My upstate South Carolina tour guide, 12ozPBR, outdid himself yesterday. I expected we'd go for about 50 to 60 miles or so nearby the cabin after picking up a rental car for my wife for a couple days, but he created an impromptu ride of epic proportions and silly me left the GoPro at the cabin.
It started out simple enough with a stop for a pedestrian picture at a spot only a few miles away.
But then we headed further upstate, stopping every 25 to 30 miles to top off my tiny tank and before I knew it we were in southern North Carolina. If only I could reproduce the images my eyes took in while blazing along through the beautiful forests on the many winding roads like 64, 183, 130, 107 and 11, some shown in the map screenshot below, weaving their way through areas like Walhalla, Salem, Sapphire, Lake Toxaway and Cashiers and eventually back to Pickens. I had my trusty 2 liter gas bottle stuffed in my tank bag in case the fuel stops were too far apart, and all went well... until it didn't. (map here)
On our last leg of the ride, about a half hour from darkness (of course), we came upon a wreck involving a logging truck and another vehicle that ended up in a deep ditch, multiple fire trucks and ambulances arriving on scene right after we get there. Road was blocked, no police there yet, not at all sure we could get past it, so we had to double back and find an alternative route. First attempt involved a twisty side road and we passed an unmarked road that could have been a solution, only to come out right near the police blocking further traffic from going in the direction of the crash. We turned around, and knowing I'd gone close to 50 road miles since the last fill-up I expected to run out shortly (and though the reserve function seemed to be working correctly when I had the tank off recently, it proved to be non-functional again as it was last spring when I ran out during Chris' visit and he employed the roadside water bottle fuel rescue). So the 2 liter bottle got its debut.
It all worked out, though we went the last 10 to 15 miles through dusk with it fully dark before we got back to the cabin. A chilly finale to the ride to find out for the first time how my "headlight" works at night... which would be okay for short distances, but as expected it wasn't so good glaring in Chris' mirror.
We'll be off soon to more adventures today.
It started out simple enough with a stop for a pedestrian picture at a spot only a few miles away.
But then we headed further upstate, stopping every 25 to 30 miles to top off my tiny tank and before I knew it we were in southern North Carolina. If only I could reproduce the images my eyes took in while blazing along through the beautiful forests on the many winding roads like 64, 183, 130, 107 and 11, some shown in the map screenshot below, weaving their way through areas like Walhalla, Salem, Sapphire, Lake Toxaway and Cashiers and eventually back to Pickens. I had my trusty 2 liter gas bottle stuffed in my tank bag in case the fuel stops were too far apart, and all went well... until it didn't. (map here)
On our last leg of the ride, about a half hour from darkness (of course), we came upon a wreck involving a logging truck and another vehicle that ended up in a deep ditch, multiple fire trucks and ambulances arriving on scene right after we get there. Road was blocked, no police there yet, not at all sure we could get past it, so we had to double back and find an alternative route. First attempt involved a twisty side road and we passed an unmarked road that could have been a solution, only to come out right near the police blocking further traffic from going in the direction of the crash. We turned around, and knowing I'd gone close to 50 road miles since the last fill-up I expected to run out shortly (and though the reserve function seemed to be working correctly when I had the tank off recently, it proved to be non-functional again as it was last spring when I ran out during Chris' visit and he employed the roadside water bottle fuel rescue). So the 2 liter bottle got its debut.
It all worked out, though we went the last 10 to 15 miles through dusk with it fully dark before we got back to the cabin. A chilly finale to the ride to find out for the first time how my "headlight" works at night... which would be okay for short distances, but as expected it wasn't so good glaring in Chris' mirror.
We'll be off soon to more adventures today.
