Day 11 Park-life (under pressure)

Text only for now, I’m a bit off the grid, use your imagination and then add some. I’ll edit in the pictures once I’m closer to an irradiation tower or military grade WiFi.

Thanks to Brendan for pointing out that I should check the tyre pressures, they were high and I headed over to Walmart to pick up a digital gauge and pump, and spare tail light bulbs and some arthritis painkillers that I thought might help my hips. I also fitted the tank bag and relocated my tools and spares into it. The handling seems more stable now.

The morning was a little overcast and very cold, especially as the bike (I wasn’t doing much) ascended up onto the ridge way once more. From Rockfish Gap near Gainsborough VA the route is known as the Blue Ridge Parkway and has a slightly more respectable speed limit of 45 mph. No less scenic that the Sky-line but with less lookouts. I made good progress and stopped at the only restaurant in the Park, overlooking a lake, for a coffee and I met Jose an old school tourer on a BMW who was camping but had a 0 degrees sleeping bag.

I also met with misfortune, when I got back to the bike I found a thin nail sticking out in the middle of the rear tyre, like the fool that I am, I pulled it out. A gentle hiss, a curse and a hurried rummage for the tyre weld can that I had bought two days ago. That fixed it but I had to let air out to get the goop in and add air with the pump to get it back to a reasonable pressure and ride on it as soon as possible to stop it solidifying into an unbalanced lump at the bottom of the inner tube. 10 miles down the road I stopped to check the pressure and noticed that the tyre was warm and back up to the 2.5 kg/cm2 that it should be. Thinking no more of it I ploughed on for another 50 miles.

Running low on gas I spotted a station and filled up, chatting with Eric, on a Yamaha, and asked the lady behind the till for motel recommendations, not a subtle move as she pointed out that the gas station was part of a motel. Graciously she still pointed out that there were a few at Fancy Gap about 35 miles further on. That is where I stopped, ringing the bell of one of them until I read a sign, back to front, on the opposing door “Closed for the winter”. I rang another, the Country View Motel, apparently open all year round and headed over there.

In the lobby, which was perhaps a living room, one of my hosts was constructing or repairing a child’s plastic tricycle and bemoaning the quality, I offered to help but the arrival of my hostess apparently in a dressing gown over a dress, it is cold here, prevented me. Checked in and $43 dollars lighter I rode the bike around back where three of the longer stay guests were chilling on the upstairs veranda. They liked the bike and once I had excused my englishness we got on just fine. My room is oriental themed, mainly Chinese but with geisha dolls, and mure than adequate. I walked to the truck stop to get beer and snacks and Robert (Rob), my neighbour, gave me a menu from “The Pit Stop” so that I could order a burger to be delivered.

Things were looking rosey until I mentioned the puncture to Rob, he cautioned that one of the brands of tyre goo, the one that I had used, is just to get you home and can heat up and blow the tyre. Sure enough there was a warning on the can, not for vehicles with less than 4 wheels. I guess that I’m now looking for a motorcycle tyre shop that can change inner tubes on old Italian bikes.

In other more exciting news, Rob, from North Carolina and who builds log cabin homes, says that there are often black bears out back where my bike is parked.