KLR trip to Canaan Valley, “Lost, Season Two” (posted from home)
(This post covers 25 September through 1 October)
Sunday, 1 October-
After my KLR adventure I was afraid I’d wake up with a cold today but all was well. I had taken a good hot bath and two rounds of 4000-mg vitamin C doses and that seemed to work. I took the Miata into town in the morning to do a little shopping and hit the local Starbucks. I spent most of the afternoon surfing the web and particularly enjoyed watching point-of-view videos of motorcycling in Taiwan done by a guy calling himself ‘Mordeth13’ (on youtube.com). This guy mounted a video camera in his helmet (just below his line of vision) and it works very well.
That evening we did a ‘Lost’ marathon, watching seven episodes. It’s still addictive, though not quite as well-paced as Season One.
Saturday, 30 September-
This morning I awoke to a light-but-steady rain and thought I’d sleep in and hope the rain went away. But I turned on the weather channel and learned the light rain would give way in late morning to heavier rain and thunderstorms. Then we’d have thunderstorms through the afternoon and evening and thunderstorms all day Sunday. That’s not what the weather prediction had been for this area when I checked yesterday! I decided I’d go East, perhaps across route 33 into the Shenandoah Valley which was not supposed to have rain.
Upon leaving the motel, I headed south to catch route 33 and almost immediately had freezing hands. I stopped at a country store in the next little cross-roads town (Harmon) but the only gloves they had were cloth work gloves. I then took 33 across the first mountain to Seneca Rocks, where I found bright-yellow heavy rubber work gloves (‘The Boss’ is stenciled on them in big letters). I bought them plus another set of hunter’s cloth gloves to serve as a liner (and I do like WV prices for some things: $4.99 for the rubber gloves, $1.40 for the hunting gloves).
With my cold-hands problem solved, I was good to go. And as I rode north along the South Branch of the Potomac the rain slowed to a drizzle. I had turned north at Seneca Rocks when I saw the mountaintop which route 33 east crosses lost in fog. I had been over that road on the Concours last year and the extremely twisty road was lots of fun that time but I didn’t think I’d like to see it this time in rain and fog.
All went well following the river up the valley through Moorefield and Romney. I took US50 across toward Winchester. But when I stopped for gas along the way I had a little surprise coming….the KLR would not turn over when I pushed the starter button. But, lucky me, I had stopped at a gas station on a hill. I was able to just drift down the hill and bump-start the bike. As I rode along wondering what the problem could be I realized that it could be my electric jacket liner’s 77-watt draw contributing to the problem. I turned off the jacket liner, figuring that perhaps the battery would charge. I was fortunate to find that air temperatures were rising as I approached Winchester and I could get along without the liner’s heat.
After Winchester I zoomed up I-81 and into Pennsylvania. I stopped briefly at my brother’s house in Chambersburg, thinking I’d use his voltmeter to check the KLR’s charging system but he wasn’t home. I just kept riding. In another hour I was home.
That evening we watched three more episodes of ‘Lost, Season Two’.
Friday, 29 September-
This morning I dropped Cherry Larry (my ‘beater’ van) off for a long-overdue body repair (a rocker panel) so it will pass its upcoming inspection. It’s still a very useful van for winter given it’s a four-wheel drive model. We can use it in when the roads are icy or have been heavily salted. We also use it for hauling building materials and Labashi’s gardening supplies year round. When I bought it, I thought the $10,000 I paid for it was high given the 50,000 miles on it but it now has 150,000 miles and still runs well.
Later that morning I packed up the KLR motorcycle’s bags and headed for West Virginia for a few days. I like to get down to the Canaan Valley south of Davis, WV in the Fall because of the brilliant colors down there. The Canaan Valley is the highest-floored valley east of the Mississippi and Fall colors tend to come by the first week of October. I was also hoping to ride to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area just east of the Canaan Valley and perhaps camp at Red Creek. (Here’s a link explaining what’s special about the area: http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/RedCreekTrail_0000.asp)
But my trip turned out to be a little more arduous than I had envisioned. The main problem was that today was a windy and significantly cooler day (below 50 by the time I reached the Canaan Valley). This was the first time I had traveled any distance on the KLR in cooler weather and it soon became apparent that I had made three mistakes. Because the KLR has only a mini-fairing around the headlight and instruments, I didn’t have nearly so much protection from the wind as I have behind the Concours’ full fairing. My first mistake, then, was that I didn’t take along my heated gloves. On the KLR my hands are exposed to the oncoming air rush and body heat is sucked right out of them. My second mistake was not wearing my waterproof high-cut motorcycle boots. I wore low-cut hiking boots because I was planning on doing some hiking at Dolly Sods. That exposed my ankles to the air flow. And the third mistake was that I didn’t take along my waterproof inner liner to my mesh motorcycle jacket. I did take my electrically-heated jacket liner but soon learned that the airflow through the mesh sucked the heat out of me as fast as it could be produced. The inner liner would have stopped that air flow.
