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Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: Ralph; be on the lookout
Jarhead buddy of mine is headed to your state and he's bringing his motorcycle with him. He and his wife and grandson are invading the Myrtle Beach area. The property values around various golf courses are sure to go down; the BS meter is sure to go up and if you see anything published in the papers about me causing your weather to turn to crap well it's just not true; he's bringing the Michigan cold weather with him; I'm innocent.
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
 No worries, Doc, this next week is Spring break for most and too the past week also. Easter time brings in a lot of people from "a far" or "off". We even tolerate the crazy Canadians that decide to roost here for a few days rather than truck all the way down to "Cuba II". We'll take their money, grin and wave by to them when they leave, then grin all the way to the bank.
We've got Camp Lejune to the North of us and Parris Island to the South so it's not far to send them when a "jarhead" needs an attitude adjustment. We have a new, rather large Brig here locally also. Come on down and see us. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
Riding back from Vermont on Friday, I noticed a whole bunch of Mororcycle riders sporting Military Veteran's Rockers on their jackets. All looked old enough to have served with me, so as much as I could I looked for a name tag of Doc, or Don. Didn't spot either. They did have fun that night in the mountains with 45 MPH gusts. Even the big rigs were having some problems. Believe they shut down for the night before they hit Fancy Gap. Those cross wind signs weren't fooling around that night. |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
Walt, I saw the wind do some really strange things on Fancy Gap when I was with Yellow Freight out of Charlotte. The fog on that section of road is a real killer too. I've driven all over this great country of ours in all kinds of weather, but, Fancy Gap in the wind or fog always did concern me big time, not to mention snow also.
Edited by Ralph Luther 2009-04-04 6:59 PM
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: Got some "wind riding" yesterday
Temps here got up to 50F but the wind was blowing a steady 20-25 MPH with gust over 30 MPH. I was able to get in some highway riding yesterday and get some practice for those winds. Bike was rock steady into the the wind and I only got surprised once with a gust that moved me half a lane. I'm enjoying this new toy.
Calling for snow tomorrow so I guess I'll have to keep it in the garage and wax it again
I'll have to look up Fancy Gap on the map and see if it's on the way to Bay's house.
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Old Salt
Posts: 359
Location: Saco, Maine | Subject: RE: Got some "wind riding" yesterday
Fancy Crap is to be found south of the New Hampster border in Massatwos**ts. |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Got some "wind riding" yesterday
Where that might be near, John? Can't recall seeing a sign there. The Berkshire Mtns. are worth picture taking. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1796
Location: Albany, GA. | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
Fancy Gap is the crossover from North Carolina to Virginia on I-77. Beautiful views on a good day. Pure heck on a bad one. Down hill side has five run away truck ramps to give you an idea of how steep and long it is. Seen several folks panic stop on the uphill side. They don't like the drop off. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1405
Location: Houston, TX (Best state in the US) | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I77_VA_Fancy_Gap_Photos.html |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: How about Deal's Gap?
It's on the Tennessee North Carolina border and supposed to have 318 curves in 11 miles. Some kind of a biker heaven during the good weather days.
I hope I live long enough to visit some of these scenic places that have escaped me so far.
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
Thanks, Dave, for the picture post. It would have been great if he had taken a picture or two of the distance views. On a clear day you can see hundreds of miles of NC to the East. On one of those truck escape ramps there was a Schnieder truck that used one. He went all the way to the end of the escape ramp and off into the trees atruck length and a half and then turned over. Needless to say, he didn't survive. Estimated speed was 100mph+ when he entered the ramp.
Doc, you can see those places. All you've got to do is do it. Yeah, I know, easier said than done. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 359
Location: Saco, Maine | Subject: Docs visit list...
Number One on Docs Visit List...
http://thegoldenbanana.com/index1.html |
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Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
There was a road I drove on back in the early 80's in Colorado, outside Steamboat Springs I think it was, that was suppose to be the longest, straightest and steepest hill in the country. Seem to remember it was 7 miles long carved into the side of a mountain. Anyone remember this place, also? All I can remember was the damned car we had couldn't hack it and had no power. |
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Old Salt
Posts: 359
Location: Saco, Maine | Subject: Gonna try THIS one Doc?
http://www.mtwashingtonautoroad.com/ |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: Gonna try THIS one Doc?
I might try that one and this one too.
http://www.tailofthedragon.com/maps_dragon_road.html
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Gonna try THIS one Doc?
Yeah Doc, I think it best that I follow you in my Silverado with a hook, chain and a stretcher. |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
A couple years ago we were retuning from our annual pilgramige to Grayson County, VA ((home of Mt Rogers, highest point in VA) We left early on a Sunday morning, it was overcast, but not bad weather. We always take the Blue Ridge Parkway as far as we can. We got down the Parway past Galax and the fog was so thick i could literly not see the road. There were no other cars on the road, quite an erie feeling, actually I was the only one foolish enough to be driving under those conditions, but at least I didn't have to worry about running into anyone.. My wife suggested we get off the Parkway and take I-77 (that would have taken us over Fancy Gap). I told her no way, Darlin', that is the most dangerous place in the world during heavy fog. We turned on the radio and sure enough there was a huge pile-up at Fancy Gap. Well, says I, ain't you glad you married such a wise old man? The trip home took twice as long as normal. I have never seen suck thick fog in all my 66 years as that day.
Steamboat sends
Edited by steamboat 2009-04-05 5:12 PM
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Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Ralph; be on the lookout
Well, I've never seen it that thick but have seen some pretty dense fog. Worst driving, in low visibility, I've ever done was in Lubbock Texas in a sand storm. Could only see about 20 feet in front of the car for a while, every thing was red dust! Before that was the sound of the sand scouring the sides of the plane as we landed and the open air dash into the terminal from the plane. I had sand in places that were never exposed to the weather in that 100 feet! |
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Ralph; be on the lookout
