Checking the temp, it was 40 degrees and not expected to get much warmer.  Putting on my electic vest, I know my body would be warm, but my toes were already complaining.  Reaching in my saddlebag, I opened Foot Warmers.  I picked these up at Walmart for $1.  I prefer the ones shapped liked insole and not just Toe warmers.

I find they work best if I don’t peal off the sticky liner, instead I just drop them in my boots.  I can ride all day and toes never complain.  I take an extra pack in my “just in case” supply.

–Chris Skor

I was itching for a ride to try out the new jacket so I thought why not ride to mothers. No, this is not some new Tattoo parlor in Charlotte, NC, but with weather forecast 45 and rainy for the next 5 days I decided this was a great time to ride to visit my mom in Fort Myers Florida.

My 2007 BMW R1200RT loaded for FL trip.  The tank bag holds a memory foam pillow, great for those quick way-side naps. During long hours I’ll learn forward and rest an arm on the tank bag.

The rear bag includes a removable lumbar support which I can remove if I mount the bag behind the passenger rest.  With stock BMW seat, a little back rest helps miles go by little bit easier. This is my “overnight” back with change of clothes, warm riding gear, CDs, and bathroom supplies.

Bike all backed and repacked, trying to figure out what I’ll need, what to leave behind.  I start out about 1 hour before sunrise, getting in a few hours ride, watching sun come up before I stop for breakfast.  First day is my best, longest riding day, 500-600 miles per, by day 2 I’m stopping every 100 miles, lucky to get in 400.

My plan was to Ride hwy 49 to Augusta, GA, then work my way west until I hit Gulf coast of Florida, but strong line of thunderstorms pushed my east along the Atlantic coast.

Below are a few “lessons along the way”.

Lesson Learned: Near end of the day, turn off your cruise control. If you notice your speed keeps dropping, time to stop for the night.

Lesson Learned: Find place to sleep as the sun sets, get good night sleep, then go again early morning just before sunrise.

Lesson Learned: IF you have to ride at night, better to follow than to lead.  Follow a car about 5-10 seconds behind using their lights to look ahead for obsticiles, curve of the road, or wild life.  Better for a “cage” to hit dear then your bike.

I made it to Ocala, FL, little after sunset and checked into Days Inn.  TV had 1 channel with a wall mounted remote.  I never did find out what the button on the right controlled.

Next day it was off to BMW Tampa.  Didn’t really need a reason, but guess that’s why we ride in the first place.  I checked out the HID blubs for both Low and Hi beams.  Parts Guy says I’ll get about 10% more light, along with hotter white.  A little expensive, but worth investigating.  I head over to the Service Desk for lesson on installing bulbs.  I’m told simple operation, just reach up, remove the bulb, replace, and reinstall.  Sound simple, but somehow became a $50 job and 2 hour wait when I asked if they could do it for me.  I left $200 still in my pocket.  Contrast this to great customer service I get from MAX BMW last fall on my way to the BMW Rally.  MAX not only replaced a burned out low beam for no labor charge, but also topped off my oil again at no cost.

If your riding in the Tampa, FL area, you’ve got to head to south on I-275 to St Petersburg and ride over the Sunshine Skyway bridge.  http://bridgehunter.com/fl/pinellas/sunshine-skyway/ This unique bridge has limited support wires running down center and feels like riding over a 2×4 on stilts. On to Fort Myers and vist with mom.

While in Fort Myers I stopped at Sun Sports Cycle on Colonial Blvd to check out the CanAm, Honda, and Yamaha bikes.  Nice airconditioned building.  Oh, did I mention it was in the 80s!

Lesson Learned: Have enough free room in your bags to peel off and stow your warm riding gear.

After a few days visiting, time to head home.  I picked a route across Florida over to Atlantic coast.  Ride took my past Lake Okeechobee, US 6th largest lake that you can’t see from the road because it is behind a dike.  Riding across Florida this morning I followed 2 school busses, one white, one yellow.  Up the road was a collection of tin shacks, outside parents watched as kids played.  I watched as yellow school bus drove by while whites bus stopped.  Both kids and parents climbed aboard the white bus.  It was then I noticed sign “Harvest Bus” painted on side.  Next time I buy oranges, I’ll see faces of those boarding the bus.

I decided to visit NASA on my ride home.  Really, how could I pass it up, big rockets, lauch pads, explosive fuel, way cool.  I hung out with one of the astronauts as we planned a motorcycle ride on Mars for 2014.  I’ll be collecting CASH deposits at the next club meeting.

If you get a chance to visit the Kennedy Space Center, check out the Hubble 3D on IMAX, wow, just really freaking WOW.  Speaking of WOW, those Florida bug were huge.  I had to keep a rag in my jacket pocket to keep my face shield clean.

Lesson Learned: Only keep your face shield rag in you jacket pocket or you’ll be riding back to pick up your MP3 player.

After day at NASA and bug wipping on ride back north.  About every 30 minutes I would wiggle in my seat and stand a little just to keep blood flowing.  As night came the temp dropped.

