Inevitably

Well, it was bound to happen (more on that later). Last weekend, I went with the guys minus Steve on a short primer ride before June. Friday was great, if not a bit chilly with sleet and rain falling lightly on us. We rode some of Jefferson National Forest and a couple other spots before checking in to the house we’d rented for the weekend.

Saturday would be different. The day started as any other. Harvey giving us the stink eye if we weren’t getting ready quick enough for an 8 am departure for breakfast. He was able to keep his hangry-ness in check well enough, though.

After that, we rode out of town to pick up Section 2 of the MABDR, jumping on VA 622 out of Pearisburg. It was cold and getting colder as we climbed in elevation to over 4000’ ASL. As I watched my temp drop on the dash from mid 30’s, I warned through the Sena that is I saw 20’s on my dash, someone was getting throat punched. I saw 29.5 but decided to not act on my words.

We stopped for a break at the entrance to Tub Run Rd and found out from a local that it was closed for improvements. We’ll have to come back, I guess! We did mark our territory, so-to-speak.

Later on, we were boogieing up 311, 3, 3, 11 (IYKYK) and went by a road named Nimrod. Weird name I said out loud to the group and was told that after lunch, we would double back and get back on the MABDR there.

We went into the metropolis of Paint Bank, VA for lunch at an old standard, The Swinging Bridge Restaurant. They have great buffalo burgers but I got Chicken and Dumplings this time. Harvey ordered his burger well burnt, as usual. I tried to have Kacey (our waitress) put onions on his burger for an extra $10 on her tip but she was too nice. Maybe she had heard about the last time that happened. The restaurant burned to the ground not long after. Coincidence? You decide.

So with lunch over, it was on to Nimrod! As we approached, I told the guys I wanted to get my GoPro turned on once we got off the pavement. I did and got back on the bike, snicked the sidestand up, and Alf said he had to jump off real quick to do something. Right then I saw my camera turn off. Huh? So I went to see why and proceeded to lean the bike over to rest it back on the sidestand. I’d forgotten that I just put it up and the bike just kept gaining momentum towards the ground. Uh oh!

I figure I must have stabbed my leg out in futile hope of saving it and ended up locking up my hamstring tighter than Harvey’s nuclear subs he used to travel the world in. I like to think I have a pretty high threshold for pain it that hamstring has me yelling and groaning while I writhed around in the gravel. I didn’t tell the guys, but once some of the pain subsided, Dan abducted Harvey pulled me up. I immediately got very hot and I felt like I was going to throw up for a few seconds. That pain was still pretty intense.

I hobbled around for about ten minutes trying to work it loose (we still had about 100 miles left for the day to get back to the house). Once we got rolling, I remembered the road name and chuckled at the irony of me being exactly what the road name was.

I wondered when I would add my own scratches to the GS. It was inevitable. There’s only a few on the crash bars but my Ali Express metal hand guard protection snapped right at the end of the handlebar. Kind of what I expected when I put it on, but returns to China aren’t worth the effort as little as it cost.

When Sunday rolled around and it was time to do Section 1 on the way home (south). I decided it would be best/smartest for me to head home after breakfast. So at 8:30 I bid the guys adieu and pointed south. I had to ride in a slightly different position on the seat to keep from having the knot resting on the edge of the seat. Thank goodness I have a 3 gallon auxiliary tank on the back seat giving me 8+ gallons of go go juice. Once I took off, I only stopped to get gas in Gastonia, NC and then headed for the house. Having an almost 350 mile range is very nice, even if the aux tank isn’t attractive sitting there.

{{{insert bike pic with aux tank}}}}

I arrived home at 3:30 and checked the locations of the others. When I saw, I knew I’d made the right decision to just come home. I also have a chest muscle strain (hopefully just that) that now on Tuesday night feels worse than the hamstring. I might go to the doctor if it doesn’t get better soon.

Updates to come if /when I have any.