I did put on my rain jacket to help stem the loss of heat from my core and that helped but by the time I hit the Forties temps on top of Mount Storm, I was shivering and my hands felt numb.
At Davis I stopped at Blackwater Falls State Park’s lodge to see if they had a room but when I learned the rooms were $86 and $92 for a night I pressed on (after warming up a bit to get my hands working). I rode on down into the Canaan Valley planning to camp at a free dispersed-camping site we had found way out in the boonies on a previous trip in our van. But once there I had several problems. I hadn’t stopped for supper and had nothing along to cook. I was cold to the core. I had no firewood. And it was starting to rain. That made the decision easy— I’d zoom back to a (hopefully) cheapie motel I had passed on the way. That was an interesting ride. I was on one of those extremely twisty West Virginia back roads where they only put down one lane of blacktop (so you have to pull over if you meet anyone coming the other way). That makes for a road with a lot of gravel on it so you have to be extra careful, particularly in blind curves where you might be meeting an oncoming car in the turn. You also have to be careful of the dropoff at the edge of the road— they’re not much fun on two wheels. The good news was that it was now dark so I could see the occasional oncoming pickup by the flare of its lights before I actually saw the lights. The bad news was the rain was blurring my vision a bit through the visor and deer were on the move. Three deer crossed the road very close in front of me and I saw another five or so right along the road (the Canaan Valley is known for this).
Despite all my travails I made it to the motel in about a half-hour and was very happy to get a decent room for $55. By the time I unpacked and settled in the rain had stopped. I walked to a nearby upscale restaurant and had the memorable experience of being seated, then ignored for a good twenty minutes while my waitress obviously struggled to serve the dozen-or-so other people in the restaurant. It turns out (I later learned from the motel manager) there’s a service-help crisis in the Canaan Valley here in the shoulder season and I was being served by one of the cooks! But I was just happy to be warm and know I’d eventually be served and I had a nice, warm room waiting for me.
Thursday, 28 September-
This morning I took my Concours down to the motorcycle shop for a routine inspection and rear brake pad replacement. But it turned out my cursory checks of the rear tire had been too brief. Though the tire’s outer edges have plenty of tread, I had less than 2/32 over the wear bar in the center of the tread. The tech also found a problem with the front brake lever failing to activate the brake light. His quickie test showed no current flowing to the switch so that would mean I’d have to reschedule for a wiring trace. Back home I spent an hour or so researching current tire options for the bike and decided to stick with the Avon Azaro ST brand I’m currently running rather than switch to the Michelin Pilot GTs that some Concours owners are now trying (according to the Concours Owner’s Group website). I’ve been mostly happy with the Azaros but they tend to have a problem with inducing a deceleration wobble between 50 and 40 mph. I was able to tune out most of it by adjusting the suspension but would still occasionally feel it. According to the COG website the Pilot GTs don’t have that problem (because of a stiffer sidewall) but there are mixed reviews on their performance in rain. I think I’ll just stick with a known quantity for now. Since I need new tires about once a year, I can give the Pilots a chance next time if the consensus turns in their favor.
I thought I’d try to locate the wiring problem and soon found that the brake light would come on momentarily if the lever was only pulled part-way in. That tells me the problem is in the switch after all. I contacted the shop and had them order a new switch to install next week when the new tires come in. I also managed to get a 15% discount on the tires by shopping around then asking if they wanted to price-match and they readily agreed.
Wednesday, 27 September-
The fridge-guy called this morning to let us know we can’t get the repair done until next Monday. Bummer. Though we lived out of our cooler for the better part of two months on our trip, it’s a bit of a pain to use in the house and to keep supplied with ice. But we are relieved to know we don’t need a new fridge. It will cost us about $150 for the repair but that sure beats $1000 for a new one. And since this is the one Labashi painted to match the kitchen upgrade work she did last year that would have been even more of a hassle to do again.
