Wannabe's Fuel to Fun Run

Wannabe

Wannabe

Well-Known Member
jeffersoniansobs.org
Almost every year since I started riding, which hasn't been that long, my father and I take at least one ride/vacation together. This is my first extended trip on the FZ1. Last year, I rode my father's '85 V65. Past trips have included trips from the Northeast to Texas and Key West. This year we decided to just loop around the Southeast with a few planned day stops.

I love these rides. Right now I am sitting in a bar in Maggie Valley sitting next to a dejected Cubs fan while my Phillies are out to an early lead. I arrived here via Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, Beaufort, and North Augusta.

Any day not behind a desk is a good one in my book, but today has been the highlight of the trip so far. We left my cousins house in North Augusta, SC and beaded up towards Maggie Valley. We took 178 through the mountains and the bike felt just dialed in. I am no Rossi, but some new suspension settings and a new pair of Angels helped me stick some nice curves.

Tomorrow we head to the Wheels through Time museum here in Maggie Valley.

Here is a sample of today's ride.
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My little cousin, the next Stig.
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Beaufort, SC waterfront
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Beaufort, SC again
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Beaufort, SC B&B
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The cool dude who ran the SkyWheel in Myrtle Beach
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Is this proper beach attire?
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The FZ1 is a very efficient bug killer.
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Nice pictures, thanks for posting them. I like to see all the places that I hope to get to once I'm allowed to retire lol! For now enjoy the trip for me as well.:cheers:
 
It wouldn't be a trip with my dad if some important bit of planning wasn't overlooked.

Our last planned stop on our itinerary was the http://wheelsthroughtime.com/ vintage motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley. I've ridden through Maggie Valley before but never stopped. Supposedly Jay Leno stopped by this place and was thoroughly impressed. My father failed to notice the museum is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Plan B

We decided to ride through Great Smokey Mountains National Park. What a fantastic ride. Here are some pics:

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Here is your's truly at an overlook.
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My father just in front of me.
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Some nice light.
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Those are truly some beautiful roads for sure! I'm glad that I was fortunate enough to ride on some of those during our Deal's Gap trip. Thanks for the pics. It brings back some memories!
 
Wannabe said:
The FZ1 is a very efficient bug killer.
View attachment 10484
Click to expand...

LOL. It sure is. When I was picking a personal license plate, I wanted to get something that said "BUG SLAYER", but I couldn't find a way to fit that into 6 characters, so I went with "SIC DAY" instead.

Great pictures. I'm glad you had such a good trip. I look forward to more pictures when you get home. Very happy it was all safe! :cheerleader:
 
What awesome memories to have with your Dad! You are VERY fortunate to have these opportunities. Treasure them! Thanks for sharing!

My Dad passed when I was 10. My Step Dad passed when I was 31 and without a bike although I can't ever see him riding like we do! MY two boys both admit that they do not want motorcycles because they know they'd be in big trouble or worse. Kudos to them for admitting this but I still wish they could exercise control and ride with me.

Safe travels and thanks!
 
The Beginning

Yet another trip has concluded and the slow realization that I have work tomorrow morning is a creeping thought. Thank you to everyone who commented on this thread. My father and I always have a good time when we go out on these adventures and I am truly lucky to share this passion with him. For better or worse, when we get together there is rarely much of a plan and serendipity is our compass.

Sometimes that works out. Sometimes not.

The OBX Bike Week sounded like a good idea at the time. We were traveling down the coast out of Virginia Beach when we saw the billboards advertising the event. We detoured further east to check it out. I had never been to the Outer Banks so that provided what little excuse we needed. It was supposed to only take 90mins to get there but it took a lot longer thanks to a two lane road and people who do not know how to drive.

When we finally got into Nags Head the BBQ place was sporting a coleslaw wrestling match and women who had been in the sun too long. Plus poser tough guy weekend warriors. Ugh. Time to find a bar, except we couldn't.

Bye OBX.


Time to leave

Thankfully that was the only not so hot part of the trip. Shortly after leaving OBX we found a liquor store to hopefully kill some brain memory cells when we settled in at the motel in Jacksonville, NC.


