As I took the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve off, I had some time to dedicate to my scoots. Thursday, December 29, I set aside to work on the SAC Cycle. The clutch had been finicky lately, and it wasn’t holding fluids, though no apparent leak could be found. I planned on putting her up on the jack and trying to find the culprit. I hadn’t ridden her yet this month, so I was looking at a “cheat” ride - basically filling up the master cylinder with fluid, pumping the clutch till I got some action, and taking her for a quick 1.5 mile ride around the block before putting her on the jack. Before doing that, I opted to check all connections and tighten everything down. I was surprised when I took off the cover of the master cylinder, she still had fluid . . . I topped it off, and tried the clutch . . . it had action . . . As it was a beautiful day, I figured I would go for a quick 10 mile spin around the Manassas Battle Fields and focus on the clutch feel to see if it acted up again. As the miles ticked away, the clutch felt rock solid . . . so I kept on riding. All told, I put an additional 69 miles on the SAC cycle and brought her odometer up to 109,100 to close out the year. All told, over the course of 22 rides, I put 3,528 miles on her in 2022 averaging 160 miles per day I took her out.
December 30 was a planned ride day for Jipci. The forecast called for a great riding day, and it didn’t disappoint.
Knowing this would be my final ride of 2022, I got up early (for a guy who has been off all week). I realized I left my riding pants in the back of my truck, so running out in the near freezing cold, I grabbed them so I could drape them on a chair over an air vent, so when the heat kicked on, the warm air would blow on them. As I knew I had a long day ahead of me, I made a simple but hearty breakfast - what in my family we call a Hunter's Sandwich - Because I grew up eating them while going hunting with my dad. The simple concoction of a fried egg, ham, cheese, with a slice of raw Bermuda onion, some ketchup, and a shake of hot sauce on Dave's hearty multi grain bread was exactly what I needed to go with my morning coffee and get the day started out right. I made one f or me and one for my son. After wolfing that down, I got my gear together and put on my now warmed up riding pants and boots. With my helmet, battery chargers, and Hydro flasks (one with coffee, one with water), and a few "just in case" snacks, I jumped in my truck and headed off to my shed where Jipci was waiting for me.
Getting to the shed, Jipci started right up. Since I installed the Fuel X controller, she has none of the historic Himalayan hard cold starts or stalling after she got started - She was as ready for this as I was. With 4,029 miles on the odometer and the thermometer saying it was 36 degrees outside, we were off on our final ride of 2022. The original plan I had was to head over and pick up some of Skyline Drive. I have had Jipci now for 14 months and have yet to experience the vistas and views from her saddle . . . Needing to change my glasses, and since I forgot to start my route in Rever, I pulled off in the Moo-Thru at the intersection of Routes 28 and 29 to make my final adjustments and decide what route I was taking. It had already warmed up a bit in the half hour since I left the shed. I knew I was in for a fantastic riding day. One of my destinations was the site of a “Drop” in the Virginia tag-o-rama on advrider forums. I wanted to get there to get the “Grab” before anyone else grabbed it. If I got the Grab, I get to pick the next Drop for others to try to get. But if I was in for such a day, so were other inmates (inmates are what the users of the forums are called - and once you get to know some of them- you will understand why) who were lurking, waiting for such a day to make a run for the elusive "Grab!" Thinking I would shoot down 29 to 33 and take 33 over to Skyline, then run Skyline down to 250, I figured I could reach the Grab by around 1:30 PM. I took a quick picture of Jipci at the Moo-Thru and sent it off to a group chat of guys from my Blue Knights Chapter because they know how I am about Ice Cream and Riding, and because it gets under Bob's skin when I do that - OK that was the first reason I sent that.
As I headed south, I kept marveling at how beautiful this day was. The forecast had called for Partly sunny skies, but there wasn't a cloud in sight. As I rode south, the voices started telling me . . . If it's a nice day for you, it's a nice day for other inmates . . . Someone else is gonna beat you to the Grab . . . Passing a few other riders out enjoying this perfect riding day only made the voices stronger, so to placate them I finally said - Fuck it! Get the grab first, and hit Skyline on the way back home . . . It made perfect sense. Skyline wasn't going anywhere . . . The Grab could elude me . . . Somehow, I remembered the address . . 1581 Maidens . . . I plugged that into my Garmin and followed her instead of my trial run of Rever. Having already passed by 522, I took 15 down to 250 then cut east to 522. As I turned on 522, I knew I was close and I passed a bike heading the opposite way. As I waved I thought, wait a second was that guy smiling, or laughing at me? Was that an inmate? Did he just get the Grab and is now running home to post it? Sumofabitch!!! I got to get there!! 522 ran into 6, and it was a quick ride to Maidens Rd. I made it! But . . . wait a second . . . The sign doesn't look the same . . . I pulled in the lot and rode back looking for that purple sign with white lettering, but it was not to be found, so I turned back to the road, parked Jipci and pulled out my phone.
