoulder.  I put out a road flare about 50 feet in back of us and Phyllis started calling for a wrecker.  I looked back and noticed the flare was out. But it was also moved.  Someone had hit it on the shoulder of the road, then it got hit again.  The cars were slowing down to under 90mph as they zoomed by within 3 feet of where we stood.  So went and put out another flare.  Tow truck arrived, we got the trailer loaded and off to see what we could do.

After much discussion and phone calls, it was decided that the trailer would remain in Andersonville, South Carolina to be shipped by ABF back to Houston and we would continue our ride.   Phyllis got what she needed from the trailer, we went to Subway and then off to the races.

Well, not really.  We went to Atlanta. The Atlanta Crawlway.  Stop, start, stop, crawl, stop, start.  Rush hour in Atlanta must start around 3PM.  Anyway, after about 90 minutes to go 19 miles, we made it to I-20 and crawled some more.  When the traffic broke, we gratefully got some speed and air going, heading towards Birmingham.  After a fuel stop and discussion, it was decided to stop in Tuscaloosa, home of the Alabama Crimson Tide.  Plenty of hotel rooms when the Tide wasn't playing.   Stopped at the Best Western, went to eat a good meal at O'Charleys and then to sleep.  MarcusS and I got up at 4:00am, dressed out and hit the road by 5am.  Pretty much a boring ride back home, especially after riding the Asheville area just a couple of days before.  Arrived home at 4:20pm Saturday after another 11 hour day.

Didn't take a lot of pics, but here are a few

On the side of the road on I-85


Spare wheel leaning in on the trailer


Trailer on the wrecker in Andersonville




Loved Inzane this year.  The ride up with TxDeb was great - no interstates. The ride back - good people on roads with crazy cage drivers. Georgia is a state where you go fast or go home - drafting, passing on the right, tailgating. If you like this, Georgia interstates are your friends.

But, most importantly, home safe and back to work after 2800 miles and a nail in the front tire (it didn't lose pressure - Ride0n sealed the leak and the nail is still there!  Picked up the nail Friday morning on I-85.

Spanky is happy to be back!


Ride safe.

RainMaker

[Lyn-Del]

nice report, Mark.  Except the trailer is in Anderson, not Andersonville. 

I wonder how long I'll be saying things like "I have one of xxxx, but it's in the trailer."  Sigh.

It was a Murphy trip ... broke my speedo cable, 3W-lonerider replaced it.  Then my choke cable snapped.  3W-lonerider was able to rig it so I could use it if needed (but I got good at starting her cold without it).  Then my GPS (Zumo 550) spit buttons at me, so I ordered a new Zumo 590 to be delivered to the hotel by Tuesday.  It finally arrived on Thursay.  Chrise2469 wired it for me, and all was good.  Till the trailer incident.

Made it home around 1, haven't unloaded bike yet.  Took off before 4 to watch a friend's kids ride in a youth rodeo.  Tomorrow I pick dogs up from kennel, then I can unload the bike.

Already looking forward to next year -- and hoping it'll be in June again instead of late July!