Hurray!

The next day's objective was Beaufort, SC. A little town I had never been to before but it was on the water and would make for a short trip to my cousins house in North Augusta. Beaufort is absolutely beautiful. Spanish moss, gorgeous homes, clean streets. Before we stopped for the night in Beaufort we grabbed a quick lunch in Myrtle Beach.


Is this appropriate beach attire?


Gigantic ferris wheel in Myrtle Beach

On to Beaufort! I'll be quiet now and just show some pictures. They do a better job telling the story anyhow.


Sunset over Beaufort, SC


Sunrise over Beaufort, SC


Beaufort at dawn


Bed & Breakfast behind our motel


A nice artist studio near our motel

And there is a little slice of Beaufort, SC. It was a neat little town and definitely on my radar to visit again.

More soon. I reached the forum photo limit.
 
The Middle

After staying a night on the coast, we headed to my cousins house in North Augusta, SC just across the river from that big golf tournament. My uncle and his wife live with my cousin and he was an usher during the Masters.


My father, aunt and uncle.


Can you save me money on my car insurance?

We stayed the weekend with family before heading north. Next stop, Maggie Valley, North Carolina.

Remember that whole serendipity BS from the beginning of this post. Well, sometimes it is nice to do a little planning before hand.

The reason for stopping in Maggie Valley was to visit the Wheels through Time museum. We arrived in the valley late Monday after riding some great mountain roads. The new Pirelli Angel STs and some suspension tweaks did fantastic in the twisties, the bike felt dialed in. Tuesday morning afte rbreakfast we rode the short distance from our Best Western to the museum. Printed in big letters on the gate were, "Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays".

:confused: followed by :cuss: then : oops:

All is not lost! We are in the middle of some of the best riding in the country.

See ya! :sport12:

We quick canceled our room for the night packed our bags headed into Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Again, I'll step aside and post the good stuff.


My fizzy and dad's Goldwing at an overlook


Of course we obeyed the speed limit :)


Until cagers spoiled the party


Your's truly


I did not pass this van, honest.

We rode through Cherokee Country and Gatlinburg, TN, a mountain version of Niagara Falls complete with a Ripley's. We stayed the night in a little town west of Greenville, TN before retracing our steps back to Maggie Valley. I did have a nice pan fried catfish while in town.
 
The 2nd Middle

Thursday came and so did our visit to Wheels Through Time. The museum did not disappoint. I know want a board track racer. Pics below!


Dale's shop is towards the rear of the building and we were lucky enough to be invited by him to see works in progress


Sections of the museum are made up as tableau, like this one, appearing to be a service shop


Dale and his son sometimes race board track bikes in vintage races


Wheels Through Time


Professor HD neon


Wheels Through Time


A truly diabolical collection


Wheels Through Time


Wheels Through Time


Wheels Through Time


My father (left) next to Dale Walksler, owner of the museum.


Wheels Through Time


Wheels Through Time


Wheels Through Time

As you can see, Dale has quite the collection. My favorites by far were the older bikes from the beginning of the century, especially the board racers. So elegant. I hope to one day have a garage where I can build one.
 
The End

The final stop before home was Roanoke, VA. We were in no hurry and took the Blue Ridge Parkway for most of the trip from one valley to the next.


Me muggin' for the camera


Oh, just riding around on mountain tops


My mother saw this picture and asked where were the guardrails. Ha!


My bike just hanging out looking awesome.

On a previous trip I rode over this awesome feature but it was so foggy I couldn't see anything. So dad and I revisited it. You can read more about it on its Wiki page.


The Linn Cove Viaduct wraps elegantly around Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina east of Asheville. It was constructed in such a way to minimize damage to the mountain. This section was one of the last parts of the BRP to be constructed.


My dad and I riding up RT 221 into Roanoke to see my cousin. As you get closer to Roanoke this road transitions from fast sweepers to intense cutbacks with a large vertical drop.

That's it. After arriving in Roanoke, my cousin and I went to the midnight showing of The Avengers. The next day my dad left for Philadelphia and I traveled back to Richmond.

Hope you enjoyed!
 
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