I was surprised I remembered my password - Until today, I had never logged into advrider forums on my phone. But the Gods were smiling on me as I not only had signal, I actually remembered my password! Looking at the Drop, I compared what was around the sign to what I was seeing. The fence, the trees, the little white sign in front of it . . . Yup this is it . . . they just changed the sign . . . I also saw that, if I did pass an inmate heading home to post the Grab, I had beat him! Clicking my photo and quickly figuring out how to upload it from the phone, I had the Grab! Success!!!!
So 106 miles to the Grab . . . now for the amazing ride home and on to Skyline Drive. As I was this far south, I figured, why not kill two birds with one stone . . . Let me take 6 west and pick up a bit of the north end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and get Skyline Drive in! Visualizing where I would put the stickers for the BRP and Skyline on Jipci, I headed west. I hadn't ridden this stretch of 6 for about 10 years, but it was as great a riding road as I remembered. Following that for a bit I jumped over to 20 as I thought about trying to find a nice place on the BRP or Skyline for the Drop. Then something caught my eye . . . I passed by it before I could process the photo opportunity, but as my brain caught up, I decided to turn around and get some pictures. Not sure if this would be my Drop or not, I wiggled back through some nice roads following the signs . . . to . . . nothing there - WTF!!! Figuring it may just be a bit further than the signs indicate, and since the roads were nothing short of amazing, I pressed on. Until I finally decided to enter the destination into my Garmin. It wiggled me through some more amazing roads and brought me back to the same place of nothing . . . but a little sign I didn't see before . . . I read it and followed the instructions and was there in no time.
I took the pictures at Trump Winery for the same reason I sent Bob and the other guys the picture of the Moo-Thru . . . To get under someone's skin. Yeah I can be a jerk like that ;-)
After grabbing some pics there, I headed back towards the BRP and Skyline Drive . . . Taking the ramp to them (I was entering right at the Southern Point of Skyline and Northern Point of the BRP), I was confused by all the cars parked . . . everywhere. Reaching the top of the ramp, I looked north towards the Skyline drive entrance and saw the barricade and sign "ROAD CLOSED" Shit! I turned south and found another barricade and sign for the BRP. Technically, I was on the Parkway and there was a sign . . . so I grab a pic then tried to decide where to go from there.
I dropped down the west side of the mountains and headed north on 340. I figured I would take that to 33, take 33 up to Skyline and jump on there for the ride up to 211. I would get the drop along the way. With this plan firmly in mind, I headed up and turned into the entrance of Skyline Drive at 33. There was a a very cute and polite Park Service lady in the booth, and as I started to take out my military ID and park pass, she just pointed to a sign posted on the outside of the booth "SKYLINE DRIVE IS CLOSED". She said I could come in and park and hike or walk about, but I was out for a ride, so I did a U turn and headed out. Apparently Skyline Drive was hit hard by the storms and the downed trees and what not led to the closure of both of these magnificent roads.
I took 33 down into Madison and worked my way over to 29 to head home. My wife and I had a night to ourselves, so I may as well get home and enjoy the time with her. Along the way I stopped at my "back-up Drop" location. The Graffiti House in Brandy Station. Pulling in I took a couple of pics. I was disappointed that the house was closed for the season, as its history is pretty awesome. From the web:
http://brandystationfoundation.com/
A two-story frame structure located directly beside the railroad tracks, the Graffiti House is believed to have been constructed in 1858. According to local tradition, the building was used as a hospital site by Confederate soldiers following the Battle of Brandy Station and other local battles. Union soldiers used the house during the Winter Encampment of Brandy Station in 1863-1864. The Graffiti House is named for the signatures, inscriptions, and drawings of Civil War soldiers who drew on the walls with charcoal and pencil. Much of the graffiti that still survives is on exhibit in the house.
After those photos, I ran Jipci back to the shed . . . Putting her away for the year, her odometer read 4,346 . . . So on the 30th of December, I got her out for 317 miles. Ironically, this is the 2nd highest mileage day I had on her all year . . . Over 2022, I had ridden her a total of 2,974 miles over 25 days, averaging 119 miles per day that I took her out for a ride.
As I closed the shed door for the last time in 2022, I reflected that while this was a relatively low year in terms of mileage, it still was a great riding year as I broke new grounds and experienced new things on two wheels . . . all this will be covered in my upcoming year in review . . . Until then . . . RIDE ON!