Lesson Learned: Don’t try to change into warmer gloves while riding or you’ll end up riding back to pick up a dropped glove.

I stopped for the night at the Comfort Inn in Kingsland, GA. I was upgraded to poolside room. All night long trucks fly by I-95 so close I can see bugs on windscreen. Big yellow ones come out at 7am, bugs that is, messy splats.

With little sleep and almost edible breakfast I headed north toward Brunswick, GA where I intended to pick up US 27\US 25 for ride back to Augusta, then hwy 49 back to Clover.  My GPS indicated a twisty road on my right called “Sandy Run”.  I made a course change and headed over to see what Sandy had to offer.  After 2 miles I discovered SANDY was not someone’s name but the CONDITION of the road.   I did see mile after mile of 100 year old moss covered oaks reaching over the road.

Somewhere in the back roads of GA I road past an amusement park bone-yard with 30 or more old carnival rides rusting, long since ridden.  Already into the afternoon, I had too many miles to go to allow time to stop, maybe another day.  What unexpected treasures we’ll find if we take little time to ride the back roads of America.  All we need it gas and a direction to travel.

Speaking of unexpected, if you’re in Claxton, GA, stop in “Mrs. Rigers Restaurant”.  For great comfort food try the Sea Food Casserole.  For something lighter and more “international”, just north of town on US 25 is the “World Deli”, a must stop on my next ride through town.

After 1,500 miles hardest were last 60 miles back to Lake Wyle.  My tired eyes were taking too long to look from instruments to road ahead.  Another sign I needed to be home in bed snoring next to my wife and not on the road.  To keep alert, I would quickly count cars in front of me, forcing me looking forward down the road.

Lights reflecting off Lake Wylie were a welcome site as my R1200RT road over Buster Boyd bridge now just one traffic light and home.

The Holidays are here and motorcyclists all across the country are taking part in much anticipated annual Toy Runs.  From hard-core bikers to sport riders, all are coming together with generosity for children in challenging circumstances.

Today, December 10, 2011 is one of my favorite rides.  Pat Rogers Harley-Davidson in Concord, NC hosts a Christmas Toy run for Nazareth Children’s Home  (http://www.nazch.com/).  Bikers with bears, dolls, shoes, clothing and toys personally deliver toys to wide-eyed and ecstatic children.  The personal exchange warms the heart and soul of both giver and receiver.

Children living at the Nazareth Home from ages 10-18 are published for the bikers to gather much needed items for children some with nothing more than a warm bed and a box of belongings.   Santa Chris’s saddlebags are filled with – books, jump-rope, chalk, dolls, socks, play dough, and of course a few motorcycle toys thrown in!

If you’re looking for a way to share this holiday checkout www.cyclefish.com for other area rides.

With love to all, Merry Christmas ————–Where ever you ride today, ride safe

–Chris Skor (Skorlinski)

First stop is GAFFNEY, SC, for $295 gas!  How can you not love a day of riding when it begins with gas for under $3.  In Gaffney I picked up Hyw 11.  Riding by Cowpens National Battlefield I turned off my radio for a silent ride by.

Next stop is breakfast at Strawberry Hill in Fingerville, SC.  Yes, Fingerville, no I’m making this up, really.  Okay, maybe not exactly breakfast, it was 10am after all, but good coffee and homemade jelly biscuit made for a nice break.  From here I picked up Hwy 9 towards Lake Lure\Chimney Rock area, a Mecca for motorcycle rides.  About 30 minutes south of Lake Lure in the town of Mill Springs the fun begins.

From Mill Springs you can continue north on Hwy 9 to Lake Lure, or turn down the road that says “no trucks”, Silver Creek Rd.  A few miles further down you can pick 2 great roads, Green River Cove Road, or Holbert Cove Rd.  Both of these reconnect at US 74\I-26 just outside Saluda, NC. These are both great motorcycle roads. As the road sweeps along the Green River you’ll encounter many small pullouts where bicyclist and kayakers are loading, unloading, or just enjoying peaceful waters.

If you take on Green River Cove road you’ll need to be on top of your game, as you can see in the pictures, as this road climbs to meet I-26 it is steep and hairpin, I mean STEEP and HAIRPIN.  At each turn I would hear an ear-splitting squeal and the  inside tire of pickup truck behind me would lift off the road and spin. On new roads I would rather power climb then engine brake down.  I took on this road riding North to South, climbing over the mountain into Saluda.  Pucker factor of solid 8 with 9 going reverse direction.
Survived a new road, now on to the Toy Ride in Saluda, NC.  I got there about 12:30pm, registered eat free BBQ lunch then sat by watching all the bikes arrive.  By the 2pm start time 480 bikes, couple of dogs, 1 cockatoo, and 1 pig showed up for the ride.  No the pig didn’t have his own bike, he road in a trailer.

We left Saluda down gentle curves of hwy 176 through cities of Tryon and Landrum, ending up in Columbus, NC.  In each town and along the road 100s of people waived. Some gathered in large groups with lawn chairs and coolers. Once in a while we’d pass by an elderly couple standing at the end of a quiet road waving as 500 motorcycles road by.  I counted at least 10 “thanks for toys” signs along the way.