I drove the Miata into town to enjoy the pretty day while chasing down some more baking soda and some activated charcoal to address the remaining odor issue with the fridge. We had thoroughly washed down the fridge interior with baking soda and water and then left pans of baking soda inside to start the odor-cleansing process. Today we changed the baking soda and put out pans of activated charcoal in the fridge and now we’ve opened the doors and put a fan in front to circulate the air over the pans.
I also spent a few minutes replacing the headlamp bulb on the Concours in preparation for inspection tomorrow. The low-beam filament had gone out just a few days before we left for our trip out West.
That evening we watched several more episodes of ‘Lost’. Our reaction so far is it’s not as good as Season One—it’s a little too strained. On the one hand we like the surprise plot twists but sometimes it feels like we’re watching a soap opera.
Tuesday, 26 September-
I took the KLR out of the storage barn and took a longish ride to get the battery charged up after sitting for so long. I’ve not ridden it much this summer but will remedy that soon by taking a multi-day trip. In the afternoon the refrigerator repair guy came by to check out our still-down fridge. He pulled the temp-control and used a jumper to bypass it and the fridge started right up. Unfortunately, it’s a bottom-freezer model and has an uncommon temp-control so we will have to wait to have one shipped in and then reschedule for the install.
That evening we started “Lost, Season Two.”
Monday, 25 September-
This morning we took care of some after-trip-cleanup chores with Mocha Joe. In the afternoon I met a friend from my former workplace for a motorcycle ride. He had been given a motorcycle which had been sitting for several years and he now has it in operating condition. We took a little shakedown trip, hopefully helping him prep for his upcoming motorcycle safety course. I also had a chance to ride the bike and it’s in remarkably good running shape for sitting so long. The previous owner had put some Sta-bil gasoline stabilizer in the tank and I believe that made a big difference when it came time to get the bike running again.
That evening Labashi and I watched “An Unfinished Life”, a Robert Redford-Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez movie directed by Lasse Hallstrom. We enjoyed the scenery of the West (actually of the Canadian West) and the story was okay, though the plot was a little too predictable.
(This post covers 25 September through 1 October)
Sunday, 1 October-
After my KLR adventure I was afraid I’d wake up with a cold today but all was well. I had taken a good hot bath and two rounds of 4000-mg vitamin C doses and that seemed to work. I took the Miata into town in the morning to do a little shopping and hit the local Starbucks. I spent most of the afternoon surfing the web and particularly enjoyed watching point-of-view videos of motorcycling in Taiwan done by a guy calling himself ‘Mordeth13’ (on youtube.com). This guy mounted a video camera in his helmet (just below his line of vision) and it works very well.
That evening we did a ‘Lost’ marathon, watching seven episodes. It’s still addictive, though not quite as well-paced as Season One.
Saturday, 30 September-
This morning I awoke to a light-but-steady rain and thought I’d sleep in and hope the rain went away. But I turned on the weather channel and learned the light rain would give way in late morning to heavier rain and thunderstorms. Then we’d have thunderstorms through the afternoon and evening and thunderstorms all day Sunday. That’s not what the weather prediction had been for this area when I checked yesterday! I decided I’d go East, perhaps across route 33 into the Shenandoah Valley which was not supposed to have rain.
Upon leaving the motel, I headed south to catch route 33 and almost immediately had freezing hands. I stopped at a country store in the next little cross-roads town (Harmon) but the only gloves they had were cloth work gloves. I then took 33 across the first mountain to Seneca Rocks, where I found bright-yellow heavy rubber work gloves (‘The Boss’ is stenciled on them in big letters). I bought them plus another set of hunter’s cloth gloves to serve as a liner (and I do like WV prices for some things: $4.99 for the rubber gloves, $1.40 for the hunting gloves).
With my cold-hands problem solved, I was good to go. And as I rode north along the South Branch of the Potomac the rain slowed to a drizzle. I had turned north at Seneca Rocks when I saw the mountaintop which route 33 east crosses lost in fog. I had been over that road on the Concours last year and the extremely twisty road was lots of fun that time but I didn’t think I’d like to see it this time in rain and fog.
