Unplugged

[goldenchild]

Took some personal time today and went riding. Cru, our fears came true - nothing but crackwhores out there and it's UGLY.

My goal for today was simple, enjoy my ride while taking it easy, yes Tommy, taking it EASY. No hanging off, no dragging knees, nothing above 5k rpm, no radar detector, no gps, no route, no plan, no pack of riders behind me chasing me down. All I had was my nano filled with 8gigs, my tiny point & shoot, and a book.


Tun was sad to see me go






O'keefe



Traffic was so heavy leaving the crib that I was able to snap off some pics...

The view from the BQE at Brooklyn Heights. It still looks wrong w/o those towers. I suppose it always will.









I have a feeling it's gonna be a bad winter this year. The leaves a starting to turn already.



Definitely NOT the Smokies















One of my many favorite corners. It's bumpy, the pavement is in bad shape, there's usually gravel, it's 90°, and it's very easy to fixate.
The approach. Right about here you'd be hard on the brakes hoping there's no gravel today.



Standing in the apex looking left



Standing in the apex looking right you'll see the next 90° turn



My ass hurts from being so stationary on the bike today, but it was nice not to be leading a group for a change. All told I did a bit under 400 miles and I got home at 8pm. This is including some of the meandering, hiking, reading, napping, and brunching that I did. 

[Cru Jones]

Nice pics & I'm glad you enjoyed your day off.  Sad to hear about the crack-whores though. 
With that said, I'm still excited to be back on the bike.  [moto]

[Grrrly]

I love that corner near Claryville for photos.

[tommys67]

E - I think you just discovered what riding is going to mean to you on a regular basis. 

Will explain more later.

[goldenchild]

I love that corner near Claryville for photos.

Yeah, like i said, I love that corner too but for different reasons. Yesterday was the first time I stopped to "smell the roses" and it was a different sort of enjoyment than normal. It was the first time I ever stopped in that corner (or any corner for that matter) and what struck me most was how "BIG" it seemed. Usually when we're riding and we're approaching that corner all my focus is on my braking point, my rpms, and the corner's apex, as such, the road always seems very small and very tight.
Standing there yesterday it all seemed huge and "life sized", like I've been looking at that corner as if it were a scale model or something. This is probably why racers walk the track before riding it. It stands to reason that pretty much every road I ride and every corner I take has it's own natural beauty and I end up missing it cause my brain's too busy dissecting the apex, the camber, so on and so on... it's a shame in some ways. When people ask me where I've ridden and what have I seen there, all I can really say is - "yeah, this turn was downhill and off camber with decreasing radius, this other turn was a double apex left hander, the 2nd part is off camber... blah blah blah". Again, in some ways that's a shame.

As far as photos go, I agree it's a great spot to stop and takes some pics... of all the hundreds of times I've been down that road, I never noticed that little waterfall in the corner -


Oh and Cru, plans might have to change for Sunday... noaa's saying 60% chance of rain and t-storms.

[Cru Jones]

Oh and Cru, plans might have to change for Sunday... noaa's saying 60% chance of rain and t-storms.

Yeah, I had a feeling the rain may get worse. We could always work out some other US event...go karts & Walmart or a movie maybe?

[Got Duc]

GC:

Sounds like a cool ride.

Sweet pics too!

[spike spiegel]

beautiful pics. "life  moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and..." well, you all know the rest.

[That Nice Guy Beck!]

for some reason the pink chair picture is creepy

[GLantern]

Thats good GC sometimes you gotta slow down.  When i ride i try to sometimes lay off on the straights and look to the sides to see what is around me.  really helps you to appreciate everything more.

[CDawg]

I love that corner near Claryville for photos.

Eric,
Did you get a chance to check out the route I sent you on Red Hill loop?  It's oly about a mile from Claryville.