My favorite town was Tryon, NC.  This Christmas lined main street was filled with many small stores to shops, coffee shop, and local hangouts to get a bite to eat.  I’m going to make this town a must-see stopover when traveling I-26\US74.
This wonderful ride wasn’t without some tragedy.  After the ride a motorcycle traveling north on I-26 hit the center guard rail at 70mph.  I must have ridden by 5 minutes after the accident.  Before me lay only twisted metal like some sculpture in a museum of modern art.  This was someone, 1 hour earlier joined me on a ride to share with others, now in the blink of an eye gone.  This was a horrific reminder to  constantly keep eye out for trouble and always ride fully geared, all the time, just in case trouble comes knocking.

Ride Safe
Chris Skor  (Skorlinski)

Not only was my vest on, but my seat and hand grip running on low as we headed up I-85 for a 3 hour ride.  Little bit of traffic, lots of big trucks, got lost couple of times, no one ran out gas, and we all stayed together.

The museum was bigger then I expected.  Best of all it was ALL in side.  The machine guns, tanks, and jeeps were all in a large warehouse.  You can walk around for hours.  They even had a large simulated battlefield where people bring their remote control tanks.  These are BIG RC tank with turrets the move and guns that rimulate recoil when fired.

I only wish they had a tank you could climb inside, or one cut open to see all the controls, but it was still cool just walking around.

After while we headed to local hangout for lunch, then split up into groups for the ride home.  Don, Don, and I headed down back roads to Rural Hall, NC, then to I-85.  It took a little longer to get home, but much nicer breathing smells of FALL, instead of the fumes of traffic.

Sorry the pictures look grainy, no flash photography allowed and my HTC Trophy camera phone SUCKS in low light.

–Chris Skor

The Carolinas BMW Motorcycle Owners Assoc. Rally Committee met last week and discussed final event details. Event coordination goes on auto-pilot from here. All major tasks to get the rally off the ground are complete.

Pre-registration ended Saturday, August 6th, now the chore putting reserved Boone Rally Welcome Packs together begins. Our club treasurer will review the registrant list and compare with PayPal. Did you pre-register? We have a Rally Welcome Pack with your name on it!

More Things You Can Look Forward To At This Year’s Boone Rally:

Backyard Burgers will be with us again this year – Friday evening at the rally. So you will know, Backyard Burgers is not an official bike rally food vendor. We invite them to to the Boone Rally each year to serve the entire campground – campers and rally goers.

They will sell out! Open to the entire campground means they will sell out within a few hours after the start of serving. Make sure you check the rally schedule for Backyard’s schedule. Pay for your grilled burger, fixens, sides, and drink at the food serving area.

Motorcycle riders and mototourists are always looking for that next destination. The Boone Rally is helping a new magazine every mototourist is guaranteed to find it helpful - Dashboards and Saddlebags.

About the Magazine:
Dashboards and Saddlebags is a dashboard, and saddlebag sized monthly magazine published for “MotoTourists”  who are looking for somewhere new to go and something new to do. Dashboards and Saddlebags is your Destination Magazine.

We call it a destination magazine because it is not just all about the ride, without the destination we would all drive around in circles…right?

Whether it is a motoring event, an art show, a wine trail, or just a scenic destination.  It is pleasant to stop and stretch your legs, grab some food, drink and check out the local flavor. The destination is every bit as important as the “ride”.

If it is in your backyard or down the road, a bit…it’s our goal to let you know about these new destinations and things to do. A complimentary copy of Dashboards and Saddlebags awaits you at the 2011 Boone Rally!

More Door Prizes You Have a Chance To Ride Home With:

• Helmets
• Jackets
• Riding Pants
• Tailbags…and more!

Gas It Up! Crank It Up! Ride It Up!

We are down to the last week of offering pre-registration for this bike rally held in Boone North Carolina. So far, everyone that used Meetup.com to sign up for the rally had little or no problems. One early bird did create a problem. Please do not do this once you have pre-registered for the Annual Boone Rally:

After Meetup guided you through the process of signing up for the motorcycle rally, your basic registration information is on file. Rally organizers will create a guest list and confirm your registration status. DO NOT CLOSE YOUR MEETUP.COM ACCOUNT AFTER PAYING YOUR RALLY FEE(S).

Meetup.com assigns a payment confirmation ID to your profile. If you close your Meetup.com account, that mouse-click just separated you from your rally pre-registration payment.

All we know now about the person that closed their account is a transaction number assigned to a payment. In short, once you close your Meetup account you are out and the money stays behind! All events you prepaid for and have yet to occur creates a money-to-a-person problem for Meetup event organizers.

We are monitoring pre-registration sign-ups closely! Have a question? Did the pre-registration process fail? Do you think you made a mistake? Ask us, we will be all over it! Contact rally organizers by emailing – rally [@] carolinasbmwmoa.org.

Pre-registration ends August 6th at 7am ET. Click here to get in the door while saving some cash to do something else with.