Fri. Nov 21 to Lake Lure & Saluda etc

[Bob]

Yamadog and I headed out at 0900 Friday, temps were 40'ish; took the Lake Lure Expressway to Lake Lure. We had the roads to ourselves and abused them severely. It was 55F when we arrived around 11:00. First stop was Ingles for gas and lunch. Their deli was yummy, fried chicken, squash, green beans, tater wedges.

From there we rode up White Oak Mountain. The views were easily 50 miles in all directions.

Then it was down Skyuka Rd. and up Howard Gap Rd. to Saluda; then west on Mountain Page Rd., Old US25, and looped back thru Saluda down to Columbus where we took a GPS-created "bypass" of US74 and Shelby--on the south side of 74. It merged us back into 74 just west of Kings Mtn. So, no we didn't have to go thru Shelby, which always sucks a biggun. But this time it would have been preferable. 55 miles of "proceed 1.5 miles, then turn right (or left)"--over, and over, and over--for 55 miles. Never again.

But it was a bright, sunny, WARM day!! Back home at 4:00 PM--280 miles. Yall missed a great one!

[LeeDavis]

Good to hear you guys had a nice ride. There must have been a pronounced temperature gradient south of me. It was cold here all morning and didn't break 50 until afternoon. More of the same today.

[Broz]

Glad you had a good one. My dad and I did 175 miles around Uwharrie. It's nice doing those sweepers for a change.

[Bob]

There must have been a pronounced temperature gradient south of me....

Yeah--HUGE mega-gradient. You could see the northern edge of it shimmering to our right all piled up over the South Mountains, lol.

But seriously, it actually hit 60F on the way back from Columbus. It seems to always warm up more than what's forecast.


Edit: I see its supposed to be 55F in Morganton today. GET OUT AND RIDE!! THATS AN ORDER!

[yamadog]

Thanks to Bob for a great ride. It was my first time up Oak Mtn and it is spectacular! Bob made my ride even more enjoyable by lending me his Hot Grips!! I have since ordered my first ever set of heated grips. What a difference they make in your riding enjoyment!!!

[007]

Ran my Powerlet Rapidfire heated liners on the VFR Friday. They have the added benefit of heating the part of the hand that needs it most, but the extra frustration of needing to plug in and turn them on for each mount/dismount. My need some heated grips, too, for those in between days...

[Ed]

need some heated grips, too, for those in between days...

FWIW I have several sets of these; a breeze to install, and couldn't be happier with the spread of heat ranges:

http://www.aerostich.com/bikemaster-7-8-heated-grips.html

[Brick]

I have put the $39 heated grips on at least 7 bikes now. These go under any grip and are easy to install. Be sure to avoid the ones with a resistor as that thing gets hot and is a pain to find a place to put it. The ones I get stick to your bars under your grips. The one that sticks to the throttle has less wires than the one on the clutch side so no need for the resistor.