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Cotton Fields & Pecan Groves
It has been quite some time since I posted on here! I went on a fantastic ride yesterday through Southern Georgia - perfect weather, a little cold (mid 50's) but otherwise PERFECT! I'd like to provide a better ride report and I wish I had pictures (I was having trouble getting out the door yesterday morning, so I didn't search too long for the camera...wish I had since I went through so many beautiful parts of North Florida and Southern Georgia...rolling hills, cotton fields and pecan groves in GA - crossing the Suwannee River on highway 90 at sunset was definitely a highlight. It doesn't get anymore "Florida" than that! Riding along the Spanish Moss tree-lined back roads along the border of the Okefenokee Swamp was also really nice. Although I wasn't on my GS1100GK (my last remaining 80's GS) I thought I'd share with you all! Below is an email I sent my Dad this morning - it includes my route:
I'm a little sore today! (no Corbin or highway pegs on the VX!)
I did some tinkering on the VX Saturday evening - found that one of the exhaust nuts was loose - that's why the engine was running a bit off...and I also found where the carb to carb cable was sticking a little which messed up the synch. A little more clutch lever adjustment, a bunch of air in the front & back tires and she was good to go!
I woke up early Sunday morning to take the test ride (my lofty goal was to get on the road at 5am - yeah right!!) so, I was a little behind schedule right off the bat since I woke up at my usual 6:30am! Theresa was making waffles, but needed milk for the batter. So off to the store to get milk - got some milk, then notice she's about to run out of gas - got some gas. back home to get my gear together, can't find my overpants (haven't NEEDED 'em down here, but it's been chilly!) 15 minutes later found the pants. I went for a quick ride last Thursday night and was sweating to death since I just reinstalled my liner in my Cortech jacket, so I decided I better take that out before leaving - took the liner out (realized later, that was a mistake!), it may be cold, and I've got the saddle bags, so I got all my gloves (warm weather gloves since I was thinking of the sweltering Thursday night ride, medium and cold weather just in case - glad I brought those!) - yeesh, am I ready yet??? no, Ardin and his friend Nicky need their temporary tattoos put on, so let them fight over which ones, then put those on. ok, almost ready...wipe down the helmet visor, fold the maps to fit the tank bag...and I'm off! (it's now 8am) ok, so a few hours behind schedule, no big deal! go fill up at the BP a mile down the road, set the trip meter and I'm OFF! I was testing the bike out since she hasn't been on the road in a few weeks so I wanted to make sure she would be ok on a high milage trip. This ought to do it:
whew! 503 miles on the trip meter and it's 7pm as I roll back into my driveway - the VX performed flawlessly, as usual! I tried to mark that map to the best of my memory, but I must have missed 40 or so miles according to my odometer and the milage Google listed. Note that only about 50 miles of that 500 was on the super slab - ALL backroads! I was so nice! Once you're north of Valdosta, the Spanish Moss trees give way to cotton fields and pecan groves...and HILLS, rolling hills - forgot about those! that and the lingering fall colors made for such a scenic ride. The overall general goal of the ride was three fold:
1) RIDE!
2) test out the VX to make sure she's in good shape for a nice ride (or 2, or 3!) when you're here
3) plot out my back roads route to Talladega (this ride really showed that what I was planning won't work!)
Did you know that Cairo, GA was the birthplace of Jackie Robinson? Well, it is! It was a great ride, just thought I'd share! I found that some of my ideas for the route to Talladega just won't work, so I'm getting closer to the perfect backroads route up there!
So what do you think for a ride when you're down here? Coastal or Inland? North or South? I'm really enjoying the variety around here!
-Rhett
I'm a little sore today! (no Corbin or highway pegs on the VX!)
I did some tinkering on the VX Saturday evening - found that one of the exhaust nuts was loose - that's why the engine was running a bit off...and I also found where the carb to carb cable was sticking a little which messed up the synch. A little more clutch lever adjustment, a bunch of air in the front & back tires and she was good to go!
I woke up early Sunday morning to take the test ride (my lofty goal was to get on the road at 5am - yeah right!!) so, I was a little behind schedule right off the bat since I woke up at my usual 6:30am! Theresa was making waffles, but needed milk for the batter. So off to the store to get milk - got some milk, then notice she's about to run out of gas - got some gas. back home to get my gear together, can't find my overpants (haven't NEEDED 'em down here, but it's been chilly!) 15 minutes later found the pants. I went for a quick ride last Thursday night and was sweating to death since I just reinstalled my liner in my Cortech jacket, so I decided I better take that out before leaving - took the liner out (realized later, that was a mistake!), it may be cold, and I've got the saddle bags, so I got all my gloves (warm weather gloves since I was thinking of the sweltering Thursday night ride, medium and cold weather just in case - glad I brought those!) - yeesh, am I ready yet??? no, Ardin and his friend Nicky need their temporary tattoos put on, so let them fight over which ones, then put those on. ok, almost ready...wipe down the helmet visor, fold the maps to fit the tank bag...and I'm off! (it's now 8am) ok, so a few hours behind schedule, no big deal! go fill up at the BP a mile down the road, set the trip meter and I'm OFF! I was testing the bike out since she hasn't been on the road in a few weeks so I wanted to make sure she would be ok on a high milage trip. This ought to do it:
whew! 503 miles on the trip meter and it's 7pm as I roll back into my driveway - the VX performed flawlessly, as usual! I tried to mark that map to the best of my memory, but I must have missed 40 or so miles according to my odometer and the milage Google listed. Note that only about 50 miles of that 500 was on the super slab - ALL backroads! I was so nice! Once you're north of Valdosta, the Spanish Moss trees give way to cotton fields and pecan groves...and HILLS, rolling hills - forgot about those! that and the lingering fall colors made for such a scenic ride. The overall general goal of the ride was three fold:
1) RIDE!
2) test out the VX to make sure she's in good shape for a nice ride (or 2, or 3!) when you're here
3) plot out my back roads route to Talladega (this ride really showed that what I was planning won't work!)
Did you know that Cairo, GA was the birthplace of Jackie Robinson? Well, it is! It was a great ride, just thought I'd share! I found that some of my ideas for the route to Talladega just won't work, so I'm getting closer to the perfect backroads route up there!
So what do you think for a ride when you're down here? Coastal or Inland? North or South? I'm really enjoying the variety around here!
-Rhett