All went well following the river up the valley through Moorefield and Romney. I took US50 across toward Winchester. But when I stopped for gas along the way I had a little surprise coming….the KLR would not turn over when I pushed the starter button. But, lucky me, I had stopped at a gas station on a hill. I was able to just drift down the hill and bump-start the bike. As I rode along wondering what the problem could be I realized that it could be my electric jacket liner’s 77-watt draw contributing to the problem. I turned off the jacket liner, figuring that perhaps the battery would charge. I was fortunate to find that air temperatures were rising as I approached Winchester and I could get along without the liner’s heat.
After Winchester I zoomed up I-81 and into Pennsylvania. I stopped briefly at my brother’s house in Chambersburg, thinking I’d use his voltmeter to check the KLR’s charging system but he wasn’t home. I just kept riding. In another hour I was home.
That evening we watched three more episodes of ‘Lost, Season Two’.
Friday, 29 September-
This morning I dropped Cherry Larry (my ‘beater’ van) off for a long-overdue body repair (a rocker panel) so it will pass its upcoming inspection. It’s still a very useful van for winter given it’s a four-wheel drive model. We can use it in when the roads are icy or have been heavily salted. We also use it for hauling building materials and Labashi’s gardening supplies year round. When I bought it, I thought the $10,000 I paid for it was high given the 50,000 miles on it but it now has 150,000 miles and still runs well.
Later that morning I packed up the KLR motorcycle’s bags and headed for West Virginia for a few days. I like to get down to the Canaan Valley south of Davis, WV in the Fall because of the brilliant colors down there. The Canaan Valley is the highest-floored valley east of the Mississippi and Fall colors tend to come by the first week of October. I was also hoping to ride to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area just east of the Canaan Valley and perhaps camp at Red Creek. (Here’s a link explaining what’s special about the area: http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/RedCreekTrail_0000.asp)
But my trip turned out to be a little more arduous than I had envisioned. The main problem was that today was a windy and significantly cooler day (below 50 by the time I reached the Canaan Valley). This was the first time I had traveled any distance on the KLR in cooler weather and it soon became apparent that I had made three mistakes. Because the KLR has only a mini-fairing around the headlight and instruments, I didn’t have nearly so much protection from the wind as I have behind the Concours’ full fairing. My first mistake, then, was that I didn’t take along my heated gloves. On the KLR my hands are exposed to the oncoming air rush and body heat is sucked right out of them. My second mistake was not wearing my waterproof high-cut motorcycle boots. I wore low-cut hiking boots because I was planning on doing some hiking at Dolly Sods. That exposed my ankles to the air flow. And the third mistake was that I didn’t take along my waterproof inner liner to my mesh motorcycle jacket. I did take my electrically-heated jacket liner but soon learned that the airflow through the mesh sucked the heat out of me as fast as it could be produced. The inner liner would have stopped that air flow.
I did put on my rain jacket to help stem the loss of heat from my core and that helped but by the time I hit the Forties temps on top of Mount Storm, I was shivering and my hands felt numb.
At Davis I stopped at Blackwater Falls State Park’s lodge to see if they had a room but when I learned the rooms were $86 and $92 for a night I pressed on (after warming up a bit to get my hands working). I rode on down into the Canaan Valley planning to camp at a free dispersed-camping site we had found way out in the boonies on a previous trip in our van. But once there I had several problems. I hadn’t stopped for supper and had nothing along to cook. I was cold to the core. I had no firewood. And it was starting to rain. That made the decision easy— I’d zoom back to a (hopefully) cheapie motel I had passed on the way. That was an interesting ride. I was on one of those extremely twisty West Virginia back roads where they only put down one lane of blacktop (so you have to pull over if you meet anyone coming the other way). That makes for a road with a lot of gravel on it so you have to be extra careful, particularly in blind curves where you might be meeting an oncoming car in the turn. You also have to be careful of the dropoff at the edge of the road— they’re not much fun on two wheels. The good news was that it was now dark so I could see the occasional oncoming pickup by the flare of its lights before I actually saw the lights. The bad news was the rain was blurring my vision a bit through the visor and deer were on the move. Three deer crossed the road very close in front of me and I saw another five or so right along the road (the Canaan Valley is known for this).
