Motorcycles and puppets!

[Big IV]

It was a nice Saturday. Went North on 321 from Lincolnton to Boone to visit with my brother. He had a little time that morning and we ate lunch together. I finally was able to meet his girlfriend. The day was threatening rain.  I was able to get up to Boone in just a thick hazy fog and not in rain.

From Boone I took 421 to 194 North a few miles up to Todd. 194 was a fun ride. A nice leisurely mountain ride.

Todd is a small town, two buildings, a church, and a few farms by a river. The main street is called Railroad Gauge Rd, which is a paved road in the foot print of the railroad tracks. Narrow.

I was able to watch "Strings Attached" by Madison J Cripps, "Animalia" by Hobey Ford, and some shorts by Keith Shubert.  So I was able to watch marionettes, rod, and hand puppets. It was  a nice family oriented set of puppet shows. Funny jokes. Nice hand made puppets on display.

It was a nice ride up. It looked like rain all day. But I was able to sit around watching puppets in the dry. Nice day.

[Big IV]

I started the ride report this morning before coming to work. Quick and basic.
Here  is the rest of the story (while waiting around here at work).

Lunch with my brother and his girlfriend was good in Boone. The kitchen was running a little slow, the waitress made apologies, the food was good, but it did put me going to Todd a little later than planned.

I passed a Boone gas station after lunch about the same time I flipped to reserve but didn't slow down to fill it up. I figured I'd fill the bike up in Todd after the puppetery event.

So I floated into Todd, parked in a church parking lot, and walked back up to the old general store and bank that is now the Elkland Community Center/Bakery/Real Estate Office/General Store/a myriad of other things under one roof.

So I watched the mist thicken into rain and then turn back into fog out the window as I watched the puppetry.  It was a nice day to be inside watching puppets.  By the time that the last puppet show had concluded I was still sitting on reserve. I walked out to the bike, still not worried about  my gas. The church was having a wedding outside by the river under a tent. I sat on the bike listening to the chamber music and watching the guests for a moment.  Fun.

The road into Todd was the old rail line, so it was just barely wider than a lane. I hadn't seen a one way sign, but figured it looked like it should be. All the folks leaving the puppet  show were heading the same direction, so I went that way too. I figured around a bend or two the road would cross 194 again and I'd head back 11 or 12 miles to Boone and fill up with gas. It was apparent that Todd wasn't big enough to have a gas pump around.

So I took off.  The road had an odd camber to it, so I was riding toward the flat center when I realized that it was not a one way road. An approaching car came around the  blind curve and caught me by suprise, luckily I had enough time to throw it to the edge of the road. I nearly spilled onto the shoulder but somehow kept the bike up and going. I rode closer  to the broken edge of the damp road after that. I met a few more cars heading against me. The road was tight, but luckily they were all small vehicles and we could share.

It took a few miles for me to come to the realization that I was not quickly going to double back to 194 and head back to Boone because the road wasn't going that way quickly.

I was in the middle of valley and farm, and other than meting a few oncoming cars seemed completely alone. That is when I remembered the text message I had tried to send to my wife failing. I was completely alone, in a cell dead zone, and on reserve on a road which I would be hard pressed to tell you wwhere exactly I was.  Fun.

I tried to enjoy the ride. I waved at a cow by the fence. BUt I kept thinking about running out of gas in the cool damp rain. It was a cool 69 degrees or so.

I did find a sign that said 194 this way, right above a sign that said, road closed.  Nice. This kept getting better and better.

I missed looking at the lovely scenery because of becoming increasingly concerned about being stranded. I passed a few partially paved roads that I thought might head back to 194, but I wasn't sure and decided to stick with th road I was on.

I did eventually get back to 194 at the top of the  mountain. Elk Ridge or some place like that. I was showing about 150 miles on the tripometer. I was back on a highway, but not a road I would call a main road. I haded south, around some pretty bends. It is a road I will revisit sometime when I can appreicate it for its own beauty and not be bothered by how far from a gas station it runs.

I did finally make it back to Boone and to a Hess station at 170 some odd miles on the tripometer. I had found the bottom of the tank, but I had made it.  I filled up with gas and was releaved to be able to do so.

[Big IV]

At the Hess station in Boone with a full tank of gas I grabbed a drink and sent the text message to my wife from earlier that said I was in Todd safely. It went. So I called and told her that I was then leaving Boone. She was just about then leaving Hillsville, VA heading home as well.

We would be home roughly around the same time and could grab a late supper. Cool.  I told her I'd be home in about 2 hours (weather permitting). It was stilllooking like rain and I didn't feel like rushing it if the weather turned sour.

I had 2 choices. South on 321 and double back the way I came, the way I always go, and the way that I knew. Or head down 421 South. 421 is a detour for 321 every T TH so that they can do blasting and I knew that somehow I could follow those permenant orange signs and hit 321 lower down below Wilkesboro.  That seemed like enough of a plan.

So I tried to different path. I headed south on 421 with a vauge idea of where I was going, how I was getting home, and a full tank of gas.


The weather was still overcast with a little cloud spit. My jeans never really became damp on the thights so I could wipe off a hand and then wipe off my glasses. It wasn't to bad. Riding in the cloud spit I realized that a lot of detours use 421 and it seemed like every other orange sign was a new detour for some closed road somewhere. Following the 321 signs became more of a challenge than I expected. But I kept going. As I crossed under the parkway I had slowed down in the right lane with a limited visibility. But then the skies cleared and the rain slowed and I could see to move at a normal speed again. I kept going.

At some point about Wilkesboro I realized the roads weren't vvery damp and that visibility was good on the four lane road and decided to speed up some.

Somewhere between the rain and the speeding up some I missed the turn to cut back across to 321. Oh well. I was about ot ask someone where I was when I realized it was all looking familiar. 421 runs togetehr with Hwy 16 (which runs past the house more or less) and I had been on this part of the road before. So I figured I could take that home.

I was sitting on the white stop line at a light when the car next to me rolled down his window. He liked the bike. He said it was pretty. He asked if it was a 6 cylinder. I told him a few things about it, then he said, "I bet it is fast."  The light turned green on dry pavement and my bike spirited itself away. I hit the next few greens and covered ground fairly quickly. After a day of safe moderate riding, I don't know what came over me. But away I went.

A series of red lights and turns in the road did eventually slow me down.

The weather held. I hit some traffic, but made it home safely. I was even beginning to dry out. My wife (who had ate a straight shot of interstate the whole way) was only home about 20 minutes before me. I couldn't have tried to plan it that well.

So that was my Saturday. I haven't rideen in a while just for fun and just because, and it did feel nice to be riding and know that I wasn't heading to work.

Back to the Monday morning commute today. Back to the grind. My break is about over, so back to work!