Despite all my travails I made it to the motel in about a half-hour and was very happy to get a decent room for $55. By the time I unpacked and settled in the rain had stopped. I walked to a nearby upscale restaurant and had the memorable experience of being seated, then ignored for a good twenty minutes while my waitress obviously struggled to serve the dozen-or-so other people in the restaurant. It turns out (I later learned from the motel manager) there’s a service-help crisis in the Canaan Valley here in the shoulder season and I was being served by one of the cooks! But I was just happy to be warm and know I’d eventually be served and I had a nice, warm room waiting for me.
Thursday, 28 September-
This morning I took my Concours down to the motorcycle shop for a routine inspection and rear brake pad replacement. But it turned out my cursory checks of the rear tire had been too brief. Though the tire’s outer edges have plenty of tread, I had less than 2/32 over the wear bar in the center of the tread. The tech also found a problem with the front brake lever failing to activate the brake light. His quickie test showed no current flowing to the switch so that would mean I’d have to reschedule for a wiring trace. Back home I spent an hour or so researching current tire options for the bike and decided to stick with the Avon Azaro ST brand I’m currently running rather than switch to the Michelin Pilot GTs that some Concours owners are now trying (according to the Concours Owner’s Group website). I’ve been mostly happy with the Azaros but they tend to have a problem with inducing a deceleration wobble between 50 and 40 mph. I was able to tune out most of it by adjusting the suspension but would still occasionally feel it. According to the COG website the Pilot GTs don’t have that problem (because of a stiffer sidewall) but there are mixed reviews on their performance in rain. I think I’ll just stick with a known quantity for now. Since I need new tires about once a year, I can give the Pilots a chance next time if the consensus turns in their favor.
I thought I’d try to locate the wiring problem and soon found that the brake light would come on momentarily if the lever was only pulled part-way in. That tells me the problem is in the switch after all. I contacted the shop and had them order a new switch to install next week when the new tires come in. I also managed to get a 15% discount on the tires by shopping around then asking if they wanted to price-match and they readily agreed.
Wednesday, 27 September-
The fridge-guy called this morning to let us know we can’t get the repair done until next Monday. Bummer. Though we lived out of our cooler for the better part of two months on our trip, it’s a bit of a pain to use in the house and to keep supplied with ice. But we are relieved to know we don’t need a new fridge. It will cost us about $150 for the repair but that sure beats $1000 for a new one. And since this is the one Labashi painted to match the kitchen upgrade work she did last year that would have been even more of a hassle to do again.
I drove the Miata into town to enjoy the pretty day while chasing down some more baking soda and some activated charcoal to address the remaining odor issue with the fridge. We had thoroughly washed down the fridge interior with baking soda and water and then left pans of baking soda inside to start the odor-cleansing process. Today we changed the baking soda and put out pans of activated charcoal in the fridge and now we’ve opened the doors and put a fan in front to circulate the air over the pans.
I also spent a few minutes replacing the headlamp bulb on the Concours in preparation for inspection tomorrow. The low-beam filament had gone out just a few days before we left for our trip out West.
That evening we watched several more episodes of ‘Lost’. Our reaction so far is it’s not as good as Season One—it’s a little too strained. On the one hand we like the surprise plot twists but sometimes it feels like we’re watching a soap opera.
Tuesday, 26 September-
I took the KLR out of the storage barn and took a longish ride to get the battery charged up after sitting for so long. I’ve not ridden it much this summer but will remedy that soon by taking a multi-day trip. In the afternoon the refrigerator repair guy came by to check out our still-down fridge. He pulled the temp-control and used a jumper to bypass it and the fridge started right up. Unfortunately, it’s a bottom-freezer model and has an uncommon temp-control so we will have to wait to have one shipped in and then reschedule for the install.
That evening we started “Lost, Season Two.”
Monday, 25 September-
This morning we took care of some after-trip-cleanup chores with Mocha Joe. In the afternoon I met a friend from my former workplace for a motorcycle ride. He had been given a motorcycle which had been sitting for several years and he now has it in operating condition. We took a little shakedown trip, hopefully helping him prep for his upcoming motorcycle safety course. I also had a chance to ride the bike and it’s in remarkably good running shape for sitting so long. The previous owner had put some Sta-bil gasoline stabilizer in the tank and I believe that made a big difference when it came time to get the bike running again.
That evening Labashi and I watched “An Unfinished Life”, a Robert Redford-Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez movie directed by Lasse Hallstrom. We enjoyed the scenery of the West (actually of the Canadian West) and the story was okay, though the plot was a little too predictable.
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 12:28
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